GOLF

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21910, 23 March 1933, Page 5

GOLF

By Divot. FIXTURES FOR SATURDAY Otago Club. —Married v. Single Match. St. Clair Club. —Championships (first round of match play). ■ CLUB OPENINGS Both the Otago Club and the St. Clair Club opened their seasons last Saturday with Mixed Foursomes Competitions. They were favoured with perfect weather conditions, and the proved most enjoyable to the large number taking part at each club. ’ SIDEY CUP FOURSOMES The Foursomes Competition at Corstorphine proved the increasing popularity of golf, all records in the number of competitors engaged beifig eclipsed, a circumstance which gathers merit in these times of depression. There were at least 120 competitors on the field, and a panorama of the links presented a colourful scene. The competition itself resulted in a narrow victory for two young players in I. Orr an 1 Miss J. Cousins, who returned a good card of 4 up. Both Orr and Miss Cousins have made rapid progress in the game during the short time during which they have competed, and their win was a very popular one. H. Chapman and Mrs Breeze played good golf, and very nearly had the winning score. They were sup with only two holes to play. They failed badly on these two holes, however, to finish 3 up and tie with J. W. Delbridge and Mrs Gilbert, who also played good golf. R. H. liawlinson and Miss M'Taraney were another pair who were heading for victory, onlv to fail at the crucial last few holes. They were 4up with three to play, but possibly through nervousness, lost one of the remaining three holes to finish 2 up. The scores generally were of a high standard, as the conditions were not ideal for scoring, the greens being very fast and tricky. Mr and Mrs U B. Wight played very sound golf to do the 18 holes in 77 strokes and finish 1 upST. CLAIR CHAMPIONSHIPS The first round of the St. Clair Club’s Championship will see half of the qualifying players in each section eliminated. The matches in the Club Championship are Clayton v. Gamble, Orr v. Davy, Lawrence v. Bennie, and Wight v. Matheson. Clayton ha e been playing very soundly for the last few weeks, and is a very good match player., He is opposed to an erratic but sometimes brilliant player in A. Gamble, and a 8 the latter has proved by his record that he is no mean match player, it would be distinctly unsafe to belittle hie chances of surviving the first round. , .. Orr and Davy should' prove a wellmatched pair. Davy has probably a better backing of experience, but Orr can be relied upon to produce steady figures. Another well matched pair are Lawrence and Bennie. Bennie already has a formidable record, and has shown by hie steadiness in the qualifying rounds that he is playing up to forja- Lawrence is also capable of figures in the low seventies, and if he is on his game will prove a formidable opponent. , The match between C. B. Wight and J. E. Matheson should prove an interesting one, with the odds on form strongly in favour of the former. Matheson has demonstrated match winning qualities on occasions, but it would be flattery to call him consistent. „. . i In the Intermediate Championship the 16 qualifying players are an even lot, and it woula be foolhardy to pick any probables at the present stage. The same thing applies to the junior section. INTERCLUB MATCH The Otago and St. Clair Clubs will meet oti the latter’s links to-day in thenfirst match of the season. Otago has a very strong team, and the St. Clair players will undoubtedly have to produce their bests if they are to retain their superiority on their own links. OTAGO MIXED FOURSOMES The scoring was consistently good in the mixed foursome at Balraacewen last Saturday, and the fact that there was a tie for first place indicates the keenness of the competition. J. R. Callander and Mrs Cook were both on form, and their score of 4 up would have satisfied the most critical, but J. R. Laidlaw and Miss Gallaway are team-mates whose expenence in foursome competition stood them in good stead, with the unusual result of a tie. J. A. Scouler and Miss E. Hart also played well, and finished 3 up. ST. CLAIR LADIES’ CLUB The first round of an Eclectic Match for a trophy presented by Mr A. B. Watt was played at Corstorphine on Tuesday. A large number took part, but the scoring conditions, owing to the fast greens, were not of the best. Mrs Kindley in the seniors returned a good card of 89—19—70, and is in a commanding position. The second round will be played next Tuesday. Miss Jean Cousins came in for congratulations on her notable success in the Sidey Cup Foursome Competition, which in partnership with Mr I. Orr, she won with an excellent score of 4 up. Miss Cousins has been playing golf for less than 12 months, but she is already a player of great promise. FAST GREENS Disgruntled golfers have regaled their companions with tales of woe concerning their exploits .on the fiery greens at St. Clair during the recent spell ot dry weather. Details of six putts per green have been so common as to elicit no excitement whatever. However, one member had a rather unusual experience, which is worthy of note. His putt for the hole missed and the ball rolled right off the green and down a bank into rough grass, where a search proved unavailing. It must be admitted that instances of lost balls from putts are very rare. The hole at which this occurred is appropriately named “ Old Nick,” and as the green is shaped somewhat like an altar, the uninitiated observer of the above episode may be forgiven for believing on viewing the strange antics and hearing the stronger language used by the golfers in question, that he had stumbled on a devottee of some ancient cult of devil worshippers.