GOLF

Evening Star, Issue 22233, 10 January 1936, Page 5

GOLF

[By Slice.]

The New Year tournament held by, the St. Clair Golf Club was a success in every way, and has resulted in a, new name being placed on the championship cup. A. G. Sime, an ex-New Zealand amateur champion, was tha winner, and deserves to be heartily, congratulated on his fine performance. It is not often that the first player, to qualify wins a tournament, but that is what happened. Sime headed the list with excellent scores of 74 —75 149. This total, was seven ' strokes ahead of the next player, D. A. Bennie,who had 76 in his first round, but fell away to 80 in the afternoon. As is usual in the height of the . summer,- a fresh breeze and hard, dry greens made a most difficult combination, and many, scores were almost ruined on the putting green. Next to qualify were Wj Clayton, 77—-81—158; J. A. Scouler, 78—36—159 ; J. E. Matheson, 83 —76 159 ; W. N. Satterthwaite, 79—83 162; D. S. M’Lean, 82 —80—162; and J. W. M’Lntosh, 81—82—163. This covers the first eight. It should be mentioned, by the way, that Sime, in. his rounds of 74—75, was out in 40 in each case, but completed the more difficult homeward .half in 34 and 35,which are very, good figures indeed. In the play-off Sime defeated Sj Goldsmid, 4 and 3; defeated A. Lucas, 3 and 1; defeated J. A. Scouler, 3 and 2; defeated M’Lean in the final, 1 up at the twenty-second. D. S. M’Lean defeated W. S.i Stewart, 3 and 2; defeated W. Clayton, 3 and 2; defeated D. C. Bennie, > 2 and 1. In these matches M’Lean put out players who had won championships, including the title holder, D. C, Bennie. D. C. Bennie defeated W. B. Kincaid, 7 and 5; defeated Satterthwaite, 3 and 2; lost to M’Lean. J.' A. Scouler defeated L. B. Whinam, 7 and 6; defeated Rhodes, 2 up; and lost to A. G. Sime in a match in which the winner had a 71. .

The surprise of the tournament was J. E. Matheson’s. defeat by C. Rhodes " in the first round of the championship by the margin of>l up. The final between Sime and ,M‘Lean was played under_ exceptionally fast conditions, and while each player made mistakes the contest was a hard-fought one, and the interest was at a very high pitch when the pair went to the nineteenth. M‘Lean has done very well to get into the finals, and. confirms the opinion held by the writer that as a rpatch player he ranks very high in his club.

The Otago junior , championship was won by D. T. Poole, who qualified ninth witlr 91—93—184. Players who performed well in this- class were H. L, Boo.ck, C. ,R. Wilson, and W. Goughian.

At the conclusion of.'the tourney the captain of the club, Mr J. Macassey, , presented tho prizes, and thanked : members and visitors for their support.A paragraph from * Graphic Golf ’ may interest beginners:—“There is an element of truth in the statement ‘As you grip, so you swing.’ One of. the first things taught by the average professional, and continually stressed thereafter, is the importance of finding the right grip and then having the pupil stick to it. Whichever of the orthodox forms of gripping the club the player ■finally arrives at,-, he should always' make it a point .neither to hold’ the club too loosely 1 nor yet too tightly.- , Either extreme must be avoided for ‘ the reason that while it is not_ impossible to hit a good shot occasionally, the , chances of so doing are rare. Let the hands retain' a firm grip on the club, throughout the stroke, but sacrifice nothing of wrist flexibility, which is needed for smooth stroking. Practise holding the club largely with the third' and fourth fingers of- the left hand and the thumb and forefinger of the right. . You will be surprised at tho freedom of movement this allows.”*

• According to H. H. Hilton all golfers should try to master the half - and three-quarters shot. It is admittedly the most difficult stroke in the game to overcome, but the reward of success is very great. However, it may he.submitted that in these days matches and graded clubs have more or less obviated fancy shots, which in any case are rather an advanced form of golf.