Record-Breaking 72 For Women’s Golf Leader

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31499, 13 October 1967, Page 17

Record-Breaking 72 For Women’s Golf Leader

(By

R. T. BRITTENDEN)

A record-breaking round of 72 put Miss W. Bryant (Te Awamutu) in front of the field when the first round of the stroke championship, and the first match play qualifying round in the New Zealand women’s golf championship was played at Shirley yesterday.

In mild, cloudy weather—windless until all but a few of the 102 competitors had finished—the 23-year-old New Zealand representative played superb golf. But if she broke Miss S. Grigg’s Shirley record, she was closely attended by several top players.

In all, 10 players broke 80, and the stage has been set for extremely close competition today, when the 32 players to take part in the match play will be known.

Onlv one stroke behind Miss Bryant is another current New Zealand representative. Miss N. B. White (Titirangi), with Miss C. Sullivan (Avondale) and the former national champion, Miss U. Wickham (Tauranga) now on a plus one handicap—two strokes further back.

It was a day for highly Interesting golf, with conditions very much in favour of the competitors. There was encouraging run on the fairways, the greens held the well-struck shot, and were groomed for putting. Confident Strokes The “woman’s touch” was very much in evidence: in general, the quality of the putting was superb, particularly from the younger players, whose measure of pace and line was equal to their confidence.

Miss Bryant, a disarmingly unassuming young woman, was one of the later starters, but she escaped the wind which was a cause of concern over the last few holes at the end of the day. She played Shirley as if she had been brought up there, hitting green after green with sweetly-struck irons, and putting in a most practical and rewarding fashion. With her decidedly inside-out style, she hit some fine tee shots, notwithstanding the loop in her swing. She was one under going out—a birdie at the 422 yd seventh—and at the eighth and ninth holes she had good chances of birdies. At the ninth, a delicately-judged downhill putt struck the hole slowly, but stayed out. Missed By Yard She did not miss a green until the fourteenth hole, and then it was only by a yard or so. Her first real error was at the long tenth, where her fairway wood was slightly cut and caught the tree on the corner. But she recovered calmly for her 5. She looked like holing her tee shot at the short thirteenth, her ball running up to the cup and swinging away at the last second to finish pin high and a foot from the hole. But her line was made more difficult when her partner, Miss B. Stafford (Timaru) also hit a splendid tee shot. Miss Stafford’s ball knocked Miss Bryant’s a few inches but left her a put with decided borrow. However she holed it for her birdie to be two under.

Like A Champion The fifteenth was a tragedy for Miss Bryant. There her suggestion of draw became a minor hook and she was bunkered at the left. Her ball was almost beneath the lip on the far side from the hole and she had to play with one foot in the bunker, one above

It. She went Into the trees, made a good recovery, but had a two-over 5.

Miss Bryant played aggressive golf from first to last, and if further testimony to her courage was needed, it came after this disaster. At the 478-yard sixteenth, she was in lush grass beside the fairway for 2, but hit a great iron into the green and holed her 8-footer for a birdie. Then at the seventeenth, her iron was off line, but she came from the bunker like a champion to get her 4. Miss White, holder of the match play championship, always looked good, and she dropped only one shot going out. A tall woman, she got the ball out as far as anyone, and on the homeward half she revealed the form which has brought her such a proud record. Se played immaculate golf, with seven pars and two birdies for a 34.

Christchurch patriots were thrilled with the performance of the slimly-built Miss Sullivan. For nearly all the round, she played lovely golf, finding each green to the fifteenth in regulation figures.

She was one under going out, had a grand birdie chance at the tenth which slipped away, but began a more troubled spell when she three-putted the short thirteenth. Her easy swing on the tees and her crisp irons promised an outstanding performance, and although she dropped three shots coming home, it was a fine round. Faded At Finish Miss Wickham, a former match play title-holder, played solidly to be out in 37, scratch figures. And when she. birdied the twelfth—a difficult hole, now, with its sharplysloping green—she was in sight of greatness. But she dropped a shot at each hole from the fourteenth to the seventeenth, finishing with a birdie which kept her very much in touch with the leader. Mrs D. A. Whitehead (Manawatu), formerly Mrs J. Mangan, showed that her voluntary retirement from international golf did not I

coincide with a decline In form. She will be one of the hardest to beat. She was two over going out, one over coming home, and she never enjoyed the liberal fortune which inevitably attends a handful of players on such a day. The holder of the stroke championship, Mrs N. D. Cullen (Invercargill), was another who looked proficient but had a somewhat unrewarding day. Miss S. M. Hamilton (Omakau) had a splendid score of 78 for a player on a handicap of 8, and Miss G. Longney (Maraenui) who holded in one at practice on Tuesday—impressed with her style and skill. Leg Bandaged There was a little epic in courage in the performance of Miss Grigg. Still suffering from the effects of a bad car accident some months ago, and about to return to hospital for another operation, she played with her right leg heavily bandaged, but was round in 81—in the circumstances, a superb performance.

She had a fine birdie at the 150-yard third with a 10-foot putt and delighted everyone by finishing her round with another birdie before a crowded club-house. One of the uisappointing results came from Miss G. Taylor, a member of the New Zealand team in Canada earlier this year. Although she is one of the most stylish and best strikers, in the field. Miss Taylor returned an 84, due principally to an inability to hole short putts—a shortcoming which, for a while also plagued Miss Stafford, who otherwise looked very good indeed. $5OO Shot

(N.Z. Press Association) HAMILTON.

The first professional to hole in one at the 150-yard eighteenth hole in the New Zealand Open golf championship at Hamilton from November 15-18 will win a $5OO I prize.