Final Putt Enables Canterbury To Win

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30740, 3 May 1965, Page 14

Final Putt Enables Canterbury To Win

A black kitten gambolling in a bunker beside the eighteenth green while the last putt of the day was being played was iucky for Canterbury in the inter-provincial golf match against Wellington at Templeton yesterday. In the gathering gloom. I. D. Woodbury, the Wellington No. 2 player, missed a putt of four feet to lose the hole and enable Canterbury to win by S! to 7 j 2 .

Perhaps feeling the effects of a rolling sea journey on Saturday night, the Wellington team played unconvincingly in the morning and by lunch was down by six games to two. In the afternoon, however, was a dramatic reversal of form and had C. W. Caldwell not won the eighteenth hole to halve his match with Woodbury, Canterbury would have been forced to concede a tie to the visiting side. Overnight rain had left its mark on the course but the Wellington players were glad of the heavier conditions. As the Wellington captain. J. D. Durry, said afterwards, it was heartening to be able to play iron shots with the knowledge that the greens would hold the ball. Six Heavy Wins This factor appeared to make little difference to Wellinton’s performance in the morning, for the visiting players’ short games were unconvincing. Canterbury stormed ahead to win six matches by substantial margins and the only two games lost were both taken to the eighteenth green. But in the afternoon the Canterbury players gained a fuller appreciation of Durry’s splendid iron play, the tremendous driving of the 19-year-old R. H. M. Knight and the brilliant putting of the Bledisloe Cup holder, P. R. Rankin. Durry. often hitting irons to within a 10ft radius of the hole, beat a tenacious R. C. Murray by one hole in the game between the top men. Knight and Rankin were the only Wellington players to win both their matches, and Rankin’s wonderful string of long putts in a homeward run of 34—three under par—in the game against E. H. M. Richards, provided one of the highlights of the day. The remaining highlights came from the play of the Canterbury men, Caldwell and J. F. Logie. In the morning, against Durry, Caldwell was in splendid touch, particularly on the greens, and romped away for a win by the unexpectedly large margin of 6 and 4. Durry was only two down at the turn but Caldwell won four holes in succession from the eleventh to the fourteenth to finish the game.

No putt semed too great for Caldwell to hole. He was successful with several between 12 feet and 20 feet and at. the seventh he holed an excellent 30-footer. He was 3 under par for the round. Logie was the only home player to win both his matches. Having disposed of B. K. Boon by the fifteenth green in the morning, he went into a lead of seven up after eight holes in his match with the veteran, W. G. Horne. He departed from this high standard a little after the turn and took a seven at the eleventh but finished the match at the thirteenth, where he was one under par. Just as Logie’s putting had been of consistently high quality against Boon so his Iron plav against Horne enabled him to sweep ahead with such spectacular success. Horne had many unhappy moments on the greens, but this only served to hasten the end. Slow to Start Murray started scratchlly against Woodbury in the morning, losing the first two holes to bogeys. But he holed a 6ft putt to halve the third hole and stop the rot: from then on Woodbury sprayed several of his shots and gradually slipped to defeat. Durry’s fine iron play was instrumental in stopping Murray winning again in the afternoon. The Wellington captain’s best shot was at the fifth, where he hit a No. 6 iron over a lone tree obscuring his vision of the green and placed the ball only 2ft from the bole. If the match did nothing else, it served to illustrate Canterbury’s fighting qualities. Murray kept carrying the fight to Durry and forced him to work hard to halve the last three holes to maintain his advantage. Caldwell was three down after four holes to Woqdbtiry by hooking his tee shots, but worked solidly at his game and on his opponent to finish with a meritorious half.

Perhaps the finest recover was effected by R. E. Clemeui who found himself five dov after 10 holes and three dow with three to play against Rai kin, but battled on with sm purpose that it was not uut the last green that he admitte defeat.

Clements gave another good display to beat R W. Wilkin son In an extraordinarily tight match. There was never mor, than one hole between the players until the elgtheenth Twa Hard Fights M. W. Stanley fought two spirited rearguard actions ■ , deserved a better fate titan to, losses. Richards, continuing his good form of the morning, found Rankin's putting to be to., great a hurdle in the second round, and D. R Hope and .1 A Orr, both convincing first round winners, struggled manfully but to no avail against Knight and Boon respectively. Orr took the place In the Can terbury side of K. D. Foxton who was not available because of business reasons. Canterbury and Wellington do not meet in the Freyberg ros< bowl at Wattikirl later this week, but both have good propeels, judging by events at Tern pieton. The day’s play served to show the match play quah ties of the players in both teams. Results. with Canterbury names first, were: R. C. Murray beat I. D Woodbury. 5 and 3: lost to J. 1) Durry. 1 down; C. W. Caldwell beat Durry, 6 and 4: halved with Woodbury. E. H. M. Rich ards beat R. W. Wilkinson. S and 2: lost to P. R. Rankin. 3 and 2. R. E Clements lost to Ran kin, 1 down: beat Wilkinson, up. D. R. Hope beat K. E. Car ter, 4 and 3: lost to R H M. Knight, 4 and 3; M. W. Stan ley lost to Knight, 1 down: lost to Carter. 3 and 2. J. F. Logie beat B. K. Boon, 4 and 3: beat W. G. Horne, 6 and 5: J A Orr beat Horne. 4 and 3: lost to Boon. 2 and 1.