GOLF

Evening Star, Issue 22003, 12 April 1935, Page 5

GOLF

[By Suez.]/

The popular Easter tournament run by ’the Otago Golf Gibb at Balmac©wen will undoubtedly draw the cream of rthe local low handicap players, and ' the high handicap players, of course, are well catered for. There are two v qualifying rounds as in past years, and the usual stroke handicaps will < be played concurrently with the qualifying rounds.. A new departure this year is the flight toumament (handicap), in which all competitors other than those • remaining in the championship are to ■ be drawn ’ according to handicaps into groups of eight and play off with handicaps. The tournament takes place from Friday, April 19, to Monday, " April 22, and intending competitors ’ ' are asked to ensure that they note that the closing date for entries is ■- Monday, April 15. Visitors will find ' that the 1 links Have been much im- * proved over the last, twelve months. J. R. Laidlaw is the present holder of ■ the. Otago championship, and W. G. [Wight was the runner-up last year. ; A St. Andrew’s Cross competition was played at the Otago Club on ’ Saturday last, and resulted in-a win for J. H. M'Dqugall, who holed an ex- . cellent 72—5— -67. His card showed 36 each way. D, A. Ferguson, who has shown a remarkable drop in handicap, came second with 77—8—69, and there ... were two 70 nets by R. R. Asjrinall (who is one of the most consistent players in the club) and F. J. Dawson. .S., E. . Field, with 75—3—72, had the ae.cond best gross score, of the day, equal .with T. B. Ferguson ; and an in- . cident at Roy’s shows that one cannot be. too careful. Field’s tee shot was! . just off tho fairway near the green, . and in chipping out the ball struck a -/ tree root, deflected through his legs, - -struck his - bag, ■ and incurred a penalty. - of two strokes as well as the additional shot played. -The result was a 7 at a one-shot hole. E. S. Douglas says that s bag should always be placed to the <*. - right of the line of play. In the junior •division-J. W; ; Smeaton and R. D. ■B. Paterson, tied with an excellent 68 net -- off 14 and 16 respectively. A. M. Cameron was next-with' 85—14 —71. ■ At the St. Clair Club the champion-ship-qualifying rounds have now been . -played, and J. E. Matheson is to:be • - congratulated on taking first place with two fine rounds of 71 —73—144. ,;C.-B. Wight took second place with , 72 —73—145, and D. C. Bennie came next with 70 —76—146. Thjs player was heading for a 72 or better, but an '. unexpected and" unearned 8 at the -, eleventh spoilt- a fine round. Fourth place was filled by W. Clayton with : -74—73—147, and the last four of the eight are: -B. C.’ O’Driscoll 152, W. N. ■ Satterthwaite 152. ’A. B, -Watt 153, ■••*nd W. M‘Ghie '156. Notable players who failed to qualify are F. Drake (the 1 defending champion), -A. Lawrence, • and D. S. M'Lean. In the intermediate championship J. '-' W: Bam holed two good 78’s: for 166, and in' the junior division F/ W. DixOn ' filled first place with 83-83-—166. W. 6. Kiridley had the best gross score in ■*; this' section. In the handicap events A. B. Watt and J. W. Bain tied with net 66’s. ' At the Macandrew Bay 1 Club a single "I bogey was played last week, and excel-lent-cards were handed in, the scores ' being: H; J. Rackley and D. Morris, each with 3 up, and L. S. Churchill, A. Stewart, A. Hellyer, and B. Deaker returned all square. The club is making very good progress, and has lately been affiliated with'the'New^Zealand Golf As-' * sociation:^’ A dub “ feathers ” competi- ,~ tion ts .Being in which mixed foursomes are played on handicap. Tomorrow a four-rball bogey is,, being played.., .The causes of “ socketing ” are dealt jUith. by Henry . Cotton in, a recent '.j‘ article in an. English,paper. This error it seems results: (1) From falling for.ward on the ball; (2) from the right . arm wandering away from the body; (3) from. transforming the shot into a - glorified push; and (4) from the left - arm ceasing to hug the body. “ Another thing to be guarded against if you . would avoid socketing is too much writ* .1- . work,” writes Cotton. “If when you • take the club hack you open the face - too much by turning the face of the club out, you will need to use a terrific roll of the wrists to bring it back to -1 ■ square-again, as it meets the ball. That, I think, is the most common cause of socketing, provided your , stance and swing are correct, and, therefore, - 1 say to cure this, dominate that roll to open the face of the club (a great deal of it is unnecessary), and let your wrist work consist of the simplest possible movements.” 1 Hickory users may be pleased to, hear ’ that since winning the Argentine open ■ championship, in November, Marcos ‘ t Churiq, using the special set of matched 'hickory .clubs made by a well-known Scottish firm, tied Serra for the centre of the Republic championship, played • at Cordoba. They did not play off, and are thus dual holders of the title this '-, year. Immediately, after this event ‘ Chlirio’ was successful in an invitation -.-•'-tourney at La Falda, with a. score of 67. Recently a syd putt sunk on the last green enabled H. MacSpaden, of Kansas City, with an 1 aggregate of 284, to beat. Walter Hagen by a stroke m the 4,000d0l open tournament at Sacramento. . . The first qualifying rounds of the Belleknowes Club championships were played last Saturday under good golfing conditions. The recent; rains had made the fairways, and greens . much slower; and. consequently shots had to be played more firmly than has been the case for some time, as there was. little or jio run. In the seniors) some very good i scores were roturried, • notably tSo«je of ,J. ; Cartwright and A; Lucas, wfi.o}had gross 71’s. Both these members ■ have been playing , very. consistently of late; and, the reduction in - handicap which Tias been made this week, has been earned by them. D. Mackay’s 74 was also a . good effort, which merits a reduction of his handicap." In the juniors, E. Simpson’s 77 was the lowest score returned, and judging by his play, it should not-be'long befor he is in , the senior division. 0. Cooke’s 79, was another good -performance, seeing that during the summer he plays tennis and therefore does not get much time for golf.. The scores, generally, were good, and as. only a few strokes separate the lowest and the highest in both divisions, the second round,. which is to be played to-morrow,, should provide keen-competition, -