GOLF

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22716, 31 October 1935, Page 4

GOLF

By Divot.

FIXTURES FOR SATURDAY Otago.—Club Championship. First qualifying round. St. Clair.—Flag Match. .. ;'..•--V-; A RECORD BROKEN On Labour Day C. B. Wight, of the St. Clair Club, in a match played on the Roxburgh links, added another record to an imposing list by bettering the existing best score by no less than three strokes. The Roxburgh course, although, not long, has a plentiful supply of natural hazards, which penalises the careless shot and a good round is accomplished only by extreme accuracy.., Wight completed the lound in 65 strokes. The previous record was 68 and the standard scratch score for the coarse is 71. His oard reads as follows: OUT. Standard scratch score 534344443—34 Wight 534424444—34 IN. : Standard scratch score .. .. 444545443—37 Total'7l Wight .. .. 343435342—31 Total 65 Wight played perfectly controlled shots throughout the round from tee to green. At the Ridge, the 206-yard fifth, his tee shot was one foot from the hole directly past the pin. He took three putts on the ninth, his only mistake. At the Ravine, the 411-yard thirteenth, a, hole which has spoilt many a promising round, Wight was handily on in two and his putt for a three iust grazed the hole. Wight is to be congratulated on a very fine round—one which will probably be * record for some time to come. NORTH OTAGO CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT The annual Labour Day Tournament held by the North. Otago Golf Club on the Awamoa links, Oamaru, this year was again an outstanding success. The course was in excellent order, and was rightly declared by all the visitors to be a credit to the club. J. L. Mackay, the young Timaru player, played really magnificent golf for two fine rounds of 73 each and won the championship. Mackay has the makings of a national champion. He.has the_ easy swing and full follow through which indicate a golfer-of class, and, provided he has the opportunity of taining practice, he should be a figure to contend with in the national chamuionships next year. ST. CLAIR CLUB The annual Labour. Day competition of two stroke rounds on handicap for the Otatara Cup, played by the St. Clair Club, drew a good entry. C. Deaker, on 18., played exceptionally good golf for his net aggregate of 129, and led the field by five strokes. Deaker's first round of 61 net was a fine performance, and he will receive a considerable handicap reduction as a result. J. R. Redmond and L. G. Coats tied for the position of runner-up. As was anticipated, none of the low- markers had any chance of competing against net scores of the kind returned by Deaker. D. C. Bennie had the best, gross score of the day, a magnificent round of 69, but even then his net score of 68 was equal only to the winner's higher score. Next Saturday the match, on the programme of the St. Clair Club will be a flag- match, for which a draw will be published. ■ RYDER CUP The Ryder Cup, presented by Mr Samuel Ryder, British golfer and sportsman, was first played for between teams representing the British and American professionals in 1927. when Ted Ray led a team of fellow Britons at Worcester Country Club, U.S.A. In that match the home team was successful by 9£ games to 2J. Alternately with the Walker Cup matches for amateurs, these matches have been played every two years since the formal, inauguration at Worcester eight years ago. In 1929. Moortown, near London, was the scene of the biennial struggle, and in that meeting the visiting team mustered a much stronger opposition than at the previous meeting. The Foursome matches were played first, and at the end of the day the Americans led by 2$ to Is, but Britain managed to take up the slack in the Singles on the second day through a count of 5i to 2i, so that they won by 7 to 5. The next meeting took place at Sciato Country Club, of Columbus, Ohio, in 1931, and the home team again carried too many guns and were too strong in with the result of a win for America by 9 to 3. The 1933 meeting was staged at Southport, England, and the final issue turned on the Foursome scores,. The Britons led with a margin of one point on the Foursomes with 2 J to 1J games, and it was by this single point that they eventually won, 6 J to SJ. Thus the cup, since it was first put into play, has been carried into the land of the challengers by the defenders, and left after an unsuccessful defence each time. It was considered as a possibility, owing to the high standard of golf displayed by British professionals for the past season, that the spell may have been broken this year at the Ridgewod Country Club, New Jersey. The match was played at the end of September, and again the home team proved too strong for the defenders. America won three of the four foursomes and six of the eight singles, giving them the victory by 9 to 3. The next match will be held in Britain in 1937 ST. CLAIR LADIES" CLUB The flag match played by the St. Clair Ladies' Club on Tuesday was won by Mrs Burnett, who played her last shot to within three feet of the home green. Next Tuesday there will be an all-day tournament, which will consist of an eclectic match for a trophy presented by the captain of the St. Clair Golf Club. BRITISH LADIES* TEAM Following upon the successful tour in Australia, the British women's team has shown in New Zealand just as marked a superiority over the local champions. It has won all the team's matches of the tour, and in the Championship meeting at Heretaunga clearly demonstrated its superiority by scooping the pool of all the major events. Miss Jessie Anderson, of Scotland, won both the most important events in the Mellsop Cup and the National Championship. The golf she played in the final against Mrs Walker, _ the Australian champion, was devastating in its uncanny accuracy and power, and would have been good enough to defeat most of our leading men. Miss Anderson, who is only 20 years of age, it is reported, makes a rule to have an. hour's practice each day. Her style is most impressive, and there is no doubt that if she is among the leaders of British women golfers now she has before her a wonderful opportunity of being at the top of the tree there in the near future.