OPEN GOLF TITLE

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 287, 31 August 1931, Page 9

OPEN GOLF TITLE

Stirring Final Won by, Victorian Amateur, FOR THE FIFTH TIME By Telegraph—Preas Aran.—Gepjrisht. (Rea August 80, SJJ pjn.) Sydney, August 80. Ivo Whitton for the fifth time has become open golf champion of Australia after a stirring final He finished with a score of 801, followed by the youthful stars, Jim Ferrier (New South Wales), 802, and Harry Williams (Victoria), 303. Then came Sloan Morpeth, 804; Fawcett (New South Wales), 805; Dobson (New South Wales), 806; Eyre (New South Wales), 306; Petters (New South Wales), 307; Bolger (New South Wales), 307; Howard (New South Wales), 807. High Standard of Play. The play throughout was of the highest standard. Notwithstanding the high wind, Whitton’s game in the final round was superb, enabling him to retrieve what looked to be a doubtful position at the end of the third round. . When beginning yesterday morning he was five strokes behind the leader, Clark, and the crowd neglected him for the younger players, who were shining. The Victorian amateur thus did the final 18 holes with a small following, who, however, were rewarded with sparkling golf. Ferrier in a Bunker. Ferrier had the match in his grasp, but became bunkered strangely at the fourteenth in the. afternoon when the green was well open. At the last hole he was still able to tie with Whitton with five, but had a bad drive, a second and a third. He then made a brilliant recovery, but the putt went in and out and drew a sympathetic gasp from the silent gallery. Williams started with a slice into the bunker, and over-anxiousness later cost him strokes and the chance of the title.

Morpeti played strongly, A surprise was the failure of Hattersley, the amateur title-holder, who crashed with 85.