Buckler Sound Golf In 73

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30603, 20 November 1964, Page 15

Buckler Sound Golf In 73

Long a stalwart among New Zealand professionals, F. X. Buckler (73) played one of the soundest rounds of the day. If he was not very long, he was seldom off the line and if he did make a minor mistake he recovered easily and competently. Playing the ninth he was one over, but he put the 10footer in for the birdie to square and that was the way he came home.

A young New Zealand representative, B. T. Boys, had a scratch round, but it. was a protracted struggle for him, the par figures seldom coming easily. His score said much for his determination. Lost Five Strokes

The most tragic tale of the Christchurch amateurs was that of P. J. Amos, a youngster who has not often been in the forefront. He had birdies at the fifth, eighth, ninth, tenth, and twelfth, and after 13 holes was three under scratch. But he was bunkered with his tee shot at the fourteenth, and a chip and two putts gave him a 7. At the par-3 hole after this, he was again bunkered, and then threeputted for a 5. So in two holes he lost five shots.

The 1963 amateur champion, J. D. Durry, playing with Phillips, looked good until his irons began to stray a little and he finished one over scratch. A young Miramar amateur, P. C. Rankin, had six birdies in his 74.

Partnering Nagle was the Shirley professional. N. H. Fuller, who performed very creditably for his 76. He played some masterly shots, putted extremely well, and was never more than a few feet behind Nagle’s drives. The British professional, G. B. Wolstenholme, who arrived

only a few hours before the championship without time to look at the course, struggled for his 75. He had trouble selecting the club for his second shots, was penalised one stroke at the eighth when his ball dropped into a ditch he did not know was there, and was once or twice unhappy with his drives. “I haven’t dropped a birdie putt for weeks,” he lamented, but his putting was not at fault. In fact, it kept him within sight of the leaders several times when his pitch shots stopped short. The youngest competitor, the 16-year-old professional, D. Clark, had a sound 76, and one stroke behind him was B. M. Silk, the Wanganui amateur who played in his first Open in 1929 and has missed only one since then —in 1958 he was ill. Howell Inaccurate

The burly, crew-cut American, R. Howell, noted as a long hitter and sometimes a rather inaccurate one, did not live up to the promise he had shown at practice earlier. The length and the inaccuracy were both very evident when he had a disastrous start.

He strayed with his drive on the first and dropped a stroke, he three-putted the second, he virtually threeputted the third from just off the green, he was out of bounds at the fourth and five strokes down. After that he tightened up considerably but could not regain his losses and his 79 left him well behind. D. Hutchinson, the South African professional whose place in the field was allowed only on Wednesday morning, seemed to lack confidence. His irons looked rather tentative and inquiring, and seldom gave him birdie chances.