GOLF.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20536, 11 October 1928, Page 4

GOLF.

By Divot. To-morrow the first rounds of the Open Championship will be played at Balmacewan, and Dunedin enthusiasts will be enabled to see most of the leading golfers of the Dominion in action. The course is in excellent. condition, the fairways and most of the greens being almost flawless. That this is so is a matter ol great satisfaction to those responsible tor, as late as about three weeks ago, grave doubts were entertained as to the possibility : of the course being in a lit state on which to stage a championship tournament. A few showers of ram- ; however, made a wonderful difference, and the greenkeepers who had worked unceasingly were able to see some tangible result of their efforts. Last year, at Hamilton, E. J. Mpss, the winner of the Open, completed the four rounds in 300. The previous year the best score was 307, “Fairway, in the New Zealand Herald, computes these scores as making an average of 20 oyer par for the four rounds, and fixes the absolute par at Balmacewan at 68. It the average is to be kept up, the best score returned will require to be 292. which is 20 over par. If the weather is fine during the Open Championship play, this score may be obtained, as there are a number o. players who should have no great dimculty in attaining their 73 or 72, but to hold that that average may be secured for four rounds hardly pays due respect to the hazards and other difficulties to be met with at Balmacewan. It may be suggested that 300 will be fairly hard to beat, and certainly there will not be many who do so. The official record for the Balmacewan course is 70, but, in view of the excellent condition of the links and tie quality of the leading players who are participating in the Open, there is a reasonable prospect that this will be improved upon during the tournament. The first pair—-H. R. Blair and C. 3. Wight • will drive off to-morrow at 8:30. The pair that will probably attract, most interest is J- D. MTntosh and -A. GSime, who are scheduled to start at 9.2 in the morning and 12.32 in the afternoon. Other good pairs will be E. S. Douglas and Eana Wagg and J. Forrest and b. Morpeth. Morpeth, of the Maungakiekie Golf Club, Auckland, the present holder of the Amateur Championship, is playing very well at present, and he. Dr Ross, and T. H. Horton are expected to run the professionals a close taco for the Open Championship honours. E. S. Douglas, who won the Open on the last occasion that it was held in Dunedin, is paired with Dr Ross foi Saturday's .rounds in the Open, and they should provide some spectacular golf. Miss D. Chrystall, who won the New Zealand Ladies’ Championship at the tournament at Auckland last week, is the first Christchurch competitor in 34 years to secure this distinction. The following is a list of the winners of the Ladies Championship:— 1893. —Mrs Lomax Smith (Christchurch) . , 1894. —Mrs E. Wilder (Christchurch,!. 1895. —Mrs E. Mellaud (Dunedin). 1896. —Miss L. Wilford (Hutt). 1897. —Miss L. Wilford (Hutt). 1898. —Miss K. Rattray (Dunedin). 1899. Miss K. Rattray (Dunedin). 1900. —Miss K. Rattray,, (Dunedin). 1901. —Miss E. Gillies (-Auckland). 1902. —Mrs W. E. Bidwill (Wairarapa). 1903—Mrs A. E. Pearce (WellingtonI. 1904. —Miss E. Lewis (Auckland). 1905. —Mis A. Stevenson) (New Plymouth). ■ ■,, T , . . 1906. Mrs W. E. Bidwill (Wairarapa). 1907. —Mrs Guy Williams (Masterton). 1908. —Miss N. Christie (Oamaru). 1909. —Mrs C. Bevan (Otaki). 1910. Miss V. Collins (Wellington). 1911. —Miss L. Brandon (Wellington,!. 1912—Miss V. Collins (Wellington). 1913. —Mrs Guy Williams (Masterton j. 1914. —Mrs Guv Williams (Masterton). 19i n to 1918. —The Great War. 1919 Miss A. E. Wright (Timaru). 1920 — A. E. Wright (Timaru). 1921. —Mrs Guy Williams (Masterton). 1922. —Mrs Guy Williams (Mjasterton). 1923. —Miss Eva Brown (Napier). 1924. —Mrs Peake (Cambridge). 1925. —Mrs Dodgshun--(Dunedin). 1926. Mrs Kerr (Timaru). 1927. —Mrs Collinson (Palmerston Miss D. Chrystall (Christchurch). On Labour Day, October 23, the North Otago Golf Club will hold a one-day tournament on the Awamoa links. The chief event will be the North Otago Championship, which will he decided by holes of stroke play. The winner will hold Mr E. B. Irvine’s Challenge Cup for one year, and the runner-up will receive a trophy. Concurrently, Medal Handicaps will be played on each of the two rounds of the championship. The afternoon round will bo taken into account for the Teams Match. A team will consist of tour players from the same club, and any dub can enter any number of teams. The links at Awamoa will be new to most visiting players, and the greens and fairways are reported to be in excellent order. Entries for this tournament close on October 16. Very good scores were returned at Balmacewan last Saturday in the St. Andrew’s Cross competition. The winner, J. W Smeaton, who is on a 18 handicap, had a round of 84, which gave him a net score of 66. A good gross score returned was that of C. T. Irvine, whose round of 75 was attained by very steady play, and S, C. Colbeck, with characteristic brilliance, completed a good round of 74. During the week-end the final of the University championship was played at the Balmacewan links between S. C. Colbeck and L. H. Marshall. The final was played between the same pair last year, when L. H. Marshall proved the winner. This year the tables were turned rather decisively, Colbeck winning by 7 up and 5 to play. The, match was played over 36 holes. Colbeck started brilliantly and was 5 up after the first 18 holes. Marshall also played very steadily, but was unable to hold his opponent. Colbeck s round was completed in 72 and Marshall s in 77. Colbeck displayed the same brilliance in the second round, and the match ended in his favour at the thirty-first hole. A feature of the match was the remarkable accuracy of the putting displayed by both Colbeck and Marshall. During the whole match scarcely one putt of a reasonable distance was missed. Colbeck has now won this event three times in tae four years he has competed for it. The New Zealand ladies’ championship will be decided next year in Christchurch, on the Shirley links. The final of the Hamilton Club’s championship, played over 36 holes, between M. Macbeth (formerly of St. Clair) and W. Wynne (formerly of Balmacewan), was Avon by the former on the thirty-fust green. Some good cards were returned at Balmacewan last Friday in the medal match played by the Otago Ladies’ Club. Miss D. Williams, the winner of the A Grade competition with a nett round of 75, was closelv followed by two lower handicapped players. Mrs McCarthy, with a round of 80, played very well, and was runner-up ■with a net score of 77. Miss O. Stevens had a round of 86, which gave her a net score of 78. Mrs Dodgshun’s round was 83 gross, which her handicap reduced to 82.