NEW GOLF COURSE

Evening Star, Issue 22627, 20 April 1937, Page 13

NEW GOLF COURSE

CHISHOLM PARK OPENING BY SPRING COMPLETE TRANSFORMATION EFFECTED Constructed amid some of the prettiest and most picturesque surroundings in Dunedin, the Chisholm Park golf course should be officially opened for public play by the beginning of next spring, it was stated by the superintendent of reserves (Mr D. Tannock) this morning, and thus will be brought to fruition an ambitious undertaking which has extended over the last four years. The construction of a golf course at Chisholm Park, fringing the Tomahawk road, and in close proximity to the Showgrounds at Tahuna Park, was brought about in the first place by the desire of the Returned Soldiers’ Association that from the proceeds of the Poppy Day funds there should be launched some work which would show something tangible for the expenditure of money for the employment of returned soldiers when it was com. pleted. „ Mr Tannock suggested the construction of a golf course at Chisholm Park, realising that much of the work could, be carried out during the winter, and he also suggested that eventually the holes should be named by the association after various battles in the Great War. The greens were nut down about four years ago, and the fairways were completed only last year. It could be seen at first glance that the proposed course was likely to prove too difficult to play on, and this obstacle was overcome by the removal of some of the sandhills and the filling in of some of the hollows. This work was finished last spring, and these places were then sown with grass, the wet season being of great assistance. The grass has come on splendidly, and Mr Tannock told a ‘ Star ’ reporter to-day that owing to the abnormal growth during January the Reserves , Department’s tractors had to be used on the reserves during that period, and could not be diverted to Chisholm Park. Thus, the cutting of frass on the fairway at Chisholm Park ad to be delayed until the equipment, such as extra tractors and special mowers, came to hand for this purpose. Mr Tannock said that he contemplated no difficulty in having the course ready for play by next spring, and already quite a number of golfers have indulged in practice on the course, which comprises nine holes. There are two pitch and putt courses (sometimes known as concentrated golf courses), and these should be ready for opening almost immediately, or at least as soon as the clubhouse is erected. The, whole area at Chisholm Park comprises about 60 acres, there being a nine-hole golf course, a pitch and putt course of about five acres, another pitch and putt course of about two acres, and an 18-hole putting green. THE CONCENTRATED GOLF COURSE. In a chapter on ‘ The Concentrated Golf Course,’ included in a recent work on ‘ Golf Courses,’ P. Macken : zie Ross states: “The continued popularity of this miniature type of course is due to the fact that it teaches one ‘ to play the most delicate golf shots. It is not necessarily length of drives that stamps the class golfer, for many young fellows can hit the ball out of sight, this being, however, the limit of their capabilities. The manner in which a ball is played near the green is often the mailing or marring of a golfer, and this is where the value of the miniature course comes in. It will be readily understood that after playing for some time on to miniature greens over delicate undulations where the ‘ borrow ’ and strength have to be gauged to a few inches, the corresponding shot on a full-sized course becomes a very simple matter indeed. Bunker, shots are the easiest of all, and it is, wonderful how very 1 simple it is to chip cleanly out of sand .when once one has lost the fear of it. “ A regular school of young golfers used to play round our miniature course, and it is true to say that the best of them, when playing bn a fullsized course, did not try to lay their chip shots dead, but to hole them, and in this they were very often successful, “ If we were to search for the reason why the average professional golfer is so much better than the amateur, it would not be found in the amount of golf played by either. The answer is rather , that every professional spends a considerable proportion of his youth in chipping and putting on ‘short holes near the clubhouse, and by this means obtaining the touch for the more delicate shots which can be acquired in no other way. Pew grown men would come off very well against even the youngest caddie on these short courses. No matter what one’s handicap may he, one can go to the clubhouse with the certain knowledge that, at any rate, one is in touch with the short game.” the pitch and putt courses at Chisholm Park are more than, adequate may be gleaned by the fact that Mr Hoss goes on to say that “ as regards the construction of the concentrated golf course, I like to have about an acre of land for nine, holes. Approximately, one-third of this area will be used for fairways and greens, and the remainder constitutes the rough. It is immaterial whether the ground is irregular or quite flat, for the moving of the , necessary soil to form the contours is not an expensive matter on such a small area. “In conclusion, it is well to state that these courses can be enjoyed by any player, no matter what his handicap. The lay-out is so arranged that there is always a. way round for . the beginner : actually nearly every hole can be played with a putter, a pitch with a mashie-niblick being optional.” GREENS IN FINE ORDER, A visit to Chisholm Park at the pro-, sent time is well worth while, for a veritable transformation has taken place where once was little more than a sandy waste covered in lupines. (fhe lupines have been almost completely eliminated, and the course is one that should play well, though it will be necessary for water to be laid on during the summer. The greens on the course proper appear in first-class order, and they should present a picture when the mowing of the grass is completed. The environs are being tidied up, and the prettiness of the surroundings will be further enhanced by the trees that are being planted on many of the hills on the course in place of the lupines that previously covered them, while some of the lower rises have already been planted with ice plant. The work at Chisholm Park is occupying the attention of 14 men at the moment, and while the greens leave little tu he desired, efforts, are no.vv bc-

ing made, to put in first-class order the immediate approach to the greens, a result which should be brought about by top-dressing and fertilising. A tenth hole has been constructed to make more interesting the walk between the fifth and sixth holes, and now that the Chisholm Park course is so near to completion it should soon be proving a source of delight to all classes of golfers. No decision has yet been reached as to whether it shall be a public course or allotted to a club, but Mr Tannock stated that while no do.ubt a club would be established in the district, he thought the course would be a public one with alternative charges as for a round, by the week, or by the season. . Ho added that the work of construction had been a fairly arduous task, and it was desirable that the course should be able to stand up to all the demands made on it before it was thrown open for play. Another interesting feature is that the contour of the course was such as made it necessary to construct , irregular greens rather than square greens, and this merely follows the latest development in golf course construction.