GOLF.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20706, 2 May 1929, Page 5

GOLF.

By Divot.

On Saturday, the .second qualifying rounds o£ both the Otago and St. Clair Clubs’ Championships ..'were played, and in each case produced good golf. At Balmacewan the standard generally was not so good as in the-first round, although it was headed by a fine round of 72 by Dr Ross, who moved up to first place with an aggregate of 140 for the two rounds. For the first nine holes Dr Ross was 38, but .in.the second half he played .brilliant golf,, .coining homo ip ,34! just one under a strict par and four, finder the scratch score for, the second nine holes. ■ His round,- hole by. hole, was as .follows; — ; ' Out;'s, 4,4, 3; 5,'4, 3, 3. 5—38. ' In:; 3,3, 4,5, 3,4, 3; 3, 4—3,4. S. C. C’olbcck. 'who .occupies second place, had‘the makings of another, splendid round, being four.under fours after having played 10' holes. These- holes were played-in eight fours and'two twos. From here onwards, however, he -was unable-to maintain - this form,- and he. finished with a 74; thelast eight holes costing him 38, or- six over' fours. D.' H. Butcher, who led in. the first found, had a-steady-70, and took,third place. Both W; G. Wight and J. 1 Spence improved on their first round, and ■ qualified in handy positions. There were four players with 168,. and these had to play off. for the fifteenth and sixteenth places.- The play off resulted in D. M, Irvine and, S. Gibson securing these coveted places, which .carry with them the right,to meet Dr Ross and Colbeck. respectively in the; first- round next Saturday. The- trophy ■ for the; best net round went to J; Mnnsotn who :had a 67‘net off an 18 handicap. It is hard to understand‘ why J. W. Trewern failed to qualify, as'hig golf is of a standard which leads one to expect him to go further than the-qualifying rounds.' There was a general average ’ improvement of two strokes on the second' qualifying/ round at Cbrstofphihe. The ideal conditions "Which obtained may have been the 'cause of this,, as .the fairways were newly cut‘and the preens were fast and true. , Added to this the weather, from a golfer’s point of view, was all that could be desired, there being, a complete absence of sun-glare and .only-, a gentle breeze to give variety to the kind of shot’necessary from certain positidns. G. B. Wight again headed the list,’this time a neat 74, which, although a remarkably good round, is two strokes behind his first round, and is somewhat below his average score for the last two or three months. This round-makes C, B. Wight first to qualify with-a lead of nine strokes from W; Clayton, who had two,steady rounds of 78 and' 77. ’J. A. Soouler and L. H. Marshall both played well in the second round, improving by four strokes on their performance'of the previous Saturday. With an aggregate of 138 they were.equal for their place. R. C. Blunt, who has been steadily improving his -game since the - cricket season -closed, had a 78 and was,fifth with 162. The first- round of match , play,-which -will be played on , Saturday, should ... produce some good games; In the junior grade W. Clelland, who, at the beginning of the competition, was on the 21- mark, had a splendid round of- 82, which, as he had a net .63 lost Saturday, made him an easy winner of the Hudson Cup for the best net aggregate in; the’qualifying rounds: • His net Bccro was 126, a-‘ludicrously low result. Clelland also occupies first, on the qualifying list in the. juniors with a total of 168. The medal handicap for the , second round resulted in a tic between Blunt and J. Fahey, who were 63 net, ' The Invercargill Club have played their qualifying rounds, with the result .that C. A. Masters heads the list with a total of 149. His first round’ was. a splendid 71, and he followed this up with a, 79 on a day when the conditions were not such as to allow for perfect golf. There was a strong breeze accompanied by a steady drizzle, a combination . which serves to discourage cyen such enthusiasts as golfers. James -A. 'Siangan qualifiod second with 160.. It, ig interesting to compare the totals-of the first to qualify’in the three clubs. St.- Clair, represented by C., B. Wight, is 146: Otago. by Dr Ross. 149: and Invercargill, by Masters, 149; but it must be remembered that, Balmacewan is recognised-by most players to be the most difficult course of these three. , \ Ah interesting match .for the . Tuson Cup was played between' the Wellington Club and' : the Christchurch Club at Shirley, with, the result that Wellington won by 61 games tq SJ. A match between the veterans of both clubs' was played at the same time and resulted in Wellington gaining another victory,, this time, by a more .substantial '-margin, 9 to 3., Another iiitevclub match,. between Timaru and Ashburton, was played.at the Fairfield links, Timaru having no difficulty in disposing of their visitors to win rather inhospitably by 13J-to IJ. • On Tuesday a flag match was played at the Corstorphinc links by the-St. Clair Ladies’ Club. Mrs -Gamble was'the winner of . the senior and Mrs Stirling of ‘the junior, competition. . .. - The Belleknowes Club.played .a medal handicap last Saturday, which-resulted in a win for A. M‘Millafi. who played ,a verygood -round and-.was well 'within.'his handicap. W. Munro also played well and was runner-up. . . The second qualifying round . of. the Otago Ladies’ Club championship will be played on Friday. Britain’s victory over America in the Ryder Gup match is the most welcome news that has reached us concerning British golf for some time. Most of us were beginning to, fear that the Americans had asserted-a lasting superiority, and-it was only with faint hope that we awaited the result of'.this international,,contest. On the first day America had a -lead of 21 games to 11 in -the foursomes. Horton Smith, the 20-yeair-old champion, and Watroua stood do‘wn‘ in the foursomes in favour of Golden,and-Dudlcy. The singles played on - Saturday,.were thrilling contests and the'finish;of the match, became riiorc and ‘ more exciting as Britain reduced the deficit of the previous day and finally took the lead; With only' three matches incompleted, 'America ha.d- to, win them all to /win, or .-.even two wins and a halved match would give her.the victory. Horton Smith, who is the youngest member of the American team, justified Tiis inclusion by defeating Robson and thereby bringing his side within striking distance. Cotton and Watrous were; the next to appear.. On, the result of thia: match America’s chances rested.- Cotton, who is the youngest player in the British team, was ; playing great golf, and also justified liis .inclusion.. He defeated his, formidable opponent 4 up and 3, and thereby made the issue safe. for-his side. By winning 31 singles to 21 Britain gained' a lead of ‘ two ■ games 1 on the two-'days’ play, and a clear-cut victory. .. It Is impossible to visualise the farreaching effects, which this, victory will have upon British’golf, not dnjy professional golf, but amateur gaif as well. The ■ crowd ’ apparently ‘ found the greatest interest’in the match'between Duncan and Hagen, the two captains. The fact-that he 1 was playing against the reputed champion of the world apparently gave Duncan the inspiration he required/and he no doubt reached those heights of brilliance which are accessible only to’ players of his mercurial, type. It will be remembered that last year Hagen, a week before the British open championship, suffered ■ a crushing defeat at the-hands of Compston. Conipstou. playing perfect golf, beat him - in a-72-hole challenge match by 18 up and 17 to play. Hagen, however, came up smiling and went on to win the British open championship the following ‘week.- It will be interesting to note in what manner he will w-ipo.out his latest defeat. Duncans victory is greater really than Comp- ; ton’s last year,. as it was only a 36-hole match. Another match which would create a great deal of interest was that between C. Whitcoiubc and J. Farrell, the‘National Open champions of 1928 for each country. Both are brilliant players and their match would be sure to bare soivic sensational golf. This important match went to the British representative by a handsome margin, 8 up and 6 to play, so Whitcombe must have been right on his game. The British team’s greatest defeat was Dicgcl’s victory over Mitchell. Diegel fias been playing with great success in various open tournaments recently, and 'Mitchell very often fails to produce the wonderful golf which his host of English admirers expect of him on almost every occasion.