GOLF.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20322, 2 February 1928, Page 5

GOLF.

By Divot,

Golf de luxo ’ The three days of tournament play which preceded the KirkWindeyer Cup contest will long be remembered by the golfing community ot the Dominion. The excellence of Miramar links, and the perfect weather were factors which contributed to (ho success of (he | meeting. It was predicted that the golf would be interesting and this was fully realised. During some of the matches the excitement was intense and the strain on players wiio had to go as far as the twenty-second and twenty-third greens for finality must have been gruelling. The success of Dr Boss in all his matches was a source of satisfaction to southern golfers, and the heartiest congratulations were bestowed on the Balmacowan representative when it became known that he had won tho competition. The Otago champion had earned Ids place us second player in tho Kirk-'NV indeycr team. Steady golf was sought by participants on the opening day of the tournament, the tricky wind accentuating any slight defect in shots. Tho outstanding goiter on Thursday was Sloan Morpeth, tho present amateur champion. His performance throughout the day stamped him as one of tho finest amateur golfers in Australia and Now Zealand. His brilliant morning round of 70, which equalled the course record, was made with iipparent ease. At a time when other first-class golfers were struggling to hold bogey figures Morpeth was thinking in terms of par and his 70 included par figures at the first, fourth, and thirteenth ; “birdies” at the fifth, eighth, and eleventh, and “eagle” threes at the tenth and seventeenth—this last with two magnificent shots of over 480yds, which almost reaped him a two. The round was composed of sparkling shots, super-imposed on a level of remarkable consistency. With a 79 in the afternoon the amateur champion headed tiho qualifying list, being four strokes better than the second on the Mst— W. R. Dobson, the only Australian player to distinguish himself. On tho second day of the tournament the conditions were much the same as those which prevailed on the opening day, the wind being, if anything, slightly stronger and making it hard for players to produce good figures, outstanding feature of the day was the No Australian golfer survived the day’s strenuous golf. The South Island golfers were superior to the North Island golfers in (hat three out of tho four semi-finalists were from this side of Cook Strait. One of the surprises of the meeting was tho defeat or T. 11. Horton by W. R. Smith. The Australian went round in 76 and won by 2 ami 1. The defeat of J. L. Black by H. B. Lusk by tho substantial margin of 4 and 3 was the result of brilliant putting. The afternoon play saw the exit of the only leg tho Australians had left Dr Ross heat W. R. Smith by 5 and 4. The Otago champion was out in 38 (3 up) and from there on gave his opponent no chance. A hard-fought battle was witnessed when H. B. Lusk and D. Grant met. The Christchurch representative lost the first three holes, but settled down and had tho match squared at the ninth. It was not until the sixteenth that Grant was allowed to take the load. At tho seventeenth Lusk lay alongside the hole for a certain four while Grant was 10ft away for tho same number; the hole was halved. Tho halving of tho eighteenth made Grant tho winner by 1 up. Alex Simc was fully extended by H, P. Dale, a young player from Kltham, and managed to got homo by the odd hole only. On tho Saturday morning there was an absence of wind and all conditions wore in favour of good golf. A most remarkable coincidence, and one that may never happen in the history of this competition again, was that both semi-final games wore extended well over the 18 holes. To be taken to the twenty-second green proved the “ no surrender ” and even nature of the match between Dr Ross and A. G. Sime. From start to finish a hole-and-holo struggle saw Ross with 2 up at Uic turn. The game was squared at tho seventeenth and from then on four holes wore halved. By holing a 9ft putt for a Ihreo on the twentv-second green Ross won the game. Neither Morpeth nor Grant had any idea when they started out to play 18 holes that they would have to journey well into the second round to finish the game. It took both players some time to settle down. At the turn Grant was 1 up. From this point the golf improved and exciting incidents were mixed with par figures. When a ball disappears into a hole and comes out on to the lip again a player can consider himself unlucky. Grant was unlucky in this way at a critical stage. Dormie 2, in Morpeth’s favour, was the state of the game when the balls were sent down the fairway to the seventeenth. Grant won this hole and followed it up with a steady five to six at the eighteenth. -On they went from hole to hole until it seemed that finality would never come. At last the end came. A beautifully played three at the twenty-third left Grant the winner of one of the closest and most exciting games of the tournament. In the afternoon round Dr Ross did tho outward journey, in the final against Grant, in 38 and was 3 up at the turn. Ross continued to play steady golf and held the advantage of 4 up at the sixteenth and won the competition. It was a pleasant game to watch; the driving was a feature of the afternoon. This is the sixth final of national importance in which Dr Ross has figured, and the first he has won. It is curious that he should have won it from an old comrade and opponent of about 20 years ago in North Scotland. Dr Rosa belongs to Tain, and Donald Grant to Dumoch, towns five miles apart as the crow flics, on opposite sides of the Dornoch Firth. The two used to encounter one another as boys in inter-county matches years ago. “Wouldn’t it be fun if we met in the final ?” remarked the doctor when the draw on Thursday night showed that the two could not .meet sooner. “Wouldn't it be fun?” was the answer. “ But look what we are up against.” Onoo again the leading golfers of the Dominion return to their daily routine. Tho excitement and strenuous golf of the past week will soon become a fleeting memory. The Kirk-Windeyer Cup returns with the New South Wales team to Australia and the golfing community is still left wondering why it should be. That tho margin of difference on Monday’s play was very narrow is small consolation to some of those players who were defending the title on their own soil under conditions which were perfect for golf. There was nothing in the form displayed by tho visitors prior to the contest to give those who wore interested the impression that they would be able to hold, nay beat, our best four golfers. The two qualifying rounds played by W, R. Dobson, first reserve to the Australian team, were certainly worthy of mention. That tho captain of the visiting team should stand down to give this player a chance to distinguish himself was a wise and fruitful move as the results clearly show. All tho Australians played well, the performance of Dr Lee Brown in his match against the 1927 amateur champion being an attractive and praiseworthy effort. To take tho New Zealand team individually and criticise their play would not serve any useful purpose. One aspect that has struck me ns having a bearing on the result was tho strenuous nature of the matches in the three-day’s tournament. This may, or may not, have taken the pep out of _ some of the New Zealand team. It is a significant fact thbt the Australian team which met the New Zealanders at Rose Bay last year had previously to fight hard against Queensland and New South Wales teams and was not as fresh as the Dominion’s quartet. This year the boot was on the other foot, The most consistent golfer at Miramar during The. play of both tournament and cup contest, was the Otago Club’s representative. Dr K, Ross. He carried out his part in tho Kirk-Windeyor event in a manner which left no room for fault. Sloan Morpeth was considered the strongest string in the New Zealand how. In his singles games, however, he was overshadowed by an opponent who produced a 70, equalling the course record. To cap it off tho New Zealand amateur champion lost touch with his putter towards the end of the match. Golfers who have suffered a similar lapse will extend their heartfelt sympathy to Morpeth, more so when it is remembered that it happened when tho strain was at its culminating point and when the opposition was making it hard with his best golf. At tho end of the day each team had won three games and tho result had to be decided on the holes won by the teams. The six holes which separated Dr Lee Brown and Morpeth were the deciding factor. The contest must go down as a milestone in tho annals of golf in Australia and Now Zealand, it being the first occasion on which rn Australian team won the Kirk-Windeyer Cup. In congratulating the Australian players on their win I join with tho golfing community in wishing them good luck and a safe return. My wish is that the standard of golf in the two countries will go on improving and that the golfers by their annual matches will hind together and strengthen the bonds of friendship which exist in this corner of the Empire.