GOLF

NZ Truth, Issue 973, 19 July 1924, Page 9

GOLF

LARGER. HOLES.

(By ''Sammy.")

Joe Kirkwood has started a. new erame— writing articles m magazines. In a recent article he advocates enlarging the hole from 4% inches to 6 inches and reducing the weight of the ball. He reckons the. erame should not be played On the putting greens as it is to-day. . He suggests "narrower fairways and more bunkers round the •greens, so as to give the longest hitter the chance. Most ,of the -greens can be reached m two, shots, then three putts. -are la calaniity.'' Joe -must X, be .showing nerves "when he is" getting down to this. It's just the same game as it was* before ! Joe i was ~ born; only more difficult since the day of the rubber, ball. The cld-tlme champions didvnot shout out for a larger hole; vhey played the gariie as their fathers fid.' iTo-day the craze for length has made"; players, neglect practising the shorter and finer shots ' Of the gariie, and their hands have lost the cunning touch to roll the ball up to the' hole. One of the old sayings of the game is: "The; man who can putt is a- match for anyone;" And it is the same today, , Yet the' big: sloggers •• want courses to. suit them and holes like a washing tub -to putt into. The game was not, made for them, hut lor all-comers; so .why penalise , the shoH hitter , and good, putter? Hiscry would >'be. make; the \size of the wholes smalleh &rid ' that Would be a - far better cry tif the, -powers that be warited, as they aj?e trying to do, to make the game' mo^e diCßcUlt... Length of holes does not make :it easier. The* moment' longer: courses' aro made better; balls are -'made to equal up affairs. The smaller hole would be the best test. Make it, j say, half an inch less, and then we 'would note a big difference m scores.' It takes as much skill .to hole a long or a ten -foot putt as it does'to whack a Ipng bjall. If a player cannot pfutt: he should practise :as- he practises* hls.ilong garheV The- putting greeny has always been the test, ai\d always xnjill be, for it. is there that the true golfer, calm and collected, studies his line, • then boldly slaps the ball 'it the back of the hole, just as Hagen did at Hoylake. That is a far better test, of golf than whacking a ball down a 50-yard wide; fairway.

The French open championship was a triumph for amateur golf. For the first time \in 17 years an amateur Jed the. field. A few years ago Major Gillies led the field for thre.e rounds, then cracked up. This ; year Cyril ' Tolley fought to the end and saved the British players from another American de'feati With a score "of," 290 ; for . '72 holes, he ■'fron the title, with Wi Hagen three strokes behind. THe '"'Tiger," as he is called m England, just failed to win th,e doable. ; A Scotchman bobbed up. and defeated h lm m the • flhal ; of the French ' amsLteur^phkmplbhfl^iin' With a field of. th^ibJß^^b^^^lat^ehind him, Tolley has k remeyea' himself after breaking dowri -m^-Hoy^ake; , He is the first amateur! to" wih ewwß&Jksince the days of H. .^(limori: ' -^ •• .*v.'.'-*- -J. '-p. ■•■*■•. •."••* Young golfers;,: tn New Zealand are beginning to assert ' 'themselves,' and, lt is pleasing ...to i hote* they are coming to their own ; 'iif scores and m matches. A fine youn^ player m A. McCury, defeated a&other"i m Brick Budd lv.' the Donell y ;tJup, 3:and 2. !.-:■_ ■ * ■".; ' '■',*:: '•'•:: From TlmarUili.hear of another great performance by B. -'Yi. (Pip) Wright. Playing m the, flrst: jfouiid. of , the championship, he recorded a : 69.:. '■:. This is the lowest amateur.score returned over thfc ilighfield Linksl iThel bogey of the Oourse Is 77, and the best la d 66; by Kirkwood, but no one else has ever broken 70. This fine score is a credit to a young player, and "Saihray" hopes m the near future Pip will be able to attend the big tournaments. A 69 m a championship is a real golfer's scoie, and here it is;— Out, 434353345-34; m, 425354444-35—69. "Tyer" writes m reference to answer tb rule 15 m a. previous issue. He • says the rule certainly causes a lot of argument. It does. Yet, as stated, if ithe tree is riot hazard the player can ."move, {etc/! branches. ; In order to get thetß. and :^ ruling I have sent the query to them by last mall, and shall give their answer when It arl rives. 'JTyer|' ,Bays:. , *l think you. have started 'something." ■: I hope so; even •if only 'to. make golfers read through the rule% again.'' ■ "'; . " *j,z ■■*.. ■ v "': it .- tt * .Temporary greens always raise a grdwl. One golfer, m all seriousness, told "Sanimy" that he required eight pytts Lori/ the, 'first green the other morning../ Temporary greens are a great exquse for this. notable performance, yetjl'm inclined to 'suggest it was a case of "the night before." <• * The following is the result of the Ty Awamutu Golf Club's medal handicap:—Ladies: Mrs. Blundell, 189-20— 169; Miss Cayne, 204-36—168. Men: Dr. Blundell, 189-20—169. (Extract from Auckland paper.) Temporary greens? O. Tuch, captain of the Rotorua Club, won the club championship for the first time by defeating C. Kusabs by 3 and 1. Tuch was early m the lead, and finished up at tho eighteenth. A fine tussle was witnessed the next sixteen holes. Then Tuch settled the question by playing his toe shot dead o t th? short seventeenth and holing a tW0 ' ■■" t: *r » Pnmlnir events cast their shadows rthead The Christchurch Golf Club has adopted a new departure to raise funds to -make their flne links into a real championship, course. The cOurse le to be lengthened some 400 yards. Over fifty no w bunkers are prepared, and several of the greens are to Le altered and returfed. This requires

money, and the club is to raise the cash by a levy of £30 peir member. The club is to start right away with the alterations, and "Sammy" has a good idea where the next open will be played. . ... _

? Freak shots: A player at Palmerston, after playing a shot, let the-i club slip out of his hands: The "b»all landed dead, the club larided up a ing tree and wedged m the / branches, .and the player had .to clim"b the tree to recover it. A player practising driving on, the Foxton beach, wjss amazed to see a> seagull swoop dowiij and pick ,up his;ball and fly on! with !it. Nasty thing to happen m .a. match;

; The Hoyia&e Golf .Club stent score

cards ?,tb the; overseas golf iclubs, on the back of which was printed a plan of the open championship course, with the lengths . of the holes andCv hazards marked. New Zealand clubs should follow' the tip" and. have a plaivof thsir icourse on their score cards. !It would greatly help visitors to* their links, and ■would always 'be a card fori visitors .to keepyfor reference ' m comparing with, o r trier courses.

The replay for the first bogey competition between Bell and Mjorpeth at Hamilton resulted m a tie* for the third time.

„;.•::'. "■■.-' .**.:: - ...,yt ,* Trust America to always try ."and "'go ono better. TV) overshadow! • the big Gleneagled tournament .they" are to stage * an ; open tournament m which the world's leading, players -are certain to play.' The prize money is to be £ 2000, and the scene . of tha event is to be- one of the Chicago courses. :

Mrs T. Templar (nee Miss Wright). ••r>d Mr. J: C. Templar have gone to stay m, Inyerfcarglll." These two fine golfers will help td brighten up Southland golf. Mrs. Templar's style should greatlyhelp young' golfers ais a model to work upon.

Tou* see numbers of golfers werfing glasses;.- But none of therri got eye stridn reading -up' the rulesi .