Charles Leads Stars Golf

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31880, 7 January 1969, Page 13

Charles Leads Stars Golf

(N.Z. Press Association) TAURANGA. “Just two dumb shots” separated the young Katoomba golf professional,. P. Hart, from heading R. J. Charles in the Stars Travel P.G.A. $5OOO championship at Mount Maunganui yesterday.

This was how Hart described shots at the ninth and sixteenth holes when he played two second shots straight for the pin and did not allow for the wind which carried them off the green, costing him valuable shots to get hack. Hart in the Spalding Mas-

ters equalled the course record set by the winner, Charles.

Charles was once again slow in starting—a feature of his play in New Zealand. He had. three birdies in the first nine—at the first where he sank a 12ft putt, on the short fourth where he was only a foot or so from the $lOOO for a hole-in-one, and on the long fifth. On the second nine Charles stayed with the card, until the sixteenth when he had a three on the par-four hole, and on the last hole he played a magnificent second to within sft of the pin and sank the putt which he needed to hold Hart. T. Kendall (Palmerston North) who earlier in the day looked • the man to beat especially after an eagle three at the fifth and finishing the first eight fbur-under, dropped

a shot at the short ninth and could not better the card for the long second nine. However, he was more than pleased with his round, arid was still well in the running. MIXED ROUND J. Lister (Timaru) had a mixed round almost matching birdies with one-overs before he settled on the second nine to pick up shots on the twelfth, thirteenth, and fifteenth. He finished in 70, not a bad score for the conditions which included rain sweeping the course all day. S. Jones (Hastings) had putting troubles on the first five holes, then settled to finish two under the card, to share fifth place with J. Daugherty (United States), B. Boys (Hamilton) —a good starter but a poor finisher—and J. J. Sullivan (Australia). A Mount Maunganui amateur, B. Ducker, had a good

round of 72 to share second place in the amateur list with R. Murray, the New Zealand representative. Leading scores (’’denotes professional): — 68— *R. J. • Charles (Christchurch); ’P.- Hart (Australia). 69 ’T. Kendall (Palmerston North). 70— *J. Lister (Timaru).. 71— *J. J. Sullivan (Australia); S. G. Jones (Hastings); *B. Boys (Hamilton); ’J. Daugherty (U.S.). 72 — *T. Woolbank (Australia); *E. A. Ball (Australia); R. C. Murray (Timaru). B. Ducker (Mount Maunganui). 73 •N. Munro (Castlecliff); ’J. Croskery (Grange); *W. Godfrey (Auckland); *M. Bembridge (Britain); *F. Malloy (Auckland); H. Carver (Hastings); •S. Peach (Australia). 74 R. D. Gillespie (Remuera); •J. B. Parkinson (Aka ran a); ’J. Stolhand (Hawaii); ’A. A. Murray (Australia); ’P. Jackson (Australia); *G. Wolstenholme (Britain); ’B., Bent (Australia); •D. Clark (Rotorua); ’R. Stanton (Australia); *F. X. Bucklir (Loehiel). 75 ’K. D. Foxton (Nelson).