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GOLF EXTREMELY CLOSE FINISH IN WOODWARD CUP MATCH

Waitikin's chances of winning the Woodward Cup were improved by a halved match between two of the other strongest teams. Christchurch A and Russley A when the fifth round of the Inter-club competitions was played vesterday. ’ The match between the Christchurch and Russley teams, at Rangiora, was among the most thrilling since the series began. When four of the eight matches had been completed, the teams were on terms, and at that stage there was but a single hole difference in each of the remaining four games, with each side leading in two of them. The last game to finish was that between J. H. Scott (Christchurch) and E. H. Richards (Russley). Scott, badly placed near the end, had squared the match with a superb recovery at the short seventeenth. So he needed a half at the long last hole to keep Christchurch ahead. By then it was almost dark, and he had to play his fourth, a chip over a bunker, from a hard and barren lie. He found the green, but left himself a very long putt for his 5; Richards had played two tremendous shots and had put his little third handy to the pin. Scott, barely able to distinguish the hole in the gloom, made a stout effort to sink the putt, but pulled it ever so slightly and it finished two inches away. With the loss of the hole, the match was halved.

If the team contest was full of interest throughout the afternoon, there was one individual effort which was quite outstanding. R. C. Murray, in his second game for Russley since his transfer from Dunedin, was in tremendous form against C. W. Caldwell, the Canterbury Freyberg rosebowl captain. Murray played near-perfect golf and was five under scratch after 12 holes. The game ended at the next green and Murray, playing out the round, remained five under. Moreover, three Eutts for eagles or birdies sat, on ne, within two inches of the hole. A stylish but powerful swinger. Murray was very rarely in any sort of trouble, and the accuracy of his approaches paved the way for his phenomenal scoring. On the few occasions he failed to find the green, his delicate chipping saved him a second putt. Murray had three birdies going out, to be three under at the turn, and he had birdies at the pa.r-4

tenth and the long eleventh. It was! a very fine performance by a player I whose cool and purposeful approach! to the game, as well as his assets' technically, will take him far. Cald-: well, although only three over scratch, suffered one of the heaviest defeats of his career. J- G. Scott was also at the top of his form when he disposed of R. K. Atkinson, 6 and 4. Scott took risks, but his attacking policy brought rich rewards. Two or three times he managed to get through trees when it seemd he had small prospect of success, but he played some grand golf, and his putting was brilliant. He was out in scratch figures, and was two under when the game ended. D. C. Watson Confident A former Canterbury representative, D. C. Watson, playing fourth in the absence of K. D. Foxton—a heavy loss to Russley—had a good win from L. A Watson. D. C. Watson played the confident, crisp golf of his best days, and was only one over at the finish. He was unlucky, for he three-putted once only because his approach put him in a deep pitch mark on the green. C. J. Ward (Christchurch) started extremely well against B. J. P. Ryde, a 1957 Bay ot Plenty representative at the Freyberg rosebowl tournament. Ward hit his woods and irons precisely and he was also only one over at the end. Ryde started uncertainly, but showed more confidence later, and had the match squared at tne eigth. But Ward’s steadiness made Ryde’s occasional errors fatal ones. F. Williamson and M. R. Blank, in the midst of the final tense struggle, had a fine game. Blank holed a putt of 35 feet at the ninth to square the match, but his tee shots often let him down, and Williamson, playing good golf, was two up with four to go. However, he missed a fairly short putt to lose the fifteenth, lost the next with a second shot off the line, and the short sixteenth to Blank’s well-played 3. Blank clinched the match by holing a long putt in the darkness of the eighteenth green for a birdie. Lawrence Steady The left-hander, H. W. Lawrence, played steadily to build up a lead of three at tne turn against J. B. Prendergast (Christchurch), but Prendergast slowly whittled away the lead. He had a birdie 2 at the fourteenth and squared the match at the sixteenth. But on the long and undulating seventeenth green, Prendergast’s bold effort ended. He was badly short with his approach putt and failed to sink the next one. Then there was bunker trouble at the last, which was halved. D. F. Williamson led most of the way against S. C. Cliff (Russley), but was only one up with two to go. At the seventeenth from the top of the green Williamson played a lovely curving putt down to the lip of the hole to win the hole and the match. There was never much between J. H. Scott and Richards. The lead alternated quite swiftly, but Scott was 1 down playing the seventeenth, where his tee shot was bunkered before the green, and Richards was well through. Richards left himself a long putt, but Scott came out beautifully to within three feet and sank the putt. Richards was equal to the crisis at the last hole. Christchurch B, which had started the season by beating its A team, had another success, this time over Avondale, by a convincing margin. A. I Charles, of Christchiirch won again, and is now the only player with five wins in five matches.

In the third match, Kaiapoi beat Russley B. Teams’ points are:—

KAIAPOI V. RUSSLEY B M. W. Stanley beat A. J. McGillivray, 3 and 2; A. F. Green beat I. Schraft, 3 and 2; B. J. Osborn halved with G. Sinclair; D. McAllister beat C. Penlington, 1- up; D. Lamberton beat L. Pilcher, 1 up; L. Morris lost to W. Fairclough, 2 and 1; R. G. Rainey lost to J. Rich, 1 down; T. Monk beat P. Hadley, 7 and 5. Kaiapoi won by 5’,2 games to 2’/ 2 . The match was played at Templeton. CHRISTCHURCH A V. RUSSLEY A C. W. Caldwell lost to R. C. Murray, 7 and 6; J. G. Scott beat R. K. Atkinson, 6 and 4; C. J. Ward beat B. J. P. Ryde, 3 and 2; L. A. Watson lost to D. C. Watson, 5 and 4; M. R. Blank beat F. Williamson, 2 up; J. B. Prendergast lost to H. W. Lawrence, 1 down; D. F. Williamson beat C. S. Cliff. 2 and 1; J. H. Scott lost to E. H. Richards, 1 down. The match was halved. It was played at Rangiora. CHRISTCHURCH B V. AVONDALE A. W. Robinson beat F. Roberts, 5 and 4; J. D. Bull halved with W. McGavock; A. I. Charles beat A. E. Ison, 1 up; J. Mackay beat G. Burton, 6 and 4; A. E. Benzie beat A. J. Dickey, 4 and 3; P. F. Barkle halved with W. Strang; A. R. Blank halved with C. C. A. Barnard; H. V. Rossi lost to G. Mclntosh, 1 up. Christchurch B won by 51 games to 21. The match was played at Waimairi.

Pts. Ch. P. W. H. L. ForAg. Pts. Waitik. ..44-,- 24 8 4 Russ. A. .. 4 3 1 - 204 111 34 Chch. B .. 5 3 - 2 20J 19J 3 Chch. A .. 4 2 1 1 18 14 24 Avon. .. 5 1 - 4 154 244 1 Kaia. ..4 1 - 3 134 184 1 Russ. B. .. 4 0 - 4 8 24 0

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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19580623.2.172

Bibliographic details

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28619, 23 June 1958, Page 17

Word Count
1,342

GOLF EXTREMELY CLOSE FINISH IN WOODWARD CUP MATCH Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28619, 23 June 1958, Page 17

GOLF EXTREMELY CLOSE FINISH IN WOODWARD CUP MATCH Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28619, 23 June 1958, Page 17