New Zealand Golf In Healthy Condition

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28104, 20 October 1956, Page 5

New Zealand Golf In Healthy Condition

'J'HE success of Australian players at the national golf , championships which ended at Shirley on Wednesday should certainly not be taken as an indication that Aew Zealand golf is at a low ebb. Indeed, a feature of the tournament was the outstanding ability shown by a group of young players in, or barely out of“ their ’teens. . , X< ;W Zealand amateurs have held their own against Australia in the last few years, and that the visitors sliould win the major titles this time was incidental, fhe numbers of alliliated clubs and players in New Zealand is heartening evidence of the growing strength th . e . g . a, V e ’ an< ? " le talented youngsters seen at Shirley should help maintain the present satisfactory standard for a good many years.

It was an excellently conducted tournament, and if the weather was unpleasant at the start, there was hardly any rain, and the week ended in hot sunshine. Shirley is always good to see, but the rain before the tournament left the course with a fresh sparkle. Shirley was serene and secluded, with the slow and dignified rhythm of championship play quite undisturbed. It is doubtful whether any game makes quite such demands on the individual as golf, but its intensity is concealed by its own formality—no shrieking crowds, no incidents, no criticisms of the referee. A championship meeting is always an occasion, and the 1956 tournament was one to remember. Young Players There was clear evidence that the places at the top of New Zealand golf held by such as B. M. Silk and D. L. Woon will not be left empty when their skill begins to wane. None of the young players made a better impression than I. S. Harvey, of Wellington, ■nd formerly of Timaru. who played with increasing confidence and ability as the Open proceeded, and who gave an excellent account of himself in the subsequent match play. Harvey’s

potential ability has been recognised widely for some time, but this was the first national championship at which he really made his presence felt. Harvey was 19 only a month ago, and to finish sixth New Zealand amateur in the open was an achievement. His style and application are admirable, and he should go on unspectacularly perhaps, to become one of the top players. E. J. McDougall, another 19-year-old, and a powerfully built one, had the best completed round of the tournament—67, with nothing conceded, in his game against Harvey. He too shows unusual promise, and in the same age group there is the accomplished R. J. Charles, after four championship tournaments only 20 years old. J. D. Durry was not quite as good as the others, although he took the amateur winner P. A. Toogood to the seventeenth, but he too is particularly talented. There was much to admire, too. in the urbane skill of Silk and the now occasional but undiminished brilliance of Woon. The tournament’s unluckiest player. S. G. Jones, is still at the top. Others had their moments, notably the professionals A. E. Guy and E. A. Southerden in the Open and after the first day or two the scoring was most satisfactory. Disappointing The only disappointment of the tournament was the indifferent standard of the professionals’ play generally. But it was hardly to be wondered at, for at least two of them had not played a competitive round since the previous national meeting. The public took no interest in the professional championship, because it lacked a Peter Thomson: yet until the interest is there, professional golf in New Zealand is becalmed, if not going backwards. Without more tournament play to improve the standard, the interest in local professionals will remain small.