GOLF

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 19 May 1928, Page 12

GOLF

IMPORTANT TOURNEYS. May 21 —British Amateur Championship, Prestwick, Ayrshire. June 21—American Open Championship, Olympia Fields, Chicago. Aug. 30 —Britain v. America, Walker Cup International, Chicago Golf Club, Wheaton, HI. Sept. —N.Z. Open and Amateur Championships, Balmacewan, Dunedin. Sept.. 10 —American Amateur Championship, Brae Burn Country Club, West Newton, Mass. Sept. 24—American Ladies’ Open Championship, Virginia Hot Springs, Va. Arthur Duncan continues to maintain his place at the head of the \\ elfin gton players, and is consistently beating the young champions. During the last week -or two he lias beaten Rana Wagg and H. A. Black successively in matches in which the gelt was o.f a high order. Dunedin has the distinction of being the .selected course for the New Zealand open and amateur championships for 1928, to take place from October 10 to October 20. There are a number of young champions knocking at the door, and their meeting with the older men such as Duncan, Lusk, Ross and others will he watched with the keenest interest. Phenomenally close finishes decided the Jelli-coe Cup, a mixed foursome flag competition at Miramar last week. R. W. Scott and Miss Black finished 17 inches from the eighteenth hole, H. E. H. Aplin and Miss Didsbury finished 174 inches from the hole, and M. J. Crombie and Miss Seed finished 21 inches from the hole. Two. holes in one at the game course in a week-end is unusual, but this is what happened at Miramar recently. V. W. Ward (Wellington) did “The Bay” (the fourth), which is a wooden shot or a full iron, according to- the wind, in one, and R. Telford (Miramar) holed out “Potiki” (the sixth), a mashie shot hole with a basined, wellbunkered green, in one also. It- is worth noting in regard to. the British open championship last week that the qualifying rounds reduced the field from 271 to 112 by operation of the provision that all competitors more than fifteen strokes behind the leading aggregate are disqualified for the championship. Former British open champions are Duncan (1920), Barnes- (1925), Hagen (1922 and 1924), Massy (1907), Havers (1923, the only Britisher to win the title since 1920), Vardon was six times champion, Braid and Taylor five times each, Herd and Ray once each. Unfortunately, J. H. Taylor failed by one stroke, although it was he, veteran as lie was, who led the British field in defence against the American invasion at Lytham and St. Anne’s in 1926, scoring a 71 in his third round. Playing over his home course recently, Claude Gray, the professional to the Willingdon Club at Eastbourne (England), holed out at the thirteenth in one stroke. The hole measures 256 yards, and Gray used a No. 1 iron. In Melbourne a fortnight ago a lady player on a city links was struck by a golf ball in the right eye from a sliced shot in the fairway. The “Argus” reports that it was feared she would lose the .sight of the eye. Although players are occasionally struck by a ball, it is rarely that a serious accident occurs. There have been some cases of injury from a club, and one recalls a cause celebre in Wellington some years ago when a lady was struck in the face.

E. S. Douglas has left London for New Zealand to take up his appointment with the Maungakiekie (Auckland) Club. When formerly in New Zealand Douglas won the open championship every time he played for it except once, and that once was when J. H. Kirkwood came ever from Australia and won. It will be interesting to- see how Douglas gets on with the pros, now in the Dominion—particularly Moss and Shaw.

The British amateur championship will open on Monday next at Prestwick, Ayrshire, one of the most famous of Scottish courses, and the results- will be followed -with even more interest than the open. It will be of interest to note tlxe following dates of forthcoming tournaments: Hastings, June 2,4, and 5; Masterton, June 2,4, and 5; Dannevirke, August 9, 10, and 11; Rotorua, August 28 t<> 30 (ladies) ; August 31 to September 1 (men’s) ; North Otago (Oamaru), October 22; Hamilton (South Auckland championship), October 4,5, and 6; New Zealand. Championship tournament (Dunedin), October 10 to 20; Manawatu, October 22, 23 and 24; Seafield (Wanganui), October 20, 22, and 23.

At this week’s meeting of the New Zealand Golf Council it was announced that O. H. Redhead had undertaken the fixing of all the scratch scores for the whole of New Zealand without cost to the council. W. E. A. Gill, the chairman, stated at the meeting that lie had written to C. H. Redhead thanking him for the great service he was thus giving to golf in New Zealand, which was augmented by a vote of thanks from the council. C. H. Redhead has already completed and returned to the council the first series of scores.

Bobby Jones has been appointed captain of the American team to play Great Britain in the Walker Cup matches at Chicago, beginning August 30. The American team will include Jesse . Sweetzer (American amateur champion 1922, British amateur champion 1926),*George von Elm (American amateur champion 1.926, third in British open championship 1926), “Chick’’ Evans (American amateur champion 1916 and 1.920, American open cham(Continued at foot of next column.)

pion 1916), F. Ouimet (American open champion 1913 and amateur champion 1914), H. Johnston, Watts Gunn, and Roland Maclvenzie. It is a formidable team, particularly with Bobby Jones at its head. Jones's record in national championships is: American open championship 1923 and 1926, American amateur championship 1924, 1925, 1927, British open championship 1926 and 1927. Britain has no amateurs with records like these, but nevertheless can field a very strong field if the leading players can get away, and as the Americans won by only a single match at St. Andrews in 1926 it is by no means certain that the Cup will stay in America.

Probably the world has never seen a greater master of match-play golf than Walter Hagen. For four consecutive years he has retained, unbeaten, the title of professional match-play champion of America. On more than one occasion, when against a man playing his best golf, Hagen has had to play a stiff uphill game. At times it looked as if he was sure to be beaten. But he was never once beaten in these four years in the match-play championship. In addition to the power and prestige of his golf must be added the power of his personality and his unrivalled knowledge of tactics and generalship in match-play. He previously won the British open championship in 1922 and 1924. His 1928 championship came just after his big defeat by Compston.

In the amateur championship at Muirfield in 192 Q Captain Garter, an Irish golfer, beat a visiting American 10 and 8, the only case probably where a player has won every hole in an amateur championship tie. In the final of the Canadian ladies’ championship at Ottawa in 1921 Miss Cecil Leitch beat Miss Molile Mcßride, 17 and 15, losing only one hole in the match. She was 14 up at the end of the first found, and only three holes were necessary in the second round, Miss Leitch winning them all.

A woman member playing at Sunnydale, England, had an extraordinary piece of luck recently. While she was playing a string of pearls that she was wearing broke and the pearls fell to the ground loose. She was certain that she had picked them all up and w r as in no wise concerned. When they were sent to the jewellerr, however, it was discovered that the centre pearl of the string was missing and it w 7 as worth £SOO. The owner posted a notice in the Club House and to her delight the pearl was returned at once. It had been found the day it was lost, but the finder, thinking it o.f no particular value, threw it into a trinket box and thought no more of it.