FITTING FINAL.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVIII, Issue 10723, 22 October 1928, Page 6

FITTING FINAL.

‘CHAMPIONSHIPS CONV; CiiUDE*

HORTON .WINS AMATEUR : TITLE.

... BLACK .BEATEN.. AT - 36TH,

, o HiGH /STANDARD OF PLAY.

1 (Prew. A88oolation.)

Vv .. ;■ ~ t_. DUNEDIN, Oct. 20. .’.There.was a,bitterly cold southerly wind, ’ when. Horton and Black faced , the -'starter' tQ pl ; ay. off the final of the;;New. Zealand; amateur championrsiiipj tljis .mbrning; '.This condition obtained .throughout the first round ahd if was obvious, that it was being - felt by the : players. There was an , improvement as the day Svore oh, of ..which;- the ;■ playersavailed themselves’and put up better. ; golf.' The game was .a ' very . fitting final to a 'championship,' being full of. interest •right up to ’the final effort. Even at ,tlje 18th ;it was .still either’s game, but,this hole ,saw»the finish of a desperate ‘struggle ,in Horton’s favor. -Favored; with’a following wind, bpth got good drives at the first, .■within a; ma'Shie ‘of •’ the green, but they .were ,both short.. .Black made the better approach i and lost a chance of-a- win ty missing, a 4ft.putt,, the hole being halved' in ;; o.

■ Hole'2 :—Black reached the edge of . the.,-green;with a good brassie. Hortop played a No. 1 iron and the wind fook his ball over the bank. Ho recovered well, but lost the hole, as Blapk holed a long putt for a :4. ; Hole drive found' the bunker on,*the. right ; the ball’was in writer and he took two to get out, .while 'Blaffk -.' chipped past tjjoj pin. Horton's fourth just grazed the jhblo and Black won in 4.

"".Hole 4.—Black had the advantage from the tee. But tlirew the hole tiway l.p badly-judged putts. Horton won in 3. - •■Hole o.—Horton' found the green with an excellent brassie, while Black' was ' short. Both took three putts,' but Horton’took the hole in 5, to Black’s 6. ■ Hole 6.—-Horton over-rail .his, approach' putt;and .missed the return, enabling ; Bla.felc’> to .wiri in . 4... ; Hole 7.—Horton -missed a win here bv bad judgment on the green, which he reached in 2 to .Black’s three. ! Tlie hole was' halved' in 6.

’ Hole S'.— Black played this hole badly. Attempting a low drive he topped and , his . subsequent . shots were all weak, he taking 5 to reach the green where he picked up. Horjto'n'holed in 5. Hole 9.. ; —This ivas halved in a sound 4 apd-the match was square. > Hole 10.—Was made easy for Horton through Black'taking 3 putts. > Hole IT.—Both reached the green in ,3 and - the. hole was halved in 5, Horton narrowly missing a 4. ■ Hole. 12.—Black topped his drive and this put : him out of the hole, w'hich Horton won in 4by sound play. ; . ’ ■ ■ • Hole 13.—This was Horton|s worst hble. They' were equal on .'the green Horton ( took 3 putts to’ Black’s twb v *' 1 1 1 'Hole ,'l4.—-Black . played a ’ perfect tee shot with • a No/ 2 • iron. Horton pushed his tee shot out, hut, chipping P'cll to the pin, managed to halve in -3—a good recovery.- Black just missed a 2.

.Hole Id.—Horton pitched a beauty to the pin for a 4 and a win. • Hole 16.—Black’s second gave him-a chance for'a 3, being: only 12 feet ■ from the pin, but a 4 which he got was.all that was required to win. "•Hole 17,—Horton’s tee shot was a beauty, dead straight and well on. Black’s was .short and he then overran the pin: Horton’s second was idbad for a 3, .which ho got, to Brack’s 4. .

' Hole 18.—Black pitched a beauty to’ the green, four feet from the pin. Horton was also on, but not so Veil-placed as Black and he played (the odd. In attempting a 4, Black nearly stymied himself and could only halve in 5, leaving the match 2 lip in Horton’s favor at half way. THE AFTERNOON BOUND In the afternoon Black reduced the’iead at the 19th. Though he 'made an - indifferent drive, he recovered with a good second and, approaching dead, holed a 4. Horton ’ over-ran with his approach putt, also with the return, and took 5. Horton was through the 20th with his second,-, he fluffed, his third and took 8 putts on the green. Black won ;the hole” in. 5 and' squared the match.' J . . • • 1 : ' ' i • At the 21st piack’s'tee shot was a beauty., 10 deet from the pin. Horton 7 was ‘ofFthg green to the... left and he apimciiached t6o far, b Oft* just missed a 3; and the hole was in 9 ' The 22nd was halved in. 3. Horton threw away a chance of a win at the 23rd ty bad green work, fib should have made a four, but halved in 5. The 24th. and 25th were halved. Horton squared the. game at the 26th. Both took 3 to reach' the green but Horton’s approach was only 3ft from the hole and he holed his putt. Both got “birdie” threes at” the 27th by excellent putts. The run home was now approached, all square, and the interest and excitement was increasing as, on the play of both min, the game was anybody’s. . Black’s tee shot at the 28th was close to the pin. Horton was in the bunker and played out too strongly, jinking 4 ,to Black’s 3. Horton fgofe; the-lead back at the g>9th. Blamr fluffing his second and the hole costing him 6 to Horton’s 6. ■ There was. no change at the 30th and 31st, Nut at the 32nd JBlaclc got a 3 to Horton’s 4, which made him 1 up. . ■'Horton squared .at the 33rd, a good approach enabling him to win the hole in 4 to Black’s 5. „At. the 34th - two beautiful '.seconds found the green. Black - saved himstelf at’•this' "hole''by laying Horton a stj'mie. It would have been a wonderful shot’ to ' have negotiated the stymie, as 'Black’s ball was close to the hole. ! However, Horton made a ■great .efforts, he; jumped Black’s hall safely, but his falling ball landed on theredge instead of-landing in. ■ They were ‘still.all- square and two to go.'. The 35th’ saw no change. - • BLACK : BTOKS UP AT FINAL ; ; - HOLE . .At; the finpl hole Black, in at'tempting for. a pull,, landed his drive in’a Bunker , to. the right. His .ball bounded out, to ‘ land in • the • rough Slope to’ 1 the bunker. In the meanjtiihe, • Hotton’s drive was long and straight ,apd -his second was close to tfle green. Making, no mistake with his run-JJp ..to the pin, he was dead for’ a : 4.“ Black was oh the edge of the Igfeeh fin :3, -• but imade ‘a -weak approach putt. Failing in his effort for a, 5, he picked up , and surrendered the 1928 championship ,to Horton, fiorended‘'the 1928 championship. their- respective approXimateifopnds;;these- were: Horton— Morning 80, afternoon 78, Black—7B,and7B. , Thbse figures show that there was hot -iriuch between. the two players. .was just as. close, as yesterday's ■ semi-final hetween Horton and Ross; and ,the play little inferior. JBdthf-the' winner and the runner-up are I tb ; be .congratulated on their achievement” in from . an JoigHthdays’ | tournament; so successis ’Horton’s : second charapionKhHf aiid wfforroapee stamps him dlojWWßl'

golfsr3. His game is hard to find fault with at any time and to-day his only weakness was an inclination to be a trifle fidgety in his green -work.

Black has stamped himself as a championship player and this is his best showing in an amateur championship. Like his conqueror, ho, was fidgety on tnc.green in the early part of the match, I “at he improved in the final round, though ho made a few slips with his drives. The standard of play throughout the tournament has been high, as the scores have shown, and indicates the strides that golf is - making .in the Dominion. Thc : arrangements made by the Otago Golf Club have' been perfect and the visitors will all leave with happy recollections and look forward to the next championship meeting in Dunedin.

POVERTY BAY CLUB

SEASON OFFICIALLY CLOSES

TROPHIES PRESENTED

■ Poverty Bay Golf Club had its official closing day of the season on Saturday, when an attendance approximating 70 assembled at Awnpuni links,* Though the season has ended officially, it is expected that play ; will continue- for. nl ’further few weeks yet, especially since" the course is now in such splendid orejor. A mixed Canadian foursorno was the match for the day and _ some highly interesting play was witnessed, no cards, however, being handed in. An especial feature of the afternoon was putting competitions, for both ladies and men for trophies presented by Mr J. 11. Bull. These attracted .great competition, more than 80 games being plavcd over IS holes. Among the men, H. I. Thodey and E. Jenkinson tied for first place with scores of 3-3. The play off between these two proved a great struggle. After al further IS holes they were still even and still another 18 left tho position unchanged. It was-then decided that the “sudden death” principle bo invoked and, even then, it was only after five more holes that .either gained an advantage, Thodey then coming out the winner after al play-off over 41 holes. Almost equally close competition prevailed among-tho ladies; Mrs E. Ross, and Ml ss If O’Meara tving for first place with : 3‘S strokes. Two more rounds of 18 holes were required before finality was reached in tho play-off, Airs Ross winning bv virtue of a one at the 36th.- .

At a suitable interval during the afternoon all the players, and visitors gathered at the pavilion for the presentation «f trophies won during the season. Tho president, Air A. H. Wallis, conducted tho ceremony and, in tho course of a short speech, rc-~ ferred with great pleasure to the remarkable improvement in the course, as a result of the club acquiring the Triplex mower. “From now on”, lie remarked, ‘‘there should bo a big decrease in the ‘P t-s’ that wo hear in this part of the world”. After extending congratulations to the vari--ous winners, Air Wallis presented tlio • trophies as follows :—- —CHAAIPION SHIPS— Afen’s senior: N. H. Bull. Ladies’ senior: Airs L, T. Barnard, runner-up, Miss L. King. Aten’s junior: Dr. D. L. Aluir. Ladies’ junior: Alias Higginson. -AIISCELLANEOUS— Hutchinson, -Cup (ladies): Airs L T. Burnard. Nolan Vase: Airs G. W. Albertson. Reynolds Cup: W. R. B. Willock. Bree Cup: L-. J’. Renner. L. G, U. silver medal: Aliss T. O’Afeara; bronze medal. Airs H. AlcLernon. General Eclectic: A, Airs A. AVhifcehead; R, Airs E. Ross. Mrs R. U. Burke’s trophies: Airs A. Whitehead and Aliss E. -Crawshaw. Airs E. E, Brown’s trophies: A. Aliss I. O’Aleara; B, Airs Beattie. Competitions (ladies): Driving, Aliss Al. Bull; approaching and putting, Mrs R. U. "Burke, Senior tournament: R. J. Clark; runner-up, L. Balfour. Junior tournament, R. S. Aleheer; runner-up, C. Leggett. Aggregate points competition : A. G. Lancaster; runner-up, E. Ross. A tournament: J. H. Bull. At the close of the ceremony, a very enjoyable afternoon tea was served by the lady members.