Marsh survives last-hole disaster to win golf

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32485, 21 December 1970, Page 36

Marsh survives last-hole disaster to win golf

(New Zealand Press Association) HASTINGS. The 26-year-old former teacher from Western Australia, G. V. Marsh, won the Watties $7OOO golf tournament at Bridge Pa on Saturday, despite a scrambling final round 70 which included a two-over-par six on the final hole.

Marsh took the first prize of $l4OO by three strokes from his fellow Australian, K. D. G. Nagle, with a fourround total of 262 (65, 65, 62, 70).

This broke the tournament record held by the New Zealand left-hander, R. J. Charles by three strokes. CHARLES THIRD Charles finished in third place on 268, while J. M. Lister (New Zealand), 271, was fourth, and P. W. Thomson (Australia), 272, fifth. Marsh won because of a brilliant, eight-under-par 62 in the third round in the morning, which broke the record of 63 and gave him a three-stroke lead over his fellow overnight leader, Nagle, going into the final round. Marsh began the afternoon in the same brilliant manner, scoring birdies at the first, second and fourth holes, to be three under for four holes and 21 under for the tournament. Then his game began to slip, and he missed the greens at the fifth, sixth and seventh and dropped shots at each. On top of this, he three-put-ted the ninth, missing his second from less than a foot, to turn one over. Meanwhile, Nagle, playing steady if unspectacular golf, birdied the easy par-five first,

followed it with eight consecutive pars to turn in 34 and close the gap to one stroke.

On the homeward nine, however, Marsh pulled his game together and had pars at the first four holes. He had birdies at the fourteenth and fifteenth, picked up another shot at the seventeenth and looked certain to come home in 68.

But the eighteenth was bad for Marsh from beginning to end. He pushed his drive into the trees on the right of the fairway, and despite having a narrow opening to the green, he played safe out to the fairway. This was wise, percentage golf, but his approach into the green bounded 30ft past the pin. His first putt was 4ft short and he missed the second.

CHALLENGER FALTERS Nagle’s great attempt to overhaul Marsh floundered on the homeward nine when he had three one overs. He chipped and two putted the eleventh, chipped and threeputted the fifteenth, and, like Marsh, also came to grief on the eighteenth. He, too, pushed his drive into the trees, and although clearing well, again chipped and two-putted for another one-over.

Marsh said afterwards it was “nice to win’’—his first success on the New Zealand circuit—but denied that pressure over the final 18 holes caused his game to slip. “It is hard to string two good rounds together in one day,” he said. SPECTACULAR EAGLE Marsh clinched the course record in the morning—the previous mark of 63 was held jointly by Charles, the Australian, W. Dunk, and the Hastings amateur, S. G. Jones, with a great eagle three on the 489-yard seventeenth. Marsh, six under as he stepped on to the seventeenth tee, slammed a drive of 280 yards down the middle of the fairway. He then cracked a Water ski-ing (N.Z. Press Assn, —Copyright) SYDNEY. An Australian water skier, C. Billington, yesterday claimed a world endurance record of 672 miles. He skied for 13 hours over a 32-mile course in the Hawkesbury River.

4-iron into the middle of the green, the ball speeding toward the pin all the way and then running 12ft past. The putt wobbled into the cup by the side door. In all Marsh had six birdies an eagle and 11 pars in his record-breaking round. For the first three rounds Marsh played immaculate golf and for 54 holes dropped only one shot to par. Charles, who did not seem to have any chance at all after his third-round 71, bounced back with a 65 in the fourth, thanks to a string of birdies at the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth.

The top amateur for the tournament as I. MacDonald, the former Hastings and Hawke’s Bay representative who now lives in Wellington. He finished with 281 (70, 71, 69, 71).

K.O. victory.—The world mid-dle-weight ehampion, Carlos Monzon, knocked out Charlie Austlm (Arizona) with a tremendous right cross in the second round of their 10 round non-title bout in Buenos Aires.