WARRIORS AT GOLF

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23332, 26 October 1937, Page 4

WARRIORS AT GOLF

RETURNED SOLDIERS’ TOURNAMENT COMBATANTS FACE HEAVY ODDS Facing unusually heavy odds, the golfing members of the Dunedin Returned Soldiers’ Association conducted their annual offensive against the forces of the redoubtable Colonel Bogey on the Balmacewen links yesterday. In addition to the strongly fortified enemy positions which had to be carried by direct assault, the attackers had to face bad shooting conditions, a high north-easterly gale causing many of their shots to fly wide of the mark. The morale of the troops was excellent, however, and few showed any inclination to retire from the scene of hostilities with their task uncompleted, and several good records of successful offensive movements were reported at headquarters. Zero hour for the first series of attacks was 8300 hours, when 12 parties of four men each commenced a long series of attacking movements which resulted in many casualties, principally on the side of the attackers. The most successful offensive was that conducted by H. L. Paterson and R. G. Sinclair, who returned to the base with two clear victories to their credit. Next to be mentioned in despatches were E. S. Douglas and W. G. Wight, who completed the campaign with a margin of one win in their favour, while H. L. Boock and J. H. McDougall, and I. Penrose and J. E. Hamilton finished on even terms with the enemy. After a short rest behind the firing line, the troops were sent again into action, but this time the tactics adopted were different, each man being required to carry the enemy positions with the minimum number of shots. In view of the disparity in the marksmanship of the various troops, extra shots were allotted where necessary. The most successful marksman was E. S.

Douglas, who, despite the fact that he had to concede one shot to the enemy, overcame the 18 emplacements with an expenditure of 71 shots, a magnificent performance. The fact that he had previously gained the same distinction, however, prevented him from securing the major distinction, and he was awarded, the Dawson Memorial Cup for the best net score for players under handicap 12, his record being 71 plus 1 equals 72. Two men, J. Manson and W. G. Wight, produced gross scores of 80, and were required to make a deciding sortie against four more enemy positions to decide who would secure the principal honour of the day. Ihe ultimate victor was Wight, who thereby was decorated with the championship. J. Manson, whose score showed 80—14—66, was awarded the tin hat for the best effort amongst those with a handicap of over 12 shots, his runner-up for the honour being O. L. Holden, with 90 —22—68. The highest gross score of the campaign was recorded by M. J. Thompson, and the highest net score by W. H. Satterthwaite, each of these warriors being presented with capacious mugs as a reward for their vigorous efforts. The trophies were presented to the victors by Mr H. L. Paterson, who apologised for the absence of the president of the Dunedin Returned Soldiers Association (Mr C. L. Calvert), and expressed the players’ appreciation of the latter’s act in presenting a mounted Mills bomb, with its business portion removed, as a trophy to go with the championship.