Overdue golf win for Canterbury

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34120, 5 April 1976, Page 3

Overdue golf win for Canterbury

( By

BOB SCHUMACHER)

Canterbury’s golf captain, Bruce Taylor, has played in the annual fixture against Wellington for the last nine years, but had to wait until yesterday before he could make a speech on behalf of the winning team.

If Canterbury’s win at Russley at the week-end was long overdue, it was at least achieved in a manner that left no excuses for the Wellington players. The outcome had virtually been decided after the first round on Saturday.. when Canterbury gained a commanding 64-11 lead; yesterday Wellington managed an additional win, but the final result. 12-4. reflected Canterbury’s superiority. As a final preliminary for the national Freyberg Rose Bowl tournament,” which will start at Timaru on Wednesday, Canterbury’s play was particularly heartening. The Freyberg players in both teams met. one another in their correct positions on Saturday and Canterbury emerged a clear winner, 4-1. It was a good omen for the home team, which will meet Wellington in the sixth round of the inter-provincial event. Three of the Canterbury Freyberg team, Taylor, Simon Robinson, and Colin Hoole, won both their matches. Dennis Beggs was unbeaten although restricted to a half yesterday, and only the luckless Geoff Saunders failed to gain a win. The Canterbury No. 2 played consistently good golf, but was edged out twice.

After nine holes on Saturday. Canterbury was ahead in four matches and square in another two. but in only one of the eight contests were the players separated by more than two holes. . The unrelenting Canterbury No. 7, James Angus, was five up at the turn against Charles Lacv and three under when he finished the match at the thirteenth. Whereas Angus kept in a direct line from tee to green, Lacy strayed, and paid dearly for his lack of accuracy. John Allin, at No. 8 for Canterbury, squared his match with Graeme Reid with a long birdie putt at 16. dropped the seventeenth but levelled again at the last when Reid just scrambled from a bunker and failed to make his par. In spite of hitting out of bounds at the second and putting his ball in the branches of a pine tree at the sixth. Murray Brown (Canterbury) had the finesse round the greens to beat Chris Castle, a member of last year’s Wellington Freyberg team. Hoole discovered that birdies were not sufficient to guarantee winning holes against Peter Rankin. He had three in the first nine, but was still one down at the

turn. Rankin recovered excellently from awkward spots and made some telling oneputts. But he was worn down bv the persistent Hoole, although the match went to the last green. Robinso_n’s sure touch on the greens kept him slightly ahead of lan McDonald, and Beggs, one down after 13, won 14 and 15 to get the measure of Tony Proctor. Saunders trailed Chris AIIdred by two holes for most of their match, reduced it to one with a 5m birdie r.t 16, but just failed to hole out from a bunker and square the match at the last.

The expected close struggle between the top players, Taylor and Rod Barltrop, never eventuated. An in-form Taylor was in control throughout against the 1974 national amateur champion who was out of

touch, especially off the tee. ■ Any prospect of a Wellington come-back yesterday was quickly squashed. Rankin convincingly beat Brown, who hit the ball everywhere. “I played like a drunk,” was his only comment. Barltrop, three down after 11, was conceded an eagle at 13, and birdied 16 and 17 to take the lead from Saunders. A superb bunker shot at 18 gave him a par and the match. Saunders was one under at the finish and unlucky that Barltrop finally found the form over the final nine holes that has won him national honours. MacDonald, with a downhill birdie putt at 17, was able to square his match against Beggs, but that was Wellington’s share of the spoils. Taylor hit the ball firmly and truly from the tee and 1 putted in similar vein to be

five up after seven against Alldred. Alldred kept fighting back, but too late to repair the early damage. Proctor was surprisingly astray over the opening holes against Robinson, who won the first three and was never headed. The shock of birdying the second hole and losing it to an eagle did not deter Hoole from taking control of his match in the later holes against Castle. A purple patch on the second nine when he won four of five holes gave Angus a more decisive win than what had seemed likely against Reid. The. Wellington player only had himself to blame: he missed too many small putts.

Allin opened strongly against Lacy, winning two of the first three holes. He was three up at the turn, the same after 13, but had

to play the seventeenth before Lacy submitted. Results (Canterbury names first) were:SATL’RDAY B. C. Taylor beat R. M. Barltrop, 4 and 3; G. C. Saunders lost to C. H. Alldred, 1 down; D. L. Beggs beat A. Proctor, 2 up; S. S. Robinson beat I. S. MacDonald, 2 and 1; C. W. Hoole beat P. C. Rankin, 2 up; M. G. Brown beat C. D. Castle, 2 and 1; J, M. Angus beat C. H. Lacy, 7 and 5; J. L. Allin halved with G. E. Reid. SUNDAY Taylor beat Alldred, 4 and 3; Saunders lost to Barltrop, 1 down; Beggs halved with MacDonald; Robinson beat Proctor, 4 and 3; Hoole beat Castle, 3 and 2; Brown lost to Rankin, 5 and 4; Angus beat.-Reid, 5 and 4; Allin beat Lacy, 3 and 1.