SATURDAY'S PLAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 112, 13 May 1937, Page 23

SATURDAY'S PLAY

SOME CLOSE GAMES

WELLINGTON V. MIRAMAR

It was pleasing to see, D. 6. Whyte back in his old place as No. 1 of the Wellington A team at Heretaunga on Saturday. The rest seems to have done him good; certainly his match with the Miramar. champion, C, E7 Hollis, was most interesting. They were all square at the turn, though Hollis was 2up at the fifth. Each took 40 out, but it was not a day for the best of scoring, as there was a gusty wind from the north. The course had moreover been lengthened I back to 6051 yards, and it was heavy. Starting for home Whyte played a fine chip to the green, and was down in 4 to Hollis's 5. Both played good secondsto the green at the eleventh, but Hollis missed a short putt, and was 2 down. He got one back at the twelfth, where Whyte, just short of the green in 2, played a nice pitch, but put too much backspin on it, and took 5, Hollis being beautifully on the green in 2 from a very long drive into the wind, and winning the hole in 4. Hollis was short with his second at the thirteenth, while. Wh'yte was on with a long, low wood/taking the hole in 4. Both were over the back of the fourteenth green from the tee, Whyte thirty yards from the cup, with the bunker in between, but he played a magnificent pitch and run up the bank to within four feet. Hollis was in the bunker just below the bank, and left himself too long a putt, standing 3 down. A ridge of the green spoilt Whyte's approach putt, and Hollis took the fifteenth in 3. Whyte put his first drive at the sixteenth unequivocally into the stream. His next was also "sliced a trifle, but lay well. He put his third twelve feet from the pin, and holed the putt for a half, Hollis, from a magnificent straight drive, being just enough off the line,, with a chip well judged for distance, to prevent him from holing the putt for a 3. Whyte's second found the bunker short of, and to the left of, the seventeenth green. Hollis's second was pushed out also, but lay clear. He played a beautiful chip over the bunker and lay four feet from the hole, "kbyte's niblick shot out- of the bunker hit the top of the bank and ran only a foot or so, and Hollis, sinking his putt, won the hole in 4, dormie 1. Whyte was nicely ,on the eighteenth in two pretty shots. Hollis hooked his drive, and put his next through the green and into the rough near the creek, with the high bank between. He played a magnificent recovery, the ball rolling down the bank to some nine feet short of the cup, only to be stymied by Whyte's approach putt. Whyte's ball lay midway between Hollis and the hole. Taking a No. 6, he lofted the stymie perfectly, the ball just rolling into the hole, and halved the hole, finishing only 1 down. Whyte was back in 37 to Hollis's 38. • S. G. Longuet's second at the fourth was straight, but thirty yards short. Max Moore's high pitch hit the bunker mound, and was pulled up short, stopping well to the left of the green, but clear. -Longuet all but sank his short chip, and Moore's chip, played to allow for a strong slope, ran across and hit Longuet's ball, stopping inches from the hole. They called it a half. J. Shelly's long second hit a tree near the creek at the eighth, but lay fairly well, though with boughs overhead. He recovered magnificently, putting for a 4. R. B. Smith's drive was hooked in amongst the trees at the second. His strong second, trapped by a tree trunk, rebounded far behind him, and he lost that hole to W. A. Robertson. IN A TREE TOP. J. W.: Ward's high second from a sliced drive at trie fourth perched in the feathery top of a big tea tree, twenty feet from the ground. Under the old rules this might have led to some attempt at steeplejack work; indeed, instances nearly as unplayable have been attempted, sometimes with success, in important matches. One of the most unusual shots on record was executed at Crawfordsville, Indiana, on August 26, 1923, by Mrs. Blackford. After an approach shot had landed in a bird's nest, Mrs. Blackford climbed the tree in which the nest was situated,, took a stance among the branches, and played a pitch shot on to the nearby green, from where she holed out in one putt and halved the hole. Ward, whose opponent was in no great difficulties, and who had little to gain by heroic measures, preferred to play under the amended rules, dropping a ball where he" had played the last shot from under penalty of stroke and distance. He lost the hole to Halley. Incidentally, this was the margin of the latter's final win. To win his match against H. A. Black, pestered at several holes by a malevolent hook, showed M. H/Duncan to have the fighting spirit. He was 2 down at the turn, but improved on'the return to win 1 up.

One of the most promising players in the "Wellington A team is J. B. Graham, who, starting with a 3, did a 75 against J. Shelly, whom he beat 4 and 3.