GOLF TOPICS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22205, 4 September 1935, Page 18

GOLF TOPICS

ROTORUA TOURNAMENT FINE EFFORT BY H. B. LUSK R. D. WRIGHT BEATEN IN FINAL BY THE ROVER In commenting on the form of players during the past week, the performance of H. B. Lusk in the Rotorua tournament must be given pride of place. Lusk has reached the veteran stage and for a player of his years to battle through when the conditions were all in favour of younger players was a magnificent effort. Twenty-five years ago Lusk won the New Zealand amateur championship, and in 1921 he gave Aucklanders a demonstration of his remarkable matchplay ability. When playing in the final of the Auckland provincial championship he was dormy five down to 11. M. George, and he then took the next six holes in a row to win the most exciting match in the history of this event. The Rotorua final was of special interest as the runner-up was a clubmate, R. D. Wright, who along with Lusk shared successes in the provincial championships between 1921 and 1928. Each has four wins to his credit, Lusk winning in 1921, 7,925, 1927 and 1928, while Wright won in 1922, 1923, 1924 and 1926. SOUTH AUCKLAND TITLE SUCCESS OF B. G. THOMSON Aucklanders also figured prominently in the South Auckland championship meeting at Hamilton and the success of B. G. Thomson was not unexpected. Thomson played good, steady golf throughout and his win is evidence that he is not merely a " one-course " golfer. J. L. Black, ■ who has a long string of successes at Hamilton, came north to defend his title, but he was not the Black of old, and was beaten comfortably by the eventual winner. H. Plumley appeared to be certain reach the final, but J. M. Graham upset calculations. Graham is a local player on an 8 handicap and he had a great match round against Plumley, who was beaten at the 14th. His actual medal round was 81, a score which included a 7 and a finish of 5, 6, 5, 5, after the match was over. OPEN EVENT AT TAURANGA H. D. BRINSDEN WINS AGAIN An open tournament was also held at Tauranga and H. D. Brinsden, J. L. Black and H. B. Lusk took part, the chief event being a 36-holes medal championship. Brinsden repeated his success of last year, his scores of 77, 77 —154, winning by two strokes from Black, while Lusk and H. J. Bateman tied for third place. Bateman is a young local player with a nice style, and he has gained useful experience during the past week since he has been competing in open company. OTAHUHU CHAMPIONSHIPS A SURPRISE VICTORY The championships; at Otahuhu are now approaching the final stages and in the senior division A. P. Eustace caused a surprise by defeating his brother, who won the title last year. There was little between the pair up to the greens, but A. P. Eustace holed several lengthy Sutts to win eventually at the 18th. n seven or eight occasions H. J. Levy has been runner-up in the championship, but on Saturday lie went out to the youthful H. Bell, who is rapidly improving. Bell plaved a really fine round and once he overcomes the tendeucy to strive unduly for length at the expense of accuracy he should have little difficulty in consolidating his game. In the intermediate section R. E. Brown had a surprisingly easy win from C. B. Herrold and will now meet J. Bracewell, who beat B. Cooper, in the final.

1 JUNIORS AT MIDDLEMORE 1 GOOD SCORES RETURNED Considering the heavy nature of the fairways and the fact that teeing up was allowed at only three holes, the scoring in the junior championship qualifying rounds at Middlemore was quite good. In the morning, Sir H. Horton and H. R. Kirker each returned a card of 85 to lead the field, Kirker retaining his place, and winning the nursery handicap, when he played the second eighteen in 90. K. T. Bell and B. C. Jacobs improved in the afternoon, but Sir H. Horton required 11 strokes more and he finished in fourth place. MATCHES AT OTHER CLUBS TITIRANGI SENIOR TITLE At Titirangi 1. MacEwan and H. D. Brinsden had littlo difficulty in surviving the first round of the senior championship and it is to be hoped that the draw has distributed the leading players of the club evenly in each half. In the intermediate grade, F. G. Alpe, L. F. Faram, E. Ohlson and A. V. Peace had comfortable wins, but W. J. A. Thomson had a close game with A. C. Jacob, whom he beat at the 19th. In the bogey match at Pupuke, H Nicholas was successful with a card of 1 up, but in the first round of the senior championship he %vent out to R. Johnston, who played well to win at-thw 18th. The Hninger Cup qualifying round at North Shore resulted in three players, R. White, A. R. Myers and C. C. Robinson tieing for first place with net scores of 69, while L. .T. Minogue returned the best gross score. THE BOXING RING CONTESTS AT HAMILTON Neville Mudgway, of Waihi, the present professional welter-weight champion of New Zealand, and Ted Oxley, Pahiatua, ex-professional lightweight champion, meet under the auspices of the Hamilton Boxing Association on Saturday week. It should prove a thrilling encounter, as both are in splendid fettle. Amateurs of ability will provide the first half of the programme. Reg. Hobson. a Hamilton welterweight, shows distinct promise and he should be hard to dispose of in this class at the Auckland amateur championships. Mr. G. P. Aldridge, secretary of the New Zealand Boxing Council, was present at the Hamilton amateur championships last month and he was very much impressed with the quality of tiie boxing. He complimented the officials on the conduct of the tournament. Twentytwo bouts were staged in the evening. Mr. R. W. Rugg, president of the Auckland Boxing Association, also enjoyed the contests. The annual Auckland championships will be held on September 16, 17 and 18.