TWO MORE CONVINCING Victory to Mrs Cullen—a very worthy champion

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32588, 23 April 1971, Page 22

TWO MORE CONVINCING Victory to Mrs Cullen—a very worthy champion

(By

R. T. BRITTENDEN)

Mrs N. D. Cullen, New Zealand’s champion woman golfer, won her second Canterbury title at Shirley yesterday, and won it with the same combination of skill and serenity which has made her so popular as well as so successful a performer.

Only a golfer of Mrs Cullen’s imperturbable temperament could have shown such apparent unconcern at the vigorous challenge made by her opponent in the final, Miss S. Hamilton.

Mrs Cullen did not take a firm grip of the match until 13 holes had been played, and in defeat, the 23-year-old Miss Hamilton made it clear that she has it in her to get to the very top of women’s golf.

Mrs Cullen won the final, 4 and 2, after defeating Miss M. Doherty, 4 and 3, in the morning. Miss Hamilton made it another all-Russley final with an exciting victory over Miss W. Bryant. Mrs Cullen did not have an easy match in the morning, although it again finished before she was required to set off on the final triangle of holes. Miss Doherty, a fine shot-maker and a long driver, has the ability to play het irons superbly well. Missed chances

She had a succession of chances to put pressure on Mrs Cullen, but all of them slipped by. At the short ninth, she played a magnificent iron, but missed her birdie putt from within three feet. So she turned one down. Miss Doherty out-distan-ced Mrs Cullen dramatically at the tenth, but Mrs Cullen was down in a pitch and a putt for 5, and Miss Doherty needed two putts. And it was the fifth successive half. Mrs Cullen was in difficulties at the twelfth but Miss Doherty three-putted. At the short thirteenth, Miss Doherty hit another splendid iron into

the green but missed her putt from about five feet. Mrs Cullen, utterly reliable, holed a tricky one from a little closer for the half.

At the ’testing fourteenth, Miss Doherty hooked her drive, but sent a superb shot over the towering trees, to find the green. So Mrs Cullen holed a putt of 45 feet for her birdie, and had Miss Doherty dormie three.

Early leader The quality of the golf in the other semi-final was much more erratic, but just as enthralling, for neither Miss Hamilton nor Miss Bryant seemed interested in halving holes. Miss Hamilton rushed into a lead of three up after four, but then Miss Bryant whittled her back steadily, mainly because she slowed her swing a shade. Miss Hamilton had a distinct advantage in length but Miss Bryant hit straight,' with her fine swing looking good enough to see her through. A birdie for her at the thirteenth squared the match and there was a regular pattern to the play—Miss Hamilton in front, Miss Bryant chipping and putting with such skill that she was able to switch the pressure over to her opponent repeatedly. With two to play, Miss BryOther title results

Results of semi-finals and finals in other events on the last day of the Canterbury women’s golf championships were:—

Championship Sight.—Miss L. McClurg beat Mrs E. Lamberton, 2 up; Miss S. Ritchie beat Miss S. Grigg at the nineteenth; Miss Ritchie beat Miss McClurg, 5 and

Shirley Trophy.—Mrs R. M. Parker beat Mrs C. Suckling, 3 and 1; Mrs W. Head beat Mrs J. R. Royds, 2 and 1; Mrs Head beat Mrs Parker at the twentieth.

Shirley Trophy flight.—Mrs J. B. Hay beat Miss D. Powell, 2 and 1; Mrs A. Bond beat Mrs J. K. Austad, 4 and 2; Mrs Bond beat Mrs Hay 2 and 1. Te Aranga Trophy.—Mrs B. Hargreaves beat Miss R. Richards, 4 and 2: Mrs G. G. Simpson beat Mrs T. Miller, 3 and 1; Mrs Hargreaves beat Mrs Simp-

son, a ano a. Te Aranga flight.—Mrs W. Whiteside beat Miss M. Donaldson, 2 up; Mrs R. S. Black beat Mrs A. D. Nicholls, 1 up; Mn Whiteside beat Mrs Black, 1 up. Malrehau event.—Miss J. Lewis beat Mrs L. Gasson, 7 and 6; Mrs R. H. Lord beat Mrs J. Jones. 6 and 5; Miss Lewis beat Mrs Lord, at the nineteenth. Malrehau flight.—Mrs A. Penn beat Mrs L. Malcolm, 3 and 1; Mrs J. Dickey beat Mrs J. N. C. Oakley, 3 and 2; Mn Dickey beat Mrs Penn, 3 and 1.

ant was ahead by one. But a bad second put her across the ditch, at the bottom of the bank, and there she failed to get clear, the ball actually bouncing backwards from the bank, past her, and into the ditch behind her.

Masterly shot Miss Bryant hit a sweet, straight drive at the last hole, and put an accurate second on the green. But Miss Hamilton played the shot of the day—a full, high approach made, if the. term is acceptable, with professional skill. From about three feet, she had her birdie.

She won well. Miss Bryant had no reason to feel her game had let her down. Under pressure, she played well, and her present form is very good indeed.

The final, watched by about 250 spectators, was a really good one. Although relatively inexperienced, Miss Hamilton showed much fortitude, and gave very little hint of the nerves to which she later confessed she had been prey. More than that, she brought off many magnificent shots, and Mrs Cullen had to call on all her strength of temperament, and her accuracy, to hold off her younger opponent. For the first few holes, Mrs Cullen was out-driven by 20 or 30 yards. But as her timing improved, she Was on terms with Miss Hamilton. And she was deadly accurate, during a dramatic outward half. Square after six Mrs Cullen’s steadiness was most marked. She won the first hole because she chipped very close. She halved the second by exploding from a trap to within two fefit; and she did not drop a shot until she threeputted the sixth. There the match was squared, each then being one over. They played' the seventh beautifully, each being within a whisker’s width of a birdie, but at the eighth Miss Hamilton tried to force a fairway wood from a bad lie and lost the hole. But she was only one down at the turn, and 38; Mrs Cullen’s 37 was one over the card.

Looking absurdly youthful in her pigtails, but hitting the ball with telling power, the product of a pronounced follow-through. Miss Hamilton seemed a certain winner of the tenth hole. But she three-putted, missing from two feet with her second. And that it transpired, lost her the game. Her apparent confidence had been remarkable. But it slowly left her, and she began to struggle to match Mrs Cullen’s logical progression. She had her halves to the twelfth but played a bad iron at the thirteenth to lose the hole.

Tension began to tell then, even on Mrs Cullen. With Miss Hamilton in a green-

side bunker at the fourteenth, Mrs Cullen hit her fairway wood on the. head and she was in the ditch, and penalised. She played a great iron in, and had a 6; but Miss Hamilton came out of her bunker much too strongly, chipped back weakly, and could do no better than halve. Miss Hamilton also lost the fifteenth, after being bunkered. She was then three down With three to play, but she was distinctly unlucky at the long sixteenth. There she hit a great drive, but her second barely failed to clear a wire fence skirting the creek, a temporary arrangement to keep a new-sown area on the other side Clear.

The shot had to count, although it would obviously have run on for her a long way, and although she then hit a good wood and a brave iron to the green, Mrs Cullen holed a 12-footer for her 5, and won a fine match, played in the very best spirit.