Golfers Tuning Up: More Inter-Club Matches This Week

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 216, 9 June 1936, Page 14

Golfers Tuning Up: More InterClub Matches This Week

(By

NIBLICK.)

A S the season wears on, golfers are get-I ting the true feel of their clubs,, and are now shaping in something like form. From the way local players are shaping at present, Wellington representatives should make a bold bid for the championship honours at New Plymouth in October. The Tasnian Cup. The highlight of last week’s play was Dire. D. A. Crombie’s 78 in the L.G.U. round on the Hutt course on Wednesday, which broke the women’s record for the course, and brought Dlrs. Crombies handicap down to 5. . On this season’s play, Mrs. Crombie must be acknowledged to be the outstanding woman player in the Dominion, as she has annexed the Canterbury provincial championship, and, with Mrs. W. G. Turnbull, carried off the Autumn Foursomes at Miramar. . Strangely enough, Dlrs. Crombie, though sucji a good match player, has never been able to do well enough in L.G.U. rounds to get her handicap below 5. This is surprising, as she has returned the best medal round at Christchurch, Nelson, and Masterton, this season, and last week broke the record for the Hutt course with 78. . The New Zealand Ladies Golf Union will, this week, select the team which is to proceed to Australia to play for the Tasman Cup. Probably the two lowest handicapped women players in the Dominion in the game at present are Miss J. Horwell (Timaru) and Miss P. He.ean (Wanganui), who are reported to be down to 1 this season. Last season Miss Helean was on the 2 mark, and Miss Horwell on 4. , , . Not a great deal has been heard .ot Miss Oliver Kay, wh.o played on the pins 3 mark last year, and was beaten in the New Zealand women's'championship by Mrs. J. B. Walker (plus 1), of the-Bn-tish women’s team. Dlrs. R. S. Fullerton-Smith, who was on the 4 mark last year, has not played regularly since her marriage, and Miss Winnie Barns-Graham, rated 3 last year, is on a honeymoon tour to Great Britain and Europe. Other low handicap players last year were Dlrs. E. F. Cook (Castlecliff), 3; Miss V. Fleming (Christchurch), 3; Dlrs. E. L. Barker (Rotorua), 4: Miss DI. Beadel (Christchurch), 4; Mrs. H. C. Collinson (Dlanawatu), 4; Miss E. Culling (Auckland), 4; Mrs. Foreman (Miramar), 4; Dliss B. Rutherford (Christchurch). 4; Mrs. D. Stout (Wellington), 4; Mrs. J. C. Templer (Maimate), 4; Mrs. T. S. Weston (Wellington). 4; Dliss D. Young (Wanganui), 4. ' There were seven players on the 5 mark

last year, but Mrs. Crombie has proved herself as good a match player as New Zealand possesses this season. It is pleasing to know that the executive of the New Zealand Golf Union will not be guided in selecting the New Zealand team by the medal handicaps alone. Mrs. D. Stout) the Wellington representative on tHe N.ZL.G.U. executive of seven, informed “Niblick” this week that style and temperament would be taken into account in choosing the New Zealand side to play against Australia. The Ladies’ Golf Union in this country has governed the game well in the past. They have not been afraid of giving youth its chance, as is evidenced by the fact that Miss Oliver Kay, Miss Bessie Gaisford, Dliss Winnie BarnsGraham, aud Miss J. Horwell, have represented New Zealand. Titalii Success. Titahi’s victory over Shandon in the Watt Cup match On Saturday on tho Titahi links by six games to five, with one game abandoned on account of darkness, will cause increased interest to be taken in the contest this season. On, handicaps, Shandon appeared to have much the strongest team in the Watt Cup competition this year, but the Titahi men proved that they have greatly improved, of late, and managed to carry off the honours by one game. The Shandon champion, R. G. Hayward, the Shandon No. 1, has proved a regular giant-killer during the past fortnight, having in turn defeated four club champions —E. S. Toogood (Wellington), R. G. Holland (Waiwetu), J. L. Black (Hutt) and W. Marchant (Titahi). It will be interesting to see if he will add a fifth scalp to his belt by downing A. Clouston (Dlaiior Park) in the Watt Cup match at Dlanor Park on Saturday. Hayward is playing really good golf this season. His work is consistent with wood and irons, and he uses his mashieniblick most deftly. Dlarchant drove the fifth green at Titahi on Saturday, while Hayward was short and about two yards from the green. A gem of a mashieniblick pitch saw his ball sail along the green to pop into the hole for a birdie 2. Naturally Marchant missed his 15foot. putt, and lost the hole. Marchant started off brilliantly. After halving the first hole in 5, he drove the second green (315 yards) with a perfect shot with a helpful northerly breeze behind him, and took the hole with a birdie 3.

Later he started to book and slice rather badly. He is a left-hander, and appears to have gone a bit stale, as he is not playing anything like as well as he was a fortnight back. A Good Fighter. F. B. Carr (Titahi) put up a good performance in defeating W. J. Davidge by 1 up. The tall Shandon man was 3 up at the turn, but Carr stuck to his work grimly and gradually reduced the leeway to win on the home green by sinking an eight-foot putt. Titahi has secured two valuable recruits, L. Trent and T. .McGuire. The former is the Nelson Club champion, and the latter hails from Stratford. S. Crichton (Titahi) is another player who has come on to his game this season. He covered the course in 76 on Saturday in defeating E. Kretschmar by 4 and 3.

An Improved Course. The Shandon men were all pleasantly surprised with the improvements which have been effected to the Titahi course. The greens have been greatly improved, and the fairways on the new holes have been brought into good order. Titahi! now compares favourably with any of the town courses, and still further improvements arc contemplated by the committee. The Titahi Club is in a more flourishing position just now than at any time in its existence.

Can Hutt Beat Miramar? Some hard battles should bn seen on the Miramar links on Saturday, when the Hutt and Dliramar senior teams will meet in a Squadron Cup match. The Hutt men showed good form at the week-end. Guy Horne did a 69, 33 out and 36 home, in a fourball bogey, and Jack Black, Bryan Silk and Rann Wagg all handled their clubs like men in form.

Dliramar, however, will place focmen worthy of their steel against the invaders. Keith Jeffery, Harold Black, Jim Drake, Herbert Aplin and Gilbert Rees will be hard to beat in their own stronghold. , „ The B teams will meet on the Hutt links.

Contenders for British Open. If not a big one, the contingent of American players for the British Open Golf Championship at Hoylake in June will at any rate be select. In addition to J. Thomson —{he world’s longest hitter and a young man who learned his golf at North Berwick —Gene Sarazen, T. D. Armour and Horton Smith have announced their intention of competing, Sarazen, a fiery little man with the strength of an ox, won the title at Princes Sandwich, three years ago. Armour, a former distinguished Scottish' amateur who went to the States to seek fame and fortune, won the title at Carnoustie in 1931. The championship in that year was noteworthy for the amazing collapse of Jose Jurado at the last three holes when the title was virtually in his pocket. As an amateur Armour described himself, not without justification, as the “world's worst putter.” Crossing the Forth Bridge one night after playing in the Scottish championship, he threw his putters, 12 in all, through the carriage window into the sea below.

“In the future,” said Armour, as the last of the clubs disappeared, “I shall stick to one putter for good or evil.” Horton Smith is a tall young man who was originally a farmer’s boy in the Dfiddle West. Being ambitious, he turned to golf, and was so successful that, in one season he won £lO.OOO in prize monev. A careful man. Smith is reputed to be one of the richest professional golfers in the world. Lawson Little has also planned to make the trip with his bride of two months ago. There are a good many Americans who think that Little, who recently turned professional, will go very near to winning the British championship. Then Jim Ferrier, the xAustralian champion, and Bobby Locke, the South African star, will be two cockerels who will have something to say at Hoylake.