Golf

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 223, 21 June 1928, Page 15

Golf

By

“NIBLICK.”

New Zealand Chainpionships. The preliminary programme for the Dominion golf championships to be held this year at Balmacewen links, Dunedin, has been circulated early by the authorities controlling the game, the object being to have it distributed among golf clubs abroad in the hope of attracting overseas competitors. The tourney will probably be held from Wednesday, October 10, to Saturday, October 20. Those dates, however, are only provisional, but the tournament will not commence earlier than October 10. The open championship is open to all professionals and to amateur golfers whose club handicap allowances are not more than three strokes, or -whose national handicaps, based on the par figures, are not more than eight. In addition to the open, there will be the contest for the amateur title of New Zealand and the professional title. There will also be the amateur and the professional foursome championship. The Earl Jellicoe Cup will be awarded to the competitor, amateur or professional, returning the best single round in the open. There will also he handicap events. Arrangements have been made for overseas entries to close with the secretary of the New Zealand Golf Association by September 26.

Chanipionsliip Handicaps. In past years the New Zealand amateur championship has been open to competition from all golfers whose club handicaps are not more than four, writes “Divot,” in the “Otago Daily Times.” This year, however, the New Zca.anu Golf authorities have decided to reduce this limit to three, thus making it necessary for a player to have a national handicap of eight before lie can enter. That the best interests of the game will be served by this decision seems doubtful as a successful tournament of this nature is dependent upon a sufficient number of competitors entering. The new handicap limit, it is estimated, will so reduce the number who are eligible . that great difficulty will be experienced in obtaining a satisfactory entry. Some idea of the position may be deduced from the fact that, in the South Island, which necessarily will be called upon to supply a large proportion of competitors, there arc only about 28 players whose handicaps are such as to make them eligible. It may be suggested, in view of this, that the New Zealand Golf Association should reconcider this question before October. If it does not do so, it seems unlikely that a satisfactory entry can be received from the number of players nt. present in New Zealand with handicaps of 3 or under.

American Open Championship. To-morrow’s play for the open championship of the United States of America will commence at Olympia Fields Country Club, Chicago. The present bolder of the title is Tommy Armour. There will be 150 competitors, the field being made up of those who occupied the first thirty places in last year’s open, they being given a place without further oualication.- Foreign professionals visiting the States are given a place as a matter of courtesy, ami the balance of the places were decided by qualifying rounds played last Monday week at Boston, New York. Philadelphia, Richmond, Atlanta, Dallas, Pittsburg. Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Portland. At these cities great numbers of amateurs as well r.s professionals competed for the coveted remaining places. Those who have established their claim to face, the starter' will play eighteen holes to-mor-row, another eighteen holes on Friday, and at the conclusion of these two rounds all but sixty will be eliminated. They will play over thirty-six holes on Saturday; to decide the holder of the title, which falls to the best aggregate scorer for the seventv-two holes. In the event of a tie a play-off over eighteen holes will take place on Sunday. The prize money is not by any means large, and the winner, if a professional, receives £lv.., but as in ' case of the British open championship, it is I lie trophy that accompanies tl-.e victory, and the honour attached to winning, it, and not the cash, that competitors strive for. Home again from his triumph in the British open, Walter Hagen will be a competitor. Another competitor will be "Bobby’ Jones, who will be making his first appearance in big cunpetitive golr since he took part in last year's American amateur championship" with brilliant, success.

Walker Clip Contest. With both the British open and amateur championships disposed of one of the chief golfing events abroad upon which players in this country are now focussing attention is the contest between Great Britain and American for the \\ alker Gup. The match was first inaugurated m 1922 following an informal match at Hoylake the year before. The donor of the Walker Gup is Mr. G. IL Walker, of I St. Louis, who presented the trophy tor competition between England ami the-, United States. So fur America lias won ■ every encounter, but in 1926 she won at SI 'Andrews by only one mulch. This year the match is to be played on August 30 and 31 at Wheaton, Illinois, wherethe Chicago Golf Club has its Fieadqmir-'< ters The America Selection Committee 1 has already chosen the following team: "Bobby” Jones, captain; Messrs. Francis Ouimet, Jesse Sweetser, Charles Evans, George Von Elm, Harrison R. Johnston. Roland Mackenzie, and Watts Gunn. All of them have played before in the Walker Cup match, while two of them, Ouimet and Sweetzer, have played, in every match—l 922, 192,1. 1924, and 1926. No matches were played m 19-Sj or 1927. The “possibles” for the British,’J

team are the new British amateur champion, T. P. Perkins, W. B. Torrence, Dr. Twcddell, last year’s amateur champion; Andrew Jamieson. Scottish amateur champion; Hon, W. Brownlow, Cyril Tolley, Roger Wethered, Sir Earnest Holderness, and Major Hezlett. In au article in “Golfing” Bobby Jones, the American captain, states: “For the coming matches Great Britain should be able to put into their field the very strongest team that America has ever opposed, provided, of course, that all of her star players will be able to make the trip. Recovering slowly from the losses occasioned by the war, British amateur golf has made rapid strides forward in the past two years. Each season has been the advent of new stars and a constant improvement in the old. We need not take for granted that we will keep the Walker Cup always. Our friends are determined to have it, and have it-.'they will, sooner or later. It may just a[s well go to them this year, in spite of our best efforts. But we arc just as determined to keep it as they are to get it,; and we have the advantage of playing in our own backyard.”

Origin of “Bogey.” The following note on the origin of the term “bogey” is of interest, and is taken from the “Golfers’ Handbook.” The term whs used first in 1891, Hugh Rotherham, Coventry, suggesting the idea of what was termed the “ground score” of the Coventry course. The scheme propounded by Rotherham was taken up ’.by the Great Yarmouth club’s honorary secretary, Dr. T. Browne, who inaugurated matches' for Great Yarmouth on the lines indicated. About this particular time the popular music-hall ditty, “Hush, Hush, Here Comes the /Bogey Man,” was on everyone’s lips, rind it must have been uppermost in the mind of Major C. Wellman one day when he exclaimed to Dr. Browne, “This ground score of yours is a regular ‘bogey man.’ ” This expression “bogey” was at once adopted at Great Yarmouth. Dr. Browne introduced “bogey” to the United Services club as “a quiet, modest and retiring gentleman, uniformly steady, but not over brilliant.” “Bogey” was heartily welcomed by the United Services club, and the honorary secretary, Captain Vidal, impressed with the personality of the newest member, suggested that it was but'ditting that he should be given service rank, and he was accordingly given the rank of colonel, which he still retains. The Royal and Ancient club did not recognise the term until 1910, when the Rules of Golf Committee framed special rules for bogey competitions.