Title-Holder Heads N.Z. Women’s Golf Qualifiers

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31500, 14 October 1967, Page 15

Title-Holder Heads N.Z. Women’s Golf Qualifiers

(By R. T. BRITTENDEN)

Perhaps it was the shape of things to come at Shirley yesterday. Miss N. B. White, holder of the women’s golf match play championship of New Zealand, was top qualifier for the match play which begins on Monday, when the second round of the national stroke championship was played yesterday.

Miss White, in second position after the first round, had .a mathematically moderate 78 yesterday—although she played better golf than her score might suggest —and she will hold a strong hand in the days ahead. She led the field with 151 principally because golf, once more, was a leveller.

Those who had performed exceptionally well on the first day had less success yesterday, so that when the third round begins this morning, two strokes cover the top six players.

Miss White, a good striker of the ball, was struggling for figures all the way through her round. The top player for New Zealand in Canada this year, she slipped strokes here and there over the first half, and never seemed to have an ounce of luck.

She was five over after 13 holes, and it was an achieve-

ment, in such disheartening circumstances, to be level with the card for the last five. Miss W. Bryant, who had set a course record in the first round, started sadly. Minor misdemeanours were cosUy, and she was four over after three holes. At the sixth, she had a putt of four feet for her

birdie, but went past the cup, and her ball ran on far enough to make the return difficult—and she missed it. She was not on terms with her putter all day, although she rolled in a 12-footer for a birdie at the short ninth, and her 80 left her one behind Miss White.

The strongly-built Poverty Bay player, Miss H. Booth, had the course record in her keeping a few holes from home, after a grand display of powerful, precise golf. On the outward half, she made few mistakes, and when she made them, her recoveries were magnificent. Three Under Card After starting with six bogeys, she holed a fourfooter for a birdie at the seventh, one of eight feet for another birdie at the eighth, and at the long tenth her approach left her only three feet' from the cup, and she was three under the card. A tremendous drive at the 306-yard twelfth. left her little short of the green and she seemed certain to have a wonderful round when she overcame misfortune at the short thirteenth.

Shirley has seldom looked better than it did yesterday: the beautifully-groomed fairways and fast, close-cut greens were a credit to Mr M. W. Stanley and his staff. But Miss Booth’s tee shot at the thirteenth barely missed the green, yet finished in a sunken bare patch, the size of a cup, and the shape of a saucer.

She elected to take her putter, to the consternation of several notable golfing gentlemen present, but vindicated her choice by getting her ball within three feet of the hole and sinking her putt for a par 3. Bunker Trouble But she crashed badly at the fourteenth, after a splendid/drive. When taking the club away to play her iron second, she struck a tuft of grass and the club stuttered alarmingly. She stopped the shot, walked away, but came back to hit her iron wide of the right-hand bunker. She had a difficult little pitch from a bare lie, was a foot short with it and dropped into the bunker, finishing with a two-over 6. At the short fifteenth she again pushed her iron out badly, but chipped back splendidly for her 3. However, her prospect of a course record disappeared with another iron at the seventeenth which went right and was bunkered. Miss Wickham, a former New Zealand women’s cricket representative, played very solid golf to finish only a shot from the front and Mrs D. A. Whitehead also gave notice that in the match play, she will be one of the hardest to beat. Only a little putt at the eighteenth kept her from joining Miss White. The top Christchurch player is Miss C. Sullivan, of Avondale, who went out in 38, one over par. She was in line for first place until she dropped a shot at the

fifteenth, found the ditch at the next and finished with a two-over 7, then dropped another at the seventeenth. Her golf has been extremely sound, however, and her prospects in the match play cannot be discounted. Better Putting With more putting successes, Miss B. Stafford (Timaru) was able to capitalise on her fine driving to score 76, the day’s second-best round. Mrs T. G. Lister, also of Timaru, was in splendid form with an outward half of 35, but she faltered coming home, and at the last had a dismal and disappointing 7. Miss S. Grigg (Christchurch) fought hard again and qualified easily,, and there was much satisfaction that the champion in 1965, Miss G. Taylor (Te Awamutu), was able to recover well enough after a bad first round to qualify comfortably. She is a fine match player, and now her putter is beginning to work, she should live up to her reputation. Among the .qualifiers are two youngsters—Miss G. Longney (Maraenui), who is only 19, and Miss S. M. Hamilton (Omakau), a year her senior. Thirty-two players with totals of 167 or better qualified for the match-play championship.