Last Four Had Tough Passages In Golf

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31031, 11 April 1966, Page 10

Last Four Had Tough Passages In Golf

No firm indication of the final composition of Canterbury’s Freyberg Rose Bowl team was provided by events on the first two days of the Christchurch Club’s Easter tournament at Shirley.

The golf was as variable as the weather, with yesterday s calm and sunshine extracting from the top players performances of unusually high quality.

There were two rounds of stroke play in boisterous winds on Saturday, when scores soared in extremely difficult conditions.

After two rounds of match play yesterday. R. E. Clements, D. R. Hope, B. K. Franks and A. T. Baxendine remain for today’s semi-finals and final. Clements was the top qualifier, but Baxendine, a comparative newcomer, from Scotland, and Franks, who is on a handicap of 4, came through at the expense of several players who are strongly in the running for Freyberg selection, among them J. F. Logie, R. K. Atkinson, M. W. Stanley and R. B. Townsend. Franks Led Way The golf on Saturday was as unattractive as the weather. The earlier starters had comparative calm for a few ’ holes and one of them, Franks, led the way with a steady round of 74, one over scratch. But with the high winds, an occasional shower, a brief warm period, and then more wind, the field as a whole failed badly. Clements dropped 2 at thesfirst hole but no more after that, and his 75 was a reflection of the fine golf he has been playing lately. Clements had a second round of 75, a fine effort in the circumstances, and he finished two shots clear of Baxendine and Hope. Logie played a splendid round of 75 and Clegg started magnificently. Although he missed a little birdie putt at the tenth, he was two under the card and he had another birdie at the twelfth with an elegant pitch shot from a bad lie. The putt, from four feet, hung obstinately on the lip for fully 10 seconds before dropping. Drove the Creek And there was some excitement at the seventeenth, where J. A. Orr and the young Timaru player, J. M. Lister, both drove the creek —Lister’s ball finished little short of the green at this 376-yard hole. Whatever happens today, this tournament wilil be remembered for the quality of the play and the closeness of the contests in the first two rounds yesterday. Clements had a tremendous struggle with M. R. Blank before winning at the seventeenth. They were both one under par going out, with Blank, who has not played tournament golf very consistently for many years, recalling his reputation as a strong match player. He fought all the way. But after holing a 30-footer for a half in birdie 4’s at the eight, he hit the hole and stayed out with a birdie putt at the ninth. They were square five holes from home, but Blank then made two greivous errors. He threeputted the fourteenth and after a magnificent tee shot at the 188yard fifteenth, he failed with his putt of only three feet. Clements, who had been bunkered, holed an eight-footer with typically fine touch. Regarded As Par 6 Clements went to two up with a superbly-won birdie at the 604yard sixteenth—a hole which, the previous day, had been played into the wind and regarded as a par 6 by most of the players. This time Clements hit a long one down the middle, another good wood, and pitched in to within four feet of the hole. Clements was round in 71, Blank 74, but there were many other fine scores on a morning perfect for golf. Where the traffic on the greens had worried the players on Saturday, there were fewer problems, for all the greens were watered overnight, and they held the wellhit ball safely. I. D. Dobson was out In 36, Stanley in 35, R. Bradley, Hope and Franks in 36, and there were only a few, conceded short putts in these scores. M. L. Ryan, the Canterbury cricketer, making his first appearance in this almost august golfing company, was 37 for the first nine. Logie was home in 33, three under, for 71: Stanley, Townsend and Bradley also finished with 71. Hope was one under when his game ended at the fifteenth, Dobson was 73. It was a remarkable change. Behind Only Once Dobson played particularly well, but the 41-year-old Stanley was behind only after he had lost the first ho.e to a fine birdie 3. Stanley holed a 30footer for his birdie at the second, had another at the sixth, a third at the eighth. It was a very fine match, with both men at the top of their bent.

lif Stanley was not quite as consistently straight off the tees as Dobson, his chipping and putting were of the extraordinary quality of his best days Lor the province; he had only 26 putts in the round, and he won the last hole with his fifth birdie—a putt of only four feet.

The battle between Logie and Bradley was even more exciting. Logie started very raggedly and lost the first two ho’.es but won the third when Bradley missed the green. From that point it was a tremendous struggle, and a contrast in styles. Logie is an easy, stylish swinger of the club. Bradley has a controlled but vigorous swing, an inclination to attack, and with a commendably happy personality, in success or adversity. He had cause to be pleased at the long fourth, where his second shot was kept in bounds by a strand of fence wire—but he lost the hole to a birdie 4. Mit Back With Birdies Bradley cheerfully hit back with birdies at the eighth and ninth. Logie countered with one at the tenth, Bradley had another at the twelfth and again went to one up. He played a lovely iron at the short thirteenth putting his ball six feet from the hole. Logie was 50 feet away, but h’s putt, over a sharp hump of hill, found the target and Brad ley did well to sink his putt for the half in 2’s. Logie squared the match when Bradley was bunkered at the fifteenth, but Bradley went ahead again with a birdie at the next hole, his fifth of the round. Under considerable pressure, Logie bit a fine straight tee shot at the seventeenth, but

Bradley was in the rough at the left and his putt for his 4 and a half missed by an inch. At the last hole Logie again hit a beautiful drive, and Bradley was well out on the right and. pitching in, ran across the green well beyond the hole. But he sank a putt of 25 feet for his sixth birdie and Logie from four or five feet holed his for the half.

They had pars at the nineteenth and twentieth; and Bradley won at the twenty-first with yet another birdie. He was four under for 21 holes, a remarkable round for a youngster not yet 22. whose work in the country cuts his golf down to what most of his rivals would regard as well below a reasonable minimum. Logie, when the weight of events pressed on him most heavily, responded superbly. He is regarded as one of the best of pressure putters in Canterbury golf. Putting Was Off Another very young player, 17-year-old R. E. Hobbs, of Amberley, also has an excellent reputation as a putter, and it was a pity he was not quite as sure of himself as he might have been on the green’s when he played Hope. It was an even game in the early stages, but after about s»lx holes Hope began to hit the bald in his very best fashion, and from being two over, he reached the turn one under.

The old-fashioned virtue of keeping the bald down the middle gave Franks a victory over the exciting young Timaru player, J. M. Lister, who has just turned 19. A big hitter, and a bold one, he is also a fine putter, but he made a few errors here and there, and they were sufficient for Franks to keep the game fairly welil under control.

Clegg and Ryan also had a tremendous batle, with Clegg again impressing with the quality of his shot-making and depressing with the thread of inaccuracy which runs through his game. The match was a gay mixture of brilliance and failure, but Clegg, bunkered at the last, won it by splashing his ball out two inches from the hole.

Finished Brilliantly Townsend, making a bold bid for a Freyberg place, played splendidly to defeat Atkinson, a victory based primarily on the quality of his iron shots. Atkinson had a very bad passage after the turn, but Town send finished brilliantly, and completed the round with three birdies in the last four holes. D. F. Wiilliamson, with solid golf to the green and the sure putting touch he finds regularly, had four birdies and a lead of three holes after he had played 10 against Baxendine. but the Russley player slowly fought back. Williamson played some exceptionally good golf but could not sustain his effort and Baxendine might weM have won a little earlier than the twentyfirst.

In the afternoon. Clements and Stanley met in another splendid struggle. elements, with his strong wrists, played some spectacular drives and irons, and Stanley was usually out-distanced. But he came into his own on the greens: this time he had 28 putts for the round He missed a four-footer for a two at the third hole, and was a provable seven at the long fourth, and was still out in 38 (Clements 36) and square at the turn.

There was some beautiful golf coming home—straight driving crisp, clean irons, and always the threat that Stanley would hale another putt. He sank one of 15 feet for a birdie at the twelfth and when Clements hit one into the hedge at the next snort hole, they were square with three to play, and square at the last.

Birdie Putt To Win There Stanley mis-hlt his drive and was left 100 yards in the rear. He hit his second into a bunker but came out weld and holed his putt for the 4 But Clements, with the drive of the day, wedged in to about six feet and made no mistake with the birdie putt. He was level with the card, notwithstanding his 5 at the short 15th. Bradley played well, and without much luck, against Hope, many of his putts for wins and halves missing by minute margins. But it would have

taken a Palmer to stop Hope when he began a tremendous run with a birdie at the eighth hole. A magnificent tee shot at the ninth gave him a 2. and at the tenth (456 yards) he calmly sank a 30-footer for an eagle, and followed that with one of 15 feet for another birdie at the eleventh—five under in four holes. Hope was two under when the match ended at the fourteenth. Franks gave another remarkably precise display to defeat A. Clegg whose putting failed htm miserably. Franks was again only one or two over the card. Townsend seemed to be firmly In control against Baxendine. and was two up at the turn. He then lost three holes in a row, mainly through his own errors, and Baxendine did not relax the grip this gave him. It was a splendid autumn day. and the golf matched the mood of the players and the spectators. If the same quality can be reached today, when Hope meets Clements and Baxendine plays Franks in the semi-finals, It will offer the Canterbury selectors some rather badly-needed encouragement. Results: SENIIOR Qualifiers: 150: R. E. Clements. 75. 75. 152: A. T. Baxendine 74, 78; D. R. Hope 77. 75. 154: B. K. Franks 74. SO R K Atkinson 76, 78; M. W. Stanley 155: M. L. Ryan 78. 77; J. F Logic SO, 75. 156: M. R. Blank 76. SO; D. F Williamson 76. SO: R E. Hobbs 77. 79; J. M. Lister 77. 79 157: R. B. Townsend SI. 76; 1 D. Dobson SI, 76. 158: R. Brierley 82, 76; B. L. Clegg 82. 76. First Round.—Clements beat Blank. 2 and 1: Stanley beat Dobson, 2 up: Brierley beat Logie at the twenty first; Hope beat Hobbs, 5 and 3: Franks beat Lister, 3 and 2: Clegg beat Ryan. 1 up; Townsend beat Atkinson, 4 and 3; Baxendine beat Williamson at the twenty-first. Second Round.—Clements beat Stanley. 1 up; Hope beat Briarley, 5 and 4; Franks heat Clegg, 5 and 4: Baxendine beat Townsend, 3 and 2. Easter Peak —Blank beat Dobson by default; Logie beat Hobbs, 1 down: Lister beat Ryan. 2 up; Atkinson beat Williamson, 6 and 5. INTERMEDIATE Qualifiers: 164: C. J. Ward 81, S 3. 165: R. A. Pease 80. S 3: P Tomlinson SO, 85; W. 8. Bennie 82. 83. 166: R. D. Jones 80. 86. 167: K. T. Newton 82, 85: E J. Gallen 85. 82; D. Began 82 85: D. C. Watson 84. 83. 168: N. Gladstone 86. 82: J. H Freeth 84. 84. 169: J. j. Baines 82, 87. 170: R. J. McMaster 86. 84- F E. Rose 80. 90; M. E. Assher 8L 89; J. G. Mangan 87, 83. First Round.—Ward beat Watson. 3 and 2; Jones beat Rose 5 and 4; Gallon beat McMaster 6 and 5; Freeth beat Tomlinson. ! u ?,' Bennie beat Baines, 2 and 1; Ussher beat Newton, 1 up; Gladstone beat Pease, 6 and 4 Mangan beat Began. 5 and 4 Second Round—Ward beat Jones at the nineteenth; Freeth beat Gallon at the nineteenth: Benn.e beat Mangan, 4 and 3: Ussher beat Gladstone. 3 and ■ JUNIOR Qualifiers:— 174: A, T. Hopkins, 85. 89. 176: L. A. Trembath. 86, 90. 178: E. G. Keenan, 83, 95. 180: R. W. Garwen, 89, 91. 188: P. K. Richardson, 94, 94W. Cleveland, 92. 96; K. Perrin, 90. 98 189: M. W. Williams, 91, 93 192: J. E. Crew, 95. 97. 193: D. L. Gordon, 98. 95. 194: M. M. Hibbard. 97. 97 199: D. B. Ward, 100, 99 201: D. M. Williams, 102, 99. 202: W. R. Patterson. 100, 102. 206: P. C. Guthrey, 108, 98. First Round.—Hopkins beat Crew. 3 and 2: Patterson beat Perr.n, 1 up: Richardson beat gn'hrey, 2 an s L Keenan beat Ti'bberd. 2 and 1; Garven beat D. M. Williams. 3 and 2; Cleveland beat Ward. 5 and 4: Gordon beat Trembath. 3 and 1M. W. Williams a bye. Second Round—Hopkins beat Patterson, 7 and 5: Richardson beat Keenan. 2 and 1; Garven beat M. W. Williams. 3 and 1 C-.eve.and beat Gordon. 5 and