No-nonsense Golf From Top Junior Girls

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32301, 20 May 1970, Page 19

No-nonsense Golf From Top Junior Girls

<By R. T. BRITTENDEN) , South Canterbury’s 1 top Russell Grace tournament player, Miss S. Ritchie, topped the qualifiers when the national junior girls’ golf tournament began at Russley yesterday in miserably cold weather.

In the dank, damp air, and a stiff easterly wind, these talented young under-21 golf-j ers did not score well in the morning, only the defending champion, Miss S. Beadle, a 17-year-old from Belmont, breaking 80. But in the afternoon there was some wonderfully good golf from Misses Ritchie, P.l Dudding (Springfield) and V. Stocks (Christchurch). It was not the sort of day for which the mini-skirt was designed, and some of the youngsters must have suffered agonies in their obei-) sance to fashion. However.; there was some compensation; in the surprising amount of; run; the best nlayers nearly, always found themselves within very easy ranee of the six par-5 holes after two shots. The quality of the golf in the afternoon was splendid, but there was more to commend the occasion than the

runs of pars and birdies. The < J speed at which the players 1 moved round Russley was I j startling. 1 ’ Anyone wanting to watch a particular player had to give 11 the game his full attention; i these youngsters were brisk!, of movement, quick of de-11 cision and execution of the) stroke; many of them took noj more than two hours and a quarter for the round. ,

It was a good day’s golf, too, because of the attitude of the girls. They gave every evidence of enjoying them- , selves; by comparison, a ’ men’s or even a boys’ tournament is a slow crawl, with most of the competitors ap-1 parently suffering agonies. ) Although it was a national championship, and taken • seriously, it was by no means a grim occasion. One youngster’s armament consisted of ' a wood, two irons, a putter, > and a cheerful disposition. ■ Another player had one eye ■ bandaged and covered because of a recent affliction, but she played happily on. i; There were twins from North f j Canterbury, similar in looks 'land style and with identical s handicaps. si One of the triumphs of the > dav was that of Miss A. Robertson, who came from the i harsh training ground of the ■ Lake Coleridee course to score a net 67 in the morns ing, thus reducing her handi-

cap of 22 by three—although there was, in her outward half of 46, a costly 10 at the long second. Miss Beadle yesterday had I dreadful trouble with the first I nine holes at Russley. They I cost her 43 strokes in the | morning—six over the card I —and 45 in the afternoon. But [twice she covered the second nine in 36, one under the card.

At the start of the day, she three-putted five times in the first few holes. She is a fine driver and hit some grand fairway woods; in common with the others, she is no: Amazon, but got the ball out spectacular distances. The day’s most impressive golf was in Miss Dudding’s afternoon round. This cheer-l ful and relaxed 19-year-old from Rotorua had a poor first round but from the start of the second she looked in form. Hitting all her shots easily and well, she started with a string of eight pars and at the ninth had a tap-in birdie 4. She missed the short tenth green and dropped a stroke, [but ran in a curving 20-foot [downhill putt for a birdie at! the eleventh, had another birdie at the fourteenth, only to founder, as did others, at the 165-.vard fifteenth. She missed the green, and for once her putter failed her: she was down in 5. Another

birdie came at the 460-yard sixteenth, but she dropped a shot at the last hole.

With her distinctively high swing, Miss Dudding, a candidate for national selection, was the most consistently good stroke-maker in the field. Her 74, level with the card, was the best round of the day. Miss Ritchie also played grand golf in the afternoon. She has an aggressive method, and although her driving was good, it was the quality of her iron play which attracted most attention. Time and again she hit beautiful .shots to the middle of the green, and she was within millimetres of a sensational !score.

Birdies at the fifth and sixth put her one under, 36. going out, and she was still one under with four to go. But the fifteenth made her its victim too; two shots from a bunker, two putts, 5. The leading Canterbury player. Miss Stocks, had a disastrous morning, but methodically fought her way back into contention. She hit her shots easily and well to string together 14 consecutive pars and she should have been one under, for at the fourteenth she missed a short birdie putt. She dropped one at the fifteenth, another at the final hole, to finish with 76. '

The top 16 qualifiers begin match play this morning. They are:— 158— S. Ritchie (.Geraldine). 82, 76. 159 — P. Dudding (Springfield!, 85, 74. 160 — M. Smith (Shandon), 80. 80; S. Beadle (Belmont), 79, 81. 164 —V. Stocks (Christchurch), 88, 76. 172—S. Rutherford (Amberley!. 84, 88. 177 R. White (Geraldine), 88. 80: M. Wilson (Hamilton), 89, 88: J. Harper (Springfield), 88, 89. 178— F. Pere (Gisborne), 96. 82: D. Law (Nelson!, 90. 88, 179 J. Rutherford (Amberley). 90, 89; S. Smith (Rodney), 89, 90. ISO—J. Lewis (Geraldine), 88, 92: C. West (Pukekohe), 89, M,

181— J. Knight (North Otago), 92, 89. Non-Qualifiers 182— P. Barstow (Huapai), 88. 94. 183 — A. Robertson (Lake Coleridge), 89. 94. 184 — S. Bartlett (Manawatii), 92. 92. 187—J. Broad <Te Awamutu), 93. 94. 189—A. Maskelyne (Westown), 95. 94. 200—A. Wilkinson (Springfield). 102. 98. 203—S. Aitken (Ashburton), 199. 104 i 2Q4 —A. White (Geraldine), 102. 102. 205 —D. Bryant (Fitzroy), 102. 1103. . 211 —S. Clcphanc (Harewood). 1108, 103: B Mitchell dnvercarigill). 105. 106. i 212—G. Ward (Springfield), 107, 105.