GOLF Surprises In Match Play At National Tourney

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29368, 22 November 1960, Page 7

GOLF Surprises In Match Play At National Tourney

(From Our Own Reporter)

INVERCARGILL, November 21.

Of all the upsets which occurred in the first rounds of the New Zealand amateur golf championships at Otatara today none was as surprising as the defeat of the 1959 amateur champion, S. G. Jones, by the 20-vear-old Russley player, J. R. Rroadhurst, who is in his first national tournament. Broadhurst was beaten in turn in the afternoon, but his was a memorable achievement.

W. J. Godfrey, a New Zealand representative this year, was beaten in the first round for the seconcj successive year; T. J. Jeffery lost in the morning; H. R. Carver, of Wanganui, beat the fourtimes champion, D. L. Woon; A. R. Timms, of Otago, beat P. K. Creighton, of Wellington, in the second round; R. C. Murray, of Russley, who was expected to go close to winning, went down to Carver; and C. W. Caldw’ell, of Christchurch, w’ho played so well in the open, won a long and hard-fought battle against the brilliant young Timaru player, I. S. Harvey.

In the professional field, nothing untoward occurred. K. D. G. Nagle won both his games easily, and so did R. J. Charles, who showed all his old

? confidence and skill. e The amateur quarter-final matches tomorrow morning will & be:—R. R. Newdick v. W. W. Smith, Timms v. J. D. Durry, Carver v. I. Woodbury, and J. G. Stem v. Caldwell. The professional semi-finals, over 36 holes, will be between Nagle and E. A. Southerden, and Charles and M. J. Busk. The weather, which has graced the championships, continues. Today it was extremely hot, so hot that the Wellington professional, J. Watt, marched down the fairways protected by a brightly- - coloured sunshade. The day’s first drama came from ... the defeat of Godfrey by a littleknown Southland player, W. - Cochrane, who enjoys a considerable local reputation as a match 5 player. He lived up to it fully. Playing very steadily indeed, he was 2 up at the turn, but every- - one expected him to crack. At

’ the tenth, Godfrey pitched in e well, to about 9ft of the pin. Cochrane put his 3ft away, had th’e

birdie, and won the hole. Only at the eleventh did Cochrane fail. He duffed his drive and his second, and the two strokes he dropped were the only ones during the round. Defeat of Jones - Although Broadhurst failed to survive the second round, his defeat of Jones was remarkable. Moreover, in his great victory, and in his afternoon defeat, Broadhurst maintained the same smiling demeanour. He rapidly became a favourite of the spectators. Jones at first was dragging his irons from time to time, and Broadhurst held a small lead for some time, although he had to hole two or three very awkward putts for halves. But he was in the ditch at the sixteenth, and Jones squared the match. When Broadhurst put his drive behind a thick row of tall pines at the seventeenth he seemed doomed, but he played a remarkable second which, however, caught a bunker. Jones was also bunkered, and took two to emerge. Broadhurst exploded out beautifully, and holed a long putt for his 4. At the last, they both found the green well. Jones, 10ft away, was very close with his putt Broadhurst 9ft out looked pale and anxious, but he holed his putt for the birdie smoothly.

The most brilliant performance of the day was given by Murray in his morning match with B. M. Silk. Murray dropped three shots during the round, but his violent attack left Silk without an answer. It was magnificent golf, for Silk, beaten at the fifteenth, was then only one over scratch, Murray having had six birdies in the first 12 holes. He won the third with a 15ft putt for his birdie, lost the fourth to a birdie, holed an eight-footer at the fifth for another, lost the sixth, put down a putt of 12ft at the seventh for a birdie and a win, won the eighth with a twoputt birdie, and took the ninth. Murray won the tenth with a birdie, this time from 15ft. They halved the twelfth in birdies, and then halved three more holes. Murray’s driving was beautiful, his putting sure. He was three under for the 15 holes. Timms Beats Richards

E. H. Richards, playing better today than at any other stage of the tournament, gave Timms a stem battle. Richards was not behind until the fifteenth, and then won the sixteenth but lost the next, and at the last _ hole Timms's bunker shot, beautifully controlled, put him 2ft from the hole. Richards, also bunkered, made a gallant effort by holing a 15-footer for his 4. but Timms made no mistake. Woon putted better against Carver than he has for some time, and 1 he was 3 up with three to go. But two bad shots cost him all three, and at the nineteenth his putter failed him again. , Two Canterbury players, Caldwell and K. D. Foxton, had a very exciting match, with a tremendous finish. Foxton holed a long putt at the fourteenth, and Caldwell a 15-footer at the fifteenth. Caldwell was 1 up play-

ing the seventeenth. On that green Caldwell holed a putt of 35ft, but Foxton, needing the half to keep the game alive, dropped in his 15-footer. The last hole was even more dramatic. Caldwell played a bad drive, a poor second, but found the green with his third. Foxton, bunkered with his second, exploded across and off the green. But then he chipped in for his 4. Caldwell calmly holed a putt of fully 20ft for-the match. A. T. Skelt beat Jeffery rather against the odds. He was late at the first tee and was ruled to have lost the hole. He also lost the fourth because he failed to mark his ball correctly. But he overcame these reverses, and Jeffery’s vigorous hitting. G. P. Vesty (Timaru) was only one over scratch in beating D. Scaife (Wellington). Newdick in Command

Newdick, unimpressive on Saturday, was thoroughly in command of his game today. He played 16 holes in the morning for 15 bogeys and a birdie, and in the afternoon he again won at the sixteenth, with a bogey at every hole. Broadhurst in the afternoon clearly enjoyed his game with another engaging personality, Smith, of Auckland. Broadhurst played very well, and was only two over at the end, but Smith was two under for the first 12 and won at the seventeenth only by holing a 14-footer. The game between Harvey and Caldwell did not provide the expected quality at first. There were birdies, but there were twoovers. Caldwell, four strokes over after three holes, was only one over at the end of the 22 played, and Harvey was with him all the way. At the fourth Harvey almost holed his approch, but Caldwell had the birdie at the fifth with a 10-footer. The 18 holes ended with them still at it hammer and tongs. And at the nineteenth they halved in birdies, Caldwell sinking a 10-footer, Harvey a short one. At the twentieth, Caldwell chipped dead by the hole, but Harvey holed a tricky four-footer. At the twenty-second, Harvey’s second was 50ft from the pin, and his huge putt finished on line 2ft short. Under tremendous stress, Caldwell sank his 'putt from 25ft away for the match. Caldwell played beautiful golf after his uncertain start. Harvey, under pressure, chipped and putted with admirable accuracy.

Long Match Timms, runner-up at Balmacewen in 1953, also had a very long match against Creighton, and he won it at the twenty-second with a 12ft putt for a birdie. Murray received from Carver something of the treatment he had administered to Silk in the morning. Carver, a former pupil of Christ’s College, is a tall, smiling young man, who hits the ball a long way and, today at least, straight. Carver was 35 out, one under scratch, and until the end of the match he gave Murray no opening. Murray’s driving was not as accurate as before, and he looked a tired golfer. Perhaps he was unwise to have played in the invitation tournament on .Sunday, for he was unable, in the critical stage, to produce the birdies he needed. Carver putted in from off the green for a birdie at the eleventh, and holed a putt of 14ft for a birdie at the fourteenth, and that made him dormie 4. But at the short fifteenth Carver at last played a loose shot, a badly hooked iron, whereas Murray was nicely on, 10ft from the pin. Carver’s attempt to run his ball up failed, and it slid down a little hill again, two or three yards off the green. Carver asked for the pin to be taken away, and holed his chip for his 3. Murray could not hole his putt for the win he needed and little wonder. So Carver, two under for the 15 holes, is in the last eight amateurs for the third time in four years. Professional Matches In the professional matches, Nagle and Charles were outstanding. Charles overcame his dread of the fourteenth and sixteenth, dropping only one stroke at the fourteenth and having a birdie at the other. This was against W. S. White. Nagle made a tremendous start against the Christchurch professional, N. H. Fuller, and was dormie 6. But Fuller won the thirteenth with a birdie 4, and the next with a 4.

Except for the thirteenth, where he put two out of bounds, M. J. Busk dropped only one stroke against the Australian professional, J. McWilliams, and in the afternoon he was two under 4’s against Watt. Charles was superb against the former Russley professional, I. Arundel His birdie at the first came from a pitch shot which rested 18in from the pin, and at the third the birdie putt was only of 2ft. A 3ft putt at the ninth put him out in 33, and he had scratch figures for the last three holes. It was a great exhibition of driving, and his irons were beautifully accurate. F. X. Buckler, of Lochiel, put up a good fight against Nagle, and was square after,. 12. Then