GOLF

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 62, 23 February 1934, Page 13

GOLF

ENGLISH TITLE SOUGHT

N.Z.’s Two

MISSES KAY AND GAISPOfS)

(By

“Putter.”

Two young New Zealand women left the Dominion last week on an ad venture which will ba the subject of close attention not only by adherents of the sport in which they are engaged but also by all other New Zealand sportswomen, and sportsmen, who appreciate the spirit of enterprise—and that means, surely, almost the whole of New Zealand's sporting community. This Dominion has at last a personal interest in the women’s open golf championship of England, for among the coapetitors who will tee off in thi» event at Portheawl, South Wales, o» May 11 will be Miss Oliver Kay, present holder of !be women’s championships of New Zealand and Australia, and Miss Bessie Gaisford, w inner of the New Zealand championship in 1931 and runner-up to Miss Kay last year. The best of luck to them!

It would indeed be a glorious victory if either of the New Zealand girls could

manage to get her name on to the roll of champions which includes such great players as Joyce Wethered (one of the finest of all players, male or female), Cecil Leitch and Enid Wilson (writes "A. L. C. ” in the Christchurch “Sun”). That would be overmuch to hope for—not because either of the

New Zealanders would not be capable of reachingeventually the standard of the champions, but because their opportunities of acquiring experience against really first-class players have been so few, and because they -will have so little time in which to become used to English conditions, and certainly nut enough time in which to become acclimatised. One has only to remember how often a woman’s champion of America hae played in the English ehampionship without winning it to correct one's native enthusiasm for a New Zealander.

But the very experience of playing in such a field as the women’s open championship of England draws together will be a wonderful one for the New Zealand girls, and it should be of appreciable value to women’s golf in New Zealand, especially if it could be fol-

lowed, at no distant date, by a strong team of English women players to the Dominion.

Not Personal Aggrandisement. The proposal that these two New Zealand players should be sent to the English open championship originated not wholly In an idea that, as they are young, and therefore still Impressionable, players, albeit with the maturity of method which has come from their playing against the best women players in New Zealand and Australia, they would be able to return with applied knowledge that would assist in raising the standard of women's golf In their own country. Therefore it is unfortunate that the proposal that they should be assisted in defraying the expenses of the trip by money from various golf clubs in the Dominion could not be carried out officially, because of a reported discovery that this would infringe their statue as amateurs. If the two players had conceived, themselves, the idea of going to the English championship, solely for their personal aggrandisement, and they were able to afford the trip, one’s attitude should be that they should finance it themselves. The proposal, however, came from others who were un'der the impression that they could, without violation of their amateur status, be assisted financially, so long as no payments over and above actual expenses were made to them. There was, also, the ingredient in the situation of a belief that, the visit would help women’s golf in New Zealand. Where such an ingredient exists there is a moral obligation on the part of the players concerned to spread the knowledge they have gained abroad, when they return to their own country. In the present instance, no doubt, Misses Kav and Gaisford will do their best to diffuse the benefits of their experience. But precedents take no heed of personalities. Is There An Anomaly' It may be assumed that the golf officials who investigated this matter of the effect of contribution of expenses upon the amateur status of the two players satisfied themselves that what was proposed was against the regulations. But if these officials are correct in their interpretation of the rules there exists an anomaly which should be removed. The argument that two New Zealand girls are going as individuals to an individual championship, and not as a team to a teams’ match for which the payment of expenses i s allowable, does not lessen the anomaly. Male competitors from other lands have gone io championships in England and had their actual travelling expenses paid for them by other people, and still have been allowed to compete. For instance, the regulations for the. British open amateur championship do not provide, either expressly or impli-

citly any meh detterrent to the payment of expense as has been raised against Misses Kay and Gaisford. The recent amendments 1 0 the law of amateurism in golf do not affect ths point; these amendments to the law of amateurism in golf do not affect the point; these amendments touch only the actual pecuniary profiting of players, by either open or devious ways, from their participation in the game. The true spirit of amateurism would not be infringed if the actual reasonable expenses of the two New Zealand girls in their log and expensive trip were paid for them, either in whole or in part. The authorities of women’* golf in New Zealand, I think, should not let this question re< where it I* no"'.