GOLF

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 9 June 1923, Page 3

GOLF

1 t Last week-end was, despite the mos 1 unfavourable weather eonditons,, amos a interesting time for the Hawera. Men

Club, As New PifmOuih ia<i to con do\fr» f6r the' annual ffinieh on Monda; I a number arrived on Saturday af*id pla; ed round in the afternoon, thug givir some who had not p,reviorisly placed o 1 fTie com^ an idea- of the round. TTi * ' intemittent rain of the kstew^ i had made the course very sticky, dl - the preens were surprisingly goc«. > > lot of good play was seen and th i match wa« intevestinff. Certainly Hs ■ L had a good win but it »; only ftn s to say that some of the New Ily mouth leading mon were absent, an- ' this militated against their Aanees I was most unfortunate that the souther ]y butter "crashed" on the -br>ks mid way through the afternoon. The pros ped; of finishing looked hopeless, ani a number of pairs decided to call th^ match off. As it turned out they migh all have finished, for though tlje wea ther tu^ed very cold tho ram *sa«e< ■ .after a 'ueavy downfall of half an hoTii or so. „, ,-, t Tho match with New Plymouth Olnl is always enjoyed, and certainly doe; not- lose its popularity as the years gc | 'The chir> will now pick up tbe threat ! of its competitions, which are this yesu ■ no . ;■; yp.w live interest, and in- . iucing many to practise hard. T-JAWERA LADIES' CLUB. (Contributed.) In spite of the discouragements of ! wind and rain, interest in golf is very I keen, but progress has been "marking ■ time" for a few weeks. Apparently tne ■club has within its ranks, none but fair i weather piayers, by whic^i. is not meant they ure-atra.d to venture forth in doubtful weather, but that shots which ! circumvent bad weather conditions appear to have been generally neglected m favour of those which score in dry. This is quit-e a natural conclusion to ' draw after a glance at the last two : months' records appearing on the ; L.G.U. score sheet. In April, when [ the weather was at its best, several : good scores were posted up; in May [ only one, a fact which suggests that 1 apart from its recognised use as an indicator of the relative strength and progress of individual members of the club, the score sheet may be regarded as quite a reliable weather chart. Despite the severity of the penalty of stroke as well- as distance for a ball played out of bounds, the Ladies' Club has faithfully paid the extra penalty ever since the amended rule came into i force. Other clubs—wiser, perhaps, or ' maybe just less amenable to discipline — have reverted to the former rule of I losing distance only by the expedient |of making a local rule. If the idea is Ito make it worth while for a player to- | keep within bounds, the penalty of distance is surely quite sufficient. No one i wishes to add even one to his score or to go out of bounds for that reason, and the knowledge that the penalty is to be two strokes instead of one adds ; probably nothing to one's caution, and certainly nothing to one's skiH. As an instance, one player who would most willingly have kept her ball within bounds, sent it out four times in one round, incurring eight penalty strokes. Since the rule as it stands hag neither greater nor better effect than that already obtained by s losing distance, it appears much as if t&e idea lurking in the minds f-f those who devised it was punishment for its own sake, and the inclination, to frustrate it seems both natural ami justifiable. In inter-dub matches, in which the recognised practice is to do whatever the Romans do, tlie matter is of no consequence; but in L.G.U. tournaments., where a uniform system of handicapping is intended to operate, the adherence to the rule by some clubs and its evasion by others tends to unfaiY discrepancies in handicaps favourable to those clubs which refuse or neglect to meddle with the rule. * On the other hand the authorities may have had some perfectly sound reason for framing and adopting the out-of-bounds rule as now set out in i the rule book. It would be interesting to know just what it is or was, and also* to tvhat extent the rule is bei*ig turned into a-dead letter by the refusal of clubs t6 be governed by it. Writing of the semi-finals for the amateur championship of England, a Home paper says: "The matches between Ouimet and Tolley and Ouimet and Wethered decided the iss^.e for the Americans. Ouimet outnlaycd Tolley in all departments. Experts thought that Ouimet, who played the best coif all the week" would prove unbeatable, but Wethered caught him right off his form. At any other time Ouimet would have beaten Wethered all the way." It is refreshing to realise that even these greatest players get f"'off their game whiles''the noo." I game is on the boom all over : New Zealand,' particularly -Auckland, where it seems they are getting the biggest gates. According to reports, one \ club match drew *3OOQ spectators, while another played the same day drew well over 1000. Auckland a-e to play thei.r first Brown Shield match of the .season against South Auckland at Hamilton to-day. A graceful act is the action of the Rugby and Leigue people postponing their fixtures so as to give, every chance for a good gate. This is a fine spirit, and wants emulating throughout the country. There is no | need for jealousy between the different 1 codes; there is roojn for all. I ' Abe Mitchell was beaten by sensational scoring in a big tournament in I England a few weeks ago, his opponent being C. Johns. Johns was two down at the fifth, but he won the next holes in 22442, with a couple of 9 to 10-yard putts to boot, and had a 9-foot putt for a two at the tenth, but was not asked to hole out. Johns won 2 up and 1, though Mitchell had every chance, but threw away his advantage at several holes following. The winner ; did nine consecutive holes in one over -' 3'». The following definition of golf is attributed to the "Golf in. Australia."— "Golf is a science, a study' of a lifetime, in which you may'exhaust yourself, but never your subject. It is a contest, a duel, calling for courage, skill, strategy, and self-control. It is a test of temper, a trial of honour, a revealer of character, and it affords the chance to play the man, also tile gentleman. It means getting closer to nature, fresh air, exercise and sweeps away all mental cobwebs, general recreation of the tired tissues. It is a cure for care, an antidote to worry. It includes companionship with friends, social intercourse, opportunity for couri tesy, kindliness, and generosity to ati ; opponent. It promotes not only physi- ; c-al health, but moral fo;rce." I