Five With Prospects Of Golf Success

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31982, 8 May 1969, Page 17

Five With Prospects Of Golf Success

Five teams, including Canterbury, have emerged with great chances of winning the Russell Grace Cup, the symbol of women’s inter-provincial golf supremacy, when the final two rounds are played at the Brandon course, Ashburton, today.

A Canterbury win would be its first since 1953, but it will need a magnificent effort against Wellington in the sixth round this afternoon to achieve final success. On the basis of individual matches won after the fourth round yesterday, ManawatuWanganui has 14} points, Wellington, the holder, and Auckland 12}, Canterbury 12, and Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay and South Canterbury 10}. However, Hawke’s BayPoverty Bay has played one round fewer, and its match this morning against Mana-watu-Wanganui may prove to be the most vital of the tournament

Hawke’s Bay will be anxious to prove itself the premier golf province in New Zealand. Last month its men’s team won the Freyberg Rose Bowl at Hutt The other placings are:— Bay of Plenty-Thames Valley 10, Otago B}, Waikato-King

Country 8, Taranaki 7, Southland 54, Northland 5, and Nelson - West Coast - Marlborough 2}. The players defied yesterday’s blustery, icy winds and driving rain with great skill and remarkable stamina. The rain was never sufficiently sustained to drench the welldrained open course, but was a great handicap for the players, especially in the morning. Canterbury did very well to take two matches off Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay, and Miss M. Ensor, at No. 1, almost defeated the New Zealand international, Miss H. Booth, in a splendid match. Against Waikato-King Country in the afternoon, Canterbury fared much better, winning 4-1, and with a little luck Miss J. Davidson would have made it a clean sweep. In both her rounds she was all square coming to the eighteenth green, but on each occasion three-putted to lose the holes and the matches. LAST-NINE RALLY

Manawatu-Wanganui had a fright against Bay of PlentyThames Valley when it was down, 1-4, after the first nine holes, but it picked up well in the final stages to reverse the position. Wellington and Auckland had a stern tussle in the afternoon, too. After Miss J. Hanratty had won the last three holes to beat Miss N. B. White (Auckland), each had taken two matches.

The decision rested with the international, Mrs R. Little (Auckland), and Wellington’s exciting teen-age prospect, Miss M. Smith. Mrs Little finally won at the eighteenth after Miss Smith had sunk a 50ft birdie putt at the fourteenth to go 1 up. The Canterbury players, Misses C. Sullivan and S. Boag are still unbeaten. The former was three up after nine in the morning and steadily increased her lead to win 7 and 5. Then she had her toughest encounter in the afternoon against Mrs H. Robinson (Waikato - King Country). They were all square after nine and Miss Sullivan was one down after thirteen. She rallied to win the next two holes and was able to stay ahead. RETAINED CONTROL Miss Boag was very steady in the morning. She was four up after 10 holes and even though she lost the thirteenth, fourteenth and seventeenth, she still looked to have the match under control. Her afternoon round was not particularly hectic. She

turned five up, and a birdie at the eleventh, the most difficult hole on the course, enabled her to retain this lead. Miss Ensor put up a great fight against Miss Booth. Turning two down, but playing accurate approach shots, she won the tenth and twelfth to even the contest, but Miss Booth took the next two against a slightly tentative Miss Ensor.

Although having to sacrifice considerable distances to Miss Booth off the tees, Miss Ensor battled on. She took the sixteenth to narrow the gap but was unable to do more than halve the remaining holes. Her afternoon round was one of quickly changing fortunes. She was all square after fourteen against Mrs R. Middleton (Waikato-Thames Valley), but won the sixteenth and seventeenth to finish ahead, 2 and 1. In the morning, Miss Davidson was involved in a dispute at the sixteenth, which held up the match for half-an-hour. Her opponent, Miss P. Power, did not replace her ball correctly after lifting it at the sixteenth and Miss Davidson lodged a protest, which was later upheld. This made the match all square and the pair then halved the seventeenth in sevens before Miss Davidson had her putting troubles on the last green. A beaming Mrs V. LangdaleHunt won her first match in the afternoon, and made it a memorable one, by 7 and 6. She turned five up after winning five holes from the fourth.