GOLF

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23671, 1 December 1938, Page 4

GOLF

By Divot GREAT ROUND BY E. S. DOUGLAS With the New Zealand championship tournament over and his chance of retaining the professional title lost, E. S. Douglas, professional to the Otago Club, played what must be one of the finest rounds ever played on Balmacewen in the Diggers' tournament over the week-end. His G 6 is the best card ever recorded in competition on Balmacewen, but it has not yet been decided whether it will be recognised as an official record. Considering that a strong north-west wind made conditions very difficult, it was remarkable golf, and deserves to be rated bettur than J. P. Hornabrook's 64 in a friendly round in between the more serious business of the championship tournament. Douglas's putting was phenomenal. He needed only one putt on six greens, and the only entry on the other side of the ledger was that of three putts after he was well on

with his tee shot at the fourteenth. His card did not include a 2 or a 5, comprising six 3's and 12 4's—really outstanding golf in any circumstances, and extraordinarily good in a strong north-westerly on Balmacewen. The official record score on the old course was 67, and, of course, the official record on the remodelled course was set during the New Zealand tournament by I. A. Ewen, the Hutt Club champion, who did a fine 68. That round included two 2's, so that Douglas's card looks even better than an improvement of two strokes. CHANGES OF STANCE It is doubtful if Douglas has ever putted better than he did in this round, and it would be interesting to be able to gauge just how much of this success was due to a trial he was giving to a new and more open stance. Putting stances provide a subject of much discussion among golfers. A bad run on the greens often prompts a change of putters or the adoption of another style, and if success is immediate, the player is often inclined towards overenthusiasm, forgetting until another bad run comes along that he used to be able to putt just as confidently and successfully with his old stance or old putter. That is a point discussed interestingly by an Australian writer. "A good putter is a match for anyone." is the remark attributed to Willie Park, a famous golfing character of the last century, who practised for eight hours each day and considered he was stone-dead at two yards. Naturally he was confident of his ability on the greens. Here is a story told of Park, and it contains a most valuable lesson, this critic remarks. Park regarded being short on the greens as a criminal offence. "The hole will no come to you," he said. Park was so determined he would never be short that he promised his old caddy. " Fiery." a shilling for every time he was short. Now. at

one hole on the Musselburgh course a public-house window overlooked the green, and it was the usual place where the caddie had a "wee drappie " each round. Old " Fiery" had never received a shilling for Park being short, but on one occasion he tried propaganda on his employer. "Willie, mon, this green has gone unco* fast wi* the sun on it," he said as he looked along the line. Park smiled, banged the putt two i feet past, and looking up said, "Na na,. Fiery,.you are no getting your draw the day." • Considering the hours he spent on the greens, it is not surprising that Park gained confidence in his ability. And, he adds, in rny opinion confidence is the real and most vital asset a player can possess when given a putter.

Confidence on the greens is acquired in various ways. That is why players so often change their putters when they do not seem able to sink their putts and have lost confidence in their clubs. They forget that these same putters have done their job well on previous occasions. Should they manage to hole a few putts with their new clubs. their confidence is once again restored. One of the greatest putters the game has known was Walter Travis, an Aus-tralian-born player, who resided in the United States and was the first to take the British Amateur Championship across the Atlantic. This was in 1904. Travis surprised British golfers by his deadly accuracy on the greens with a Schenectady putter.

The strange thing was that Travis had not used a putter of this type previously, preferring an ordinary putting cleek with a narrow blade to the uncouth Schenectady, with the shaft set in the square of metal. Travis had been off his game prior to the championship, and a friend advised him to try the Schenectady, with the most brilliant results. Travis became exceptionally keen on his new club, and putted so well with it that afterwards it was barred by the Royal and Ancient Committee. Bobby Jones AH golfers have heard of Calamity Jane, a putter used by Bobby Jones. The famous American had been trounced by Francis Ouimet in the American Amateur Championship in 1921. Jones was puzzled by his display and he consulted Stewart Maiden, the professional at Jones's course. They went out for a round, and during the game Maiden asked Jones to use a rusty old putter which Maiden had christened "Calamity Jane." Jones holed so many long putts with that club during the round that he decided to keep it. So much, then, for a change of clubs. Some players think that a slight change of style may work wonders. There is an excellent story told of Archie Compston in this respect. He had been in wonderful form through the green, but could not capitalise this play on the greens. So in the last round of the event he decided to try the old-fashioned method of Willie Park. This was to take the ball close to the right foot, with the clubhead taken back with a circular swing round the right foot, and the'head of the club coming down on the ball rather than through it. Compston was immediately successful. But the strange thing was that next day he went back to his old style and was also successful. Jim Ferrier is also a believer in changing his putters. But as a championship approaches he practises with his favourite putter, spending hours on the practice greens with considerable beneficial results. And like Park, Ferrier considers it an offence to be short. Henry Cotton is reported to have said that putting is a gamble. That may be so on undulating greens when the putts may be long. But something more than luck is necessary consistently to sink five and six-foot putts. LOCAL HAPPENINGS Last week-end was a full one both at St. Clair and at Balmacewen. The annual Diggers' tournament on the Otago Club's course proved another big success, despite the persistent wind. The entry, 86. was the biggest yet recorded, and there was some very good golf—and also some more notable for the enjoyment obtained by the competitors than for particularly good scoring. Previous winners are not eligible for the championship, so that E. S. Douglas J. H. McDougall, C. B. Wight and W G. Wight were out of the running in that respect. J. G. Dick became the 1938 champion with a round of 77. It was a happy thought that tin mugs should be presented for the highest gross score and the highest net score, and, as is usually the case, they were again won on merit. A round ox 130 deserves a trophy, anyway! J. M. Sidey and W. F. Edmond were the winners of the Otago Club's Fourball Stableford played last Saturday, with a good score of 59 plus their handicap 12—71. The runners-up, J. H. McDougall and J. W. Trewern, were four strokes away. 56—11—67. The first round of the Bruntsfield Medal, second only in importance to the club championship in the season's programme, is to be played this weekend. The second round is set down for the following week-end. and handicap events are to be played in conjunction with each round. The last of the quarterly matches between teams representing the Otago and St. Clair Clubs is scheduled for this weekend, on Balmacewen. ■ St. Clair players had a Stableford handicap last Saturday, and it. too, provided a comfortable win. F. W. Dixon played good golf under boisterous conditions to return a winning card 0 f 34_5_39, with F. Sherriff 26—10 —36 in second place. K. W. Davies 20—15—35 and J. M. McNulty 18—17 —35 were the top two of the B Graders. The week-end was more interesting, though, for the annual match between St. Clair and Belleknowes. The St. Clair players, playing on their own course, won by 15 matches to 9, but there were many close and interesting games. . , - . . A stroke round is to be played at St. Clair this Saturday. BECOMING A HABIT L. E. Routledge is by way of becoming the "hole-in-one king" of St. Clair. He holed his tee shot at the seventeenth (180 yards) about two months ago, and, not satisfied with one performance, repeated it the weekend before last. His first effort was the first since the course was newly laid out in October of last year, and he still has the honour all to himself. His club mates are now waiting for the hat trick. Certainly he seems to have the measure of the seventeenth. The nineteenth will be getting his measure, too. if he persists with this habit.

J. A. Scouler, the popular Otago player, was another to hole his tee shot recently. He played a beauty at the short tenth (177 yards) at Balmacewen last week, and it ran straight, down. VON NIDA HEAVILY BEATEN Eric Cremin retained his State professional title at Kensington a fortnight ago in a most decisive manner, beating N. von Nida by the great margin of 12 up and 10. comments "H. W. S." in the Sydney Mail. The result, though not unexpected, was rather staggering in its decisiveness, for a keen and even struggle was expected between these players, who are recognised as the best professionals in the State. The winner gave a perfect display, but von Nida has never been so feeble. Many were under the impression that he had lost heart, but that was not the real explanation, for at times Cremin played in the most brilliant style, and on the day would have been a match for even the world's best. It was an extraordinary match in many ways. A couple of holes seemed to be in von Nida's grasp, but Cremin actually snatched wins. The former Queenslander lost his grip of the game at the thirteenth hole in the morning, and almost before he knew he was 7 down at the end of the first 18 holes. Whitcombes for Golt*