GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYERS

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 67, 16 September 1922, Page 11

GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYERS

PERSONALITIES SKETCHED

TEMPERAMENTS AND THEIR

EFFECt-

(IT TIMQKAra.) (FitOH OCR IPICIAL RIPORtIR.)

PALMERSTON N., 15th Sept.

' The weather, which has become such an important subject during this golf tournament, is calm and sunny ■ to-day. It really look's as though the semi-finals' and finals of the championship will be played off in good weather. Whatever may be said of the tournament, it must be emphasised that the tests in the amateur championship have resolved the equation into one of four worthy parts. Duncan, Sime, Bidwill,-and Horton are players, who- have mastered the game, and the reduction of the number to two and finally one 'is going to be a process marked ■• by a very fine display of golf. ARTHUR DUNCAN'S QUALITY. It: is' interesting to, study the personalities of the men who have been prominent players in this tournament. The: name of Arthur Duncan, trips easily to\ the tip of one's tongue whenever big golf is mentioned. It is pleasan' to be able to record that this player is still in the first flight. Early in the tournament it began to look as though he would soon be outclassed 'by the younger players. But Duncan may still be, called the brainiest player we have. He is also a highly strung one, and the fortunes of the game are reflected in his face. Though be nevei loses heart the strain is sometimes apparent. LHe is the prettiest player. and the keenest of the four remaining in the running for the championship. Medal play or, match play make no difference to his play, and his sportsmanship is of the very highest. ' THE LIVELY AND THE CALM Sime, the. present holder of the championship, whom Duncan! play* to-day, is a lightly-built, well-developed young, player, seeming to move on steel springs, yet always with a smile on his goodnatured face. His eyes are quick and bright. .When Sime is on the tee he seems to be dancing > all over it, right up to the moment that his driver hits the. ball. Then he is as steady as a rock, like his play.. His , improvement during the tournament haa been as remarkable as Duncan's, and there is no doubt.that the meeting of-these two , men will be marked, byva gruelling game. But Duncan's putting wilL need to be up to yesterday's standard, for Sime is deadly, on the greens; In the other match to-day 'are Bidwill and Horton. Bidwill is imperturbable. Nothing disturbs him. If a stranger had arrived on the scene when, 1 with a host of onlookers following, Bidwill was deliberating, the stranger would possibly have seen a slight, dark-moustached man, with his umbrella up, apparently admiring the lie of each competitor on the green. After thinking the situation over from every view-point this quiet man would walk over to the caddie, hand her his umbrella and select a club. Then he would step meditatively down and play the stroke. That would be Bidwill. His chances to-day, are very good, largely on account, of his consistent putting. „,:, ' "■-.' ;■/\' ,■'■■'■ If Horton had half; iof, Bidwill's calmness,- he would be a certain winner today. His long work is; splendid, but he has been off his putting. Eves when he beat Ekstedt yesterday his putting was not good all through. To call Horton nervy would hardly be right. It is more the unevenness of a restless nature that is evident in some of his play. If he is on his game to-day and to-morrow he is well in the running for final honours. • A SUBTLE DIFFERENCE. The difference between medal and stroke play is a quality which has been the undoing of some players. Black was one of them. Jnst what difference it should make to play a round in so many strokes or to play hole for hole against your opponent is hard to grasp. It has been described as the difference between playing the course and playing an op-' ponent. In the stroke play the opponent is always very much there, 'fighting you for every stroke. The seasoned golfer forgets his partner as much as possible. Young players cannot always do this. Black could not, and so he went down to Sime. . But he, will do better by and by. He hag done very well. •

Morpeth is a player whom everyone likes to watch. Want |of practice has undoubtedly contributed to his failure in this tournament. Lusk cannot play in the cold and wet. This fault is felt by many players. The chill seems to permeate even their clubs. Probably it was partly responsible, too, for the failure of Norrie Bell, another playor from warmer latitudes.