GOLF. HOCKEY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18457, 21 July 1923, Page 13

GOLF.

HOCKEY.

COMPETITIONS FOR TO-DAY. Auckland Continuation of the, captain's prize tourney at the Middlemoie limes. Matuogakiekie plub.—Club dhampionship competitions, senior at Titirangi and junior At One Tree Hill. Medal handicap at the Titirangi link?. Four-ball best ball bogey handicap tit Ono Tree HiD links. Kohimarama Club.Four-ball medal match, at the Kohimarama links. Pumike Club.—Competition for trophy at the Pupuke links. Walteraata Monthly medal competition ad the Waitemata links. WAITEMATA CLUB A monthly medal competition will be played by the Waitemuta Golf Club on the club's links to-day. The conditions are bogey play, post entries, players to choose their own partners.

PAPAKURA LADIES' CLUB. , The inter-club match, played last Thursday by the Papakura Ladies' Golf Ciub against the Auckland Ladies' Golf Club on the Papakura links, resulted as follows, the names of the Auckland ladies club being mentioned first: Miss G. Buddie and Miss M Spence, all square; Miss M. Ridings beat Mrs. P. Rocke, 4 and 3; Mrs. Abbott beat Miss C. Wood, 7 and 6- Mrs. W. Gorrie beat Miss A. McLennan, 8 and 6; Miss Henderson beat Miss J- Walker. 3 and 2; Miss M. Noakes beat Miss M. Johnson, 2 up; Mrs. Rainmer beat Mrs. Crawford, 9 and 7. On Saturday the second round of the club trophy, in conjunction with the rtualifvine round of the championship, will be played. The following is the draw -.—Miss A- McLennan plays Mrs. Elliott, Miss Wood plays Miss J.. Little, Mrs Percy Rocke plays Miss Harm Mrs. Crawford plays . Miss .White|y. Miss J Walker plays Miss Johnson, Miss C. Mc-

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Arthur plays Mrs. ConneU, Miss Moffitt plays Miss Cooper, Miss White plays Mrs. Earl, Mrs. Francis plays Mrs? Smith, Miss MeKinnon playa Misa Cutforth.

CAMBRIDGE TOURNAMENT. [SI IEUEGEAPH;—OWN COBEESPONDENT.] CAMBRIDGE, Friday. The annual golf tournament at Cambridge will be held on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday next. Keen interest is being taken. Entries have been received from Hamilton, Auckland, and all parts of the province. The greens are in good order, and a successful meeting should eventuate, NOTES AND COMMENTS. The first round of the Maungakidck championship was played at the Titirangi links last Saturday. All the games were closely contested, except that between T. A. Goulding and E. Trice, the former winning by 6 and 4. Goulding is to be congratulated on his victory over such an experienced player. He has made wonderful strides In the game since last year, and now drives a very long ball without any apparent effort. His putting is also very good. Martelli is also another young player who is showing good form. His recent victories at Hamilton have apparently given him more confidence, After beating J. C. Wilson for the 16th. place in the morrabig, ho took Clements to the 19th hole in the afternoon, where tho latter won by apparently more good luck than good play,, by holing a putt from the edge of me green- § The following matches will be played in the Maungakiekio championships today Seniors, E. George and A. H. Magson, R. Fairbnrn and T. A. Goulding, 0. C. Clements and M, Evans,, R. J- Hamilton and J. L. Clark. Juniors-— J. 0. Gardner and EL B. Anderson, A. W. Short and T. Russell, E. Ohlson and O. W. Bayly. „ , , Mrs. Guy Williams, the New Zealand ladies' champion, sustained Now Zealand a honours in the match " Rest of Britain against " Overseas," played at the conelusion of the British Ladiu' Golf Championships. Mrs. Williams and Miss Dona Chambers, in tho second match, failed to reach any decision, says an English writer, as after 22 holes played they ware still all square. No. 1 for overseas was Miss Cum" mings (U.S.A.)" and Mrs. Williams was No, 2. Her opponent, Miss Dona Chambers (Wrrral), afterwards won the open championship. They were all square at the eighteenth , and halved four mere holes when the match was abandoned owinny to ram. Mrs. Williams afterwards went under in tho first round of the championship, while MisS Chambers went on to victory. < A letter from Miss MacLeod, lady champion of Australia in 1321, to her father in Melbourne, seems to show that Mrs, Williams was considered to have tha best chance of any of the oversew players in the championship, but that an attack of influenza Just before the meeting jeopardised her prospects. Walter Hagen, the American golfer, on his arrival at Now York, minus the world's championship cup, loft by him at Troon, accused British golfers of being " poor sports. 7 ' He said that he would never again compete in a British tournament. During their voyage to England to take part in the open golf championship, Hagen, Sarazeo srA Kirkwood drove 700 balls from the deck of the steamer into the AtUnfto. The balls were aft " remades" bought for the purpose of practice at sea.

" The Australian, championship meeting will take place this yerj on the course of the Royal Adelaide Golf Club, and vi» begin on August 16. D. G. Soutar, the Australian professional, says that Kirk-wood h&3 made so much money out of his remarkable trick shots that he has sacrificed his prospect of becoming chamion to the emoluments he earns as a showman. Soutar also says that if Kirkwood would abandon these fancy displays altogether and settle down to straight golf, nothing could stop him from winning the open championship, or any other he lik?.d to go for. One of the sensations of the open golf competitions at Leeds for £770 was the defeat of Joe Kirkwood, the Australian, by H. C Kinch, of WoodoOte Park. Kirkwood utterly failed to show anything like the form be displayed hi England two years ago and last year, and his failure must be put down as his most signal one since he became known as a golfer in Britain. Kirkwood was hopalesßly beaten on the greens, for Kinch old not give a stroke away, with the exception of the occasion on the twelfth, where he was unable to secure the regulation two—a long; putt at fib* fourteenth. To make the' match ahncyt safe was, however, ample compensation for him. It seemed obvious that the Australian had not % recovered from a gruelling he had received in the weather on the previous day. He did not appear really comfortable, and the extra clothing which he was obliged to don to meet the cutting wind did not allow him to receive the freedom in his swing which he required. It is remarkable that amid the recent fierce debate in home golfing circles on the secret of long hitting, onlv two writers mentioned the cardinal virtue of pivoting, and it is significant writes " Mashie " in the Cape Argus, that these should be two of our greatest exponents of the game, la professional and an amateur, George Duncan and Mr. Sidney Fry, Perhaps in no other - way is the class of a golfer so apparent than in his manner of pivoting. • Many a time in my visits to Different courses I have found myself unconsciously watching and criticising the pivoting action of various players and have have always found it exceedingly instructive.

George Duncan" attaches the utmost importance to the pivot. From it cornea the rhythm, and power which is the very foundation of th* game. Much of Mitchell's length comes from his pivot. An observer standing opposite the ball as Mitchell drives can see the whole of his back as he pivots. Perhaps a small excerpt from Duncan's contribution -will be of value. " After talcing one's stance," he stys, " the . next movement Is the slightest transference of weight from left to right with the handle of the club following the same direction. The head of the club is still where ft was in the address. When the olub-handle is opposite the right position the wrists begin to operate and go we arrive at the slinging pTftcess of the club. This ia performed by the right hand aided by a simultaneous turning of the right hip. " Provided we have started tho swinging movement early enough wo arrive at the top of the swing with the weight inside the right foot, perfectly poised ready for a still fiercer sltnging of the club-bead at the ball. This takes place very nearly from the top of the swing and" to speed up the club-head before impact the left leg begins to offer a tremendoos rosiotoiiwe, until at impact the •whole of the left side of the body, even the left hand, la opposing the right. This opposition of the left has long been thought the last-minute flick of the wrists."

So that is how Duncan disposes of this " flick of the wrists " we hear so much about as the producer of length. This last terrific speeding-up of the club is not caused by a voluntary straightening of the wrists then, but is purely the result of the sudden resistance offered by the left side which causes the right side, and also the club, to faring through in a sud. denly increased acceleration. This point is also stressed by Mr. Sidney Fry as an asset to powerful hitting, but he" goes further and also discusses the question of stance and the " shut" and " open " face method of hitting. He advocates the square stance as being the most practical for correct pivoting and ends on a note of warning against undue striving for lengtha vain warning! It is easy enough to be a long driver if you have the gifts: it is another matter to be an accurate one. When Vardon and Taylor were winning championships ft was a common saying that the guide posts were their only hazards, and certainly the lino and they seldom parted company. Vardon has always been the disciple of comfort in playing, and he summed up a good deal of the inefficiency of the game ■when he said that folks made too hard •work of it.

There are many critics in America who say that if British golf is going to bold its own it will have to straighten out Mb long game ami keep it so. I oonla mention a score of players round the Ptimnsula, terrifio hiUera all of them, •who «<mld not put a dozen balls inside a thirty-yard radius -at 200 yards. In the long driving championship Walter Hagen put half ft dozen balls inside a space that you could cover with a tablecloth and his average distance was 250 yards. • AH the same ha did not-win the Open Championship by prodigious driving but by steadiness. The sums reported to be earned by the outstanding professionals in the United States are almost enough to make the- brain reel—unless one happens to be a film star. We will descend from these giddy heights and take the case of the ordinary man who is an ordinary professional at an ordinary club, writes Harry Vardon. I should say that, given application to his. work, he can earn the equivfrom £800 to £1000 a year. This, be it said, is not quite so wonderful as, it looks to British eyes, because the cost of living is very high in America compared with this country. There is. however, one circumstance about the professional in America winch grips my imagination and makes me feel that he is a very lucky individual. In every instance that I knowat least in every one that I can remember owns a motor-car He dashes up to the course in his car in the morning; he lends it fo various members of the club who want to hire it during the day; and he goes home in it in luxury at night. It may or may not be a sign of the difference between the standards of living of the professional golfers in the two countries; but it is, at any rate, a fact that I do not know a professional in Britain who revels in the possession of a motor-car. So far as I have been able to gather, the professional in America gets from 2 to 2$ dollars an hour for lessons. And he can have as much teaching as he wishes during the season. In fact, it is no uncommon thing for two men to share the post of professional at,a club, and in these cases > it is usutliy a rigid rule that the instructors shall be booked for lessons alternately so that one shall not have a preponderance over the other. The income has to be made in six months, so far as concerns the majority of professionals, because that is the extent of the season in the Northern States, and while there is a great deal of golf in the Southern States in the winter, there are not enough jobs to go round for everybody. At the B,imo time there is always a big opening; for indoor schools of- golf during the cold season in the north. It happens often that three or four players join forces to start what proves to be a prosperous indoor school in the off season.

MATCHES FOR TO-DAY.

The lilub championship competition under the auspices of the Auckland Hockey Association, will be continued this afternoon. Tho senior matches arranged for this , afternoon include, Mount. Eden versus St Luke's, on No. 1 ground, at Remuera : Somervell and University, on No. 2 ground at Remuera. Areta has a bye. The senior matches, on dry, fast ground.-*, should furnish close and interesting contests. Junior hockey matches will also be played this afternoon. WHITE HORSE CUP. The following team, has been chosen to represent the Thames Hockey Association at tho White Horse Cup tournament, to be held at Remuera on July 23 :—R. Menzies (manager and captain), D. GemmeO (nee-captain), E. Taylor, R. McMillan, J. sillier. T. O'Carroll, T. Hale, S Baigent, W. Woofo, T. Roberta, W. Tate, H. Donkin, P.. Green, J. McGaldort. _^