Rose bowl golf team seems 'cut and dried'

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32213, 4 February 1970, Page 17

Rose bowl golf team seems 'cut and dried'

(By

J. K. Brooks)

T’HE Canterbury golf selectors (Messrs J. W. Logan and R. E. Clements) have no need for a crystal ball to help them choose their side for the Freyberg Rose Bowl contest in March; the team already appears to have selected itself. Four of the five men who battled for Canterbury at Lower Hutt last year have shown in recent tournaments that they are ready and willing to take up the cudgels again. The fifth, D. R. Hope, is overseas, and R. K Atkinson, a former representative, appears to be th; logical man to take his place. The only other serious contender for a place is G. L. Titmus. the tall 18-year-old Templeton dub champion. who brought off a sensational golfing coup last year by winning the South Island title. The selectors might feel that Titmus needs another year's experience before he is flung into the Freyberg tournament, but at the same time they are desperately searching for new blood on which to base future Canterbury teams. So they have to balance Titmus’s inexperience against his genuine talent in making their final assessment. Atkinson, who has a re-

cord second to none in Woodward Cup inter-dub matches, played in three Rose Bowl tournaments, for a 45 per cent return. But he was omitted from last year’s side at a time when he held the provincial match play title. He reinforced his claims last week-end with two outstanding match play efforts against the seasoned Nelson competitors, D. W. Maley and L. J. Stephens. R. M. Farrant appears certain to be named as No. 1; his victory against the international, G. D. Brown ,'Balclutha). in the Canterbury championship final late last year stamped him as a player for the big occasion. In his Freyberg debut last year he achieved a 50 per cent return, and was subsequently chosen as the nbntravelling reserve for the New Zealand team. Farrant is an excellent hitter of the ball, and his admirable temperament makes him a formidable opponent for any amateur in the country. The most experienced representative is E. H. M. Richards, with seven Rose Bowl tournaments to his credit. But he did not have a satisfactory tournament last year and his place seemed to be in jeopardy. In the last few months a revitalised Richards has stormed round Canterbury courses, hitting tremendous drives and chipping and putting with aplomb. He has seldom been lower than

third in the open tournament of recent months, and he has the best scoring average a round of any Canterbury player in the last four months. Last year’s captain, J. F. Logie, has won a deserved reputation through his skill on the greens, and his mild manner masks a fighting spirit At Lower Hutt he was an unqualified success, winning five of his seven matches, and he now has the best Freyberg record of the current representative players. He seems certain to re-

tain a high place in the order, and the captaincy. It was one of golf's most popular success stories when J. R. Broadhurst went through the 1969 Rose Bowl tournament unbeaten, with six wins and one halved match. In the three previous contests, Broadhurst seldom did justice to his ability, but those bitter memories were washed away on the Hutt course. Since then he has been a buoyant figure at Canterbury tournaments, with victories in the Templeton open and the Agfa event at Methven to further bolster his confidence. These men form the “shadow” Rose Bowl side at present, and time is running out for other players with hopes of dislodging the top men from their perch. The representative match against Mid-South Canterbury next Sunday and the Canterbury stroke championship on February 14 and 15 will be virtually the last opportunities for outside candidates to make a distinct impression on the selectors. By the time of the South Island inter-provincial contest at Invercargill at the end of the month, the die will be cast There will be cause for surprise if Messrs Clements and Logan do not produce a Freyberg team which follows the same order as the Canterbury side they picked to play Nelson—Farrant, Richards, Broadhurst, Atkinson and Logie, with Titmus as reserve.