Freyberg Rose Bowl To Manawatu-Wanganui

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30443, 18 May 1964, Page 15

Freyberg Rose Bowl To Manawatu-Wanganui

A crisply played fairway iron for an eagle by J. G. Stem amid the gathering gloom on the eighteenth green at Hokowhitu on Saturday was the climax of the Manawatu-Wanganui golf team’s successful bid for the Freyberg Rose Bowl. Stem’s classic shot, made from a point 156yds from the hole, was greeted with a roar usually reserved for lustier sports.

Manawatu - Wanganui resisted strong challenges from. Southland and Northland in the. final rounds to win the rose bowl with an unbeaten record. It had a onepoint advantage over its closest rivals, Tara-naki-Centfal King Country and Otago.

A blendirig of skill and determination under pressure enabled Canterbury to beat the defending team, Hawke’s Bay, in the morning and so gain second place. But in the final round an Auckland team in superb form caused a landslide among the Canterbury players, only R. C. Murray winning his match. Canterbury slipped to fourth equal with Wellington in the final placings. After the upsets of the second day, Saturday’s results followed form more closely. But Southland beaten 4-2 by Manawatu-Wanganui, came perilously close to achieving its second major surprise of the tournament. D. W. Maley, normally the steadiest of players, missed an 18in putt on the sixteenth green and subsequently lost by a hole, and P. D. Strettell had prospects of squaring his match at the eighteenth until his opponent, R. Montgomery, rolled in a 12ft putt. Won Six Games

Montgomery, the only man at the tournament to win all six games, was the popular hero of Manawatu-Wanganui's win, even allowing for the fact that his fellow players included Stern, with his eagle and his consistently fine play in the No.l position, and the evergreen B. M. Silk, a member of the notable teams from the district which won the rose bowl for four Consecutive years from 1952. Montgomery's every appearance on Saturday night was the signal for a spontaneous burst of applause from team supporters. Yet just as important a role was played by the team’s No. 4, R. A. Mohekey, who won five matches in a row with consistently sound golf. Mohekey, Stern, Montgomery, and J. N. Andrews, the No. 5, are all members of the Manawatu Golf Club, and at the presentation of the rose bowl by the president of the New Zealand Golf Association (Mr H. A. Hansen) the, manager of the winning team (Mr F. J. Currie) admitted that it was course knowledge that had pulled his team through. Good team play, however, was -probably ManawatuWanganui’s greatest asset. From the No. 3, H. R. Carver, down to Montgomery at No. 6, only five of 24 matches were lost. Stern won four games in the top position and Silk, although his only win was reserved for the final afternoon, was in the exasperating position of being only four strokes over par for the first four rounds and yet registering no more than one halved match for his efforts. Five Unbeaten

Though Montgomery was the only player to win all six games, S. G. Jones (Hawke’s Bay), J. S. Roche (Otago), I. D. Woodbury (Wellington) and J. P. Means and R. L. Cameron (both Taranaki) were all unbeaten. Jones, four times national amateur champion, capped a fine tournament by scoring big wins against Murray and the New Zealand title-holder, J. D. Durry (Wellington), in the final rounds. Durry, an impressive figure in the practice rounds, could win only two of his .six matches. Canterbury’s small band of supporters at ' Hokowhttu sweated visibly as their team fought to overcome Hawke’s Bay on Saturday mrirning. With Murray and T. E. Pfahlert well S e^! e *L and K. D. Foxton and R E. Clements holding the whip hand In their matches, the numbers two and four, I. S. Harvey and E. H. M. Richards, were projected into the key roles. Harvey is noted as a stylist but in this match he won a reputation as a fighter He appeared to be hopelessly placed when his burly opponent, the former international E. T. Gordon, went to 3 up after six holes But at the next two holes Gordon was bunkered and each time exploded-with the force of a 4.2 in mprtar. In an Instant Harvey was at his throat and In six bewildering holes Gordon plummeted form 3 up to 2 down In vain he sought to climb back, but his birdie at the thirteenth was immediately answered by a birdie at the. fourteenth by Harvey and the end was not long in coming. Tremendous Tussle

Richards- had a tremendous tussle with the redoubtable J. M Dnrreen for a halved match. In a depressing start, the big Canterbury player lost the first two holes but from then he played with such spirit that by eight holes he was all square and two under par. Then he was out of bounds at both the ninth and tenth and In the trees at the twelfth, but a brilliant wedge shot from half-way down a 436yds fairway to land the ball 4ft past the pin was the start of another counter-attack. Richards stormed to the front only to lose the last hole when holding a 1-un advantage In Foxton's match against the tiny I. S. MacDonald, his chipping and putting had an almost lyrical quality about it. So accurate was his chipping that he was left with very few long putts; in most cases one stroke on the greens sufficed. MacDonald never recovered from losing the first two holes and did riot last past the fifteenth green. Carrying on in the same vein as the previous day, Clements soon outpaced his opponent, J H. Lowes, and appeared to be heading for an early finish when 4 up after 10 holes. Then, unaccountably, he played a poor iron shot at the snort eleventh and lost the hole ingloriously and worse still, he three-putted firom 6ft at the fourteepth. it says much for his powers of concentration that he was able to steady his game and gain the

victory that appeared . to be diminishing. Pfahlert played as soundly as he,had done earlier tn the tournament but found in H. W. Larmer an opponent of tremendous skill for a No. 5. Larmer, tall and-bespectacled, hit crashing drives and putted Tike a magician on most greens. Pfahlert lost the first two holes but hung <m tenaciously until - a missed putt from 7ft at the thirteenth and a birdie by Larmer at the fourteenth brought an end to the match. Two three-putt .greens at vital stages of his match with Jones were body blows from which Murray could not recover. His trouble with a fairway bunker and a 35ft uphill putt by Jones' were initial setbacks for the Canterbury captain, and his three-putting of the ninth and twelfth holes—the latter from Bft—accelerated his decline. His putting failed •to rise to ■ the occasion. A 10ft birdie putt on the fourteenth green, which would have arrested Jones’s progress, stopped on the edge of the hole, and wh.en Murray missed from 4ft at the next hole the game was over.

Spectacular Shot Murray's round, however, included one of the most spectacular shots of the entire tournament. A slightly hooked tee shot at the ninth left him in an unenviable lie 15 yards behind a b.ushy fir tree; between tree and green were a telegraph pole, a tar sealed road, and two yawning bunkers. Yet Murray, in driving rain, hit a No. 7 iron shot beneath the tree’s lowest branches and on to the green. His subsequent three-putting of the hole was scarcely the logical sequel. Auckland’s unexpectedly large winning margin against Canterbury In the final round was brought about chiefly by the brilliant play of the Aucklanders. But there may have been some mental relaxation among the Canterbury players, for by the time they started out the news that Manawatu Wanganui was galloping home against Northland was going around the course.

Auckland's success gave it a tournament record of three wins and’ three losses; the team’s No. 6, B. G. McNiven, remarked afterwards that the side would not have dared t« return home with only two wins.

Whatever the motivating force behind Auckland's success, the result was certainly startling. McNiven, who gave Clements his first defeat in the three days, chipped and one-putted with a skill he had not previously re'veaied, Clements played strongly under pressure to reduce McNiven's lead from 4 up to 1 up, but could not wrest the lead from his opponent in a stroke-for-stroke battle over the last three holes.

Richards’s rival, the 6ft Sin C. Edmonds, who wore stovepipes " and a cap at a jaunty angle, displayed confidence on the green to match his appearance. He rolled in two putts from 30 feet and nearly always recovered well to hold the Canterbury man. Richards, on his own admission "ran out of sting without tucker," for he was one of several players who had to tee off In the afternoon less than live minutes after finishing the morning game. This virtual over-lapping was caused by a 25-minute delay in the morning start because of rain. The former tennis star, N. V. Edwards, while not achieving the same brilliance as his fellow players, produced good shots at vital moments in gaining ascendency over Pfahlert. The Canterbury man, a grand fighter, kept Edwards tip to his work but could not get his chips up sufficiently to enable him to get a grip on the game. Fantastic Hitting Those to receive the full Impact of Auckland's grand form were. Harvey and Foxton. Harvey held a one-hole lead at the ttirn, but the fantastic hitting of his opponent, F. Molloy, gained him the upper hand. At a 460 yard hole Malloy sliced his drive but reached the green with an iron shot over a belt of firs, and at the next hole, 495 yards, his tee shot was just over 300 yards. In the face of this power golf, Harvey slipped to defeat. The young Auckland No. 3, K. Hankin, had had a disappointing rose bowl tourney until he met Foxton. He produced the form which won his selection— He had only 19 putts in 15 holes and was three under scratch at the finish. He sank five putts of more than 10 feet and holed a chip. Although he did not obtain a birdie. Foxton putted well. On most occasions he was Inside Hankin for Chips and putts but it was the Aubklander who gained all the success. After his loss to Jones, Murray played like a man possessed in the opening stages of his match with the 17st Auckland No. 1, E J. McDougall. He held his own from the tee with the big hitting Aucklander and was much sounder on and around the greens McDougall, who removed his glasses when putting, surprisingly missed sortie short putts, and although he fought solidly in the middle stages of the match. Murray's lead of 4 up after six holes was too big a lead. The match finished on the third last green when McDougall plaved a feeble drive for one of his stature. FIFTH ROUND

Manawatu-Wanganui 4, Southland 2

J. Stern beat H. A. Walker, 8 and 6; B. M. Silk lost to K. Downie 3 and 2; H. R. Carver beat D. W. Maley, 1 up; R. A. Mohekey beat L. G. Dlnsdaie, 4 and 3; J. N. Andrews lost to P. w: O’Neill, 2 and 1; R. Montgomery beat P. D. Stettell, 1 up.

Waikato 3, Cliborue 3 B. T. Boys beat J. Croskery, 1 up; T. Ormsby beat E. Gordon, 1 up; P. A. Maude lost to P. Rouse, 1 up; K. Haggle lost to R. T. Field. 1 up; F, J. Cullen beat J. Fitzmaurice, 6 and 5; J. Page lost to A. J. Lahmert, 2 and 1.

Hawke's Bay 3i. Canterbury 3j S. G. Jones beat H. C. Murray, 5 and 3; F. T. Gordon lost to I. S. Harvey, 2 and 1; L 6Macdonald lost to K. D. Foxton, 4 and 3; E. M. Richards and J. M. Doreen, all square; H. W. Larmer beat T. F. Pfahlert, 5 and 4; J. H. Lowes lost to F. E. Clements, 2 and 1.

Wellington 4, Auckland 2 J. D. Durry beat E. J. McDougall, 2 up; I. D. Woodbury beat F. Malloy, 5 and 4; P. K. Creighton beat K. R. Hankin, 5 and 4; R. H. M. Knight beat C. Edrnonds, 2 and 1; R. W. Wilkinson lost to N. V. Edwards, 2 up; K. E. Carter lost to B. G, McNiven, 5 and 4,

Taranaki and Central King Country 3j. Bay of Plenty 2) J. P. Means beat T. S. Leech. 6 and 4; R. L. Pease lost to D. K. Boone, 2 and 1; T. J. Jeffery and E. F. Carswell, all square: A. W. Middleton beat G. J. Thomas, 1 up; R. L. Cameron beat A. C. Relph, 3 and 1; A. N. Jeffery lost to M. J. Leahy, 1 up.

Otago 3), Northland 2j C. R. Colquhoun lost to C B. McLeod, 4 and 3; A. R. Timms beat R. Mcßeath, 5 and 4: J R. Howorth beat T. J. Buckley, 5 and 4; R. Dryden and T. Coxon, all square: B. S. Adamson lost to N. Payne, 1 up; J. S. Roche beat C. E. Hawken, 5 and 3. SIXTH ROUND

Taranaki and Central King Country 3, Waikato 3 Means and Boys, all square;

Pease and Ormsby, all square; Jeffery lost to Maude, 2 and 1; Middleton beat Haggle, 3 and 2; Cameron beat Cullen, 3 and 2; Jeffery lost to Page, 1 up. Hawke's Bay 3, Wellington 3 Durry lost to Jones. 5 and 4; Woodbury and Gordon, all square; Creighton beat Macdonald, 2 up; Knight and Doreen, all square; Wilkinson lost to Larmer, 3 and 2; Carter beat Lowes, 5 and 4. Otago 3), Southland If C. R. Colquhoun lost to C. B. McLeod, 4 and 3; A. R. Timms beat R. Mcßeath, 5 and 4: J. R. Howbrth beat T. J. Buckley, 5 and 4; R. Dryden and T. Coxon, ail square; B. S, Adamson lost to N. Payne, 1 up; J. S. Roche beat C. E. Hawken, 5 and 3. Bay of Plenty 3, Gisborne 3 Leech beat Croskery, 5 and 4; Boone lost to Gordon, 1 up; Carswell lost to Rouse, 2 and 1; Thomas lost to Field, 1 up; Relph beat Fitzmaurice, 3 and 1; Leahy beat Lahmert, 4 and 3.

Canterbury 1, Auckland 3 Murray beat McDougall, 4 and 2; Harvey lost to Malloy, 3 and 2; Foxton lost to Hankin, 4 and 3: Richards lost to Edmonds, 4 and 3; Pfahlert lost to Edwards, 4 and 3; Clements lost to McNiven, 1 up. Manawatu-Wanganui 5, Northland 1

Stern beat McLepd, 2 up; Silk beat Mcßeath, 4 and 3; Carver beat Buckley, 5 and 4; Mohekey beat Coxon, 2 up; Andrews lost to Payne, 3 and 2; Montgomery beat Hawken, 6 and 5. The final teams' points were:— Manawatu-Wanganui 51; Taranaki and Otago 41; Canterbury and Wellington 4; Hawke’s Bay and Auckland 3; Southland, Waikato and Gisborne 2; Bay of Plenty 11; Northland 0. WAIMAKARIRI GORGE GOLF CLUB MIXED OPEN TOURNAMENT MONDAY, JUNE 1, 1964 (Queen’s Birthday) Morning—l2 holes combined Stableford. Afternoon—l2 holes Mixed 4-ball, best-ball bogey. Entry fee IDs per player. Players bring own lunch and afternoon tea. Tea, milk, and sugar provided. Entries close Tuesday, May 26, with the Secretary, A. F. Wright, 'Phone 17K, Sheffield. Draw will be published In “The Press” on Friday, May 29. —Advt. RAKAIA GOLF CLUB OPEN TOURNAMENTS JUNIOR and NOVICE (handicaps 17 and over) Saturday, May 23. SENIOR and INTERMEDIATE (handicaps 16 and under), Sunday, May 24. Entry fee: £1 5s (Includes meals and hole in one cover). Entries close Tuesday, May 19. Draw in "The Press,” Friday. May 22. R. B. KNIGHT, Hon. Secretary. Phone 61U, Rakaia. METHVEN GOLF CLUB MID-WEEK TOURNAMENT . MAX 28, 1964 24 holes in two grades. Entry fee £l, includes lunch. Afternoon tea available. Entries close Saturday, May 23. Draw published May 26, 1964. R. G. STODDART, No. 6 R.D., ASHBURTON, 'Phone 82M, Methven. —Advt.