"Through the Green"-Stage Set for Dominion Golf Championships

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23649, 5 November 1938, Page 22

"Through the Green"-Stage Set for Dominion Golf Championships

DURING the fortnight beginning this week-end, Balmacewen, the home of the Otago Golf Club, will be the cynosure of golfing interest from one end of the Dominion to the other. The New Zealand championship tournament, which begins on Thursday and is scheduled to finish on Friday, November 18, has attracted an entry of a quality to ensure a standard at least right up to the best traditions of the tournament, with the promise of some golf touching the best world class. The big attraction is, of course, the presence of A. D. (Bobby) Locke, but some of the Dominion's leading players, notably A. Murray, the Auckland professional who earned high praise from Locke, and J. P. Hornabrook, the present Open champion, both of whom have been playing brilliantly lately, are capable of forcing the 20-year-old South African champion to play up to the standard which won him such a high reputation in competition with Great Britain's most prominent professionals. '■■:■■' Much work has been done on Balmacewen in preparation for the championships, and the president of the club (Mr 0. R. Ritchie) and the club captain (Mr A. N. Haggitt) will be able to welcome visiting competitors in the knowledge that there can be little criticism of the course for championship play. It is at present in splendid order, and if the weather remains fine, there will be every circumstance to encourage brilliant scoring by the really top-rank players. The difficulty of enlisting sufficient caddies has been the club's latest problem. The number enrolled so far is barely sufficient to service half the entry, but no doubt local players who are available will come to the rescue in this connection.' Otherwise the stage is set for a highly successful tournament in every respect. A field including Locke and such a galaxy of New Zealand golf—not forgetting A. D. S. Duncan, winner of three Opens and 10 Amateur championships and still a scratch player—bristles with personalities and can be expected to attract big followings.

Full Representation of New Zealand Golf

With fields including so many outstanding players in top form, it will be surprising if there are not some sensational cards returned at Balmacewen before November 18. No doubt A. D. Locke will monopolise the favouritism, but on recent form there are one or two New Zealand professionals who will make him do his best to head them off. Locke is, of course, the special attraction of the tournament, and his game is going to be subjected to much close scrutiny. He is the present holder of the South African Open title, which he won three times as an amateur. He became a professional less than 12 months ago, just before he visited Great Britain, where h<! played golf that get the seal'on his fame. His outstanding success was in the Irish Open Championship, which he won against the best of the Home professionals, and in the process returned a phenomenal round. Portmarnock, which is over 7200 yards, is one of the longest courses in the world, and Locke did his third round in 69, and thereby collected £2OO which an enthusiast had offered to anyone' breaking 70. T. S. Cotton was runner-up to Locke, finishing one stroke behind the South African. Locke is not yet 21. In fact, his birthday falls in

November, and he might reach his majority while he is in Dunedin. Murray's Fine Form His most formidable opponent, it seems probable,* will be Alec Murray, who had the misfortune last year at Hamilton to be disqualified for a minor breach of the rules after

he had returned the lowest aggregate in the Open. He won the Open at Christchurch in 1935, and he has been playing so well lately that, even with Locke competing, his chances cannot be overlooked. .He has broken several course records in Auckland recently, and his latest effort was a 65 at Titirangi last

Saturday, which was four strokes better than the previous record and nine strokes under bogey. Then there is A. J. Shaw, winner of the Open seven times and the Professional Championship six times. E. S. Douglas, the home professional, and the present holder of the Professional title, has won the Open four times, and although he has not been producing his best golf lately, he is a doughty tournament player. C. C. Clements, 1936 professional champion, and J. A. Clements, 1912 Open champion, are also in the field, and there are two members of the Smith family, Basil, sen., and Basil, jun., among the professionals. The former, an' old Dunedinite, has never won a Dominion championship, but B. J. jun., the Invercargill Club's professional, was runner-up to Douglas last year. The. third member of the family, P. G. F., is an amateur and only 19, but he is the present North Island amateur champion and appears likely to bring further honours to the clan. A Magnificent Record First among the amateurs must be mentioned A. D. S. Duncan, in truth the grand old man of the tournament. He will be competing in his fortieth Dominion championship tournament, and his record is a remarkable one. He has won the

Open three times, in 1907 and again in 1910 and 1911, and the amateur championship 10 times, first in 1899 and the last time in 1926, at Mirimar. Thirty-nine years since he won his first Dominion title, and still a scratch player! He is into the sixties now, however, and might find Balmacewen rather strenuous. J. P. Hornabrook, of Masterton, the present holder dff the Open and winner of the amateur championship in 1935 and 1936, and B. M. Silk, of Wanganui, the present amateur champion and champion also in 1934, are a redoubtable pair, and Hornabrook, in particular, has been returning some impressive cards in the last few weeks after a lapse of form. B. V. Wright, 1933 amateur champion, should be a strong challenger this year if a beautifullyplayed 69 at Balmacewen on Labour Day can be taken as any indication. A. G. Sime is another Otago Club representative who has won the amateur title, in 1921. The Kitto brothers, A. R. and R. F., from Wanganui, are two more who can be expected to make their presence noticeable. Promising Young Players J. W. Jackson, a scratch player from Avondale (Christchurch), who won the South Island Close Cham-

pionship at Christchurch recently, and J. L. Blair, the son of the Shirley professional and a scratch player at Harewood, are two youngsters who might easily upset calculations, and

J. A. Ewen, from the Hutt Club, is another youthful scratch player who can be included in that category. D. C. Collins, father of the present New Zealand woman champion, is a scratch player from the Wairarapa Club who has competed at many tournaments and who has added distinction as a golfer to distinction as a cricketer. Still another of the youthful brigade who plays off scratch is R. H. Glading, the holder of the Hamilton course record. J. P. Mortland, of Taihape, has been runner-up for the amateur title, and W. D. Reilly is a scratch player from the Shandon Club (Wellington) who was taught his golf first on Balmacewen. Dr K. Ross, of course, has been a notable competitor for many years, and has been runner-up more than once. He scored a popular success in the Amateur Foursomes Championship at the last tournament held in Dunedin in 1928, when his partner was C. B. Wight. Local Clubs Well Represented The local clubs are well represented. Dr Ross, A. G. Sime, T. B. Ferguson, J.. A. Scouler, T. C. Tyrrell are some of a strong Otago Club contingent, and there are D. C. Bennie, W. W. Clayton and A. Law-

rence to lead the St. Clair team. J. E. Matheson. of St. Clair, who recently went to Invercargill and now plays at Otatara, will have time to play in the Open only. One feature of the entry is that the Wight family is not represented. W. G. Wight, whose efforts to add his club championship to his other successes seem to be doomed, is the popular and enthusiastic secretary to the Otago Club, and he will

be too occupied with his secretarial duties. C. B. has to go to Wellington to attend a business conference, and young T. W has examinations to take his mind off golf for the time being.

It is a reasonably far cry back to the last Dominion Championship played in Dunedin, in 1928. the year of Sloan Morpeth's Open Championship, and no doubt visitors who have not been on Balmacewen in the last 10 years will find many changes. But there would be many surprises if some of those who founded Dunedin's first golf club, 66 years ago could have their original

nine-hole course side by side with the Balmacewen of" to-day for comparison. It was early in 1872 when the City Council gave permission for golf to be played on the Town Belt at Mornington. The course, of nine holes, started at the corner of Meadow street, where there was an hotel kept by a Mr Fogarty in which the club'had a room. The first tee was close to the present terminus of the Mornington tram and play was from there down to the boundary of the southern cemetery and back. The golf must have been interesting in those days! According to an article written for the New Zealand Golf Annual of September 23, 1925, by Mr George Todd, the club had a great many difficulties to contend against since no clubs or balls were then im-

ported and members had to send to England for their requirements. Besides this, there was no one to do repairs, and it is easily imagined that there were some extraordinary clubs to be found in the different lockers. One Smith, grandfather of Basil, sen., and great grandfather of Basil, jun., and P.G.F., all of whom will be competitors next week, was the club-maker in the 70*s. Original Course Abandoned' When play began the residents had permission to graze their cows on the same ground. This was all right in one way, as it kept the grass short, but apparently it had other disadvantages and the putting greens were often damaged. Therefore the club persuaded the council to prohibit the grazing of cows on the But, which did away with the damage, but killed the club because the grass grew so long that it became impossible to play. Cutting tracks about a chain wide was tried for one summer, but that did not answer and play gradually stopped. No one thought of going *o to the course, and clubs were all left in the lockers in anticipation of a resumption of play. Expectations in that direction were not realised, however. Meanwhile the hotel changed hands. The new landlord went bankrupt and was sold up. None of the members knew what was going on at the sale, and all the clubs were tied

Golf as it was played in Dunedin, 1872

in a bundle and knocked down to one C. Bills for £ I—and a year late* were unearthed by Mr Howden in his shed, twisted and beyond any further use. It was several years later when ijolf was again started, this time on some paddocks above Roslyn, and .it was played there for a year or two, until the club acquired its present course at Balmacewen. There is a wealth of story behind the Otago Golf Club, then. Tradition is a vital influence in golf, and that influence will be apparent to those who have eyes to see throughout the 1938

championship as it is apparerjt in every tournament, even in this young country. One interesting tale recorded by Mr Todd is of one member who sent Home for a gross of balls while play was still going on at Momington. When they arrived play had stopped. When play started again, he said, " I am all right. I have a gross of balls." They had been kept too long, though, and every ball fell to pieces as soon as it was hit. Among those who founded the club in 1872 were Messrs Murison, C. R. Howden. J. M. Ritchie, John David, P. Adair, J. Thomson, D Hood, ~- Andrews;.'D. Baxter, Professor Shand, G. Todd and MeFarlane. It is indeed a far cry from their first nine-hole course and their playing gear, to the Balmacewen of to-day and the modern clubs and other equipment that will be brought into the firing line next week.