GOLF TOPICS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19699, 27 July 1927, Page 16

GOLF TOPICS.

MATCHES AT MIDDLEMORE,

CAPTAIN'S PRIZE TOURNEV^

BROWN AND BODDINGTON, Matches in the captain's tourney were continued at the Middlemore links oq Saturday, when R. 0. Gardner beat W* Phillips and Dr. Brown and A. Bodding. ton again finished all squase. This is the third time that the last; two players mentioned have finished all square, an almost unique performance, which is adding a great deal of interest to. <;he competition. Boddington was very lucky to survive the first round, for as mentioned before the doctor failed with a short putt on the last green. The second match saw the doctor ia a perilous position, for lie was 3 down at the fifth hole, and the situation required all the skill he possessed to pull the match out of the fire. He did it and finished all square. It was thought that the third attempt would find one or the other lacking. The doctor certainly had the advantage again by being dormy one, but this time it was not his fault he lost' the last hole as it was Boddington's brilliant play—for after a long tee shot Boddington placed his second only a few feet from the pin—and possibly would have got a three had it been require*. So after three attempts these two players are still all square. The ultimate winner will meet C. J. Western in the semi-final, a player much to be respected. It. 0. Gardner, who beat W. Phillips, is on the other side of the draw .with A. J. Friedlander. Phillips put up a great fight against Gardner, who had much the advantage in length as well as experience. The first three holes were halved, Gardner winning the fourth in 4, but the next went to Phillips and matters were equal again. Phillips continued to play steadily and was still 1 up at the ninth. He increased his lead to 2 up at the tenth, but bad putting saw him lose the twelfth, and his lead was reduced to one. Here Gardner made a great effort to regain the lead, but could not make any impression on his opponent, who was still 1 up and three holes to go with a stroke to come at the seventeenth. Gardner, however, l-eeled off three successive 4's to win on the eigthteenth 1 up. Gardner appears to be playing with more confidence in every match, and no ' feature of his play has been quite so bril. liant as the length and accuracy of his shots with the iron. This iron has been bis saver time after time and has been paticularly devastating to his rivals. It was this trusty iron that won him the match on Saturday. For the other members a special bogey match was provided, over 80 players taking part. A slight wind blowing from the south-east was just strong enough to test the players, and to steady them going out before giving them kindly assistance on the way home. Young Player's Success. Some excellent cards were returned, notably that of B. Lloyd, who with W„B. Colbeck tied for first place' with 5 up. Ll6yd is one of theV>ungest members in the club and deserves every credit for a really fine performance. Next came H. W. Tidmarsh, with a score of 4 up, easily the best of the short handicap men. During the week-end a party oE Waiuku golfers visited Middlemore. In eluded in the party were Seymour Colbeck, T. R. Bloomfield, A. Ohlson and J. Forbes, a contestant in the New Zealand championship at Hamilton in 1920. Impressions of golf in New Zealand are given by Dr. A. Mackenzie, the wellknown golf course architect, iit an article in Golf Illustrated He says: "Iu New Zealand tha summer months are ideal for golf, but it is only played during the winter, this being largely due to the fact that tha fail-ways are so narrow and the rough so long that if golfers attempt to play in summer they lose too many balls. I played one round in New Zealand on one of their best courses, and four of us lost about a dozen balls. I think I impressed them very much in New Zealand with these defects, and I consider that tha Maungakiekie golf course and one of two others at Auckland will show a lot of improvement soon. They seem quite keen on taking my advice, and this may set a standard and have the effect of improving most of the courses in New Zealand. The Course at Kotorua.

"One of the best courses was at Rotorua, in the volcanic district. On the course itself, and in tho immediate neighbourhood, there are boiling mud-holes, geysers, and sulphur- fume 3 issuing from numerous places in the ground, and in certain places a stick pushed into the soil is charred. Tho originator of the club was a Cockney, and he remarked:—'Well 'ave the only course in the world that 'as 'ot 'oles for 'azards.' "

Mr. J. G. Anderson, American correspondent of Golf Illustrated, considers the difference between the Americans and the English team in the Ryder Cun matches lay on the putting greens. "Up to the greens," he continues, "the Britons mora or less held their own, but once on the putting surface, all the advantage lay with the Americans. Even Ted Ray could not find his usual velvet touch, and with his partner, Fred Robson, going nowhere near holing the putts of four and five feet usually left him, it was little wonder that defeat came the way of tlTe Britons. As a matter of fact, all the members of the British team seemed to suffer from the same affliction, with, perhaps, the possible exception of Duncan. whose former experience in America seemed to stand him in good stead." New Zealand Championships.

In years past practically the only overseas golfers who have competed "in the New Zealand championship meeting have come from Australia, but this year the Now Zealand Golf Council hopes to attract players from further afield. Some three months ago the council's secretary sent circulars giving particulars of championship events to clubs throughout Great Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada, and to the High Commissioner's office in London. This is a new venture, and although it may not meet with any response this year, success may. attend the efforts of the council in later years. Overseas entries for the meeting, which is to commence at Hamilton on August 31, close on August 17, and those within the Dominion about two days later. The latost news from the United States says the British team of professionals for the Ryder Cup matches did not have the best of luck. In the first place Abe Mitchell was unable to go on account of illness, and Ted Ray was called upon to captain the team in his place. After the men arrived in the States George Gadd was so badly off his garte that ha asked to be relieved, and H. C. Jolly, who did not accompany the team, but arrived a few days before the match, was put in his place. Mitchell and Gadd were two of the strongest players in the team, and the chances of success were decidedly dimmed when these two could not play. Mrs. McCarthy, who won the Otago ladios' championship at Balmacewan, was not able to gain the club charnpio iship of either the Otago or the St. Clair Clubs, although she reached the finals in both clubs. Mrs. Dodgshun won the Otago Club final by 5 and 4, and Miss 0. Kay defeated Mrs. McCarthy by 5 up and 3 at St Clair. In the latter match Mrs. McCarthy was erratic in the opening stages and gave her opponent many chances. Toward the end of the round, however, her golf improved, -but it was tjien too late to reduce the lead Miss Kay had gained. Miss Kay played some good holes, but was weak on the greens, and did noti I play up :to her Canterbury championship