Amazing shot, but costly

Press, 4 April 1985, Page 30

Amazing shot, but costly

Robbie Bell might have considered that he was worthy of heavenly help towards the end of a gripping battle with Mark Street for the Russley 72-hole

open golf title last Sunday. Bell, the 1980 champion, had been tied in the lead with the title-holder, Mark Street, starting the final 18 holes. After some early fluctuations over the front nine, the pair were level after Street birdied the thirteenth from 1.5 m. They matched scores at 14, 15 and 16, but Bell seemed snookered behind a tree with his tee shot at 17. He played an amazing shot,

bending the ball around the tree and on to the green 120 m away. The ball, however, was not the only object to curve. The shaft of Bell’s No. 6 iron bent as it struck the tree. The quite exceptional shot and the unfortunate aftermath deserved some sort of recompense for the former Mid-South Canterbury No. 1. The title would have been a means of repayment. It was not to be. There was no divine intervention

as Bell’s drive at the last headed back to the trees. He did not bend any more clubs, but he holed out, after three putts, for a two-over six. Street made no such mistakes on the last two holes. He played both aggressively and parred each to win the championship for a third successive year. He took one step nearer the record winning sequence of five, established by Ross Murray from 1967-71.