STAGE SET FOR FINEST N.Z. OPEN Tuohy Holes-In-One, Scores 65 In Final Practice

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30602, 19 November 1964, Page 19

STAGE SET FOR FINEST N.Z. OPEN Tuohy Holes-In-One, Scores 65 In Final Practice

ALL EYES ON BALL

The stage is set and at least some of the actors appear to know their lines, if yesterday’s final rehearsal for the New Zealand Open at Shirley bears any relation to performances when the tournament begins this morning.

If the weather is fine, there should be some spectacular scoring, for the course is in magnificent order and there would be strong support for the view of a leading Australian professional, F. Phillips, who said yesterday that he did not think he had ever seen such good greens in New Zealand.

Certainly there were some startling performances yesterday, particularly from the Australians, R. Tuohy and E. A. Ball.

Tuohy, who scored the first hole-in-one of his career, was nine under scratch for nine consecutive holes and finished with 65, eight under scratch. Ball who did not have the advantage of holing in one, was round in 66.

There were other good rounds, too, and the general standard was such as to give basis to the belief among some of the outstanding competitors that the Open would be won with a score somewhere between 272 and 276. But if the wind blows strongly from the south, or even from the east, the placing of the drive will become even more important and difficult, and then the score under 70 might be fairly rare. Talking Point Tuohy’s round was the day’s talking point. His card read: Out.— Par 44355445 3—37 Tuohy 54344354 2—34 In.— Par 54434354 4—36 Tuohy 43414354 3—31 The slightly-built Australian, who did very well on the New Zealand circuit last year, has been consistently placed in recent months but has not won a tournament this year.

He hit fine tee shots and his irons were usually accurate enough to give him an excellent chance of a birdie. At the fourth (505 yards) he had a putt of a foot for his birdie. He was on the fifth (456 yards) in 2, and two-putted. He threeputted the seventh green, was comfortably on the eighth (434 yards) in two and took two putts, and at the ninth holed a . 20-footer for his birdie.

He used two putts for a birdie at the tenth, but holed a 30-footer for another at the

eleventh, played the next hole according to regulation, and then achieved his hole in one —a 9-iron which, although somewhat wind-assisted, pitched only about three feet from the hole, stopped abruptly and screwed into the hole.

Then it was par figures until the last hole, where he sank a 4-footer for his birdie. Ball, whose nickname “Cricket” seems almost logical, in an Australian, was also in magnificent form, and he must be a very strong contender for the title. He had three birdies going out, four coming back. 32 At Turn Another who played impressively, for a while at least, was the American R. Howell, who is said to have improved his game considerably since he was in New Zealand for the first series of sponsored tournaments. He is a prodigious hitter, and if there was more than a hint of looseness about his game, it was not often apparent on the first nine holes, which he covered in 32, five under scratch. He made it six under at the tenth; and that, apparently, was enough for him, for afterwards he often hit two balls, and if he played a loose shot he often putted the ball he played subsequently. His second shot off the twelfth tee drove the green 335 yards away, comfortably. Phillips also drove the twelfth, and was in fact 15 yards beyond the pin. He is one of several Australian walking wounded. He has had a back injury for which he underwent treatment in Australia recently, and also has a slightly ricked neck. But his golf yesterday looked fine. A. Murray sprained a thumb severely in a recent Australian tournament, and the injury has affected him quite markedly. But he was round in 70 yesterday, playing in company with Ball, S.

Davies (South Africa) who also scored 70, and D. Hutchinson (South Africa), who was

The New Zealander, R. R. Newdick had a good final round of 70, expressed himself as being satisfied with his form, and hoped he could score 70 today. The Manawatu professional, B. Coxon, also played particularly well. The affable K. D. G. Nagel, who won 24,000 dollars on the American circuit this year, was very much relaxed and seemed to put little into his practice. He is recovering from a back injury which set back his performances in Britain but he, too, hinted that when the stresses of the Open attack the field, he will withstand them better than most. This should be a great championship. There can rarely have been a course better prepared. Golfers are not often given to flights of fancy about their game, but several at Shirley have said that the course in its present state simply invites good golf. There has certainly not been a better field in New Zealand to play it.