On the Links

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 90, 13 October 1923, Page 17

On the Links

GOOD LOCAL SCORING

E. PAGE 75, J. L. BLACK 73

A COLLECTION OF NOTES.

COMING EVENTS.

October 20;— Gold Button Handicap, Mirtmar. October 27—Miramtir v. Heretaunga. A teams at Heretaunga; B teams at Miramar. October 31—Heretaunga Ladies' Championship (three days). November S— Hiitt v. Heretaunga. A teams at Heretaunga; B teams at Hutt.

(By "Bint.")

Every now and again some player on a handicap of about 6-5 comes in with a, card which is quite a pleasure to look upon. One of these cases occurred at Heretaunga last Saturday, when the Colonel was soundly thrashed by E. Page, who returned a card showing 10 up in a bogey competition. He is on the six ; mark, but has been steadily practising and getting ready for the attack which he delivered on Saturday, with the following very successful result : Out,. 5,5, 3,- 5, 3, 5, 5 5 3V39 • in, 4, 5, 4, 5, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4—36; total, 75. ' That second half is extremely brighU-par golf at nearly every hole. Capital! •Heretaunga is now in perfect condition. An overdose of moisture had prevented mowing on one or two fairways when the recent' provincial ladies' championships were played) but these have now been cleared up, while the .greens are probably belter than any in New .Zealand at the moment. ■ The fact that the links are in condition for good play was also demonstrated earlier in the week by the ladies' bogey competition, the first of the season, when some handicap reducing was indulged in. Mrs. Birch won the competition with a card showing 3 up. Mrs Brodie finished 2 up, and Mrs Sclanders all square.

The best score recorded at Hutt on Saturday, last, in the first-of the qualifying rounds, was to the credit of J. h. Black, who played, well up to form and finished ■• several strokes ahead of any of the others. . There were a couple of quite ■brilliant; performances recorded over nine holes: '. The players were L. £. Carter and Colonel Chesney. Neither did well on the long side, playing out in about; level fives, • but-'on the short side bogey, was treated with scant respect, each .finishing the first half with s«Jfes well under level fours. mJn£ -Heretannga Club's ladies' championships will be commenced on 31st October, continuing over about three

_ An unusual incident occurred in the final game between Jh-s. Slack and Miss S,i fiftiHamilton> the former lady' at liftm I fT being disq^Med for fting herlaU to cea n it, which acton i? a. breach-of the:-local rules ' The reason for the rule is not very clear as despite the fact that the. linksYt ?amif: ton are very clean, an d the ball rarely Z% de, awn S- "6 is gained ball t ? ayer-w.h 9] lift6 and° returns the ball to the original ■ spot. ■' Quite anart from local .conditions" the rule aW inThe^lefr *te *"** U^ down TV,, -i j.' golf compiled by the Royal and Ancient Committee, f6r Ee n thJSe^V^ySoi^'bVTclll ««*y, .who had never pkyed before eT lorbes were second with 161, an d J Stoddart was next with 162. J. D^ Web sional) 164. Young Cassidy took • the llldina n Mfu^ er, w°° the pri Ze for the leading professional. Mjss Eva Brown Vwon the Napi er Tl « Cf toi a* the'Waiohiki links. .Ihe_ final of the State amateur championship wag decided between C Archer, junr., of ;Lpngford, and J. Hams, of.Hobaft, on the King's Meadows course. Heavy rains during the morning and the. previous night made the links very wet, the - fairways being soft, and the greens very heavy. Notwithstand-

ing the conditions being so much against low scoring or good play, Archer played beautiful golf. Morris was far from his best, having contracted a heavy cold. ' He had no chance from start to finish, and was overwhelmingly beaten by 13 up and 12. A golf philosopher was asked the other day for a few epigrams anent the Royal and Ancient game. Here they are:-— It's a long hole that has no short putts.

Practice makes perfect putting possible.

A topped ball gathers no speed. Bad shots should be seen and not heard.

You can drive a floater into the" water but you can't make it sink.

Our own experience is that "floaters" nearly always "sink. Even the best and most widely-known American professionals are constantly making experiments in order to find an easier and surer way of playing a shot, Herd saw Hutchinson and Sarazen playing a daringly new type ~ niblick approach, by standing well in front of the ball, lifting the club almost straight up, and coming down behind -with a decided "chop" into the ground, causing the ball to rise almost past their noses and then pull backwards after'the ball had dropped on to the green.. The effect is similar to striking a billiard ball v.ith the upright open, hand, causing the ball to.go half the length'of the table, then -stop and start its -journey back to the point from which it started. In Rood hands it is a wonderfully effective shot, and may soon, says Herd, be played very generally. . ■ •. ■■•. winning of "the National American Open Golf Championship at Inwood by Bobby VJones, the; Atlanta'amateur; was no. .accident, as Bobby, is' unauestiomably of championship calibre: He' is only the fourth amateur -ever to cap-" 7?i, r i° pen- -E^g.into statistics of th o links game, Grantknd Bice, of the Ivew York Tribune," brings to light i l6 {oU? w'nS: "When Jones's final putt dropped, the winning effort was his 1263 rd stroke m actual open championship play •for four years, not counting 602 strokes .. m qualifying rounds. His average of | Tin tor 16 rounds over Inverness, Columbia, Ssokie, and Inwood is one of the most remarkable ( achievements ' in 'the' spicy annals of the game. Haven's average for the same four years is 7<U with.no <me.else even close.. . Anottiei unusual feature of his play, was that in five rounds, of little play at Inwood he never .went above 76, and Inwood. iV by all odds the hardest test that ever decided a championship, a test from the back tees as severe "as Lido or Pin i yalley. ' ..'"""■ _Is a bicycle in hand worth a jrolf ball disappeared? That is the question. Geelong Golf Club members are puttino- to Dr. Hyett (states the "Sun Pictorial,"' Melbourne). Playing -in the monthly medal competition, he hit a ball in a way 1 that made his' chance of victory excellent. : But the ball could riot be located. AH that could be seen was a boy.running away from the spot where it fell. The doctor gave chase. He did not catch the lad, but he secured what is believed to be the latter's bicycle.- He took it to the golf house, there to remain until its owner makes application. Inen he will have an opportunity of explaining what he knows about the lost | golf ball. : , The Rolf erase in Great-Britain, remarks "Sandy" Herd in his book is apoor thing to the golf mania in the. States; it is like the difference between the Falls of the Clyde and the Falls of Niagara. When he was staying in Chicago people left their beds at 2 o'clock on a cold, raw morning, and went down to the caddie master's box office to book a game for the afternoon, and then went back to bed again feeling pleased with their morning's work.

Eighty per cent, of golf is timing. This is a dictum by "Sandy" Herd. In a squirrel's nest found on'the Augusta Country Golf Club. Manchester (U.S.A.), was a hoard of 31 golf balls. "

An amusing incident occurred in th« chief event during the Hamilton tournament, which recalls the old adage: "Do not count your chickens before they are hatched." The player against whom the story is told was 5 up at the turn, and appeared to have his opponent at his mercy, and so confident was he Jhat he accosted a player op a neighbouring fairway, whom in the event of his probable victory he would meet in the next round, and arranged the time that they should start their match. The joke of the matter was that on resuming his game his alleged victim "went mad," and not only_ reduced his five-hole handicap, but ultimately won the match.