MURRAY, CLARKE STILL THERE, BUT... Bad day for N.Z. golfers in match-play rounds

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33034, 29 September 1972, Page 20

MURRAY, CLARKE STILL THERE, BUT... Bad day for N.Z. golfers in match-play rounds

(By

R. T. BRITTENDEN

On the optimistic basis that a disappointing rehearsal augurs well for opening night, the New Zealand golf team to play in the Eisenhower tournament will not be dissatisfied with the first day of match-play in the amateur championship at Waitikiri yesterday.

Two members of the four-man team were eliminated. One was the burly E. J. McDougall; the other, to considerable surprise, was the reigning champion, S. G. Jones, who succumbed to his close friend, the Australian, D. N. Turner.

In the worst weather of the week, there was some brilliant golf, with E. H. M. Richards (Canterbury) and T. Pulman (Auckland) emerging as the personalities of an action-packed day.

Eight remain to contest the amateur title, four from the North Island, four from the south. They are R. C. Murray, J. M. Hagar, R. M. Barltrop, J. G. Mackay, G. D. Clarke, Turner, Richards and Pulman.

The possibility of Murray being extended by P. N. Conlon (St Clair) was not overlooked by spectators, for Conlon sometimes develops a streak of. genuis. When he was dropped from the Otago Freyberg team, it was only hours before he was round St Clair in 64. Three-hole hurst Sure enough, he came with a strong burst to win three successive holes in the middle of the match. But Murray was too steady later. J. D. Durry, a former titleholder, was in superb form in beating the young C. H. Lacy, his club-mate at Paraparaumu Beach. Lacy was one under, Durry four under, when Durry holed his long, winning birdie putt at the seventeenth: and Durry celebrated by scoring another birdie at the last hole. No record, his 67: but a magnificent round.

McDougall had a struggle to beat R. G. Wilson, and Richards almost surrendered a winning position against O. J. Kendall, through a couple of fiddling little putts near the end.

The defeat of B. C. Taylor by W. I. Tucker was something of a surprise. Tucker played some good golf, but Taylor was sadly out of touch.

jGillespie upset The first upset of the day was the defeat of R. D. Gillespie by Pulman. On the previous day, Gillespie had set a course record of 68, and he started yesterday . morning working the same rich vein of birdies—three in the first five holes.

But Pulman, 20 years of age and with the confidence of youth, stuck to his task stoically, and soon Gillespie began to lose touch, with illdirected drives and some offline irons. Pulman, putting beautifully, won at the sixteenth.

J..F. Logie of Russley had a huge victory over the highly rated E. J. Carr (Manukau). Logie was sound and accurate, and Carr’s game gradually declined. Mackay, one of the two who won places from the play-off, had a very comfortable win against the aggressive and talented R. C. Coombes, but Clarke had a long struggle before beating J. P. Devine, of Waitikiri.

Distress signals They were square after 10, but Clarke was within an inch or two of eagles at the eleventh and thirteenth, winning both with birdies, and Devine’s last chance went when he put himself in an impossible position with his tee shot at the fourteenth. Jones had a big win in the

morning, but the signs were visible then that all was not right with his game. And in the afternoon, Turner was far too good for him, although Jones, typically, brought off some brilliant shots when defeat stared him in the face. Jones, throughout the match, had trouble with his short irons, regularly getting well past the pin. He was three down after nine, almost four at the eleventh, when Turner’s birdie putt lipped the hole.

The twelfth was probably the turning point. There, Turner was short of the green, and Jones had a grand opportunity to attack. But he was bunkered, came out none too well, and lost the hole when Turner chipped dead. Two long putts The prospects of a recovery by Jones emerged when he holed a 25-footer for an eagle at the long thirteenth; three down with five to play. But it became dormie minutes later, for he had a quick flat hook into the trees at the fourteenth and was left in an almost impossible position.

Still Jones was not done. At the fifteenth, he sank a putt of 45 feet for a birdie. Turner played the sixteenth well, Jones was again well past the pin and on the bank behind the green. He made a magnificent effort to hole his chip, and had he left the pin in, the ball might well have gone down. From some 30 feet, it ran down the slope, hit the hole squarely, and jumped forward. Fought to last Clarke had a stern struggle with Lapsley, Who played impressively at Waitikiri recently for the South Island juniors against New South Wales juniors. He has a good technique, a fine putting action, and an excellent temperament. The Murray-Durry match was a tremendous battle. For eight holes, Murray was clearly superior and looked a certain winner. He was inside Durry with nearly every shot. ■

Durry, wearing an Australian team cardigan, looked strained and uncertain, but he held on bravely while Murray played beautiful golf. At the sixth, Murray’s iron from the

tee left Durry well behind; his second found the green, and Durry was bunkered. Durry came out 15 feet from the hole. Murray putted to the lip, but Durry saved the hole with a superb putt. Yet, he had to concede three holes in the first eight. Durry seemed to win vast encouragement when Murray, after an incredibly good bunker shot from a “fried egg” lie, missed a little putt at the ninth. From there, it was even going, Murray losing the thirteenth through a poor chip, Durry -epeating the performance at the fifteenth. Durry played extremely well at 16 and 17 but Murray held on grimly and had his half at the last with a near-perfect chip.

Quite the most spectacular performance was given by Richards, who drove badly but had some magic quality in his irons. McDougall, unexpectedly, seemed quite at a loss, here and there, about his choice of club. He changed them several times before making his shots, and he did not make enough good ones to keep at bay a Richards who was sufficiently confident and authoritative to score six birdies.

Richards began wuh three, led by those holes, but lost them al! by the turn. Typical of the trend was the tenth. There, McDougall got out a fine drive, Richards hooked and had to chip out. But his 2-iron, the day’s finest shot, never left the line and he holed a birdie putt of eight feet to win.

Richards also took the eleventh, and then the twelfth with a 20-foot birdie. It was excitin gstuff; and it continued to enrapture a growing gallery. At the long thirteenth there was a dreadfully quick hook from Richards, and he played another bal! in the expectation of his first one being in Windsor. But it bounced clear into the fairway, and he managed his 5, and a half.

His last and final blow was at the fifteenth. He had another bad hook, but hit a great iron to the green over or round trees; McDougall was bunkered and came out short.

This morning, Hagar, in the last eight for the third consecutive year, meets a determined Murray. The powerful Richards, a finalist in his most recent amateur six years ago, plays the slight, young Pulman. Barltrop and Mackay meet in what might be a great putting duel, and Clarke is matched with Turner.