ROYAL GOLF

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23330, 23 October 1937, Page 8

ROYAL GOLF

DUKE OF KENT CAPTAIN OF ROYAL AND ANCIENT CEREMONY AT FIRST TEE (From Our Own Correspondent; (By Air Mail) LONDON, Oct, 2. The new captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, St. Andrews, is the Duke of Kent. He is the third of the royal brothers to hold the position, the present King and the Duke of Windsor being among his predecessors. Following the custom, he played himself in by driving off the first tee, a tying ordeal, for he was watched by a large crowd of spectators and scores of caddies, who took up positions along the fairway to scramble for the honour of retrieving the ball and re- » ceiving a golden guinea from the Duke in return. The Duke took his first duty as captain seriously. He arrived unexpectedly on the day before, and spent the greater part of it practising. He played a four-ball match partnered by Lord Hutchison against Archie Compston, the Coombe Hill professional, and Mr Hendricks, captain of the Lucifer Club. Compston has been coaching the Duke recently. On the following morning the Duke was accompanied to the teeing ground by Sir John Simon, the retiring captain, and members of the R. and A. Club. The crowd, which packed the terraces and extended far down the fringe of the fairways, gave the Duke a rousing welcome. Better weather could not have greeted the new captain, blue skies and sunshine in the crisp autumn air. The Duke, who was dressed in dark grey, looked rather pale as he took up his position on the tee CANNY CADDIES The Duke first glanced apprehensively down the fairway, and then smiled broadly a's he noticed the group of caddies who had gathered to retrieve the driven ball. The main group were ominously close, not setting a high reckoning on the Duke's driving power. Others were away out to the right counting on a slice, and yet another party were on the eighteenth fairway gambling on a pull. Only an odd one or two were down the fairway trusting to the new captain emulating his elder brother, the present King, and hitting a " screamer." The Duke gave a few preliminary waggles, and then on the stroke of 8 o'clock there was a hush as the Duke with a fine full swing struck at the ball. Unfortunately, and to the great disappointment of the onlookers, he "fluffed" the shot, and the ball went only about 60 yards. _ The drive was not, in point of historic accuracy, his best, as his subsequent play in the Medal showed, for the ball was taken a little heavy. However, it produced a burst of applause and_ a spirited scramble among the caddies. The winner, with a cigarette nonchalantly depending from his mouth, received a golden sovereign. MEMORIES OF WILLIAM IV It was appropriate that the Duke of Kent should compete afterwards in the annual scratch medal competition. For the medal was presented by his great-great-uncle, King William IV, and this year is its centenary. It was won for the first time in 1837 by Mr J. Stuart Oliphant, with a score of 104. It would not be worth returning so high a score to-day, though the Duke of Windsor when, as Prince of Wales, he was captain, confessed to a card of 119. Playing from 15, the Duke of Kent was also eligible for the Silver Boomerang, awarded for the lowest handicap return, but neither he nor Sir John Simon returned their cards. The Duke's caddie at St. Andrews is a wise old hand at golf, Laurie Gourlay. Gourlay's association with the Royal Family is a long one, for he taught King Edward VII to play golf, and has caddied both for the King and the Duke of Windsor. At night the Duke presided at the club's annual dinner. He was decorated with the Queen Adelaide Medal, and he made a gift to the club of a golden ball. Such gifts are made by captains who are members of the •Royal families; others give silver balls. The Duke is the fifth royal captain of St. Andrews in the last 74 years.