GOLF.

Manawatu Times, Volume XII, Issue 1807, 4 May 1921, Page 9

GOLF.

(By “Niblick.”)

The cabled news that James Ockondcn., professional of the Haynes Park Golf Club, Wimbledon, beat George Duncan (Open Champion), Abo Mitchell, Ray, Taylor, Vardon and others in a 36-hole match at Koehampton ncea occasion no surprise. Ockendcn will be a strong claimant for the Open Championship this year. In 1914, when he was 29 years of age, he was coming rapidly to the froilt and finished 7th in the Open Championship. Last year he was prominent in all the big matches and his game was improving. More will certainly be heard of him in this season’s fixtures at Home, and his score of 139 for 30 holes at Roehampton shows that if he should strike form and maintain it for the two days of the Open Championship he will be hard to beat.

Seeing that they had the opportunity of witnessing his play and making his acquaintance last year, local golfers will assimilate with avidity any news concerning the play of the Australasian champion abroad, and it will be “Niblick’s” object to present as much as possible of the items connected with his various appearance. Kirkwood has played extremely well in the United States, and though he did not win any of the prizes ho wont after, his admirers have no reason to feci disappointed with his performances. Kirkwood had to meet conditions with which he was strange in the United Stales, and he also had to meet the very best American players on their own ground. He also had to meet Jock Hutchinson at the very top of his form. When he tied with Walter Hagen for seventh place at Pinehurst Kirkwood established his position in the first flight of American players and he improved it when ho tied for fourth place in the championship at White Sulphur Springs. Hutchinson won both , events, and at White Springs he had a magnificent score of 288 for 72 holes, an average of fours. Kirkwood was fourth with 293. What this scoring means may be judged from the fact that 290 has never been broken in the British Open Championship and 293 has been beaten only once. These scores on the American courses, however, have very little value as an indication of the capacity of golfers measured by .British standards. The courses are inland, and it is a peculiar feature of' the American season that high winds are very rarely met with. When the crack American golfers get on to the first-class British seaside courses, and are, as often as not, called upon to play in wind blowing stronger than half a gale, with occasional squalls of rain thrown in, they have difficulty in holding their own. Last year, for instance, Walter Hagen, then Open Champion of the United States, was looked upon as a very formidable competitor for the British Open Championship. He is a fine golfer, young and of excellent physique, but when the test came Hagen was away down the list somewhere near 30th place. Kirkwood will probably find greater scope for his skill on tho British courses. He is an adept at playing in high winds. In adverse conditions his command of the ball, his ability to control its flight and direction, give him an added advantage over players oi lesser skill. Prom this point of view Kirkwood’s performances in America augur well for his success in Britain, though it must be remembered that he must have luck as well. There arc a dozen formidable players in Britain any one of whom would play Kirkwood at any time with equal chances of success. Any one of these players might have “his day out” on the day of the Championship and be well nigh unbeatable. To win Kirkwood must not only be at the top of his form but he must also have “his day out.” In this great event the odds are on the field as against any individual player, but Kirkwood’s American matches show that his name must be included among those of golfers who have a good chance of winning. It is also interesting to note that it is Kirkwood’s intention to return to the States to compete in the American Open Championship. His preliminary games,have evidently satisfied him that he has a chance in that event, in which he will be opposed not only by the American cracks, but also by Abe Mitchell and George Duncan, who intend to tour the United States this year and play in the Open Championship. The American title is at present held by Edward Ray, Oxhey, who won it last year when ho and Harry Vardon visited America.