GOLF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17794, 30 May 1921, Page 9

GOLF.

IXTER-CLL'B TEAMS MATCH. A match was played between teams repre- I sen ting the Auckland and Maungakiekie I Golf Clubs at the Middlemore links on j Saturday 'Vtcmoon, and resulted in a. win | for the former by 9 games to 3. 4 games j being drawn. The course was in excellent order though somewhat heavy owing to the J recent ram. The match between R. George j and H. B Lusk was very closely contested. ; the pia>ers being all square at the ninth. <»oing to the sixteenth, George was one up and Lusk had a chance of squaring the match. but was laid a stymie which he failed to i negotiate. Both drove well to the sevenI teenth. George played a beautiful second. i Lusk slightly slicing hie. George made ! quite certain of his approach putt, and won j the hole in 4 and the match. Both played very good golf throughout, though Lush | appeared to he worried with a good many :of his short putts. Details are as follows, ! the Auckland player? being mentioned first jin each instance: —H. B. Lusk lost to R. j George, 2 up and 1 to play; R. Rainger lost to R. 0. Gardner, -1 and 3; W. S. Ralph I heat R.- D. Wright. 5 and 4: W. B. Colbeck beat E Hickson. 1 up; D. MacOormack beat I A. H M»a«ia, :\ and 2: A. Waller ben C. i F. Gardner 3 and 2: W. Brander beat P. i Trise. 2 and 1: F. G .Binney v. A. Wyness. i ail square; J. B Lusk v. H. A. Joyce, all | square; G. D. Thacker lost to J. N". Clark. I 3 and 2; H Horton v. H. Fraser. all I square; A. W. Gillies beat H. C. Tonks. 4 and 2- A. M. Howden v. R. J. Hamilton. I all square; Dr. J. F. Brown beat F. H. !' Mingay, 3 anl 1: A. A. Martin beat H. W. j Cooke, 5 and 4 ; E. 0. Hales beat W. J. A. Thomson. 5 and 4

I LIB COMPETITIONS. Competition? will be held by members of, the Auckland Golf Club on King's Birthday. : Friday. June 3 In the morning a one-club j competition will be plaved for a prize pre-' sented by Mr. A. A. Martin, and in the ifternoon" a four-hull, best-ball bogey will be j held. Post entries will be received. The second round of the E. R. Blomfield j bowl will be plaved by the Auckland Golf j Club next Saturday. I A medal handicap was- plaved at the! Maungakiekie links. One Tree Hill, on Saturday, and was won by J. F. Hosking with | a net score uf 63. The best cards returned.! were: J. F. Hoskinr. 87 gross. 22 handicap— ('•5 n r! :0. L. Martclli. 90. 21 — 69; H. L. Robsnn. 89. IS—7l: I. A. Gouldine, 100. 27—73; W. a. Wat kins, 99 25—75: X. C. Burton. 97. 22—75; J. M. Hockin, 95. 20—75. The first ladies' match at Titirangi, New Lynn, was held last Friday, when a medal round was plaved for a prize donated by Mr. C. F. Gardner. The. result was as follows:—Miss Biyly. 92 gross, 10 handicap—j 82 net- Mrs. De.ghton 107. 24—83; Miss M. Graham 119, 36— ii; Mrs Saxton. 100, 16— I 84; Miss M. Macfarlane, 114. 30—84. A bogey match will be played to-morrow. Post entries will be received and players may choose their partner?.

THE ST. ANDREWS COURSE. The English open championship, in which Kirkwood. the Australian professional will compete, will be played on the old course at St. Andrew's, on June 23 and 24. and will consist of four rounds of 18 holes. The old course is 6333yd5. in length and bogey is 78. The distances between the holes are as follow*, bogey being given in parentheses:—No. 1, 3cisyds (4) ; No. 2.402 yds (5); No 3, 341 yds (41; No. 4. 385 yds (5); No. 5 533 yds i6i ; No. 6, 345 yds (4); No. 7. 333 yds (4> ; No 8. 139 yds. (3): No. 9. 273 yds Mi- No. 10. 312 yds (4): No. 11, 14Syds (3); No 12 31Syds (4); No. 13. 403 yds (5); No. 14'516yds (6> ; No. 15. 316 yds (4); No. 16. 338 yds (4); No. 17, 456 yds (5); No.. 18, 361 yds (4). The outward course to tae eixth. hole and the homeward course from the 12th run parallel. Going to the seventh, the course cuts between the 10th and 11th holes, the seventh and Uth holes being alongside the River Eden. Kirkwood is reported to have done the full championship course at St. Andrews in 74 at the first time of asking.

THE NEW GOLF BALL. If there were still any doubts about the revolutionary power of the new ball they have beeu entirely removed by the events ot the ->ast few days, says an English writer. 1 was at Cassiobury Park.' the home of the West Herts Golf Club, and •saw Ray accomplish some amazing things with a ball which conforms strictly to the limitations set up by British and United States authorities. It is a wi-il-known ball of American manufacture ai'd i« alraort a replica of the one that wits 'accepted as the model when last summer the two countries fixed the minimum size and maximum wfcight There is a holr- at Cassiooury Park—the fifth—which measures '286 yards. Twice in , one dav Kay was on the green with his ] drive and not more than 10 yards from the hole ' But there was much more in it than that', although the ability to drive on to a green nearlv '290 yards from the tee is probably onlv shared by one other man in the world That tact in itself was perhaps sufficiently startling, but the actual •'carry" of the shot intrigued me much more, because T have seldom, if ever, seen anything quite so remarkable. Slightly, to the left of the direct line to the hole is an elm tree 75ft. in height. Its branches almost hide the green from view, and act as an effective barrier to any 6hot that does not pitch over. The "carry" from tee to tree is 230 yards, and no one not bereft of Ins senses would dream of attempting such a shot. Most people make the hole slightly of the dog-leg kind by driving to the righ'.. where you then have a clear pitch in to the green. In this way you may possibly get a three, and you ought certainly to get a four. Kay not only carried the tree but oitcbed on the green, making a deep incision in the turf. The ball itself did not run more than four yards. Incidentally, both morning and afternoon he was putting for 2's, the ball stopping on the very lip on each occasion. An analysis of the facU shows that the wind -was blowing from behind the player, and that the actual length of the sh*t was 270 yards. In summer, with the ground hard, it would not be unreasonable to suppose that the ball would have run another 12 yards, thus making the shot one of 282 yards- If these professionals are going to drive nearly 300 yards down wind, these holes 'of 400 yards, instead of requiring two good honest blows, will be converted into a drive and a mashie-niblick pitch. Let me now give a few examples of shots played dead against the wind and slightly uphill. The twelfth measures 409 yds., and Ray was a couple of yards from the edge of the green in two wooden club shots. The thirteenth is 452 yds. in length, and this time lie was 40yds. from the pin, but in the rough to the right. His two shots measured 412 yds., and in both instances the ball did not run six inches. _ What he himself considered the l">est drive of the da.y was at -the sevententh—sßoyds. This again was played in the teeth of the wind. The drive measured 230 yds., and he was left with a half-iron shot to the green. It was distinctly amusing to watch other professionals struggling, mostly in vain, to reach the creen with two wooden club shots. What i= the lesson to be learned from the presentation of these facts? First, I think, it concerns the ball, which no one ever contemplated could be driven so far in the winter time. Tt is now clearly indicated that we must cither lengthen our courses to about five miles and so convert the game into a kind of cross-country race, or standardise a ball which it is inherently impossible to propel more than a certain number of yards. With such a ball the long drivers of to-day will still be the long drivers of to-morrow: in other words the tritons and the minnows will continue to exist in their respective spheres.