TEN UNDER PAR C. Clark In Lead After Two Rounds

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31235, 6 December 1966, Page 21

TEN UNDER PAR C. Clark In Lead After Two Rounds

f.Xew Zealand Press Association/ HAMILTON. The 21-year-old Yorkshire professional, G. Clark, shot two rounds of 67 to be 10 under par after the first two rounds of the £l2OO Metalcraft Tournament at Hamilton yesterday.

His brilliant effort for a 36-hole total of 134 gave him a three-stroke lead over the field, with two rounds left to play tomorrow.

The St. Andrews Jinks of par-72 were in perfect order, but a strong northerly caused plenty o f trouble during the two rounds. M. Roesink (Holland), with a 68 in the morning and a second round of 69, was three strokes behind Clark on 137. One shot further back was the Australian professional, R. C. Vines. Three professionals, G. B. Wolstenholme (Britain), T. Jacklin (Britain) and R. J. Shaw (Sydney) were all on 140.

Clark, from Scarborough in England, was one of the few players to really master the conditions.

Without dropping a stroke on the second nine, he scored birdies on the second, fifth, seventh, eighth and eleventh, but several times had to rely on delicate chip shots to recover after some of his long seconds failed to find the green.

His driving was superb, straight down the middle of the fairways, and the gusty northerly failed to take them off line.

On the 195-yard par three fourteenth, however, it looked as though he might drop a shot when his No. 3 iron tee shot was pushed to the right and above the green. A beautiful chip and putt saved his card.

An easy four at the fifteenth, and another chip and single putt gave him a par four at the sixteeenth. Two further pars at the seventeenth and eighteenth followed. Roesink shot a four-under 68 in the first round with a sizzling first nine of 31— against the card’s 35. He was even with par on the second

nine, considered the easier half of the course. ! In the afternoon, Roesink, playing off the tenth tee, attracted a sizeable gallery as he chased Clark. I His card was in danger at I the 306-yard eighth, but he managed a one-over five. Otherwise his afternoon 69 was a round of immaculate golf. He scored birdies at the eleventh, twelfth and fifteenth but dropped a shot at the tenth to turn two under. He went four under after birdies at the fourth and seventh icoming home, but the dreaded three-wood shot through the back of the green brought him back to three under and seven for the tournament. The 21-year-old Brisbane professional, Vines, added a 70 to his first round 68, after missing some greens in the afternoon with erratic iron play. At the sixteenth he was

bunkered with a No. 4 iron and missed a 2ft putt on the thirteenth. His morning 68 required only 30 putts. P. A. Maude, the leading amateur in the morning with a brilliant 69, slumped to a five-over 77 in the second round. He collapsed dramatically over the final six holes. For 30 holes he did not drop a shot, but he then i stuck trouble with his driviing and putting. K. D. G. Nagle had a far from happy day with rounds iof 71 and 75. Foot trouble upset him in the morning but he managed to go into lunch two under par. The afternoon was a different story and it was one continual struggle. R. J. Charles, after a one-over-par 73 in the morning, played steady golf in the afternoon for a 69. His putting was still letting him down but a homeward half of 32 must have been encouraging for the final two rounds. He was in all sorts of trouble in the morning round, finding the traps around several of the greens.