GOLF.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 8 November 1924, Page 10

GOLF.

The summer season has opened in great style, and players are as keen as possible The course generally is m good order, though in the first paddoc ,c the state of the season is somewnat to O' evident in the lush grass in parts* for the best liking of the golfer the greens, however, are in capital order, .and much enjoyable play is being secured by the members. Thus interest is being well maintained It is good to see that quite a number of lady players have decided to join up for the summer. They' are showing also a very keen interest. . A good photo of Leo Quin, of Eltham, Taranaki, who won the Nejv Zealand amateur golf title at Auckland, appears in last week’s Sydney Referee.

Writing of a leading English player’s iron play, the Times says he has no equal nowadays as a. cleek player. The cleek is the most difficult club in the world, but the most effective when it can be used.

“Good luck to you all. May you keep your eyes on the ball, may you swing true and steady, follow through well, and never foozle any of your approaches.” With these words the Governor-General concluded his speech at the golfers’ farewell to him at Miramar laet week.

E. M. Macfarlane got- back on his game last Saturday, and in the qualifying round for the Denniston Cup at Shirley did a 72, which might very easily have been a 69, as he let three o r four strokes get away from him in the round. He is now playing on plus 1, and he was o up on bogey. Playing on the Hokowhitu links, Palmerston North, A. E. Ekstedt, the local champion, put up a. new course record, doing the 18 holes in 73. Going out he took 39 (bogey 40), and coming borne lie took 34 (bogey 39). The previous best was 75, held by Ekstedt and by T. Id. Horton, of Masterton. 1

The annual competition for the Eallymoney Cup was played at Waikouaiti on Monday. Over 40 players entered, clubs as far apart as Wellington and Invercargill being represented. A strong westerly wind blew throughout the day, and increased the difficulty of making a good score, but

the course was in beautiful order. The fairways were excellent, and the greens and approaches well nigh perfect. The cup, which was decided, on handicap, was won by A. N. Haggitt. whose card was 82—6 —76. The handicapped set Dr. K. Ross a hard task in putting, him on the plus 5 mark, but he proved very nearly equal to “carrying the weight’ 5 first past the post. A fine round of 72 gave him a gross 7, with which he tied for second place with If. J. Hocking, 79 —2—77. The tie was decided on the afternoon’s play, when Dr. R'oss was again round in 72, and won easily. Dan Reese is showing much improved form in his golf and if he can retain it he will become as good a golfer as he was a cricketer. > Last w 7 eek-end he notched a 77 gross. Writing of the match for the Walker Cup between U.S. and British amateurs, the London Times says: “The English team, although beaten, was by no means disgraced, for almost all the matches were very closely contested, and the only one which was a runaway affair -was won by one of our own players, Michael Scott who, with R l . Scott, won his foursome match. M. Scott is 47 years of age, so that age after all is of some value at golf.” “If I want to know what sort of a politician a man is,” said Mr Lloyd George in a speech at the Criccieth Golf Club. “I advise him to play a game of golf with me, and then I make up my mind afterwards whether he has any use for politics. ... Hope springs eternal in the golfer’s breast. “It is just the same in politics. Many a time have I been asked to speak for a candidate whom I know, has not the ghost of a chance. I ask him how 7 he is getting on, and he says, ‘We are winning.’ Ask any candidate 24 hours before the poll where he is going to he, and he says ‘Easily at the top.’ You find him thousands down, and he keeps on wondering what happened.” (Laughter.) Criccieth Golf Club, said Mr Lloyd George, has one disadvantage, because it was difficult to keep one’s eye on the ball—one was always looking at the glorious scenery. He remembered once playing on the Downs near Brighton. Be constantly said to his partner, “Look at that wonderful view.” At. last his partner lost his temper, and replied, “No good golfer ever thinks of the view.” (Laughter.) —Westminster Gazette. WHEN GOLF BALLS GO “SICK.”

(By a Golf Ball Worker.) , From time to time inventors have substituted rubber golf ball cores tfy liquid, jelly, leather, cork, wood, vulcanite, and even steel cores; but, despite the advantages claimed, the rubber core still retains its popularity. Thanks to X-rays, golf balls get better every year. They drive farther, and retain their truth longer. And when they do become “sick” an operation performed in time rarely fails in restoring their balance, whereas they formerly had to be scrapped. The time which elapses between bal-ance-testing and X-raying a golf ball down to the actual surgical operation necessary may not exceed two or three minutes, but the whole process teems with interest. First, any inaccuracy in a hall is determined by floating it in a trough of mercury. Immediately the heavy part comes in contact with the fluid the ball turns, sways for a second, and then remains at the bottom. The ball is now marked at the point where it is heaviest, and finally tested in a further trough of mercury* Should the same defect be revealed, the ball is X-rayed to, determine the extent of the flaw in the core, and what form of operation is necessary to restore the balance of the ball. In undergoing an operation" the defective ball.is placed in a rubber-jawed vice so as to hold it securely. The golf hall 4 “doctor” now takes up his hypodermic syringe and, turning to * the point previously marked for operation, makes the necessary injection. After the ball has stood for about 48 hours in a rack so that the injected part lies uppermost, the- “cure” is complete, and the hall is ready for play. Because a golf ball owes its “life” to the rubber core, the greatest trouble that manufacturers have to . contend with is the possibility that a core, however .perfect in appearance, may he slightly out of balance at some point when the hall is built up complete. The actual making of a core consists, of course, in winding and guiding rubber thread into the shape of a core in the same way as a ball of Wool is wound. As a core weighs only about one ounce, and contains upwards of 1600 yards of thread wound under- tension, obtaining the perfect balance necessary is not so easy ae it seems.— London Daily Mail.

VICE-REGAL HAZARDS. It is no new experience for His Excellency the Governor-General to be under fire, but it is doubtful if be ever was in a more nerve-trying position as <a golfer than when five cameras clustered round him. when he was in a bunkerat “Hillside” on the Miramar course, on the occasion of his farewell by the assembled golfers of New Zealand. He did what too many good golfers have done, pressed against the high wind and topped his ball into a hollow on a sandy ridge, right in amongst trouble of the worst kind. Just in front of the ball bristled a, stunted, matted ti-tree bush, straight in line for the hole. Just then the sun came out, and the photographers dashed for their quarry. There was no opportunity on the portside as the sand wave sloped away too rapidly, but from close astern, and on the starboard quarter, there were gaping, howitzer-like muzzles trained on the hero of Jutland, and right on the starboard bow there posed the most menacing .of all, with a camera the size of a portmanteau. It was a situation requiring golf strategy at the best. A high angle of fire was necessary to clear the hush, heavy artillery was called for, His Excellency did not hesitate. Taking his niblick, he calculated briefly the possibilities. The enemy were all round him, the gale .shrieked, and the port hole of the little white pill he was navigating lay far away. Just then the man with the portmanteau camera walked straight in between His Excellency and the hole. He waited no longer. Two enemies were in line, the bush and the photographer. Taking a- strong quick swing, he smote the ball, which cut through the top of the bush, missed the photographer (unluckily) by inches, end became playable again. Photographers, in golf, are by no means strictly Vice-Regal hazards, but in the case of a Governor-General they are certainly more numerous. STIFFENING UP MIRAMAR. With all the additional bunkers and narrowed fairways on Miramar, it is still a question if some of the long holes could not he stiffened up (a little, as regards the second .shots, with advantage. There is no doubt that Miramar is one of the best courses in New Zealand as regards layout, because only bad golf i-s penalised, and there is no doubt that it is quite diffi-

cult enough at some of the holes already, hut if it is intended ta make it _ the greatest test of golf in the Dominion, every hole and shot should present, difficulties to the man who cannot keep straight and keep a. respectable length. There are few cities m New Zealand with as large -golfing population as Wellington, and amongst the local players would probably be found many who would appreciate the truly stiff course. Shots that are without any special penalty at present on Miramar, and where the fairways are rather wide- for a. test course are the second at the first, the second at the third, the -second at the ninth, and the drive at the thirteenth. To thus nail down the few spots where a ball may be slightly fj_ lced °~ pulled without disaster shows that Miramar is already a' true wolf test. For many players it is qmte formidable enough, but it is unlikely that toe narrowing down of fairways by traps or rough at the spots mentioned would meet with objections xrom first-class players. If a blind m a,sine shot is fair, then the “crater'’ is a test of golf, but, where distance is . so _ all-important as in a mashie shot it is a moot question if the pin should not be seen. To any golfers the charm of Miramar would he lessened if the “crater” were done away with. J

WONDERFUL. GIRL GOLFER

FRENCH CHAMPION

France has been notoriously slow in developing the first-class golfer, but at last she has produced a young girl player who promises to be the" Suzami Lenglen of the links. She is Mile Simone Thion de la Chaume a slim_girl of fifteen, who has just won the English girls’ championship, which is restricted to players of net more than nineteen years of age. So wonderful was, her-play in this event that Miss Cecil Leiteh declared that she would win the British championship within the next few years. Most French women appear to regard golf as a. toil over long stretches of country, the beauties of which are lost in the hitting, or mishitting of the ball; but Mile Chaume gives to the game all the seriousness which it demands, and she has. great natural talents for it. She speaks English fluently .and looks as British as any of her rivals in the championship, while she modestly whispered that it is her ambition to play as well as Mis# Leiteh and Miss Joyce Wethered. Arnaud Massy, the Frenchman who won the British championship twenty years ago, is her hero. She has played a great deal with the professional, .and he never attempts to give her more than half a stroke a hole. But her chief instructor has been an English professional named Freemantle, Who is stationed at Biarritz. Proclaimed a golfing prodigy, Mile Chaume has aroused great interest. Her portrait has been published throughout the. press of the country, and her feats, have been given equal prominence. For her age, she is unquestionably a remarkable golfer. The championship took place at Stoke Poges, and ft was nothing exceptional for her to play a long sequence of holes in the par figures. Though small and slight of physique, her average drive was over two hundred yards, and on several occasions She reached holes of about four hundred yards in two.

The secret of her prodigious shots lies in her splendid timing. She is the born athlete as in the case of Mile Lenglen. Every movement expresses it, and if golf had not fascinated her she would have made an equal success of some other game.

ROUND- IN HIS AGE.

To play a round of eighteen holes “in one’s own age,” i.e., in the same number of strokes as one has completed years of life, is a distinction that can have fallen to the lot few (says “Kadi.” in Golfing). Sandy Herd in another ten years’ time would be the man to do it, and a very active golfer of ninety might hope to bring it off with something like ease. But I do Pot know any actual case in which it has been done. All the same, the veteran, W. Herbert Fowler, came very near it at St. Andrews the other day. He is 68 and his score of 70 on the old course was the result of some fine putting. On eight greens he had oiilv a single putt, and he never needed more than two. ! -■