GOLF.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 15 October 1921, Page 4

GOLF.

The season which is drawing rapidly to a close, owing mainly to tuo j^reac growth of grass, has been in many icsi>ects the most interesting jn ike history of the club. The opening of tne second nine holes made the course a fuil I one again, and recalled the days when the club played out irom the present eleventh' out towards the cliffs, "The Hummocks," the .basin, the Lupins, tne Valley, Spionkop, and back to Anzao, then from the present 17 th across the swamp and niggerheadg to * the home paddocks, with its "Second Thoughts." back up the hill and down the long 'H'bme" hole to the .house. It was a great course and had many difficulties that tested the skill and nerves of fcb« best ptay§rs7 XMd players will have many interesting recollections of good shots and painful memories of many lost balls, gone past redemption. Many of the holes, though exceedingly good from a golfing point of view, were I more than the average player could <:onsitently play. Part of that course — those holes on the sandy country—> I would bo excellent, provided a club had ample funds to keep it in order. ; j Very great regret will be felt that it has been found impossible to get the champion, Kjrkwood. for an exhibition game in Hawera. All who "saw him play before he left New Zealand would be specially interested and many others would have enjoyed seeing a champion 1 who has done so well in the best golfing company at Home, give an exhibition. However, thtfugh this is so, no one will regret, from the point of view or the good to the district, to «cc that the prospects for a good spring and in tact a good season, in the farmers eyes, and through him for the benefit of the whole community, are bo good. If the crass does not grow well the farmer will suffer, and all will be materially affected, for the interests of town and country are mutual and interdependent.. East, who went Home -with Kirkwood, pays a marked tribute to the cordial reception and generous assistance accorded them both, by the great professionals in England, especially Tavlor, Braid,, Vardon, and . Herd. THe says in a recent article: "Undoubtedly it was Vardon who loomed biggest in our minds. What a grand character 1— 'What a wonderful golfer! .His prowess is astonishing, his style the epitome of grace. It was very helpful to us tb'be received wholeheartedly into the- full comradeship of such- men." Auld Keekie. in the Beieree, ;»ay» that he has been asked what would constitute a champion of the. world. Jn golf. "Truly, I don't know. Up to the present no such thing; has pseen thought of. There are, to my know-, ledge, no rules framed. Each- country; plays an open championship,' the: conditions being 72 holes stroke play.) The event is open to amateurs and pw>fe«sionals. So far as lam aware, anyone may enter. "Colour is no bar. -The ruling body in every country reserves to itself the right to refuse any entry* but 1 have never heard of such a thinu beings done. country has apparently, the right to make its >own golf rules, and regulate the make; and

goir ruies, anu rs&uiaw i>ue latuur »uu form of clubs, and their *iw< and weight. The British open is pfttycd under the auspices of the Royal,, and, I Ancient; the American under those of the. U.5.6.A., but the latter body can do as it likes. " Barnes certainly; won tike 'American (open *nd Hutcjiison , the Britvßh open, but'by whose iuth-. ority they claim to. challenge .each, other for the world's supremacy & be-, yong my comprehension.. Can Kirkwood now challenge Barnes, I Wonder? It would be good fun If.lie did,- and i beat him. As champion of>each. country is aii individual, like a lx>xer, and not a team, as in cricket or foot^ jball f . the origin of a; world's .bdxing j champion might show now a world's • champion golfer could become a legiti-, 'mate title. That is as-far as my limited .knowledge on the subject gets me." i ' It is not often that one reads ■■; of a! first rate flayer getting double figures at any hole, yet in the American open i championship a player who otherwise ! played* remarkably fine golf took eleven lat one hole. ' He hooked his; drive to the edge of the course. His ball was not across the fence, hut upon measure1?, nient was found to be only a few inches outside the stakes, He had a simple shot left for the edge of the green. He played his ball, not certain that the stakes represented out of bounds territory, and put it within a few.yards of the green. After this he went back and played another, hooking this over the fence. The nest was tfot of bounds. {So with one ball he was eight and with the other three. The five or six inches out of bounds for the first ball had cost him sis strokes.- But it is reported "a pitfall tor anybody." •