GOLF Canterbury Wins Practise Contest

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29818, 10 May 1962, Page 22

GOLF Canterbury Wins Practise Contest

(From Our Ou-x Reiwnc-i DUNEDIN. May 9. Canterbury and Bay of Plenty will set in motion the 1962 Freyberg Rose Bowl interprovincial golf tournament at Balmacewan tomorrow. At 8 a.m.. R. C. Murray, the Canterbury No. 1. and his opposite number, D. K. Boone, will drive off in the opening game of the match.

Northland v. Wellington. Taranaki v. ManawatuWanganui, Hawke’s Bay (the holder) v. Southland. Auckland v. Poverty Bay. and Waikato v. Otago will be the other morning matches. Everything promises to make it a tournament to test the ability and stamina of every player. Local experts forecast that today’s heavy showers will make the course play very long, that the fairways will be spongy, and the greens fast and slightly bumpy. The fairways look abundantly green and there is a nip of cold in the air that may well favour the South Island players more than the Northerners.

The outstanding golf played in two days of practice has come from the Aucklander and former professional, E. J. McDougall.

The 18 stone Scot, who should find the conditions more like those of his native country, played glorious golf on Tuesday in a round of 69—three below scratch—and went round again today in 72.

None of the Canterbury players has produced figures to match the Scot, but they gained a measure of confidence by beating Hawke’s Bay, the winner at Napier last year, 4-2. in a seriousfriendly match yesterday morning. Murray's Half Mufray. who is playing in his ninth successive Rose Bowl tournament, had the best return of the Canterbury players—a 74 and a half against S. G. Jones, the amateur champion, with whom he squared in the 1961 match.

I. S. Harvey, who was not hitting the ball as well as he can, also halved with the New Zealand representative, F. T. Gordon, and the Canterbury winners were K. D. Foxton, B. A. Colquhoun and A. W. Robinson.

Harvey was quietly optimistic of the team’s chances. “We haven’t played our best golf yet—so we haven’t left it on the course in practice either.” he said. "The conditions are going to be difficult to start with, and if we have more rain, they

could be a decisive factor.” Canterbury is expected to gain two wins tomorrow, against Bay of Plenty in the morning and Southland in the afternoon. The other three fancied teams, Hawke’s Bay, Auckland and Otago, have all steered clear of each other on the opening day, and two victories for each are expected.

The afternoon matches are Hawke's Bay v. Bay of Plenty. Wellington v. Poverty Bay, Manawatu-Wanga-nui v. Waikato, Southland v. Canterbury, Northland v. Auckland, and Taranaki v. Otago.