GOLF

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 24, 27 July 1929, Page 22

GOLF

ftv "Chipshotl'

THE CUP PLAYERS

DALE'S STEADY GOLF

HUTT COURSE PROSPECTS

The Hutt Golf Club's successful touraey was favoured iv two respects. It enjoyed the only fine weather for about a month, and it had the draw, of the exhibition of golf by the -Kirt-Win-deyer Cup team, just prior to their departure for Australia. A. D. S. Duncan had decided not to make the trip, for family reasons, and so the team consists of four—Sloan Morpeth, T. H. Horton, Dr. K. Boss, and J. L. Black. J. Goss (Wanganui), who had intended to be in Melbourne at the time of the cup contest, finds it undesirable just then to be where he could not return homo in a few days if necessary, so there will be up emergencies. This really does not matter a great deal, as none of the members of the team are likely to crack up, and as far as form goes, all are sufficiently steady, under the conditions they will meet there. It is said* by those who have a knowledge of conditions in Australia that one of the great difficulties is judging the distances owing to the changed atmosphere. Praetico will no doubt straighten out this difficulty for the newmembers of the New Zealand team, who will have, a day or two to spare before the event, and otherwise they Will gain by the increased run obtainable there, and the quality ,of the fairways, which will seem ideal to them after-most of those here. Golf Not of the Best. Turning to the golf of the members of the team, as seen at the Hutt tourney, it was in some ways disappointing. It was in the nature of an exhibition match, and in such cases it is quite usual for the best of golfers to feel that more is expected of them.than in reality is, and the strain tells. Even allowing for 'this, their play, was not what each was capable of. The fairways, though the Hutt course is-drier after rain than any other in the district, reflected the heavy downpour of weeks, and the ground was so wet that it was not possible to cut the fairway, grass before the tournament. The greens were on the whole good, but they were so much faster than the fairways that difficulty was found by thoße who tried, the pitch and run shot for their approaches. This applied to all, of course, and one of tho best tests of the golf of the team was their defeat with card and pencil by J. H. Drake (Miramar) with a fine 71 and 75, total 146. Drake is a fine golfer, at his best under adverse conditions, but that none of the team equalled his performance iv the two rounds seems remarkable, because Drake was playing" only up to tho form he had established prior to his recent illness, and Bana Wagg; the frequently brilliant Hutt player, did a 69 on the same course and conditions. It is significant, however, that, with the exception of Dr. Eoss, the members of the team showed up in their placed order against a really strong side chosen to meet them in the /special event. Morpeth's aggregate, with a 72 in it, was only a stroke behind Drake. Horton, with a consistent 76 and 75, total 151, was next, and that A. D. S. Duncan would have well filled his place in the team was proved by his falling into place with 152; containing a neat 74. J. L. Black, with 154, gave an indication of how little really separates the team in strokes over two rounds. Each Man's Play. Sloan Morpeth, probably because ha was No. 1 of the team, had the largest following. Tall, wiry, and powerful, he has a very free swing, with a full follow through, and would get a tremendous distance without the punch ho puts into every s"hot. He seems to be always resisting, seldom with success) an inclination to "slug" every ball from the tee, aiid this results in occasional errors of direction, which, on the fast, heav-ily-guarded Australian courses, may get him into no end of trouble. He is, however, in unusual mixture, in that he adds to phenomenal length from the tee a capacity for thinking out his shots, and a wonderful faculty of making brilliant recoveries. His mashie work 18 safe, and on the greens he is deadly. The pitch and run, which let him down several times on the sodden Hutt course, should serve him well in Australia. Hitting drives well over 250 yards on ground without auy run, he got out of trouble through errors of direction deftly. He is easily the most spectacular figure of the team. ■ . T. H. Horton, despite Morpeth's more showy methods, struck one as the best stylist of the team. His swing las increased in speed, both in the backswing and the hit, to a degree which' would spell disaster to a less perfectlypoised golfer. His tee work was. beautiful, and his iron play was a delight. Horton is perhaps the best iron player in New Zealand. Few others play the low, climbing ball dead on the pin against the wind as he does. Sound the greens, especially where stymies have to be played or there is everything on a putt, Horton may be relied on, and "Chip-Shot" picks him to give the best account of himself of the team, selected, if he keeps in form. Dr. K. Eoss had the misfortune to play the worst golf he has been'guilty of for years, with the eyes of his little world full on him. To judge Dr. Eoss by what he did at the Hutt would be most unfair. Having got it over, like the measles, he will probably be immunein Australia. It is to be hoped so, because there are plenty of long handicap men who could do 84 and 88 in two rounds on the Hutt course, even under the same conditions. .Some kink seemed to have invaded his swing, and round the greens he was at sea. Normally, he is one of tho most imperturbable men, whose game varies but a stroke or two. J. L. Black, the fourth membet of the team, has earned his place by his performances in many leading NewZealand fixtures ovor years. He is at his best in an uphill fight, and his cards over last seasou varied very little. He, like the other members oJ; the team, was not playing at his best, but he made few bad breaks, and showed a taste of his refusal to accept troubles tamely at .the eighteenth. His tee shot was hooked into tho water hazard, and tho ball lay in nearly a foot of water on soft ooze. Wading out to it in the water well up his stockings, Black took his niblick, and with a mighty blow, gave himself.a shower-bath. The ball flew high and lazily, only just reaching tho muddy rough on the far side. Taking his brassie, Black put his third on the edge of the green. Black, like everyone else in the railway service, has to make the time for golf, but in his case a small amount of practice seems not to spoil his game.