Ross Griffith has his golfing sights set at highest level

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32322, 13 June 1970, Page 9

Ross Griffith has his golfing sights set at highest level

(By

R. T. BRITTENDEN)

TITTLE more than three years ago, a slim, darkhaired lad from St Bede's College, only 13 years old, began to play golf at the Waitikiri Club. For three years, he was there every day during the holidays, nearly every evening after school, practising. Now he has left college; but his schooling at golf continues. At 16j, Ross Griffith is on a handicap of two, and has become one of the best young golfing prospects Canterbury has had in a long time. He works at his game as much as he possibly can, and he realises that if he is to reach the top in amateur golf, he still has a long road to follow. His prospects are extremely good, and he must be a very strong candidate for the New Zealand junior team which will play in New South Wales next year. When the team leaves, Griffith will still be less than 18. Griffith has a very fluent

swing. The perfectionist might not like the unusually quick breaking of the wrists, but while he continues to prosper, who is to say he is at fault? He breaks his wrists early to get maximum length. His follow - through is not especially pronounced, but he whips the club through extremely fast in the striking area, he gets the ball out a long way, and he is a particularly good player with his irons, which he controls exceptionally well. He is not, thus far, an attacking putter, although he is a sound one. A more aggressive attitude on the greens will surely come with more experience. Already Griffith has attracted attention with more than mere style, and promise. At the Russley 72hole tournament early in April, he competed against the best of South Island amateurs, and his final round of 70 was the best of the tournament This won him fifth place.

He had a remarkable round at a St Bede’s Old Boys’ Association tournament at Waitikiri. The tees were not back at championship length, and there was placing, but even with these advantages, a score of 67, six under the card, was astonishing for one so young; the official course record, held by P. W. Thomson, is 69. A couple of weeks ago he had three successive 73’s at Waitikiri; he had a 67 at Kaiapoi recently; he has already played for Canterbury B team; he was run-ner-up in the recent Canterbury under-18 Championships, and he was in the Canterbury under 21 team which won the South Island inter-provincial tournament. He has had two seasons of Woodward Cup golf. One of the best pointers to Griffith having a fine future in golf came with his match against the redoubtable J. W. Jackson in a trial at Waitikiri before the Woodward Cup team was chosen. After 10 holes, Jackson was three up; and this was the Jackson of vast experience and skill, one of the two players’ who went on to win all seven of their inter-club games this season. Over the last eight holes, Jackson had seven pars and dropped one stroke. And he lost. Young Griffith, with temperament to match his skill, reeled off five pars and three birdies. Waitikiri’s last hole, considerably more than 400 yards, is a fine four, especially into the breeze. There Griffith put his iron three feet from the pin to win the match with a birdie. Young Griffith is under no illusions about the progress he still has to make before he can hope to reach the top. But if determination to succeed counts for anything, he is half-way there. And his path will be the easier for the fact that he is an unassuming, calm youngster, who, for all his modest demeanour, has the heart and the skill to battle for survival in a hard world.