Golfer Of 69 Takes 32 For His Outward Half

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28700, 25 September 1958, Page 15

Golfer Of 69 Takes 32 For His Outward Half

(AN September 22, 1908, a young professional from Wanganui. J. A. Clements, won the New Zealand open golf championship at Balmsfcewen. Fifty years later, almost to the day, the same Clements, now 69 years of age, had an outward half of 32, three under scratch, in a friendly match at Avondale, where he is the professional. Joe Clements, a distinguished member of a distinguished golfing family, seems certain to be one of the few able to return a score better than his age. His swing is still easy, his putting in keeping with the Clements tradition. Not many years ago he had a 29 on the first half of the Waitikiri course, and his 'recent effort at Avondale was also outstanding. He began with a birdie 3. but dropped a shot at the second hole (384 yards, scratch 4). After two bogeys, he had birdies at the fifth, sixth and seventh. At the eighth his putt for a birdie hit the hole and failed to drop, and the same thing happened at the ninth. He dropped five strokes coming home, but a 72 at the age of 69 was remarkable.

At Balmacewen in 1908, Clements scored 83 and 81 on the first day, to be in second place, two strokes behind D. Hood, a professional from Oamaru. In the entire field, only one score was below 80, which would seem

to reflect on the standard of the the bogey for the course was 82. Among the contestants were three very well-known cricketers—H. B. Lusk, A. H. Fisher, and B. B. Wood. On the second morning, Hood returned a 91, Clements 88, and Clements thus led’ by one stroke. At the start of the final round Clements began badly, putting his second shot at the first hole into some rushes; the hole cost him 7, but he recovered well enough for an 83, one over bogey, and Hood, also with 83, finished one behind him. Joe Clements is a particularly popular professional, and it will be a notable occasion for his many /riends, as well as for himself, when he brings in a 89, or a 70 next year, or a 71 the year after.