ONLY PLAYER TO CONQUER BALMACEWEN Masterly Thomson; ninth N.Z. Open golf title

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32776, 29 November 1971, Page 24

ONLY PLAYER TO CONQUER BALMACEWEN Masterly Thomson; ninth N.Z. Open golf title

(New Zealand Press Association)

DUNEDIN.

P. W. Thomson, of Australia, won the New Zealand Open golf championship at Balmacewen yesterday—his ninth since his first success in Christchurch 21 years ago—when he scored a final round of 70, to be 8 under for the tournament, on 276. And the simple reason for Thomson’s victory was that he was the only player in the field of 118 really to master the

course.

Closest to Thomson, and two strokes behind him, was the British international, M. Bembridge, whose 69 yesterday was one of the best rounds of the day. At one stage Thomson and Bembridge both were 7 under but the prospect of a grandstand finish petered out shortly before the end. Bembridge, playing ahead of the Australian, had a one-over! on the eighteenth at the same time as Thomson birdied the

seventeenth, and the issui was out of doubt. Third place was shared be tween the New Zealand pro fessional W. J. Godfrey, an< the Australian, D. Good, botl with 2-under par 2825. Godfrey’s performance, al though unspectacular, was al the more meritorious becausi he suffered from bronchiti: throughout the tournament While Thomson went clos est to it, none of the player: actually managed to tam< i Balmacewen. With tight fair ways, fast, difficult greens and gusty winds the courst offered a tremendous chai lenge. Although one or two play jers believed that the green: ! depended a little on luck, ii was generally agreed that ii was a real . championship course. Apart from the west erlies coming from the tail i end of the northern storms ! the weather was excellenl throughout the tournament. One sharp gust just aftei noon yesterday tore down two panels of the main scoreboard, blew a tarpaulin ofl a television tower, and sent a barrelful of tins rolling past the clubhouse, but it only lasted five minutes. Rapid changes When the third round began on Saturday morning, the lead was shared between Thomson, G. V. Marsh and Bembridge, with R. J. Charles dose behind, and J. Newton a stroke back, fifth. But it was not long before things began going wrong for some of the front men. Balmacewen was then at its most difficult, causing trouble round the greens as well as punishing inaccurate drives, and the greens themselves were all troublesome The first leader to fall from grace was the Australian, Marsh. His drive into the ditch at the fourth, for a penalty of one, was the start of a downward slide of oneovers on the next three holes. Thereafter he steadied, but finished with a 4-over 75. Charles faded Bembridge was usually as straight as an arrow with his drives. In fact, he looked a fine golfer until within 6ft of the pin. At green after green he putted unsuccessfully for birdies until he began to lose confidence in his putter. His 72 included a 5 at the par-3

Mount. ri It was not until the end of the round that Charles met Ji with disaster, but when it . came he was in deep trouble.

e He was one over at the fifteenth, then into the trees: >- for another one-over at the i (- sixteenth; had to drop out! d from the ditch for another 51 h on the seventeenth; and, to cap it all, had a 6 on the: |. par-4 eighteenth in front of; II!the day’s biggest gallery. His! e ,75 pushed him back to! • s I seventh equal. t ' Of the other challengers to i ,2; Thomson, Newton played by ’" far the best golf. He took an' p early birdie at the second. . then more at the eighth and! ; i ninth, and turned in 33. AI-> 3 'ithough he was one over on; e ! the homeward nine, his 69, was one of the few third-! I round scores below 70. r ’| His partner for the round S J was J. M. Lister, who was! it tending to spray his drives, it and often used his irons off P the tee. But he played some< :- fine recoveries and had a 70. I-: ’• Again in trouble ! In sharp contrast was the ; r play of Thomson, whose 691] n comprised accurate, steady I, . play from tee to green, and! f sent him into yesterday’s!) t final round one stroke ahead!, Jof Newton and three in front!! fiof Bembridge. j ! Many of those who had . ibeen in trouble on Saturday , fared little better yesterday. . Marsh had a terrible time | - over the early holes, losing , two strokes at the sixth, and i

’ five altogether in four sucicessive holes, and was right put of the reckoning. Lister was in the trees at the fifth, went into a bunker, and had a six. This, with dropped shots on the fourth land sixth, put him three over for the outward nine, and he, too, dropped well behind. Tiredness may have been the reason for the comparatively poor performance of Charles. Once again he began to slip towards the end of the round. He was in the fairway ■bunker at the sixteenth, then down into the trees—where he took two shots—before recovering with a good putt for a five. After a birdie on the seventeenth, he again came to grief on the final hole, shooting a two-over six.

Took no chances

Thomson, however, played the final day like the old hand he is. He selected the holes where he felt he could reasonably stretch himself for birdies, and played the rest as safely as possible. His putting was always dead and generally very accurate. After conceding a six on the first, he recovered to all square at the turn, and then scored a fine birdie at the Glen when his approach shot from the fairday ran nicely up to the pin. He missed a three-footer for another birdie, but made up for it on the fifteenth, when a 15ft putt kept him out of trouble. There was no doubt that ,he was a popular winner, and about 3000 spectators gathered round the eighteenth to watch Thomson 1 come home with a safety-first five.

In the amateur field, Otago players swept the honours, I, and top of the list was G. E.j Clarke, who finished three | over for the tournament. Clarke won the Bledisloe) Cup for the top amateur, while the Jellicoe Cup for the; lowest single round went to! Thomson with his 66—aj record off the championship' tees for the redesigned course on Friday.