CHAMPIONSHIP GOLF

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 62, 10 September 1924, Page 11

CHAMPIONSHIP GOLF

GREAT MATCHES AT MIDDLEMORE

PERFECT WEATHER AGAIN

SOME RUNAWAY VICTORIES.

(BT TELEGRAPH.}

(From "Baffy," "The Post's" Special

Reporter.)

AUCKLAND, 9th September

For -a change perfect weather ruled at Middlemore to-day, when the second round of the amateur and professional championships ware decided. As the rosuit, three leading Aucklanders, two from Wellington, two from Wanganui, and one from Hawera are left to decide the championship. To-day saw a great fight between T. H. Hortou, Masterton', and !R. D. Wright, Auckland. Both were playing too carefully to make a good score. . By the end of the morn,ing round Horton was 4 down, and after the first hole in the afternoon he was 5 down, but made a great recovery, to lose the match on the last '-green. Rex George, Auckland, went down to L. Quin, Hawera, who won easily in; tho second half of the match. Black and Bidwill only decided their match on the last green. Gunson, Auckland, went to the thirty-seventh to win from R. 'O. Gardner, arid J.1 Goss, J. Harold, H. (3. Lusk, and A. E. Conway had eas\» victories.

A SPLENDID FIGHT.

The gallery followed Wright and Hor-' ton. Luck' went with Wright in tfie first eighteen. He laid three impossible stymies, robbing Horton of wins. The first six holes were halved in good golf,' but Horton then had a patch of poor approaching and lost two holes, and Wright added two more to his lead by tho 18th, coming home in level fours. On. going out in the afternoon he played a poor "tee shot, but made a magnificent recovery with a hooked' iron shot, and holed a long putt for a win, making him' 5 up. However, he let Horton in then, and by the time the turn was reached Horton was only 2 down. Both had given away chances at,the sixth, where Horton in particular was weak round the greon. ; Weak approaching and short second shots characterised his play throughout the match, otherwise he would have won fairly easily. Wright is considerably weaker with his wooden shots than with his irons, ' while his approach putting was excellent. Wright put his tee shots into'the mud at the short seventh and lost the hole, and let ™ off at the ninth when Horton duffed his tee shot and second. On the way home Wright lost another hole'at the eleventh, putting his: tee shot down the river "bank. The next two' were halved, Horton playing a particularly fine recovery at the thirteenth to halve when Wright looked like getting down in i. However, at the next, Horton's putt nung on the edge of tho hole, leaving it half covered, but Wright sunk a sixfooter round it to draw to 2 up. AE the next ho pulled his tea shot into the trees, and Horton won the hole in 4, to drop itagain at the next, where he missed an eighteen-inch putt for a half; This left 'him''2 down and 2to go: He won the seventeenth in 4, largely because of a> magnificent recovery with a brassey second from the rough. The end came at the last hole. Both were on in 3, and Horton missed a twelvefoot putt to win, leaving Wright tho victor. It was a splendid fight on .both sides, Horton making a great attempt .to reduce his opponent's lead, and' Wright failing to break when. rhis great lead was gradually reduced to practically nothing. . ■■'• ■..-; ■ ■•. . .-:■■','.

ANOTHER BATTLE

R. O. Gardner and G. F. Gunson had a great battle, the left-hander only losing on the thirty-seventh green, where he took three putts, after being in an apparently enviable position after his approach, Gunson.having failed to reach the green. In the morning Gardner ran into a seventy-eight, and was three down going to, lunch, he having lost two hores with unplayable balls In the afternoon Gardner ■:■■ played some splendid golf, including a two at the S Ae7 e!l 'uand a four at 558 yard;ninth. At the home tee Gardner was one up but, ho lost the hole, and then failed at the next.- It. was a great match all the way. •.■ .- . -■■;. -■ .-..-,.■-. „'■ ■

. QTJIN DEFEATS OEOBGE. / ' , One iof the'features' of the day' was the defeat of Rex George by L. Quin after steady golf through the green but poor jjlay on. the putting greens the pair finished with George two up In the afternoon Quiii; had nothing to worry him. Out in 38 with-a six "n it, ■Jie was -then■•four, un, and later 'dormie1 lour, -wmmng the neit hole and match.

BLACK'S STEADY PLAY.

Black had another victory over Bidwill, and promises to do in the Amiteur what- he failed to do in the Open Ho is _ playing exceedingly gteady golf, iiidwill finished one up on the'morning round,, after doing some extraordinarily good scoring.;1 He wanted a four at- tho last hole to be home in 33. and had reduced Black's lead of two up, established eai-ly in ih o game, to one down, black knew this ■: could not last and Cn°-, ",, steadily scoring about 'fours. B.dwill was two .ujj,af the: twelfth in the afternoon, and at the fourteenth .holed out. from the edge of the green to make him three up and four to play. Uiis. looked hopeless for Black, but he never wavered. Bidwill" accidentally grounded in a bunker at the fifteenth, ami picked up. Black was nicely on the ■ next in two, and lipping for three won the hole in four. Black also won the next two ;holes in' fours - against fives, and went into the next round - Harold beat Colbeck eight | and .sewn. uoss beat Seymour eight and six, doing 74 in the morning, when he was eight up. Petley could not take his chances in • the "morning, and was seven down to_H. B. Lusk, and lost the match six and five in the afternoon. j»Va3V, P-?ayin S steady golf, account-: ed for Fryer eia;ht, and seven. v To-morrqw Gunsoh plays Wririit, Quin plays" Harold, Black plays Goss and Lusk plays Con way.

THE PROFESSIONALS.

In the Professional Championship Moss only managed to beat Forest one up Forest was loading two up at lunoh, Forest having done tho round in 74. The-pair, wore all.square at the" fifteenth, but Forest holed out his approach at -the sixteenth, and won the seventeenth. In tli© afternoon l.h 0 pair were nil square coming to the last hole, and Moss won the match with four to a five.

M'intosh is still playing- excellent golf, and was two vp1 against steady golf by Butters on both rounds, winning four mid three. Both Butters and Forest, have recovered their health,'and arc making* showing nearer their' proper standard. The final between i\ioss and M In tosh mi Ifriday is expected to ■-.■■oduee a great £;nrir. Mlin -svealiiEi' promisca to bo better. ■ted U^ viuiU'gß _U«ts Hiyjiiaiae4 gi-ual'

lent condition. The management under the secretary, Mr. A. E. M. Rhind, is excellent.