GOLF.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 22 November 1924, Page 10

GOLF.

The Summer Cup competition will be commencing shortly, and members naturally will get all the practice possible. Conditions are improving daily, and the game is getting very fast, owing to the drying of the grass*. Many interesting matches may be looked for in the next two or three months. Members will regret to hear that Rod. Syme, one of the most keen enthusiasts, has had to undergo a slight operation, and will he, much to his own sorrow, no doubt, unable to be on the links for a week or two.

J. L. Black, of the Hutt Club, one of the leading amateurs of the Dominion, has again annexed the championship of his club for 1924. It is worth note that his brother Harold is this year’s champion of the Dannevirke Club.

N. Z. GOLF ANNUAL,

. From the Secretary of the Golf Council has come—and we have pleasure in acknowledgement thereof—a copy of the N.Z Golf . Annual for 1924. It is an excellently compiled publication, both from a technical and a literary point of view. The illustrations mostly deal, with the men’s Amateur and Professional .Championships, and the Ladies’ Championships—phjotographs of the leading players, and scenes on the links where the matches were played ■—but there are two or three, of special interest. These comprise the frontispiece showing the glorious view on One Tree Hill, Auckland, with Mr. C. Gillies who founded the Auckland Club, driving off at the Amphitheatre, a view probably unsurpassed in all New Zealand, and two very interesting photographs of golf way back in 1892 on the. Te Akatarama Links in South Canterbury. The ladies appear to be middleaged and display what appear to the present generation ag terribly cumbersome dresses, very long in the skirt, while the men plainly appear the product of a past generation in their dress and looks. They are putting on greens which would now be called doubtful fairways. The plus fours were not in vogue in those far off days. How style and fashion dp change!

It is interesting to note the introduction of golf is claimed by Scotchmen of Otago way back in the sixties, and the Otago Club has a list of club champions dating back to 1872. The Editor says: “In. our editorial capacity we have been delving into tlie. past to find out something of the early history of golf in. this country, to find how and where a start was made, to apportion the blame justly. When the first rabbits were released in this country, there was a very pleasant little function, a luncheon with perhaps a little champagne; the rabbits have since moved no inconsiderable part of the soil of New Zealand, but how much soil have the golfers removed? Could we but meet the sportsmen who brought in the rabbits with what enthusiasm would; they be greeted! But the golfer would escape lightly—most of us are participators in his crime. When we remember that one of our provinces was settled by the hardy Scot, we need scarcely look further for the beginnings of golf in New Zealand. The Englishman holds fast to the fact that Blackheath was the first golf club, but the Scot remembers that it was formed by Scots. Dunedin with no uncertain voice claims the first N.Z. golf club.” The number is of great interest to Taranaki, and of special interest to Hawera and Eltham players because of its recording the victory of Leo Quin in the Amateur Championship. Writing of his play, in the final, the editor says: “L. Quin, of short though powerful build, did not give the same impression of power and condition, but earlier matches had proved his temperament and occasional bursts had shown he \vas capable of• super-golf. It may safely be said that- better golf had never been seen in an amateur final in New Zealand. It may well be classed with some of Arthur Duncan’s classic efforts in the days when there was no one to extend him. Goss played well enough to hold his own against a normal player especially in the morning, but Quin produced a succession of par holes which would have beaten' almost any man. . . . His all round game was

very sound, his drives were straight and powerful, his long irons accurate and of great length, his putting hold and true, still, perhaps his pitches with mashie and niblick were the finest shots of all. True as a die, right up to the pin they stopped in a yard or two. The pitches at the 6th and Bth in the afternoon will be remembered by most who saw them. No champion has ever mote gallantly and skilfully played himself into that honourable position.’ ’ It is interesting, too, to record the fact that our Eltham friends missed the O’Rorke Yase for teams match, on the fourth round of the open, by only five strokes, in such redoubtable company, fiad the champion been on his game in that round they might easily have secured the trophy. The editor calls it “a very fine performance for Eltham toi come second —a. small country club with comparatively undeveloped links.” Golfers the Dominion over would have been pleased to see that Arthur Duncan, •with his magnificent round of 71, earned the distinction of having his name first on the popular Governor-General’s magnificent challenge cup. “It would be quite impossible to imagine a more popular win. ’ ’ A fare photograph is given of the professionals of the Dominion, fifteen in number. McCormick was absent. The clubs should be pleased to have

spell a good lot of coaches. They are all good men and very popular. Special honour is due to two of them, Butters and Forest, “both of whom have had to play under great physical disadvantages due to war-injuries. Butters has had to invent a style, for himself to enable him to see the# ball during the swing. ’ ’

Laches’ golf occupies a. large and pi ominent part in the Annual, the special feature being the Championships at Hamilton in September. Special mention is made of Mrs. Mel'lsop, now of Rotorua, who has done so much for ladies golf in New Zealand in official capacities in the Ladies’ Golf Union ” The matches with the leading men proved victories for the ladies in most ot the singles, showing that from their own tees they can hold their own with men of equal handicaps. The result is interesting from a handieapper’s point of view.

Some of the most striking games were those in which Miss Olive Kay of Whangerei, a girl of sixteen, beat such experienced players as Miss Acheson of Nelson, Mrs. Or bell of Oamaru, and Miss Gainbrill, of Miramar. She liad bad luck in. being off colour when she met Miss Payton in the semi-finals, but her play shows that she is a coming champion. She also won the Coronation Medal.

Particulars of various Clubs, of interest to lady golfers all over the Dominion are given, with photographs of lady players from different provinces. In the particulars given by Mrs! Mellsop of the N.Z. Ladies Union, the writer traces the evolution of the system of handicapping which formed a. method by which the handicaps at different clubs can be put on a level footing, and it will be generally recognised that the system first initiated by Miss Issette .Pearson, of England, has been remarkably effective. The men have borrowed one point from them, and perhaps might with advantage take more.

In some club notes it is amusing to read qf the beginnings in Auckland, that in 1894 a club was formed to play in the Domain, but that after a few months relations ( ‘ with the larrikins of the neighbourhood soon became strained and a move was made to Green Lane.” The hazards were mostly hedges and ditches. At One Tree Hill, where the club moved later, “the troubles were, first, the lies, which were bad; second, the general public, who would get in the way, often purposely; and third, the controlling authority of the Domain Board.

In some comprehensive notes on play in Wellington, “The Watcher.” makes an eloquent appeal for the better trial of the real “foursome” as against the four-ball match. The latter is very sociable and is popular in many clubs, but many players -who have the best interests of the game at heart are convinced that the foursome or the singles .is the best for the individual if lie wishes to lower his handicap. Particulars of South Island golf clubs—East and West Coasts—occupy the latter portion of the annual, and these serve to show the progress made in the game in the south.: A section is devoted to British, Australian, and American golf, and this will be read with keen interest and serves to give valuable information on the game abroad. A series of photographs adds to the interest. Two sets of four are shown, first, Tolley, Abe Mitchell, . Ray and Macdonald, “amongs the longest drivers in the world these four are noted for their long distance and their ferocity in lashing at the ball when under the greatest strain”; and second, Havers, Ouimet, Wethered, and Barnes,’ who “are tall and exceptionally thin, but despite their apparent lack of physical strength, their wiriness and leverage gives them almost incredible distance. ’ ’ The whole volume is one that will be of exceptional interest to every club. GOLF SONGS. “Songs of the Links” is a. volume of exceedingly clever verse, which was collected by the author, R. K. Risk, after appearing in. Golf Illustrated, Punch, Pall Mall, and other papers. The author acknowledges many helpful suggestions from Omar Khayyam, Mr. Rudyard Kipling and other poets. They are dedicated to , “the kindly ghost of Qordon G. Smith, in the Elysian Fields.” Many of them are moulded on some poem by a well-known author, and are very clever adaptations of style and metre. The. first is “The Golfaiyat of Dufar Hy-yam,” and two or three stanzas will give a capital idea of the happy illusions:

Dreaming that I had done a 63, x I heard a voice exclaim impatiently: “Wake up! ’Tis nearly half-past nine o’clock; There is a crowd already on the tee.”

And while in drowsy indolence you snore, Stentor, the starter, has been shouting “Fore!” And many a man has found the Swilcan bed And many a man has played the sad " two-more.

Think in this northern city, old and grey, "Where men talk golf all night and play all day, How many million players with their clubs Abode a little while and w r ent their way.

Myself -when young did eagerly frequent Club-maker’s shops and heard great argument Of grip and stance and swing, but evermore Learned and bought little I did not repent.

And another, “The Golfer’s Discontent,” in a different, but equally amusing style:

And, thus, with self-deception bland We mourn the fours that should have been, Forgetting, on the other hand, The luck that helped us through the green; Calmly accepting as our due The four-hole which we fluked in two.

The drive that barely cleared the sand, The brassy shot which skimmed the ' wall, The useful “kick,” the lucky “land,” We never mention these at all; The only luck that we admit Is when misfortune comes of it.

And, therefore, in a future state, When we shall all putt out in two. When drives are all hole-high and straight And every yarn we tell is true, Golf will be wearisome and flat When there is naught to grumble at.

The illustrations are cleverly done by H. M. Bateman, and as a frontispiece is a “male quartette of singing golf-

ers,” apparently in fine form. Why do not some of the golf clubs take the hint? It might take the place of the hitherto indispensable accomplishment, “bridge,” according to the story of the reply given to the man who said lie did not play bridge: “Then "why the did you join a golf club, sir?”