Charles May Miss N.Z. Open

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30587, 2 November 1964, Page 3

Charles May Miss N.Z. Open

R. J. Charles, the former British Open golf champion, is now unlikely to play in the New Zealand Open which will be held at Christchurch from November 19 to 21. In Christchurch last evening, Charles said that he had accepted an offer to play in a television series in the United States with the Australian golfer, B. W. Devlin, and the tournament clashed with the New Zealand open. Charles had flown to Christchurch after competing in the Australian open in which he had finished nine strokes behind the leaders, J. Nicklaus and B. W. Devlin. "I am very disappointed that I may not be able to play at Christchurch or even in any of the later New Zealand tournaments but the American tournament is one that cannot be by-passed. Charles explained that the tournament consisted of 16 teams who played a series of matches until the unbeaten teams met in the final. “Just for playing in the first round we get 2500 dollars and if we won the final Devlin and I would get 25,000 dollars each.” Only Chance “The only chance I will have of playing in the New Zealand Open is if I lose in the first round, but as the first game is on November 15 and the open starts on November 19 it will be difficult

to return to New Zealand in such a short time. “Also I have to play in the Canada Cup tournament in Hawaii, which probably will prevent me from coming back to New Zealand, even for the later tournaments. "I am very sorry that I may not be able to play at Shirley. It is my home course and I had been looking,, forward to competing there.? “It is rather ironical that I may miss the open because of this American tournament. Last year I suggested that the date for the open could be changed from September to allow overseas professionals to take part. That has been done, but this tournament was not known about then.” Charles said that he had not been very happy with his form during the last two months. “Frankly, I have been playing badly. I think it is because I did not plan my tournaments very well and the result is that I have played in too many and not given myself enough time away from golf. 32 Tournaments “I played in 32 tournaments in the United States and four in Britain. It was too many. As far as winning prize money it was a better season than last year when I won the British Open but this season I have not won a tournament even though I have finished well up in some of them.” Asked if he felt that his third place in the American Open could be placed above his win in the British Open, Charles replied with an emphatic “no!”

“The American Open would have been a stronger field and I probably played my best golf this season during the last three rounds, but winning the British Open has been my greatest experience in golf and possibly always will be. “I will be playing the American circuit again next year, but' I have got no illusions about it. It is damned tough. For every successful golfer in America there are 10

failures who are very good players. “The competition is becoming stronger in America as more young players enter professional ranks. After all it is a very lucrative game if you are successful. “Tournaments are offering more prize money; there are more tournaments so naturally there are more golfers, which means that winning, or even being placed, becomes more difficult.”