Stroke-play title to Saunders

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33456, 11 February 1974, Page 24

Stroke-play title to Saunders

(j. C. Saunders headed the field with a 72-holc score of i 282 in winning the Canterbury and \orth Canterbury strokeplay titles at \\ aitikiri yesterdax.

I:regained his grip, and birdies , (at four, six, eight. 10 and It (put him on the path to a 71 hand a commanding fivei (Stroke lead going into the 'final round. Brown had slipped behind t with his 78, and the Canterrm bury No. 3. P. Hartstone, was /ithe closest challenger to t! Saunders. But in the final ? I round Hartstone found hintjself fighting for second place J (and eventually had to settle J for a share of that with two other Russley players. B. C. i| Taylor and J. M. Angus. JI Like Saunders, Hartstone . I had to play his second over 7 the small ’fir which guards ; |the approach to the eight's eenth green. He finished just >(off the green, but sank the • I putt from 30 feet. Course praised I Saunders had little but • praise for the course, lush land green, unusually so for >|the lack of rain. Taylor des- . cribed it as being in first--1 class order, and the only hint tjof disappointment was’from •Angus. . “The greens were not holdling terribly well, but it was 11the same for everyone," he II said. i This was particularly so in lithe afternoon rounds, when ■ [the dampness had gone, . (making some approaches ij difficult. ■ Angus owed much of Jris : success to his ability to keep lithe ball in play in the stiff •I winds. He hit most of the ; greens, his only bad hole 11 being the seventh in the I second round. He dropped ■ four strokes, which led to a ’(disappointing 78. ' l The only real disappoint-1 1 (ment was the performance of (the province’s top player. Turner, who crashed with a 177 and a 79 in the final two' (rounds. But Turner had thei Igood excuse that he has just| I returned from a holiday in his native Australia, and his first day’s scores of 73 and

Saunders also led [Canterbury to a stroke win in the South Island under-21 teams I championship. , And. completing the best [two days in his brief career i(he has been playing seriously (for only two years and a half). Saunders equalled the course record of 68. Set some years ago by the Aucklander. R. D. Gillespie, and subsequently equalled by D. R. Griffith,' a Waitikiri player, the record was twice [under pressure. M. G. Brown, another Waitikiri youngster and a team-mate of'Saunders in the Canterbury junior team, had a 68 when he was setting the pace on Saturday. However, in the second 36 holes. Brown wilted under the pressure. I l our strokes better I The 282 of Saunders is the best score in the championships. four strokes better [than that of D. N. Turner last [season, and almost certainly | the best 72 holes at Waitiikiri. [ “Nothing startling. I got a [few putts,” was the comment of Saunders on his success. I He drove probably as well [as he ever has. and was consistent over the 72 holes. [That Saunders keeps the ball ia little lower than most problably helped a little in the hot [winds of Saturday, and the [rather cooler breezes yesterday. But his iron play was as [steady as ever, and he putted ibetter than usual. I In the four rounds. Sauniders had 22 birdies, the only jhole he played at all badly [was the ninth, a par three with an elevated green. In each round he took a four, twice three-putting — and these were his only threeputted greens in the iwo days. One bad moment Only once, he said, did he feel “things were starting to crash.” After three holes in the third round, Saunders was three over. But then he

si72 indicate it will not take I i long for Turner to find himilself again. I mler-2 I title In the South Island underi2l teams championship, a ’■solid team effort from Canterbury. well-served particu- ' larly by its top three, Saunders, Brown and S. S. Robinson, gave it a 33-stroke yic- ' lory from Otago. The Canterbury total for 16 individual rounds was 1193, or an average round for the four [Counting scores of about ,4, . Leading scores: I 282: G. C. Saunders. 71. 72. 71, |6B. 292: P. Hartstone. 7:1. 74, .2, jn. C. Tavlo- 73._72._77, 70: IM. Angus. 72. 78. 70. 72 297: (' Alexander. 7’, 74. 78. 74; M G. Broun. 74, 08. 78. 77. 293: 'E. fl. M, Richards. 74. 75. 299: G, L. Maw. 73 72. 78. 75. 301: D. N Turner. 73. 72. 77, 79. : 302: IL IL A. Bradley, 76, 71, 80. 75. 303: ,T. Whittaker. 76. 80, .6, .1; s. S, Robin-on, 73. 75. 80. 75; S. Low 74. 81. 71. 77. B Grade —R. Fciitz, 77. 78. 78, 31; ' T. Son. ’-. 80. 7(1. 78, CO; O Honltham. 75 82. 78. 79. a'.l 314. C grade.—M. Guv. 84. 79. 75. 81, 319: P Holmes. 75. 84. 89. 81, 329. In ‘he under 21 teams’ sco-o-lan aster*.V indicates a score l which did not count. Canterburv 1193: Saw,det-. 7'. i 72. 71. 68; Brcv n. 71. 68. 78. 77; Robinson. 73. 75. 30 75- I. Martin. 79*. 79. 30, 8’: *». w. street, |79. 75. 82*. no card*: M. IL PitIman. 87*. no card’ 82’. 78. Otago Hi*: R. .10l isto .71. SO*. 74, 81*: M. Newell. 78. 73. 77 78; M. McDowell. 80. 7« 84*. 78: I I Griffin. 80. 76 78. CO*' S. Mel rea, 81*. 73. 78. 72; M. Harner. 81*. iSO*. 81*. 78. Southland 1244: S Low. 7L S'*. 171. 77: .1. Lansley. 78. 75 77 76, IL. Goodson. 77. 81. 78, 79; .1. Fatil, |76. 87*. S3* 90*: N. Hunt. SO*. 177. 80. 87' X. Murdoch 82*. 83*. 87*. 90’. Mid-South Canterburv 1295: B Maw. 77. 82. 7". R. Bell. 79. .30 80 7‘>- K I - SO. :-o, --. 79: n. Gould. "O'. 85*. 83". r. P. Holden. “o‘. no rd*. 8" 82. IM. Smith. 87. 23, 81*. 35*. I Leading individual-: 1 Sounder- 232: Bvowt . J 9, r.obinson 303; Low. 303. John-tor Lanslev, Newell all 306; Met 7re;., 1308