GOLF

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21998, 6 July 1933, Page 4

GOLF

By Divot. FIXTURES FOR SATURDAY Otago Club. —Second round, Knock-out Competition. St. Clair Club. —Second round, Knock-out Competition. OTAGO CLUB The lirst round of the Knock-out Competition for the Haggitt Cup, which was played on Saturday, eliminated all the byes. All the matches had clear-cut dei cisions, and in no ease were extra holes ! required. K. Ross had a good game with | P. W. S. Riley, and secured Ills victory j only at the seventeenth green, j R. F. Barr, who performed so well in | this competition last year, suffered a I severe defeat at the hands of H. J. Dodgshun, the result being 8 and 0. ! Low markers who survived the first round include J. R. Laidlaw, IT. W. Dick, J. A. Scouler, H. J. Dodgshun, and K. Ross. The second round will be played on Saturday. The rule which operates for this competition with regard to matches which are all square at the eighteenth requires that a further four holes be played, and if there is still no finality at the twenty-second a further four holes be played, and so on. This rule applies whether the competitors are of different handicaps or not. ST. CLAIR CLUB The first round of the Paterson Cup Knock-out Competition, eliminating all the byes, was played at Corstorphine on Saturday, when the conditions were ideal. There was a number of close games, but the majority resulted in wins of substantial proportions. F. Drake, who was the winner of the cup in 1031, suddenly struck form again on Saturday, defeating F. Sherriff by 5 and 3 and incidentally completing the round in a splendid 70. I. H. Penrose and M. V. Lousley had the closest game in the first round, and had to play extra holes before Penrose 'emerged a victor. Another close finish was that in which W. G. Aitken lost to E. X. Elder, I down at the eighteenth. After the first round there are 64 competitors remaining in the competition, the second round of which will be played this week-end. * The rule which applies in the Paterson Cup Competition is slightly different from that which hpj.ds for the Knock-out Competition of the Otago Club. At St. Clair, where there is a difference in handicap, and strokes have to be conceded by one player to another and they finish all square at the eighteenth, the rule provides for a replay, that is, another 18 holes. In a case where no strokes are being conceded one way or the other the ordinary match play rules apply, and extra holes are played until one player wine a hole. ST. CLAIR LADIES’ CLUB A Single Bogey Handicap was played at St. Clair on Tuesday, and resulted in ties both in the senior and the junior sections. The two seniors who tied were Mrs M'Ewan and Mrs Gilbert, and the score was 6 down. The score in the juniors was also 6 down, and the successful competitors were Mrs MXean and Miss Allan. MISS LEITCH’S RECORD EQUALLED Miss Enid Wilson beat Miss Diana Plumptou in the final round of the. British Ladies’ Championship on the King’s course of the Gleneagles Hotel by 5 up and 4 to play (writes the golf correspondent of The Times). Thus she equalled Miss Cecil Leitch’s record of winning three consecutive championships. From the beginning everyone thought she would win, and by her play she proved that which needed no proof, that she is now in a rather different class from all the other lady golfers who competed. Her margin of victory certainly did no more than justice to her palpable superiority, for she hits a ball as a man might hit it, and her adversary could not aspire to play quite in this manner. Miss Plumpton did play a great deal of very good golf, in a spirit at once resolute and serene. She need have no regrets, and she showed that her position in the final was perfectly well earned. Since Miss Wethered has retired from tournament golf Miss Wilson has definitely earned the right to claim to be the leading British woman golfer, and probably is the best player at the present time in competitive golf. There are not a few of her admirers who are willing to say that she is Miss Wcthered’s equal, but very few have the confidence to say that she is a better- player. The question is probably analogous to the Phar Lap-Car-bine comparison, since it is unlikely that there will be a real test to decide one way or the other, ns Miss Wethered has expressed her intention not to take part in big competitive golf in future. BRITISH OPEN The cabled news of the qualifying rounds of the British Open Championship are very meagre as to detail. It appears, however, that the conditions were by no means easy, ns the course was very dry and the greens fast and glassy. W. Nolan, of Port Marnock, a British professional, headed the qualifying list with 138, his rounds being 71 and 67—the latter being a record for the old St. Andrew’s course. The 117 who qualified included all the leading Americans, but among those who failed are Allias and Lacey, two British Ryder Cup players. Lacey is considered one of the best of the younger British professionals and is one of the longest hitters in the British Isles, That he is very high in the estimation of the authorities at Home is evidenced by the fact that he was chosen to meet Hagen in the Ryder Cup singles, and he was defeated 2 and 1 after leading throughout the match until the thirtyfirst hole. Alliss’s failure is also incomprehensible in view of his reputation of being one of the soundest and most reliable of the British professionals. It may be remembered that in last year’s open he was the last British hope In the latter rounds, and finished first of the British. Without these two valuable men, who must have suffered a temporary lapse, Britain's chances of regaining the Cup have been materially weakened, but there is some consolation in the fact that Cotton, Compston, Padgham, Robson, Mitchell, and the Whitcombes all seem to be playing well within themselves. Any one of these players is capable of golf as good as can be produced by any of the American contenders, and there is still hope of a British victory. The leader of the quailfying rounds (W. Nolan) has shown conclusively that he can produce the golf that wins championships. His name is not so familiar as that of the other professionals already mentioned, but there are probably many players of equal standing in Britain who have not had the opportunities of gaining fame that these have. NOTES The St. Clair links presented an animated scene during the week-end, when the usual quota of members was swelled by a number of visiting commercial travellers, who took part in a friendly game against members of the St. Clair Club.