N.Z. women's golf champion deserved better treatment

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32637, 19 June 1971, Page 14

N.Z. women's golf champion deserved better treatment

(By

R. T. BRITTENDEN)

Whenever a national sports team is selected, there are excluded from the lists players who can be considered unlucky, because of current form and established reputation. But there have not been many more unfortunate than Mrs N. D. Cullen, of Christchurch, who has been left out of the New Zealand women’s golf team to play in the Commonwealth tournament at Hamilton in September. Mrs Cullen is the reigning New Zealand champion, and the Canterbury champion. At the Russell Grace interprovincial tournament, she played at number one in the winning Canterbury team. There she won four games of her six, and among those she defeated were name players, Mrs B. Middleton, Miss S. Ritchie and Miss J. Hanratty. Her losses were to Miss H. Booth—whose form in that tournament was quite outstanding—and to Mrs W. Dryden, the Otago player who had a very fine tournament record, which included the hardest game Miss Booth had to play, and a half with the Wellington girl, Miss M. Smith, who is among New Zealand’s chosen five for the Commonwealth event Miss Booth was the first and easiest choice to make; it would have been ludicrous had she been omitted; Miss G. Taylor, who has been in Australia, did not play in the Russell Grace tournament and her form

has been taken on trust but she is a player of high quality. The recent records of the other three chosen in the New Zealand team are certainly no better than that of Mrs Cullen. Mrs D. Blake, of Auckland, a member of the New Zealand team for Hamilton, lost to Miss M. Ensor, had a halved match, beat Miss Smith and won two games against little-known players during the Russell Grace tournament. Miss Smith lost to Miss B. Taylor, Mrs Blake halved with Miss

Ensor, and beat three players of minor reputation. Mrs D. Whitehead, also selected, halved with Miss U. Wickham, halved with Miss S. Ritchie of South Canterbury, lost to Mrs R. J. Urbahn of Taranaki, and beat three little-known players. At the national trials after the Russell Grace tournament, Mrs Cullen, with Miss Wickham beat Mrs Whitehead and Miss S. Hamilton, Canterbury’s number three, who is the reserve for the national team. And with Miss Hamilton, Mrs Cullen beat Misses Hanratty and Ritchie. In her singles matches, Mrs Cullen lost, one down, to Miss Ritchie and halved her game with Miss Smith. Mesdames Whitehead and Blake, both in the side, lost their foursome to Miss Booth and Miss Si Borowicz, Mrs Whitehead and Miss Hamilton lost to Mrs Cullen and Miss Wickham, Misses Booth and Smith beat Mrs Blake and Mist S. Beadle. In the singles, Mrs Whitehead beat Miss Smith and Mrs Borowicz. It is hard to reconcile these results with the fact that the national champion was not considered good enough to be in the first six players in (he country. Miss Smith, included perhaps partly because of her youth, must be accounted fortunate. So must Mrs Blake and Mrs Whitehead, if the results of the Russell Grace and the trials counted for very much. Certain it is that Mrs

Cullen can not have been excluded for any other reason than golf form. There would be no better

ambassador for New Zealand than this extremely popular player, whose sportsmanship and course

demeanour ate above question. And on the basis of form, she had more right than most to selection.