GOLF

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 50, 27 August 1932, Page 20

GOLF

By "Chipshqt" PAR AND SCRATCH

METHODS EXPLAINED

NOTES

Interest in the Watt Cup continues with the chances of the concluding games. Now Titahi and now Waiwetu seem to have secured a grip on this coveted junior trophy/ Much will depend on the venues. Titahi is a hard course for visiting teams, and Waiwetu certainly did not seem to suit Titahi last week. Standard Scratch Scores. Though the New Zealand Golf Council has succeeded in standardising the , scratch scores of many courses, uniformity has not been completely .arrived i at, and as some players still have han- |. dicaps on their own courses quite dis--3 proportionate to their play on other courses, the sooner the standardisation of scratch scores, making possible han- " T dicaps which should hold good any- * where, is complete the better. Standard 1 par is based on the actual length of c the holes, and represents the number £ of strokes in which an ordinary scratch _ player should reach the eighteen'greens, plus thirty-six putts, and is arrived at '. by means of the following table: ' I t - ° > I - I > i > > ' ' t - r I ' ' l i T ■ ■ " t a t 0 ! ' " : j s a b 1

4 It has been found that an analysis of the holes on. a large number of - courses shows that the playing- length c of a standard par 3 hole is 160 yards, the average playing length of the a second shot at a standard par 4 hole 0 is 140 yards, and the average playing - length of the third shot at a standard 1 par 5 hole is 50 yards. Average play* I ing lengths are as follows:—

- Playing length varies 7 considerably; c on courses having the same standard a par, according to the run or otherwise g on the fairways, and uphill or down- £ hill slopes, and the standard scratch, h score is amended from the standard par d by the addition or deduction of the . excess or shortage of playing length, - over-all, compared with, the; average t playing length, on the following basis:' c —150 to 349 yards, 1 stroke; 350 to > 699 yards, 2'strokes; 700 to 1049 yards, h 3 strokes; 1050 yards or over, 4 strokes. 0 The standard scratch score is not yet completely arrived at, however, "■ as "course value" (quite- apart from, length and playing length.) has to be 5 taken into consideration. Matters c such as the lay out of the course, side - hazards, whether the greens are well y guarded or open, the narrowness or ' width of fairway, the nature of the s rough, and generally the punishment of 5 indifferent shots, have to be taken into c account. Tho course value is allotted a upon the following basis:—To a course " without any special golfing difficulties, r 1 stroke; to a course -well laid-out, but 6 on easy lines, 2 strokes; to a good c class course presenting a variety of s golfing difficulties, 3 strokes; to a course r laid out on first-class lines, 4' strokes. " A standardisation of scratch scores a throughout New Zealand- is only possible on such lines. 'A questionnaire' a on run, bunkering, state of greens, etc., a accompanies a form sent out with ? spaces for the. length and description. a of the holes, and corresponding spaces t where the New Zealand Golf Associa--1 tion will fill in the playing length, s standard par, and plus or minus - average, compiling at the foot the c standard scratch score as arrived at ■ above. Say the standard par is 74, ' the shortage of playing length on the c average is 158 yards, equal to a stroke r by the table, and the additional course c value is 3, the standard scratch score a will be 76. d - Canadian Champion. - • The Canadian open championship, at c Ottawa, was won by H. Cooper with aa - aggregate of 290 for 72 holes. Walter r Hagea was thus deprived of the title s which he won last year after a hard s fight against P. Alliss. Al Watrous, • who at the end of the second and third 4 rounds led the field, was the runner-up c with 293, while Hagen was third with r 295. T. P. Perkins, the former British, h amateur champion, now a naturalised - American, was not in the first seven. p Outside Agency. A cow grazing on the edge.of the Fitzroy No. 4 green, at New Plymouth, picked up a lady's ball near the green, recently, chewed it awhile, and then, before the rush of golfers, fled down hill. Wildly-waved mashies and the 1 unfamiliar propinquity of excited h humans, caused the cow to drop the . ball, and a discussion arose as to what . should he done nest. • The ball was taken back and dropped, quite properly, as it was at rest when interfered c with. Had it lodged in anything movt ing, it would, if recovered, have been a dropped as near as possible to the place where it lodged, but if it had > been deflected while in motion by some & other agency outside the match, it , would have been played from where it g lay, according to the rules. • 7 c Mary Alward Cup. a The positions of the various teams - contesting in. the "Mary Alward Cup"' c contest, to date are:—

■ Moss in Form. Alt-hough a majority of players seem unable to handle an unusually fast a green, it is remarkable how a first-class r putter can accommodate himself to changed conditions, says the "JSe-w Zealand Herald. 5' A notable example Q is E. J. Moss, of the Auckland' Club, , who has been producing some wjonderful scores at Middlemore this, winter! ; On fast, bare greens Moss'appears to • play his putter down through the.ball, thus imparting both firmness and drag ' to the holing out putt, it being remark- ' able how the ball holds the line. a Hint for Motto? " Whether a golf club should have & crest or not is a matter for considera- > tion, but whatever heraldic beast is ' destined to represent Paekakariki was certainly rampant / recently when, in, P the Watt Cup contest, the seaside club tied with its big sister Titahi, six games all. The visitors found the greens very fast, and assign their lack y of victory to multitudinous putts, but the Paekakariki men were at home. . There is a great difference between - home and away matches in this Watt Cup business. On holes, Titahi led 46 to 14.

In the Transvaal recently two Kugby teams, in different matches, each! caused an abrupt termination to the play by walking off the field. The reason for their action was dissatisfaction with decisions of the referees. The teams were suspended, but each member was given an opportunity to reply; to the complaints made by; the referees.

Tee Second P a r3. Par 5. snot. snot. Up to Par 4 Orer Grade A .. 230 210 230 231-440 ' 440 Grade B .. 220 200 220 221-420 420 Grade C .. 210 195 210 211-405 40^ Grade D ..200 1S5 200 201-385 385 Grade E .. 100 ISO 190 191-370 3T0

Par 3. Grade A : 160 Grade B v. .......„■ 160 grade C •.. 160 Grade D 160 Grade E 160 Par 4. Par 5« 370 430 360 '■ 470' 3S0 455 340 435 330 .420

Matches Clubs. played. Titalii .6 Manor Park , : 6 Waiwetu .... 6 .' | Shandon .... 7 Paekakariki .. 7 - :. Points scored. 45 . 40 31 23 21