GOLF

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23811, 18 May 1939, Page 4

GOLF

By Divot

AT BALMACEWEN The stiff wind last Saturday did not altogether meet with the approval of Dunedin golfers. Conditions otherwise were good, though, and there were some hard-fought matches both at Balmacewen and St. Clair. Otago Club players had the third round of the four-ball knockout competition to interest them, and although there were several clear-cut wins, there were also some exceedingly close finishes. I. R. P. Douglas and P. A. Barton, for instance, had to go to the twenty-second hole to eliminate the Ferguson brothers. T. B. and D. A., and the veteran K. Ross and R. W. Dick owed their win 1 up against J. H. Meek and A. I. W. Wood to a dour fighting finish, J. N. Lemon and L. A. Kaye are a voung pair who look like giving a lot of trouble before the competition is finished. They accounted for J. R. Laidlaw and A. W. Barnett 7 and 6, showing good control in the wind. T. W, Trewern and A. R. Woods had a good win, and P. J. Gill and N. H. North continued their winning way by eliminating S. G. Paris and P. S. Anderson 3 and 2. ST. CLAIR The annual competition for the Paterson Cup (single bogey knockout) got away to a good start on Saturday, despite the high wind. The winning margins were, on the whole fairly decisive, but one exception was the match between G. C. St. George and C. Penman, which was won by Penman only after the twenty-second hole was reached. A comparative newcomer and participating in match play competition for the first time, Penman is giving early evidence of a temperament that many golfers would envy He recently figured in the semi-finals of the four-ball knock-out competition So far as the seventeenth hole at St. Clair is concerned, most players usually approach it with a great deal of respect. There are exceptions, however. During the week-end five of the players in two separate fourball games showed just how the Colonel can be treated by recording 2’s. PORT CHALMERS The condition of the Port links this season is reflected in a standard of play so consistently high that reductions in handicap have been frequent and regular. Every week-end so far, a reduction for at least one member has been earned There should be much interesting competition when the more important matches are played later in the season. T. McCarten was the winner of the Stableford last Saturday, and his 17— was closely followed by L. Fountain and P. Joblfn, 15—18 —33 and 18— —33 respectively. R. E Hayward, 28—4—32, played very steady golf, but could not give away such a handicap to the field. A reduction of two in his handicap was the result of F. IJunt’s win in the medal match played over the weekend. His card of 72—12—60 won from J. Palmer. 76—13—63, and T. McCarten, 86—22—64. P. Joblin and Mrs Whitson were next on the list, with 85—20—65 and 87—22—65 respectively. PUZZLE THIS OUT During a recent club competition in New Zealand one of the competitors found his ball sitting on top of a log from the drive. He tapped the log with a club to see if it was rotten enough for him to play off it. The ball rolled into a knot-hole. He decided that the ball was unplayable and went back to the tee to play three. His opponent contended that he had played a stroke when the ball rolled, and that he was not entitled to go back to the tee. The argument is still on. BRITISH AMATEUR AND OPEN The British Amateur Championship will be played this year at Hoylake from May 22 to ,27. Among the competitors are expected to be Charles Yates, holder of the title, Willie Turnesa, who won the American Amateur Championship last vear, and Hector Thomson, who beat J. Ferrier by two holes in the final of the 1936 cham-

pionship at St. Andrews. It was thought that Ferrier would have another try at the title this year, but an exchange comments, if he had any such intention he must have changed his mind, for he competed in the New South Wales Amateur Foursomes Championship, and is to play in the New South Wales Amateur Championship at the end of this week. He is the holder of the latter title. Ferrier and his partner, G. Thompson, won the Foursomes title with a score of 152 for the 36 holes. St. Andrews will be the venue of this year’s British Open Championship at the beginning of July. An important change in the conditions for this year’s Open is the raising of the number of places in the final stages from 40 to 44. Players tieing for the last place or places will still be counted out, but even the addition of four lessens the danger that the field on the final day may be reduced to skeleton-like proportions by an unlucky tie of, say a dozen players for the last 11 places. Another interesting change is the provision of a prize of £2O for the professional with the lowest aggregate score in the qualifying rounds. This is an excellent idea, for it will give a definite standing for the leader in the qualifying stage even if he fails to maintain his form in the Championship itself.

Australia will be represented in the British Open by N. von Nida, who is regarded as the best of Australia’s professionals. Hopes that Ferrier, who played in the British Open for the first time in 1936, would again compete this year have been entertained by English writers, but evidently he has other plans. A contingent of American professionals is expected at St, Andrews. The last time the championship was played there was in 1933, when D. Shute (America) won after a play-off with Craig Wood (America). Their aggregates for the four rounds were 292. “ 1 fancy Bobby Locke for the Open at St. Andrews,” says an English writer. “ Somehow, 1 think that this year’s winner will not be a name already on the famous cup. I can imagine no course better suited to Locke than St. Andrews, and it would not surprise me if he started favourite ” ABOUT INDOOR PRACTICE One sure way to improve your golf game is to make a resolution that you will practise more often during the coming year. But making d resolution and keeping it for a full year is another thing, so in my own case I am making a resolution to keep the resolution to practise more—and I’m’going to keep them both, writes Lawson Little, holder of the British and American amateur titles two years running. Resolutions are fine things if they are lived up to —this one about practising golf may give some of our brother golfers some difficulty. They may feel that golf cannot be practised when there is a cold wind blowing. But some of the finest practice possible can be done during the winter months—and right in your home. too. Think back over your play of the last season and study the worst part of your game—where were most of your missed shots —what made you taktf those high scores? The chances are that the short game did as much as anything else to keep your handicap higher than it should be. Some while ago I recommended a little serious putting practice on the rug—putting on a rug requires a keen touch because the rug is usually much faster than the average green. So I feel that my mentioning practising the putts again is not too much repetition, because of the great benefit this practice can be for your game. But the details of putting practice will have to come in a future article —too many of us are worrying about our long game, and during the winter is one of the best times to groove your swing. Grooving the Swing A word of warning: There are several elementary rules governing the correct or rather the safe way to swing a club in your living room. First, I would recommend that you tell the head of the family, your wife, just what you intend to do. Then, after you have put forth convincing arguments that you will be able to do this practice without damage to the furniture proceed in a quiet, unhurried manner to make the following arrangements:— , „ . ~ Be sure to push small tables and chairs out of the path of the clubhead. If there is a chandelier overhead, place j, a small slip of paper directly undbt it. ~ .. If you address an object directly under the overhanging light, the light will be perfectly safe from the clubhead both on the backward and forward swings—unless your swing is most unorthodox. . Great care must be exercised in avoiding the chandelier, for, not only does the shattered glass. prove dangerous. but it is expensive—and of course, the lecture from the boss should be avoided at all costs. Small lamps on tatfks seem to have an unnatural attraction for the head of a golf club, so it is, wise to see that they are well out of the way. If the rug is an expensive one, one that should not become divot-eaten, and you feel that you have not progressed enough in the golf game to guarantee that the rug will be safe, the door mat serves as a fine bumper upon which to swing the club. Finally, sound a warning to the household—tell them to watch where they are going. It might prove senous if someone walks into one of your improved practice swings. The above rules were developed by sad experience, and one by one. I cannot guarantee them to be infallible, but dad and I have not broken any thing in the house for six years—before then we did not have these rules, and. well, we learn from experience. Whitcombes for Golf.*