DOMINION GOLF TOURNAMENT

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 5, 1 October 1929, Page 13

DOMINION GOLF TOURNAMENT

CONTEST FOR CHAMPIONSHIP FOURSOMES

AMATEUR TITLE TO REILLY AND SMITH RUTTER AND FULLER LEAD PROFESSIONALS (By Telegraph.—Special Reporter.) Wanganui, September 30. To-day was ideal for the continuation of the New Zealand championship tournament on the Belmont links. But if the day was ideal the scores were very far removed from that in the two rounds stroke play for the New Zealand championship foursomes, both amateur and professional. The amateurs chose their own partners, but the 1 professionals balloted, a system that has not met with the entire approval’of some of them. It is well to draw a veil over the most of the proceedings to-day. In the opinion of the late Mr. R. Clement Kirk, who was president of the ,New Zealand Golf Association when he died, foursomes is the most difficult game of golf and one calling.for the greatest skill and, above all, sound team work. It was because of him that foursomes have been included in the New Zealand tournaments. The rounds had not progressed very far before it was apparent that team work was sadly lacking, and inquests with friends, and even recriminations, were frequent.

While players excused their own bad play, they did not take too kindly to being made the victim of the other man's bad golf. It certainly was disheartening to a player to see his drive straight down the fairway wasted because his partner sliced or pulled the second into the rough or into a bunker. Equally annoying was it for a man to have his partner pull or slice the tee shots into the rough and leave it to him to get him out as best he could. Worse still was it for a man who had chipped to close to the hole to find his partner throwing strokes away by bad putting. All these things were very much in evidence ' today. A good many errors, let it be said, were the result of a man’s concern for his partner. In trying to avoid certain traps he either fell into them or into others equally as bad. Many glorious examples were witnessed of how helpless men can be if they have to play the other’s ball. Left to themselves and by themselves they would be all right, but because they knew they were dragging someone else into the mire with them their game suffered. The only two rounds of any class, having regard to the standard of the players engaged, was that of the two professionals F. Rutter and N. H. Fuller. They won the professional foursome by a clear eleven strokes, while E. J. Moss and E. W. Perry were 21 strokes behind them. Such a vast difference can only be explained on the grounds of bad team work and a lack of understanding in the other’s play, all of which serves as a grave indictment of selecting partners by ballot. Uncertainties Among Amateurs. Even then there was the same uncertainties among the amateurs, due largely, but not altogether, to the fact that pairs, were selected on a principle but little different from ballot, namely, personal considerations more than standard golf. Of course this did not apply in all cases, but one noticed very little improvement in the play where golfers of class were paired. ■ Among the amateurs the best round of the morning was done by Kapi Tareha and T. Kuru. Here was an illustration of the strangeness of the pairings. In experience Kapi is. a . veteran, while Kuru has been " playing but twelve months under Kapi’s tuition. The pupil proved a credit to the master, and while it was Kapi who got olf the straight it was Kuru who played out’of the rough to pull the pair through. Their 76 was a fine round. But in the afternoon they crashed , and crashed badly. Kuru would not keep straight and this affected Kapi, who lost heart and fell into mistakes equally bad with his partner. From 76 they climbed to 86. ’ A Disheartening Case. A most disheartening case was that of A. D. S. Duncan and D. O. Whyte. From the tees Whyte was average. /With his irons he was uneven, a mixture of good and indifferent. On the greens he was well-nigh hopeless. While not playing a faultless game from the tees Duncan was chipping up dose to . the hole in masterly fashion, and it was most disheartening to see reasonable putts missed. That • Whyte was' anxious was apparent from the fact that the majority of his putts were short. Duncan was all consideration for his partner, doing all he could to try and restore Whyte’s confidence. Fine team work was shown by P. Grey and Chong, of New Plymouth, whose 76 and so gave them second place. Their rounds were almost entirely free of trouble in the rough, their mistakes in the second round being mainly at the last three or four liolss in the shape of missed putts. Both in the morning and afternoon they holed out the first hole (standard scratch score of 5) in 3’s. That was a start good enough to satisfy anyone. Grey was chipping up beautifully. and his partner’s putting at those times was equally consistent. One would have thought that foursomes would have played right into the bands of J. L. and H. A. Black, for they know each other’s play through and through. The game of both to-day was perhaps their best of the tournament so far. but missed putts are apt to prove expensive. A notable consistency was the portion of J. Goss and S. Morpeth, who know each other’s play very well. Most of the mistakes were on the greens, neither giving the other anything difficult from tees to greens. Case of Uneven Fairing, How difficult foursomes may become or indeed are at all times, may be seen from the fact that T. 11. Horton and J. Jamieson were only good enough for 82 and 88—a total of 170. With all deference to Jamieson here is presented a case of uneven pairing, and while the better player might save the inferior player a lot of trouble, it could scarcely be expected that the inferior one would minimise it A greater evenness was shown in the game of W. B. Riley and B. J. Smith, jun., who played the two rounds almost entirely free from any trouble whatsoever. A curious fact of to-day’s play is that the second round seemed to present much more difficulty to players than did the first round. In nearly every case scores in the second round were much higher than in the first. This may be attributable in part to a stiffening of the wind. But if the amateurs failed to master the intricacies of foursomes, not less signally did the professionals, save in the case of Rutter and Fuller, whose cards read for the morning:— Out: 5-14-135455—39 In : 343443545 —35 In the afternoon they read:— Out: 454524544 —37 In: 3J3533054 —36 The standard scratch score of the course is : —, Out: 544435544—38 In : 353553544 —-3i Where the professionals failed so consistently it was scarcely to be expected that the generality of amateurs would distinguish themselves. So long as players will play foursomes as though they were playing singles, so also will their •cores suffer. This was at the root of much of the high scoring to-day. Rutter » and Fuller played with perfect understanding of each other** game.

SCORES IN DETAIL Detailed scores are as follow:— AMATEURS.

DRAW FOR MATCH PLAY Following is the draw for the amateur and professional championships by match play, commencing to-morrow: — AMATEURS T. H. Horton and O. A. Seymour. A. E. Ekstedt and L. Seifert, jun. H. A. Black and J. Harold. H. P. Dale and A. E. Conway. K. C. Ward and C. N, Armstrong. A. G. Sime and R. Wagg. 'A. H. Black and B. M. Silk.. . S. Morpeth and W. E. Reilly. P. Gray and D. O. Whyte. D. C. Collins and T. S. park. J. Mangan and S. M. Macfarlane, Kapi Tareha and W. Loiiissoh. F. Huggins and B. J. Smith, jun. J. Goss and L. Cathro. L. Quin and A. D. S. Duncan. PROFESSIONALS.

A. J. Shaw and T. S. Galloway. J. D. Mclntosh and C. C. Clements. E. S. Douglas and J. H. Clements. F. Rutter and E. J. Moss. HAGEN AND KIRKWOOD Advice has been received that Hagen and Kirkwood will arrive in the Dominion on February 25, and will play on the Miramar links on February 21, and will then proceed to Shirley. Kirkwood toured the Dominion in 1921, when he won the New Zealand open championship at Hamilton, but this is the first time such a world-renowned player as Walter Hagen has come this way. The visit of these great professionals should thoroughly try oqt the standard of New Zealand golf. LADIES’ TOURNAMENT PLAY FOR CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS OF THIRD ROUND Dominion Special Service. Christchurch, September 30, Conditions agaih favoured pipy in the New Zealand ladies’ golf championship at Shirley-this morning, the weather being fine an<J bright ami the greens in good order. The results of the third round wire :—

Mrs. Dodgshun (Otago) beat Miss McCormick (Auckland). 6 and 5. Miss Barnett (Miramar) beat Mrs. Mills (Miramar), 2 up. • Mrs. Fraser (England) beat Miss Gaisford (Marton), 2 and 1. Miss O. Stevens (Dunedin) beat Miss Pavton (Rotorua), 6 and 5. Miss O. Kay (Dunedin) beat Miss Rathbone (Auckland). 5 and 3. Miss Beadel (Christchurch) beat Mrs. Weston (Wellington). 3 and 1. Mrs. Collinson (Manawatu) beat Miss Pharazyn (Napier). 1 up. Miss Chrystall (Christchurch) beat Mrs. Kerr (Tiniaru), 3 and 2. An Interesting Match.

The most interesting match of the morning was that between Mrs. Fraser and Missi Gaisford. Miss Gaisford played some fine golf at the start, bnd took a big lead, but Mrs. Eraser, whose putting had been letting her down, improved her game all round, ami played some solid golf to win on the seventeenth green. Miss Gaisford looked all over a winner at the time where she was 3 up, but thereafter she played with less confidence, while her opponent consistently improved. Mrs. Fraser only arrived from England about a week before the tournament started, and this is the first golf she has played in New Zealand. She is a decided ac-_ quisition to the ranks of women golfers in New Zealand. Miss''O. Stevens surprised by inflicting a severe defeat ou Miss Paytom Miss Payton was certainly a little off form, but Miss Stevens played sound golf for her win. Her consistent putting was an outstanding feature <4 her play, Mis*

Stevens came up to Christchurch from Dunedin about three months ago, nnd has hardly played any golf since. She had been playing very solid golf in Dunedin for the last three years. Her win this m<« ning was rather unexpected, but on the day she was the stronger player in all departments. Miss Barnett and Mrs. Mills were not at their best. Miss Barnett winning after a close match.

Mrs. Dodgshun Steady. Mrs. Dodgshun was as steady as a rock against Miss McCormick.. The steadiness which Miss McCormick displayed on Saturday was entirely lacking from her game this morning, and while Mrs. Dodgshun played golf that at times was brilliant, Miss McCormicks play both on the greens and in the fairways was far from its usual standard. Mrs. Dodgshun was even more on her game to-day than on Saturday, and she will take some beating in the later rO Jliss Kay again had a good match with Miss Rathbone, the game going to the fifteenth green. Miss Kav did not strike her best form over the first half, going out in 41. Her putting was not quite as good as usual. She was lup at the turn, and her figures for the last six holes equalled bogey. Miss Kay went right awny from her opponent over the second half, winning by 5 and 3. Mrs. Collinson won against Miss Pharazvn on the nineteenth green, after Miss Pharazvn had been dormy two. Ibis match was the most closely contested of the tournament, and it was only Mrs. Collinson’s steady play that eventually gave her the. game. Miss Chrystall and Mrs. Kerr both played poor golf going out, Miss Chrystall being one down at the turn. Coming home she str/iek form and played excellent golf to win 3 and Miss Beadel and Mrs. Weston produced some good golf. Miss Beadel s steadiness wearing her opponent down. she was 4 up with 5 to play, but then lost three holes in succession, the match ending at the seventeenth, which Miss Beadel won with a birdie 4. The match for the L.G.U. Challenge Bowl was played this afternoon, the winner being Miss H. Loughnan (Shirley), 84—13 —71. Miss Pavton (Rotorua), 79—3 —76, won the prize for the best gross score. . ... The fourth round of the championship Will be played to-morrow morning. SHANDON CLUB Owing to unfavourable weather the official closing of the Shandon Golf Club, which was to have taken place on Saturday, will not be held until next Saturday, when the usual mixed foursomes will be played. In the ladies’ putting and approaching competition for the Burke Cup, played over the w’eek-end, Miss Oughton was first with a score of 21, Miss Edwards and Miss Ellison tieing for second place with a score of 22.

*3 Names. ~ § © J Ui £ W. B. Reilly and B. J. Smith 79 75 154 G. N. Chong and P. Grey .... 76 80 150 H. A. and J. L. Black 78 79 157 J. Goss and S. Morpeth ... 79 78 158 A. D. S. Duncan and D. O. Whyte 79 80 159 F. G. Beaven and L. Cathro . 78 84 M2 Kapt Tareha and T. Kuru ♦ . 76 80 162 A. G. Sime and A. R. Black . 81 81 162 .T. Quin and R. L. McNlven . 78 85 163 R. Wagg and H. E. Conway . 82 81 163 F. Huggins and G. Richmond 83 82 1(55 H. P. Dale and J. H. Mangan 77 89 166 L. D. Hurst and K. C. Ward 83 83 166 A. E. Ekstedt and I. Saunders 79 87 100 W. O’Callaghan and C. H. Stephenson 80 86 166 C. D. Harding and G. Gardnet 83 84, 167 H. Hutchinson and D. C. Col 1lins .... 85 82 167 C. A. Seymour and E. J.' Hum phrey 82 86 168 C. N. Armstrong and B. M. Silk 80 S3 169 J. D. Lawrence and R. T. Tosswill 83 86 169 F. C. Fryer and G. N. Pharazyn 80 89 169 F. S. Parkes and S. Powdrell 84 85 169 T. H. Horton and J. Jamieson 82. 88 170 W. Lints and L. Seifert, juu. 87 84 171 H. W. Macfarlane and E. M. 87 87 174 H. N. Gouldlng and C. E. Howden 82 92 174 A. A. Stewart and L. Quin .. 86 89 175 J. Harold and J. M. Hussey 88 88 . 176 T. S. Park and J. G. Dick . 92 84 176 A. S. Hassall and F. Quin 87 90 177 L. J. Le Cren and J. P. Mortland 87 90 177 C. C. Holmes and R. O. Chesney 91 86 177 C. Meldrum and J- S. Harrison 86 92 178 K. W. Robinson and W. H. Harman 88 91 179 R. Kissling and J. P. 87 .93 180 PROFESSIONALS. F. Rutter and N. H. Fuller . 74 73 147 N. Bell and G. W. Ritchie .. 75 81 156 A. H. Dykes and J. H. Clements ' 79 78 157 X D. McIntosh and G. Watt 79 70 158 F. Branch and J. R. Galloway <9 80 151) T. S. Galloway and L. Lambie 80 79 159 L. Ross and C. C. Clements 80 82 162 E. S. Douglas and B. J. Smith 81 81 162 R. C. Butters and H. C. Pass 81 81 162 A. J. Shaw and J. Mowat .. 78 85 163 E. J. Moss and E. W. Perry 83 85 168