GOLF TOPICS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19888, 6 March 1928, Page 7

GOLF TOPICS.

■ - ——p — PROFESSIONAL TOURNAMENT • BUTTERS wins at timaru. HIGHLY INTERESTING FINISH. BY rAIUWAY. R. C. Butters. Miramar, won the professional golfers' autumn tournament, at Timaru. The defending title-holder, A. J. Shaw, Napier, made a great spurt or the second day after an indifferent start, and just failed by one stroke to overtake the winner. There was a good deal of excitement during the fourth and last round, and the decision was in doubt until the vei*y last .putt. Butters was able to sink a five-yarder on the last green for the 72 which brought him in one stroke ahead of Sbaw. A great finish! It was obvious' at the end of the third round such a dramatic finish was on the cards, as Shaw had Shown in bis morning round wh?t a brilliant golfer he is. His forenoon round was a 68, the best of the whole tournament, and a very different achievement from his 78 of the previous afternoon. That 68 gave him-a great chance of overtaking Butters, and he certainly made the effort in hia fourth round. Butters responded with a similarly fine score, and just reached home with one stroke in hand.

An Exciting Finish. At the start of the fourth round the aggregates for the three previous rounds were as follows:—R. C. Butters, 73, 70, 78, 221; J. A. Clements, 74, 74, 73, 221; A. J. Shaw, 76, 78, 68, 222. It looked pretty certain one of these three would win. It is interesting to note Shaw started the third round 11 strokes behind Butters and six behind Clements. That round, however, was his best, and his 68 enabled him to pick up as many as 10 strokes on Butters, and five on Clements, with the consequence that all three of them set- out upon the final round, each knowing that a par score or close to it would bring him in the winner. Shaw's performance in one single round reminds me of what George Duncan did in the foui-th round of the Irish open championship last September. He. was 14 strokes behind Jack Smith when the last round began in a storm of wind and rain.i Duncan wont round in 74, while Smith took 89, and none of the others went better than 86. On another occasion, in the British open championship of 1920, Duncan was 13 strokes behind Abe Mitchell at the end of the second round. He then put on a 71 and a 72, while Mitchell declined, and in these two rounds Duncan made up the leeway of 13 strokes and four mora as well, and won the championship. Shaw looked like achieving something of this kind at the end of the third round at Timaru,, but Butters saved himself by a great recovery in the last round. Hss final of 72 was six strokes, better than his third round. No Apparent Weaknesses. In recent championships Butters has played well, and at Hamilton last September he reached the final of the professional championship and was runner-up to J, D. Macintosh. A war injury does not at all interfere with the effectiveness of his swing. Butters has no weaknesses in his game, and his strong point, in my opinion, 13 his putting. For the putt Butters has a delicate grip a.nd holds the right forefinger extanded against the shaft of the putter. Like. Macintosh, and Shaw, hi 3 brother professionals, Butters is .a Scot. There are other Scots professionals in New Zealand, as well as these three, but Butters, I believe, is the only Highlander among them. He began to play golf in Sutherland, in the far north of Scotland. After the war he played a good deal of golf in the company of T. D. Armour, in Edinburgh, on the famous Braid Hills course. His victory in the autumn tournament puts Butters into the front rank of our professionals with Moss, Shaw and Macintosh. It provides the prestige among his fellow-golfers and the confidence in himself, which, together will do much to keep him in that leading position. Comparison With Last Year.

In connection with the think it interesting to recall the scores recorded by the • leading players in the same" event a year ago; In 1927 this "tournament was played at Rotorua, wheTe the course is perhaps two or three strokes easier titan at Timaru. Shaw accomplished a wonderful series of rounds on that occasion, which gave him an aggrogate of 274 strokes for the 72 holes—a xeccrS for New Zealand that is likely to stand for a long time. Nevertheless, it was J. D. Macintosh who won the Myers Gup last year, for the lowest aggrogate on the opening day, with a 71 and 67—138. Here are the detailed figures for the three leaders in last year's tournament:—A. J. Shaw, 73, 67, 66. 68—274; E. J. Moss, 70, 70, 69. 71—280; J. T>. Macintosh, 71, 68, 73, 70—282. The amateur golf international match between Great Britain and America for the Walker Cup wifl be played this year on August 30 and 31, near Chicago. Txhj professional international between these two countries for the "Ryder Cup will not take place this year, bat it will nexVbe played in 1929 in Great Britain. The American professional golfers themselves are making arrangements now for the raising cf funds necessary to send their team. It is characteristic of the Americans that they should begin so far nr. advance to prepare for this contest. Other nations would do well to take a hint from them in this respecfc Power of the Goll Ball.

I discussed in this column a week or two ago the question of restricting the of the golf ball. Not long ago_ a manifesto on this matter was made public in New Zealand, signed by most of the leading professionals, such as T. D. Armour, Bobby Cruickshank, Mac Donald Smith, W. H. Mehlhorn, Leo Diegel and about 30 others. It was signed also by the amateur, Mr, George von Elm. The manifesto gave several strong reasons why, in the best interests of the game* a slightly less powerful golf ball be standardised, especially for champion* ships. It suggested also that the situation might he met, for the. present, by the adoption of a ball that would float in water. There seems, to be no noticeable opposition in Great Britain to this kind of proposal. A writer in a British golf magazine says: "If a small restriction would assist clubs to work on a somewhat reduced acreage, to relieve congested areas, or to avoid unnecessary walks between the green and the next tee, a revised standard, might be quite a good thing for the game, and, I am sure, the great massi of golfers would not be opposed to i!i."