FINE DAY ON LINKS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19731, 2 September 1927, Page 14

FINE DAY ON LINKS.

BY FAIRWAY

COURSE IN GOOD ORDER. COMMENTS ON THE PLAYERS SEVERAL EXCELLENT ROUNDS.

Sunshine cheered Hamilton yesterday and helped further to dry St. Andrews links for the New Zealand golf championship meeting. Amateurs.and professionals were all busy on the course throughout the day. Last year at Miramar every player spoke well of the course and the same experience meets me in Hamilton. The fairways are beautiful —certainly as fine as they were last year at Miramar.

The bunkers are fairly good, although inclined to be rather sticky after rain. The groeus are playing very well and their surface shows little sign of the rough "foreign growths" which were very noticeable a Jew months ago. Some of the most prominent players confess that they find the greens rather difficult, but they say they are good greens. On the whole, the greens are true, and that is the most important factor in greens, but the texture of the grass is sometimes coarse. One has to stroke the putts truly and firmly if they are to finish up where they are meant to finish. Good Prospects for To-day. The course was a picture in the sunshine yesterday and the weather and course promise well for to-day. Even the golfers seem to have no complaints. There were quite a number of good rounds yesterday. A breeze, which freshened in the afternoon, made playing a little difficult. The best rouud of the day was a 73 by the amateur champion, Arthur Duncan. Duncan himself was not wholly pleased with the achievement, because his long game was really not what it should have been. The ball jumped when it should have soared. Nevertheless, the arnaziugly skilful short game of the veteran enabled him to hand in one of the best rounds of the week. W. P. Anderson (Christchurch) partnered W. S. liaiph (Auckland) against A. R. Blank (Christchurch) and J. A. Clements (Christchurch). The scores were 77, 79, 78 and 74 respectively. The best ball of the four was 65. Clements and Blank finished 1 up. Harry Blair (Shirley) was able to strike better form yesterday than he had shown so far at Hamilton and finished in 76. An Interesting Match. The course was open for play all the afternoon and most of the players had a second round. I followed a good deal of the most interesting . four-ball match played in the afternoon. It was between Arthur Duncan and T. H. Horton and H. B. Lusk and Sloan Morpeth. Going out, Lusk was slightly ahead of Horton, being 1 up at the turn, and he was several holes ahead of the other two. In that outward half Lusk had seven 4's, a 3 and a 7, making 38. Comipg in, however, he was not quite so good and Horton did the last nine in 37, making his round 76. Morpeth was out in 41 and in in 35, a total of 76. Duncan was a stroke or two behind. I found these four most interesting, however, because three of them reminded me forcibly of three great English amateur golfers whose game I know. I have more than once referred to Horton's crisp and accurate hitting. To-day his chip shots brought to my mind no less a player than Harold Hilton, who plays these shots somewhat as Horton does. Great Shot by Duncan. The New Zealand amateur champion resembles the great John Bali in his comparative weakness with wooden clubs and in his beautiful pitching and putting. His short game was a treat to see to-day. One shot especially took my fancy—a chip shot from below a bank at the ninth green. The ball travelled smoothly along the hog back ridge and pulled up within sft. of the pin, which was on a small mound at the end of that- ridge. Down went the putt for a 4. Curiously enough, Lusk reminds me of an English golfer, a schoolmaster like himself, namely, R. H. De Montmorency, who, although 55 years of age. is still one of the outstanding amateurs at Home. Montmorency, however, is a bigger man even that Lusk and his style is very different. The New Zealander gets a good heave of his body into his long shots, whereas the Englishman has a threequarter swing and a much more controlled and more rigid cno. The likeness was not confined to method, style, and appearance, but was .evident also in the very good golf played. If there is some wind to-day. two rounds of 77 will represent good golf.