Australian golfers ahead after up-and-down day

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33065, 4 November 1972, Page 46

Australian golfers ahead after up-and-down day

(By

R. T. BRITTENDEN)

After a dizzy day of switches in fortunes, Australia leads New Zealand in the women’s Tasman Cup golf international by five points to three, having won two and halved one of the four foursomes matches played at Shirley yesterday.

Eight singles matches will be played today, and there was nothing in yesterday’s play to suggest that either side is better than the other.

But the Australians are in front, and if they run true to form, they will take a power of shifting. For the young New Zealanders, Misses S. Hamilton and M. Smith, it was a strange day. In the morning, they played shockingly, and were beaten after 11 holes. Yet, in the afternoon, they were victorious, by a large margin. LAST-GREEN WINS And the other New Zealand pair, Mrs S. R. Bannan and Miss C. Sullivan, were beaten on the last green in the morning, then failed by a couple of inches—Mrs Bannan’s chip was a superb effort—to win at the last green in the afternoon. If the golf was extremely interesting, it was not always of the quality expected of top internationals. All eight players engaged in the foursomes showed their ability, some more often than others, but many errors were made, particularly near and on the greens. In the morning, they had to contend with a dreadful, boisterous south-west wind, but it dropped away about lunch-time, and the afternoon round became the pleasant

spectacle one might have expected on such an occasion. The most experienced of the Australian players, Miss C. Blair, was the pivot on which Australia’s first win was based. She handled the sou’wester better than most. But the New Zealanders, Miss Sullivan and Mrs Bannan, took the first two holes, and Australia did not lead until the thirteenth.

Miss Sullivan spent much of her time trying to tidy up, after Mrs Bannan’s tee shots and long irons found the rough. Mrs Bannan was inaccurate with her long shots, but contributed some classic pitches and sound putts. The youthful Miss Flynn, who hit some beautiful shots but also made many errors, had a harrowing time late in the round, going out of bounds at the fifteenth, and into the ditch at the next hole. New Zealand, with these two wins, went to one up again, the sixteenth being won with a fine birdie 4. FINISHED BADLY But it was then New Zealand’s turn to suffer. Miss Sullivan was off line at the seventeenth, Mrs Bannan put their ball in a bunker, and Miss Flynn hit back with a grand 3-iron to the green.

And at the last, Mrs Bannan’s tee shot was skied and hooked, into the trees, and after Miss Sullivan had chipped out extremely well, Mrs Bannan found a bunker, and the game was lost.

In the other morning match, New Zealand was never in the hunt. Mrs A. Gosse, the dark little FrenchCanadian, ran in a 25-footer for a birdie at the first, Miss Hamilton missed a short putt for a half at the second, and the Australians went on relentlessly. Mrs Gosse was sound, and putted particularly well. Her partner, Miss P. Pulz, hit some near-perfect drives. She is vigorous but smooth of swing, and like all the Australians, benefits from a pronounced extension.

RAPIDLY IN ARREARS Misses Hamilton and Smith did not play at all badly—until they got near the greens. Then the chips and putts piled up so regularly that they were six down after seven holes. They three-putted five times in quick order and at four consecutive holes missed putts of three feet or under. Miss Sullivan, the best of the New Zealand players yesterday, was strong again in the afternoon, although there were a few putts of modest length she would no doubt have reckoned on holing. Mrs Bannan again tended to stray with her longer shots, but she also played many splendid ones.

The key to the match, however, was undoubtedly in the putting of Mrs Gosse. She holed a 35-footer for a birdie at the twelfth, one of 20 feet for a win at the fourteenth, and another of 15 feet for a remarkable win at the sixteenth. TWICE IN AND OUT This was a close, hardfought match with many exciting moments. At the fifteenth, Mrs Bannan’s long wood, slightly dragged, ran into a bunker, and through it. Moments later Miss Pulz hit an iron into the same trap, and again the ball went through and out. But when Miss Pulz’s drive found the ditch at the sixteenth, New Zealand seemed to have a great chance. Miss Sullivan, perhaps unwisely, elected to

play a wood for the second shot, and hooked it short and wide.

Mrs Gosse hit a tremendous second, then holed that 15-footer for a remarkable 5. And the New Zealanders three-putted, to lose a vital hole they had seemed certain to win. They levelled the game again with a wellplayed seventeenth hole, Mrs Bannan hitting a telling iron to the green. OVERHAULED AGAIN

But the last hole was again frustrating for the home pair. Mrs Bannan’s drive was pushed out a little and was just in front of a tree. To avoid having her club caught in the branches, Miss Sullivan had to take her line further right than she would have liked, and that meant carrying the bunkers. She hit a great shot, but the ball went a few yards through the back of the green. From there, Mrs Bannan made an heroic effort to chip in for 3, and missed by a couple of inches — the match was halved. The Hamilton and Smith of the afternoon were barely recognisable as the nervous pair of the morning. They started well against Misses Blair and Flynn, and never looked like being halted on their steady march to victory. They made their shots soundly, and had so few lapses anywhere that they were one under the card going out, only one over when the game ended. QUICK TO CONCEDE

They were very much on top, and at the tenth, Miss Smith’s birdie putt sat so close to the endge of the hole thaa a laughing Miss Blair broke into a gallop in her haste to concede the next putt. It was a fine 3-iron from the rough by Miss Hamilton which sewed the game up for New Zealand. This was at the difficult fourteenth, where the wind made the elevated green an even more difficult objective than usual; but she found it well.

Results (Australian names first): Misses Blair and Flynn beat Mrs Bannan and Miss Sullivan, 1 up. Mrs Gosse and Miss Pulz beat Misses Hamilton and Smith, 8 and 7. Misses Biair and Flynn lost to Misses Hamilton and Smith, 5 and 4; Mrs Gosse and Miss Pulz halved with Mrs Bannan and Miss Sullivan. Today’s draw Is.—Morning: Blair v. Smith. Gosse v. Sullivan. Pulz V. Bannan. Miss V. Jellls v. Hamilton. Afternoon: Blair v. Sullivan. Gosse v. Smith, Pull v. Hamilton. Jellls v. Bannan.