GOLF.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 7 October 1922, Page 9

GOLF.

The keenest interest is still tT&en by players at the links, for the course is actually in better condition than it has been for a long time, due of course to the thoughtful enthusiasm of the il ieV rs Tonks * w*k> have stocked the paddocks heavily an d are thns checking the usually luscious growth of grass that follows such a favourable spring. Players should therefore seize the opportunity to get as much practice as they can while they have the opportunity. It is not every clnb that is so favoured. Greens are in exceptionally good order; the only improvement one could ask for is some mowing just outside the greens for runningTip but the player would indeed be hard to please who found fault with present conditions.

The putting green at the house is a picture, a sincere tribute to the work of the committee and a testimony to the value of care and the efficiency of the treatment received.

does one see any better, and in many of the city clubs not nearly so good. , The excellence of the turf should' serve to remind every member of the golden rule, "Replace your turf," which is most useful to the continuance of good conditions, and which, one must admit, is in the main loyally observed. It means a lot in the course of a season. A point was raised last week as to the ruling witji regard to the incident of the drive shot hitting a player in the next fairway on the head and re- j bound back into the fairway. It was distinctly a "rut> of the green," although it is a neat point to say that it actually went out of bounds; but it would be on a par with a ball played with a big pull going out over the hedge and by virtue of the pull coming back into play. The sport of golf certainly has its humourous side, and in the match between A. D. S. Duncan and Mrs. Guy Williams, in the ladies versus men match at Palmerston North, the game at one period developed into a birdnesting competition, Duncan was too strong off the fourth tee, and, in attempting to clear the trees, his ball stuck in a totara tree. Duncan played the ball from what was an extraordinary lie v and won the hole. In the match played at Palmerston North for the Wilson Cup the challengers (Wanganui) were beaten by 6 matches to 4, two being halved. Dr. Williams, of Wanganui, played a very fine game and beat Ekstedt, the Manawatu champion. # A young player of whom great things are expected is Gwilliam, champion of Waiwetu (Wellington) Club, who has secured the championship four successive seasons. He is now only 22 years old. A sensational happening occurred at the sixteenth hole in the match between Wilson (Wellington) and Bidwill (Masterton). Here the tee is high above a creek, which is crossed by a rustic bridge! After getting 'their drives away off the tee, the pair, followed by a little knot of spectators, descended the steep track to the bridge. Wilson was in the ran, and just as he was approaching the bridge he trod on a loose stone, which caused him to stumble. He shot forward as if propelled by a driver, and to the consternation of Bidwill and those following pitched head first into the creek, and disappeared beneath the icy waters. He tame up gasping, and with his brows bound with watercress. Bidwill extended a helping hand to his distressed opponent, dragged him back on to the bridge again, and fished his driver up from the bottom of the creek. The sudden plunge in his hot state was naturally a great shock to the Wellington man, but after discarding his dripipng coat, the humour of the extraordinary situation struck him, and, like the good fighter he is, Wilson decided to finish off the game. With a wet grip and his clothes clinging to him he succeeded in halving the sixteenth, but the end came at the seventeenth, where Bidwill registered ! a solid 4, and took the game by 3 up and, 1 to play.