GOLF

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 257, 14 July 1926, Page 6

GOLF

(By

"Niblick.")

A NEW ZEALANDER AT ' HOME MB. S. TURNER’S INTERESTING LETTER. I have received the following interesting communication from Air. b. luiner, the New Zealand goiter who took cart in the English amateur golf championship. The letter was writteni in the train while travelling from Scotland to London on May 31, 19-6. "During my stay in England I have seen several of the best tournamentshave seen Mitchell, Duncan, Ray and most of the cracks, but the most stylish and impressive golfer 1 have seen on this trip is Bobby Jones. George Duncan is supposed to have said that this voung American is the best golfer in the world. I saw him beat the 1925 English amateur golf champion by 8 up and 6, and Jones was certainly keyod up tor the occasion. Ho took the first hole, 450yds. in a drive, iron and one putt for 1 up; the second, 358yds., in a drive, inashie and two putts for a 4,2 up; the third hole, 382vds., in a drive and iron and one putt for a 3; tho fourth hyie was 179yds. long. He was in the bunker to the left of the green, and on the green In his second. Ho tried to hole his first putt and took a 5. The fifth note was 507yds. He was in tho bunker with a drive of 269yd5., chipped out 10 or syds. Then ho hit a slick shot of about 240yds. on the gireen and holed out with one putt. At the sixth hole his drive was again in the bunker—he was well out (about 30yds.). His third shot was an iron on to the green, and he again holed his putt. The seventh, 170yds., he missed his putt for a 2 and got a 3. At tho eighth hole (465yd5.) he played a perfect iron shot atter a long drive, was on the green wi:h his second and out in 4. At the ninth hole off a good drive and a bad lie tie hit his ball out of bounds. He had a 3yds. putt for a half. He tried it in a hurried fashion as though he meant to give Harris the hole. Coming back, nt the tenth he holed a 3—this is 459yds. The eleventh he lipped the hole for 3—380 vis. Here the match was finished.

"They both had a shot at the thirteenth, and were both on the green near the pins, but they sent the caddie for the balls, and thus finished one of the most remarkable matches I have ever witnessed. Jones would have done a 68 to 70 if ho had continued as ho was playing, even if he dropped a stroke -or two. "The whole of <Le time tho English champion was <ut< tassed. I said to Harris that it was hard lines for him to have struck Jones in the top of his form, and Harris replied that Jones nearly had three of the last two holes. Jones nas such wonderful command over the links, I watched him carefully fo. three rounds and came to tho conclusion that he can place his long dnves three times out of four and be plays for position in a wonderful way. "'Sweetzer, the winner, is a more powerfully built player and puts more punch into nis game. I saw him win tho fifth round and formed the Opinion that, although he iros not equal to Jones, he was a very dangerous man. He seemed to have no nerves. lam not surprised that he won the championship, and was agreeably surprised that Brownlow gave him such a close go as to take mm to the twenty-first gree» before he won. "There were a good many games m this championship that were very nearly won cr lost L>y one stroke of good or bad luck. The links are wonderful links, and if one drops a shot it cannot Bj recovered except by exceptionally gv~d play. One hole —the seventh—is unfair, insomuch that a very good drive is punished, while the poorer shot ia let off. I think the ball has improved so much of recent years that it has made the three shots to the green only two, even with the wind against the players, but the wind in their favour only a drive and a tnaghie or a drive and iron. ”1 was beaten in the third round by a young American, 2up and 1- Our match was a good fight except that after my playing good golf and getting 3 up at the eighth I made the mistake of torgetting that the wind was behind me and played my second shot short for safety at the ninth bunker, where I could have got a drive on to the green. Then when I was 1 up at the fifteenth I overran the hole by ten yards and was cn broken ground. My caddie said it was a bunker and that I could not ground my club. I did not agree with him as there was grass on the bottom, but rather than cause a fuss played it without moving some straw behind my holo. It cost me a stroke and the hole, all square. The sixteenth j We both hit brassie shots on to the green. He had the first shot. I was three yards from the pin and my opponent four yards from the pin. He holed a 2; then I tipped the hole for a 2 and missed a 5 at tho seventeenth and lost the match by 2 up and 1. 1 was two strokes better than my opponent for the seventeenth holes, 75 against 77. , . "I had about seven games during the championship week and ths fewdays practising before, and only lost one. I had a game with the Australian open champion Howard, who was far from well. I was 1 down and 2to go when tho rain made us give up the match. It has made me think ol going in for golf more than in the past, because it is difficult to get into form in four months after not playing more than four to six weeks in the year during the last four or five years. I have formed the opinion by my matches at the Foxgrove Club, Bcokenham, London, where I have been a temporary member, that my handicap, 3.2, is high for my play compared with London clubs, because I have only lost two matches out of about twelve, giving the members their club har dicap and playing off two bogev and three medal. Then, in the matches with scratch mon on the championship course, I have done so well that it leads me to believe that the national handicap in New Zealand is too severe, being five strokes above the club handicap. I think two or three strokes aro plenty for the difference. This is my own personal opinion, and may or may not be borne out by Mr. Arthur Duncan or others who have been in England of recent yearn." The letter concludes by remarking that New Zealand is n password whereever one goes in England. Rariui Club.

The match between N. S. Dunlop and A. I. Murray, in connection with the Ranui Club’s captain’s trophy provided a great struggle- lu the iporniug Murray was 4 up at the seventh hole. Dunlop then commenced to overhaul hw opponent, and the pair were all square at (ho fourteenth. Dunlop won tho fifteenth, but Murray again went into the lead by winning the sixteenth and seventeenth. Two magnificent shots by Dunlop to the eighteenth gave him an advantage, which ho availed himself ot to square the match by taking tho holo in 4 to 5. This necessitated a playoff. Murray again commenced brilliantly, winning the first four holes, halving thj next two, and being 5 up at the seventh. After that, although he succeeded in halving some of thorn, Murray never won another holo. Dunlop holed a long putt for a naif at tho eleventh where Murray was lying dead, and to that hole Murray was 3 up. Murray had two strokes for a win at the fifteenth, but lost it. Dunlop won tho fifteenth hole, and the pair were all square for the first time of the round. Dunlop laid Murray a dead stvmje at the sixteenth holo, ’Murray, endeavouring to negotiate it. knocked his opponent's ball in. Bad luck was again Murray’s po-tiou <o the seventeenth hole ITe lost his ball in the ereok from the toe. (.nd after placing his third to the top' of the green, he was Laid another dead Mvmie. which ho failed to jump with his mnsliie, thiw leaving Dunlop the victor 1 hard-ought match try

2 and 1. The result of these two rounds shows Murray in a greatly improved light. He was conceded by Dunlop but two strokes in each round, and only one of the strokes was used. Dunlop is among the best of tho Ranui Club players, and for Murray to hold him so well Is a performance of some merit.

Ladies’ Tournaments. The following dates have been fixed for various ladies’ golf tournaments in the Dominion;— September 15, 18, 17: South Auckland Championship, at Hamilton. September 21, 22, 23, 24: Hawke’s Bay Championship, at Napier. September 29, 30, October 1: Wanganui Championship, at Wanganui. October 5,6, 7: Manawotu Championship, at Palmerston North. October 15, 21: Now Zealand Championship, at Dunedin. October 26, 27, 28: Wellington Championship, at Heretnunga. Match and Medal Play,

The typo of individuality that would succeed in a match might- -and often does—fail in a stroke round, writes Harry Vardon. It is a matter of training the temperament, and that pan be done in all save cases of exceptionally impulsive people. By no means am I in favour of cautious golf (it has never carried anybody into Hie front rank) blit this sense of proportion is as much a necessity an the ability to swing the club properly and nothing develops it with greater certainly than a series of stroke competitions. ’ But there are right and wrong ways of playing a medal round. The most common feature of the wrong way is a belief after a bad hole that one might as well tear up one’s card. That is the match-play spirit run riot; it is like giving up a hole immediately on foozling a tee shot. The ideal frame of mind for the strake game is one in which reasonable prudence prevails until an opportunity presents itself of gaining a stroke, when n spirit of ambition and resolution takes temporary command. Caution pure and simple from start to finish will never do a great deal of good;, but it is important to give courage its outlet at the proper time. I would not give it a free rem at the first hole unless I had an extraordinarily fine chance of accomplishing the hole in a stroke bettor than the par figure, but as the player warms to his task it is necessary every now and again for him to take a risk, so long as it is not a downright foolish one. In a match,' the game is to open steadily, and then take reasonable risks, more or less by way of discovering on which side fortune is smiling.. You have only one man to beat, and if your enterprises lead to the loss of a hole, the only thing to do is to settle down to a steady game for a while and hope that your opnonent, in the elation inspired by a useful lead, will attempt big things and fail. Often he does. If you stand two or three down at the turn, there is nothing for it but to chance a difficult shot here and there, and when this position presents itself, the best advice that I can offer to the struggler is that he should try to outdrive his opponent. When you arc about three down witu nine to play, there is nothing more uncomfortable than being outdriven. You want badly to know what the other man is "oing to do with his second shot, because it is up to you to beat it if there is half a chance. When you have to plav the odd, it is difficult to decide whether to take a risk or not, or, indeed, what constitutes a risk. . It is well worth making a special effort to outdrive your rival when he has a nice little lead-not by wild pressing, which is useless, but .by an en«v up-swing, a gentle beginning to tile down swing, and the application ot a little more energy than you are wont to exert at the impact and a full, tree follow-through. It is a help to see what club he takes for his second shot. True, there are players who possess the knack of deceiving their opponents in this connection. They take, perhaps, a driving iron for the second and appear to play a full shot with it, whereas, as a matter of fact, the effect is no more than that of a half shot. Young golfers are often misled bv this form of finessing However, it does not often enter into either side’s calculations where a match between two average golfers is concerned, and. in such a game, the man who is two or three holos down may well focus his attention on outdriving his rival in the hope of making his rival plav the odd through the green and disclose the kind of shot that is wanted. The opportunity of getting ins’ with that shot is just what is wanted to turn the tide of fortune. British Professionals.

Writing from London to the Sydney "Sun ” Tom Howard, the Australian champion golfer, gives some very interesting thumb-nail sketches of British professional golfers whose names aie household words wherever golf is plaj ed and whose methods and performances are frequently discussed wherever British golfers meet together. After his first appearance as a competitor in Ent,land of the Rockhampton turnament, Howard wrote:— . . Compston has been criticised as being over-deliberate, but he defends this with the assertion that matches, aro won by the paying of much attention to detail. Abe Mitchell comes in for the non s share of attention. Mitchell, Howard writes, is a well-built man, stt. 16in. or so, weighing about 12 stone. He Ims perfect balance in every shot. In driving he takes the club back considerably past the horizontal, but with the iron he uses a very short swing with an equally short follow-through, though there is no attempt at checking the club. His short game is extrcmelv accurate and it is rare for him to fail to get out in two from twenty yards. Duncan, ho says, plays brilliant golf at times, but never wastes much time in potting the bait away. He studies the ground a moment, addresses the ball, has one look at the hole and then plays his shot. Howard says he is quite sure that any prospective champion from Australia will need to be picked from the police force and should weigh at least 14 stone. Ray is 6ft. 4in. and 15st. 121 b.; Compston is 6ft. 4in. and 13st.; Gadd is not more than sft. 9in., but makes it up in width and he turns the scales at 15st. Havers is Oft. Sin. and about 13st. Most of these players drive very long halls. Ray, for instance, would reach the sixth hole, at Kensington (510) with an iron for his second. Tho Hamilton Club.

Tho Hamilton Club has never had such a number of low handicap men as it has the good fortune to have at call at present, which affords the happy prospect of tho club being near ot in the best of competitions later in the reason (snva nn exchange). Tho latest to join the local ranks is Dr. Hunter, a handicap 2 player from the Bnlmncewan Chib, Dunedin, where he was tho associate in the game of Dr. Ross, the Otago player, who has figured prominently in Dominion golf for some years and who. it may be added, played with marked success until the semifTinals on (lie occasion when J. H. Kirkwood was across, and St. Andrew's was the venue of the New Zealand championship gathering. With Norrie Bell. Sloan Morpeth. N. Mcßeth, fiwmorly of Christchurch, and W, Wynne,’ of Balnincewan original'y, also on tho scone locally, the O’Rourke Vase should rot a shake when it conics up for competition at Miramar this season. S'onn Mornefh, who won the amateur title when Kirkwood was over, has not had the onw.N'.ini'ty to settle down serioiisjv to golf since arriving in Hamilton Inttcrlv nnd ho has been away from the regular playing of the game f or soma seasons. However. Sloan hopes to appear more regularly. Are There Any More?

Smith plays one round of golf Wf annum. Ho always enters for the dub championship nnd invariably makes an ignominious exit in the *rst round. Drawn this year against t very serious

and painstaking opponent, Smith watched tho man make a careful eelectlon of the clubs he meant to use. "J3ah," snorted Smith, when he had eeen the other man’s bag completely filled, "what’s all this fuss about f Look at me! A packet of gaspers, a hip flask, a niblick and I’m ready!” Australia*, Lost? J. Kirkwood, ex-Australian golfer of world-wide fame, will leave London for New York in September to take up permanent residence ii. U.S.A., says an exchange. For several months the American Embassy has been trying to obtain a quota number for Kirkwood, and succeeded only recently. Number 3 on this year's "quota became available through the last-minute decision of a Melbourne woman not to leave Aus. tralia. Kirkwood has been seeking permanent residence in America for about three years, and in an interview recently he explained that he proposed to be. come a naturalised American. Thia would enable him to re-enter the States after travelling abroad without waiting for a quota. The Prince Plays Golf. The Prince of Wales, after duffing successive shots on the Sandwich golf links, says an exchange, disgustedly whipped off his cap and threw it into "the rongh. The irritation soon passed, and he smilmgly picked up his cap. Hagen Speaks HI, Mind.

"You Britisher# get licked at golf be. cause the youngsters are too gosh darned lazy. A man’s got to work like hell at golf, and out out the nerve stuff. He's got to tell himself there’s a goal ahead, and he is going to get down to the minimum number of strokes,” said Walter Hagen, the American, just before he left for America. "Britisnei-# need more pep and fighting spirit. Britishers are pretty good sportsmen so are all golfers. Never mind about the sportsman dope. What a Britisher should be, is a darned good golfer. I don’t think we Americans will enter the British championship for some years. What’s the good if we are only going to beat each other? I’d like to nave been at the Australian Test match, A fellow told me I’d fall asleep watching cricket, but a game producing a fellow like old man Hobbs must be the goods." Here and There.

Miss N. Dell, the secretary of the ladies’ branch of the New Plymouth Golf Club, recently did a 145y3. hole at the Waiwakaiho links in one.

C. Stephenson (Taranaki) has played well through the Weston match, and he won the final, beating T. Kissling on a bad day when not many ventured out. He gave his opponent two strokes and won on the sixteenth green.

The following comments have been made, says an exchange, on the Wanganui golf course:—"Once again the greens wore in good order, and the way was perfect for the second qualifying round, but the fairways are just at present bad, the growth of grass is poor, and the course is now suffering from the long dry spell we had in the summer. It will be another three months before the lies are very good. The scores last week, on the whole, were bad, and this week they are the same. The only cause I can see are the fairways. On strolling around amongst the players one could see the balls after good drives lying very badly for the shorts into the greens. The Belmont ground committee will have to get an expert to go over th« course and give them advice about topdressing, etc., else in a season or two the grass will be gone. Each season the winter conditions of the fairways are at a standstill instead of on the improve." Golfing courses are being built in America much more rapidly than they are in Great Britain, writes H. J. Fernie. In New York State alone there are 13 IS-hole golf courses within a radius of five miles. All these courses want professionals and offer very attractive terms. Many of the players who have gone abroad have not distinguished themselves as players, but as teachers have been invaluable to their own clubs and have turned out some of the best golfers in America. If golf in Britain is to regain its former standing, something must be done to stop this emigration. The explanation of the movement is enite simple. The professional in Er :nd is under-rated as compared witu the value placed upon his services in America,

Where would you say the , main difference between a low handicap man and the man with middling figures against hie name rests? asks an exchange. Some players fail to reduce because they simply cannot keep straight with the wood, yet play their irons quite well; some stay up because they don’t know how to putt. Many people, when asked this question, would plump for the mashie as the club which separates the 2 man from the 16 man, and, there would be a great deal of truth in itj but taking it all round, the 16 handicap man usually has the groundwork of the shots, and his failure to . reduce is due to his failure to play consistently with all clubs. The outstanding feature of the game which won Jess Sweetser the British amateur championship at Muirfield was, in the opinion of Bernard Darwin (an opinion shared by other experts), his iron shots up tn the . pin. Mr. Darwin also wrote "When once he had his iron in his hand the ball was as good as on the green; and not on the edges of the green, but right bang in tlie middle of it, with a chance of holing it in one putt. Never by professional or amateur have I seen that long, high iron shot better played." CABLE EXTRAORDINARY. London, June 29, 1926. First four in British Championship and winner British Women’s Championship used English Spalding mesh ball throughout. Spalding.—Advt.