GOLF.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXX, Issue 3592, 3 August 1912, Page 9

GOLF.

Tha Championship. (By “Niblick.”) ’• The first round to decide who shaJ hold the.honor of champion of tb-“ Poverty Bay Golf Club until next sea son will be played on the local links this afternoon. The draw is as fo’ lows:— G. M. Dogshun v. W. Gibson. W. R. Barker v. P. H. Hamilton. R. U. Burke v. J. Howie. P. Keiha v. G. W. Willoc-k. H. Simpson v. A. Paku. E. Adair v. W. H. Irvine. E. M. Hutchinson v. F. H. W Traill. J H. Bull v. N. Bull. The sternest fight this afternoon should he. that between those old rivals, G. W. Willock, the present chain pion, and P. Keiha, who has held tr--coveted title many times and oft in the past. The match between J. H. Bull ar. 1 Noel Bull, father and sou. should also produce a contest well worth seeing. The candidates have been putting in some solid practice during the pastfew days, and consequently some gool rounds may be expected this site: - noon. A tournament to decide the championship of the B grade will also !:o commenced this afternoon, and shon. ■ cause a great deal of interest. DEFERS. (By Harry Fulford, in Golfing.) From whence is the term “duffer ’ derived? Applied to golf it usually means a player who owns to a handicap of 20, or more. I use the wor 1 in no derogatory sense, for it must bo borne in mind that the player of a week’s standing, albeit that his form warrants the anpellation, has not- yethad the opportunity to prove that ho

is any other than a novice, and a novice cannot he stiictly described m a duffer. The term applies mo: -: chiefly to those who, after years o practice and experience, still show resign of emerging from the crowd, x: the majority of golfers are duffers the strict sense of the word. Accord ■ ing to my vade-mecum, a duffer is “a person who only seemingly discharg-e the functions of his position.” Doubtless what- lias become known as a “duffed” stroke, has been derived from duffer. This “duffed,” by t:.-; way, is described as “fluffed” at Westward Ho, though “chlaffd” is oft©--employed : hut whatever we deseriFrit-, it- is part of the characteristics of the unfortunate duffer. I have remarked that the duffer class is from 20 upwards, and this I think is perfectly correct, though I am quite open to be convinced that a lot of less- . handicapped players are often deserving of the description. There is o:--> fact- that few would care to deny : that is, our keenest golfers are usual y found amongst duffers. they ha-m----an aim in view, to pass from the dmfor stage to that where the play-: gazes superciliously at the efforts -t

those in the stage from which the . have emerged. One cannot fail to lie struck by the spirit of camaraderie existing in the duffer rank:. This is doubtless due to tne knowledge that few good players will so bemoan themselves as to ask the dm fer t-o play. Hence they seek the ; games in their own class, and a-vo happy in each other’s society’s. He. o they find sympathy. Their utieor hopelessness strikes a responsive chord. Their decent strokes are not allowed to pass unhonored and un ■ sung: and a- victory gives them more pleasure than the winning of a cup does the bored and utterly blase plus man. I confess to a friendly reeling towards all duffers, always supposing that they stand aside and do not keep the course back ; for if you onto get the back up of a duffer, slight him in the least degree, you will probably find that he lias you marked. Htsball will invariably be found in- tie rack just- in advance of your own, and if you steal away to the tenth tee, you will observe in going that the duffer whom you have slighted is smiling evily upon you. .Therefore it is good policy to propitiate him. Sacrifice the pleasure of jn.st one round in order to play him, and you will reo.p your reward by ever afterwards being

asked to “go through.” A source of annoyance to the scratch man is that he pays no mere as a subscription to the club than does the duffer. The consequence is that they have equal rights, a fact that the Rules of Golf Committee evidently recognised when draining the rule relating to the loss of one- clear hole. 1 once read an interesting article wherein the writer argued that all clubs, but more especially large ones, should provide a separate course for their members whose handicaps were over 20, a scheme similar to tiie so-called “Mugs’ Alley” in a roller skating rink, and that they should be allowed to run their own medal days, uiitil such time as any of their number showed undoubted signs of emerging from the cocoon of ignorance. They would then be allowed to qualify, by taking out a couple of cards, for admission to the ranks of the elect. This idea would naturally receive the blessing of scratch, plus, and any handicapped player below IS, and probably the poor duffer himself, harassed and driven from pillar to "post as lie is, would welcome it as a means toward obtaining peaceful,golf. Ho cannot help his deliberate methods. He must address the hall properly. .Must keep his eye on the ball and go slow back. Has lie' not been tolcl over and over again not to hit hard until he is certain of hitting it every time? Certainly lie has; therefore we cannot blame him if it takes him four strokes, each played deliberately and with great care, to reach that distance attained by the scratch man in one. Then, again, if the C-omitt-mee will place the tees in such a position that lie cannot carry the gorse, or the pond, or a yawning hunker,‘is it his fault that he spends some time either searching for his ball, or, when found, trying to extricate it from that position in which his “duffious” methods has placed it? AVe who are often kept hack by a duffer—it is worse when there are two —who is hacking his way towards the hole, should not blame, but pity him. As a rule we curse him, but why ? Simply because he is a duffer, and lie is keeping our most excellent selves back. Do we ever think of our own days of trouble when driving on the tee? We do not, except to give thanks for having left them behind. You can never get a scratch player to believe that he, at one time, was even as the duffer. f e-w of them can remember when they had a handicap of 20. 1 have said that I respect the duffer. Igo further, and say that I honor him, for does he not nse and utterly destroy the rotundity of more balls in one round than a scratch man does in a week? A

mercenary motive, perhaps, but this wholesale slaughter must be good for trade in general. Good for the rub- j lier companies, those employed on the plantations, shippers, dealers, mach-ine-makers, ball manufacturers, and lastly the retailers, amongst whom are numbered professionals. All these benefit- 'by the inaccuracies of the duffers; therefore they should he respected as persons who find work for their fellow-men, and thus enable them to live. It will also be found that the duffers are the back-hone of the club, the main prop of which- the scratch and plus men are mere ribs. Le those who doubt this statement get. a list of their own 'membership, and strike out the names of all those possessing a handicap of 16 and -ovei. Their clubs would be in a sorry plight if these resigned. I agi'ee that there are duffers and duffers. In every class you will find men who give you the impression that they have brought the links. If they find that a visitor has engaged the last caddie they object strongly, and urge that a member should take precedence, and generally consider- themselves ill-used. But you seldom find a duffer claiming imaginary rights. lam afraid that lie is not pushing enough. The only chance for him to obtain the service of the- best caddie is by bribery—of the caddie—and yet if we consider the matter carefully, the worst players should he given the best caddies, for assuming that the functions of a club bearer is primarily to watch the hall, his services are much more useful to those who stray, and he his wasted on those players who do not deviate from the shaven track. Not only for the purpose of watching the hall should he he given the best hoy, but hb should receive the best assistance in regard to his duffing methods, for the caddie oft discerns the fault, however good the player may be. There is a type of duffer who is quite content to duff for the remainder of his days, and we often wonder what interest he can find in the game. One such found himself drawn with a good player in a four-somes competition. They entered the final, ■ and became dormy two. At the seventeenth green his partner urged him to he up, assuring him that a half was all they required. “Are we one down, then?” inquired the duffer. Probably the surrounding country was distracting his attention. Another couple were once keeping the whole course hack. Shouts of “Fore!” went unheeded. Someone inquired how their match stood. “I really couldn’t tell you,” said one; “there may he throe or four holes difference, but- what a charming day it is 1” This is the type wtf anathematise. Oblivious to everything hut their own conversation, their golf a secondary consideration, hut—we cannot do without the duffer.

The Duke of Devonshire, speaking at a dinner in his honor at Eastbourne by the Royal Eastbourne Golf Club, to whom he has granted a sixty years’ lease of their links, said that in the presence of so many experts he was not going to enter into the mysteries of the game of golf, which he

admired but had been unable to grapple with. He heard a great deal about improvements. He presumed that meant the obstacles in the course find been increased. From liis few efforts at the game he thought the .nfficuHies, natural and otherwise, Were sufficient for the most gluttonous in that respect. He should be alarmed if he had to play golf with a canera or a reporter within visible or audible distance of him. He hoped he would be regarded as a. hopeless novice unworthy of comment.