GOLF

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23829, 8 June 1939, Page 4

GOLF

By Divot KING’S CUP TOURNAMENT The St. Clair officials had reason for satisfaction with the entry in the King’s Cup tournament, which must have been close to a record, and with the weather which favoured the event. It should have been pleasing to the club, too, that it provided the winner. H. S. Ross, whose net aggregate for the two rounds was 138. Ross has had two reductions in handicap in recent weeks, so that his victory was a thoroughly meritorious one. The joint runners-up were J. L. Tennent and N. W. Allen, with aggregates of 139. The trophy for the.best gross score was won by A. Gibbs with 74—72—146. In the afternoon he was out in 31, but the failing light did not improve his chances <over the homeward journey. It was almost dark when he came in and he had taken 41 over the second nine holes. As Ross and Allen were not eligible for more than one trophy, the morning honours were shared by A. E. Jefferson (80—11 —69) and C. Rhodes (71—2—69), while R. T. Simpson (86—18—68) and F. W. Dixon (72 —4—68) divided the spoils in the afternoon. OTAGO BEATS ST. CLAIR The ideal weather over the week-end contributed toward some excellent golf in the inter-club match between St. Clair and Otago, which was played at St Clair.. The Balmacewen players

more than held their own, sharing the honours in the foursomes but winning five of the singles. Undoubtedly the most interesting match of the day was that between T. B. Ferguson and W. W. Clayton. It was in truth a niatch of varying fortunes’ and great recoveries by both players. At the tenth Ferguson was 4 down, but then took such a grip of the game that he won the next five holes. He was 1 up with two to play, and it was then Clayton staged his big effort. He holed his tee shot at the seventeenth, they halved the last hole, and the match ended as such a match should have ended—all square.' • CHISHOLM PARK CLUB An outstanding feature of the golf at Chisholm Park during the weekend was the particularly fine round of L. Mexted in the medal round for .18-24 players, competing for the west End" Trophy on the King’s Birthday. He returned a score of 78—20 —58, and, considering the fact that he commenced the season on a 24 handicap, this effort must be counted as a very fine performance. An unlucky player was H. Wilson, who carded a net 60 in the same match, a score which should have won easily on any other occaA popular win on Saturday was that of % Anderson and N. Shepherd in the combined Stableford match. These two turn out consistently to matches, and it is very pleasing to record their victory. Other juniors who are showing definite improvement are R. Bezett, J. Laing, W. Meldrum, and A. Bristow, and in each case it is a result of consistent practice. The second round of the four-ball knock-out is practically completed, and the issue is very open. L. Wood and R. Phillip scored a meritorious win over G. Burns and N. Shepherd, 1 up. Burns is hard to beat at .any time, in spiie of the fact that he has to concede many strokes. A. Anderson and F. Pink comfortably defeated J. Sydney and R. Johnston 3 and 1, and A Laing and L. Mexted accounted for R. Pollock and C. Martin. The third round will be commenced next weekelThe links have been vastly improved during the past few weeks. Some fine permanent tees have been built which have the added virtue of being comfortably large and well placed. The greens have received considerable attention and are playing very truly. There is no comparison with the state they were in this time last, year. PORT CHALMERS DOINGS The Port Chalmers Club’s knockout competitions have reached the stage at which there are only F. Hunt and F. Roberts left in the senior grade, and W. Masked, G. Groves. G. Ellis, and E. N. Bennett are fighting out the final stages of the junior grade. History was made over the week-end by R. Arnott, who played the perfect tee shot at the first hole This hole is 100 yards from the tee, and Arnett's mashie shot finished in the cup to give him the distinction of being the second player to do the first hole in one. The event received the usual prominence on. Monday afternoon. . Members of the club took part in a pleasant function on Saturday evening, when they gathered in the club pavilion and expressed their good wishes towards their popular secretary. Mr Alan L. Hunter, and Miss A. Anderson, who are to be married this week. The

president (Mr R. E. Hayward) presented them each with a fireside chair on behalf of the club, and conveyed the felicitations of members.'

LOCKE AND THE BRITISH OPEN The pride of South African golf, A. D. (Bobby) Locke, has started his fourth tour of Great Britain in a style which promises to justify those who claim that he is already the world’s No. 1 golfer. It was a fine performance to beat R. A. Whitcombe 6 and 5 in their 72-holes match for £SOO a side, but no doubt Locke will attach more importance than the difference in the stake to the match which, according to the cables, has been arranged between him and Archie Compton. The South African is on Henry Cotton’s trail, and without a doubt a match between this pair would attract tremendous interest ' among golfers the world over. Locke arrived in England in the grand manner on this trip. Once a £3OO-a-year mining clerk in Johannesburg, who turned himself into a £3OOO-a-year golf professional, he now travels first class in a de luxe suite with £IOOO in hard cash in backers’ money. Locke and Alfred Padgham, who have linked up for the season, have thrown out a challenge to all comers;, fourball or foursome. So here is real money, remarks a London critic. • W« are back to the days of Walter Hagen, but with this difference: We have more top-class golfers to-day; and' there is no “beaten before we start” complex, such as our professionals of a few years ago were accused of, rightly or wrongly. Smartly dressed, young Locke has become a man of the world, very business-like and matter-of-fact. He is rated as a seven-to-one shot for the Open—largely the result of big money behind him—and he thinks the odds are ridiculous. “The British Open is hard to win,” he said, “and so many things can happen in the four rounds that no player ever bora should be less than 10 or 12 to one. I doubt if Bobby Jones was ever a better bet than that.” NEVER GIVE UP HOPE That a hole is never lost until it t» won. and never pick up your ball in a stroke competition are two axioms that all golfers should never forget. At an Australian country club recently such an authority on the laws of tha Royal and Ancient game as > the captain was in no way satisfied with his performance, and at the last hole his ball was within six inches of the pin. Just for a moment he hesitated and was on the point of picking up, when he suddenly decided and tipped the ball into the tin. It was lucky that he did so. for on returning to the clubhouse he found that his card of 78 was the best of the day and that he had won the S. A. Armstrong Trophy, which took the form of a crayfish. With a little less care he would have gone supperless to bed. A SPECTACULAR FINISH • The match in which P. J.’ Gill and N. H. North defeated J. W. Trewern and A, R. Woods to win the Otago Club’s Four-ball Knock-out- competition on Saturday did not produce outstanding golf, although occasional brilliant shots gave the game its exciting moments. Of the four players only North played up to his best form, and his round of 76, a very sound effort, was the deciding factor. Trewern and Woods both got fours at the first hole, which they won. but they lapsed from this form and the winners took the next four without having to improve on bogey figures at any one of them. Trewern and Woods had placed themselves in the position

of having to make an uphill fight, and Trewern responded by holing an approach of 80 yards at the sixth to win with an eagle two. A four to Woods at the seventh left his side one down. Gill, however, took the next with a four. 'The next two were halved, but the winners established a lead of three when North won Tipperary in bogey figures. The next four were halved, and, when Trewern scored his second two for the round at the sixteenth. Gill and North were dormie two. The game came to a spectacular finish at the seventeenth. Trewern holed out for the regulation four, but Woods improved on this with a perfect shot from 40 feet away, the ball rolling into the cup for a birdie three. It seemed a certainty that the match would go to the last hole, since North, who was 16 feet away, was faced with the necessity of holing his putt for a half. It was a very difficult shot, but North judged the borrow perfectly, steering the ball safely into the cup to give his side the match. Whitcombes for Golf.*