N.Z. Women Falter, Equal 13th In Golf

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31801, 4 October 1968, Page 13

N.Z. Women Falter, Equal 13th In Golf

(From lAN WELLS, N.Z.P.A. special correspondent) MELBOURNE. A second day of relatively high scoring has lost the New Zealand team any chance of winning the Espirito Santo Trophy —the world women’s team golf championship.

Mrs J. Whitehead had the best New Zealand score 83. Miss N. I. White had 84 and Miss G. Taylor 89.

The New Zealand team’s total is now 332 equal thirteenth with Japan.

After the first round on Wednesday, New Zealand was equal eighth. The leader is France on 308, followed by Australia, 310, the United States, 312, and Britain 321. RAIN AND HAIL

Once again the weather proved a telling factor. For the first few holes of Miss White’s round heavy rain fell, and for the last few holes of Miss Taylor’s round it rained and hailed. The temperatures were not as low as they were in the first round, but there was no marked improvement in the over-all scoring. Miss White had a bad start at the third hole when she went into a fairway bunker, took two to come out, and ended with a seven. Worse was to follow at the next hole, 150 yards and a par three. Miss White put her tee shot into a bunker and took another two to get out The second bunker shot went through the green, and

after chipping back and taking two putts, she had dropped another three strokes.

HOMEWARD RECOVERY She was out in 44 and seemed to be heading for a high total, but she played steady golf on the next nine, dropping only three more strokes.

Mrs Whitehead began with a birdie after a 15ft putt and produced controlled golf. But at the sixth hole she sliced her tee shot into a belt of trees and scrub, needed two strokes to get back on to the fairway, and was two down on the hole. On the seventh, she underclubbed her tee shot, and it found a bunker in front of the green. Her explosion was too strong. She chipped back and two-putted to drop another three strokes, to be six over the card. But Mrs Whitehead also settled down coming home and dropped only three strokes, one being a threeputted green at the sixteenth. PLAYING IN SAND

Miss Taylor again visited many of the bunkers which abound on the course. She was in sand eight times during her round, and twice took two strokes to get out Her tee shots were satisfactory and her fairway iron shots were struck firmly, but for the second time she could not escape the bunkers, and when she did get on to the

green, she had problems judging the sudden burrows which are a characteristic of the areas immediately surrounding many of the holes. Miss Taylor took 39 putts during her round. New Zealand could take some comfort from the fact that many of the more fancied golfers could not score well, and even the great Miss C. Lacoste, of France, had an 81 after meeting trouble in the middle section of her round.

However, Miss Lacoste's two French team-mates, Misses Cros-Rubin and B. Varangot, saved the day for France by returning rounds of 75 and 77, respectively. Their fine efforts enabled France to stave off a determined challenge by Australia, whose star competitors were Miss M. Hickey (75) and Miss D. Thomas (77). Other features of yesterday’s second round were the slide of the consistent United States team to third place, two strokes behind the Australians, and the complete collapse of the Canadians, who were in third place with Australia after the first round. They are now 14 strokes from the lead.