GOLF

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 89, 14 April 1923, Page 14

GOLF

tiY ■'•AFF*"I

BROOKS AND BLACK PIVE jJE

COKING EVENTS. M»jr 7-nJritish Amateur Championships. June Uvßritisb Open Championships.' September 6 to 13—New Zealand Ladiei Championships, at Nelson. September; ilanawatu Tournament. September: New Zealand Championships, at Waoganui.

Last Saturday certainly did not produce the golf that" was expected whin Arthur Biooks and J. L. Black met A. DSmcw and A. Ham. in an exhibition match on the Waiwetu li|ik»'., Th* match was favoured, with, a crowd, of onlooker* that I considered was quit* good, there being 150 watchers at on* stage. Conditions were certainly bad— in fact, they were worse than many of th,» onlookers realised. There-was a na.3ty, gusty wind that had more effect at some hole? than at ot.h,ei#. There, is. a very good bed. of grass on the fairway*, but it has developed in,to a rough 6t»te A perfect drive. wag often pen-, alised by a disastrous lie. The club is., however, now in a better position thanl it has; been yet, and it can be expected, that the members will see that the links are improved. Putting was very' much a matter of chance, though, this was. not. in any, way the fault of the officials. The greens were so dry that they were like glass, and the slightest-obstruction prevented success. This was ob.vjoug tim« and time again. A .pitch on to the. green from any distance was a sure sign, that/ the ball" was going over, usually into rushes or long grass which .guard all the greens. Ham failed to. 'negotiate th» green* until practically at the end of the game.. He tried for some time to pitch oa with a njblick, but. had litti* success. At the ninth, for instance,, h,». played) what looked' a perfect approach. It landed on the green, kicked up a cloud of dust, and one could have been sure it. was pin high and in the- right line. It kicked half a,chain dYer th» green! Ham looked at me, and' was almost past words. A few holes later he played a carefully^tudied jigger runup, kiqked in a soft patch of grassland was> yards short. . He spoke that tune, and._the expression was not. so.'carefully. studied. The others had varying experiences of a similar variety. On the driving of. the afternoon the honour* were probably 'with Ham. Brooks varied, though some of his balls were beautiful. Duncan gave an exhibition [ with his' wood such, as he has not done' for months, perhaps years, the sort of thing he might, have done on the Waiw»tu links when they wwe the link* of tht Hutt Club and he was a member m«ny year* ago. He foozled several of | hit drives. Black gave a. poor exhibiI tfon. and appeared to be out of practioe, hi* strongest stroke- being the approach. Three sixes and a five were the records at the_ first hole of 409 yards, Brooks managing to secure a five after getting away a poor drive that was about '■■ asgood as that of Duncan. Ham got away the best drive, but Brooks was nearest the green with his second: At the second Ham and Black both got away in the wind. Brooks haH a beautiful drive and Duncan short and low. . Black topped his second, and ran onto the green, while Brooks went oyep, and the other two were jhoti,. The . two professionals, took sixes, and the amateurs halved in five. ■ Brooks was the only one on the green -at the next, using a maihie, and he went out in two; which made the prospects brighter. However, at the next tee Duncan topped his drive, Brooks pulled, and the a^her two got fairly well away. Black was on in two and holed in four, Duncan taking five, »nd Ham up. At the next Black -foozled, Ham sliced with the wind, Duncan fluffed his, and Brooks got •way a splendid drive, but got a bad lie, and • went over the green in ,the rushes. The hole (bogey 4) was halved in fives'. The best drive at th« next was gained by Black, and he again managed a four against bogey 5. All except .Black had. fours, at the next, and then. Ham came to light, and his third lying dead enabled a four, with which he won the hole. Duncan, made no mistake with his drive at the next, but he overran the pin by yards with his' third, the hole going to Brooks with a pretty four.'. This put the Hutt pair four up »t the turn., Brooks made a good recovery from,a poor second at,the tenth, and secured a four, which was 'again good enough.to take the hole. 'At the eleventh all the drives were fairly goqd, but then what happened? Fitst, Duncan and then Ham pulled into the trees, to be followed by Black. Brooks .was furthest from the trees with the longest drive, and to everybody's astonishment lie lifted his ball into the trees, and would have just about finished, in the road .but his ball hit a branch and bounced back on to the green. .._ As it was, he also had •, the advantage of a caddie who knew the links thoroughly, but. be used a jigger when his caddie counselled a mashie—and a light one at that. Brooks took the hole in four. Duncan did the short hole in three, which was good enough to win it. The n[ext two holes were. halved in fives, and the match.finished five up and four. The Heretaunga pair, then brightened lip, and gave a better exhibition over the last few holes, which were played nut. The Hutt pair took 38 for their best ball over the . first nine holes, against bogey 40/ and the Heretaune* side took 43. Each side, took 27 for tho next six. The general opinion of everyone ■ who saw the match was that they would like to 'see it a.t, say, Heretaunga-, and I think the Heretaunga Club. or * their representatives in this match, would do well to put on a return match at th» beautiful Heretaunga links. It would draw a large attendance, and would undoubtedly provide a better exhibition 6l stroke play than was possible at .Wai- ; wetu. If such a match could be arranged, arid Black could not get the time for ■■ practice, either Speedy or Rana v Wagg would make the. match most interesting. ! Mrs. S. Kirkcaldie has written to' Clmstclmrch for particulars of the silver L.G.lif. Medal teaspoons ' which th« Christchuvch Ladies' Golf Clui> now I give as prizes to the winners of these

HUTT PAIR TOO GOOD

HERETAUNG^NS FAIL ON POOR UNKS

competStwns each month. Mrs. Kirk, caldie intends presenting the Hutt Ladies'- Go 2£ Club with similar spoons for' this seswpn's play, in place of tie silver button which his been in vogue" for to •many years; , ■ •> • " ■ ' Now and then we hear 1 of some fortunate .golfer hpleing in one. But in Sydney''there was a unique epidlemio of the fejlfc on' a recent Saturday,' three golfer* striking fame in this, direction/-.. The fil'sV time in my recollection thaw l's wet© done during the course of on« sitemdon. G. J. Wilkinson,- the' presi- " dent of the Manly Golf Club, holed out with, ibis tee shot at the eleventh, 163 yards ;:-while in the same conrpetitiori, mised. fonreomes at Manly, A. Cameron holedi out in one at the third, which is 110 yards. At Kensington; urthe' foul' ball best ball, against bogey, L. S. Rowntree hole 4 the seventh, 125 yards, in one. looking; at it in any way, it was remarkable that three l's should be hc-l^d m, on« day, considering tie feat is so. Tare. OQp.cerni.ng'holes done in qne, statistic&frts. have been busy. working out'the odds against the player,- and .it does rather discourage the high handier player. At one clubhouse, Sandy Lodge, in Middlesex, England, ,a panel .records of 27 occasions in the last/ 14 years. It was calculated that 30,000 rounds are played on the course every year, and v as there are six short holes which might be done in one stroke, there are 180,000 ■chances, but it only happens twice a year,.that is 90,000 to one. At another course, Coconbe Hill, there are.five short holes, and approximately 40,000 rounds are played a year, giving . 200,000 tee •hots which might be done in one; three were done. The' odds are 66,000_ to one. -But in making these calculations one thing miist be remembered, that in ahnost every case the flag is in the h6le ,when the shot is played, and probably a large nuniber of balls strike the flag and do-not fall into the tin, which would have.-gone in had the-flag pin been removed before the* shot. Haying . definitely decided to forfeit their right to defend the Walker Cup at home, ■ the American - Golf Association is already preparing to send an amateur team to England in the spring. Players are being asked .whether they" will be able to make the tour, and the young American champion, Jesse Sweetzer, has definitely promised to do so. Sweetzer, -who is twenty-one, is engaged in a Wall street office, and, like "Chick" . Evans and other prominent golfers, he is able to combine business with a great deal ai pleasure on the links. Hagen threw up his professional appointment to engage in finance, but he is again devoting his whole time to golf, having, it is said, lost a fortune on the stock exchange. 'Americi have declared fliat they will send their best-team, and in that event it will include, in addition to Sweetzer, Evans, "Bobbie" Jones, who has now left school, Francis Ouimet, and Jesse Guildford. At the present time most, of the_ chief American/professionals ..are taking part .in exhibition; matches on the Pacific coast and in Florida. .Hagen is in partnership with Joseph Kirkwood, the young Australian, and" both have arranged to play atTroon. They will probably .be accompanied by Barnes, but there has been a hitch in the plans' of Sarazen, the Italian youth, who won the American title last September. He has been appointed professional to the Briercliff Club, Winchester, New York, at a salary of £2500 a year, and it is not • certain whether he will be 'given leave to visit England. ."I migbt state that golf is going to.be' the most nopular game in'the world," remarked' Mr. W. L. Fitzherbart, the newly-appointed president of the Manawatu Golf Club, in returning thanks for his election. . ' ■ , Golfers are not universally popular ,in America. One of the leading New York papers writes:—"AH over the United States are to he seen groups of men and women,. walking, over the grass, cutting up the ground with golf clubs. What a 'fine thing it would ..be if as many ccjuld be interested in doing useful work .on the earth, planting trees, cutting weeds along the roads, draining marshy places. Such exercisers better than*golf. They would have to make a game of it, with competition, prizes, and, perhaps bets, for men like play, not work. But that could be . arranged. Bemember how the great king persuaded his soldiers to change a river's • course." • ■ . : • -» Just off the busy shopping centre of Kensington in" the spacious. grounds of the' Holland Houses, London, retired admirals, generals, government . officials, American visitors, actresses, clergymen, and just ordinary citizens' meet on common ground. The place is an up-to-date school for golf. A compiiny, recently formed, has acquired the property and made it into an "all weather" practice course, with greens, bunkers, and a series of nets which measure the length of the drive. Cumberland turf has been provided for a perfect putting lawn and four professionals are kept busy all the time with- their variegated assortment, of .-■ pupils.' The golf school has proved a ' popular, institution, and there is a steady stream of from dawn until sun- ■ down.. It is even planned to install high powered electric lights in order to allow, the city men to play after dark. More than -2400 golf balls are used daily, and so great is the demand for the use of. the grounds that the instructors' time is booked for many 'days in advance. Further extension of the school's, facilities are contemplated. "We carry far too many clubs," rmiTmured the philosopher, "we should carry only those we are really able to Use;" "Yes," snarled the disagreeable man, "but yon would look a damn fool chasing round the links with an empty bag.in' your hand." ' .. ;