FINALS TO-DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27058, 18 April 1949, Page 6

FINALS TO-DAY

GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS OTAGO AMATEUR TITLE SOME SURPRISE RESULTS T. B. Ferguson and J. A. Scouler, both Otago Club scratch players, will meet in the 36-hole final of the Otago amateur golf championship at Balmacewen to-day. To reach the final. Ferguson beat A. H. Boyd (Otago) 4 and 3, and Scouler beat L. C. Brown (Otago) 2 and 1. Both finalists were round in approximately 73 strokes—the standard scratch score of the course—in the semi-finals yesterday. Most golf tournaments yield surprises, and Saturday’s play in the second round of the present championship series was not an exception. On t.he 20th green; A. Gibbs, the national amateur champion, went down to Scouler. who had been playing fine golf. Since the New Zealand championships Gibbs has keyed his golf to concert pitch, so that Scouler's effort on Saturday was really good. Another surprise was J. H. Randle's defeat of J. N. Lemon in the first round.

A good standard of golf was shown in the intermediate and junior divisions. The intermediate final over 18 holes will be played this morning between I. A. Forgie—a former Bellcknowes champion—and W. Peterson, while the junior final will be between G. D. Moore and P. Caldwell.

In the first round of the Senior Championship, Randle, a determined player, had a convincing win against J. N. Lemon, the holder of the Dunedin amateur title, 4 up and 3 to play. Lemon struck his caddy at the sixth and lost the hole. Randle had birdies at the tenth, Tipperary and Manuka. Boyd was three holes up with four to play against H. S. Ross, the St. Clair player, who recovered splendidly and took Boyd to the twentieth before the match went in Boyd’s favour.

The big upset in the second round was Gibbs's defeat at the hands of Scouler. Scouler can never be taken lightly in a match and, after being 2 down to Gibbs at the turn, he meta-

phorically gritted his teeth and was lup at the eighteenth Gibbs won this, the nineteenth was halved in s’s, and Scouler won the twentieth with a long putt from the edge of the green for a birdie 3 after being in the rough with his drive. Gibbs made a strong bid for a birdie, but his putt stopped inches short of the hole. Ferguson and Bennie had a close match, the players being round in 74 and 75 respectively. Semi-finals Bt>yd fought a losing battle most of the way against Ferguson in the semifinal. Ferguson was seldom off the line with his woods, and his irons—particularly the lofted ones—were played with skill. Once on the green, Ferguson did not relent, and his putting throughout the match was almost faultless. Many of Boyd’s shots veered to the right and he missed some chances of recovering lost holes. He had bad

luck at the thirteenth —a vital stage, because he was 2 down—when his brassie second wenfc into the trees and found a bad lie. He conceded the hole. Ferguson was round in approximately par figures. Brown’s effort in going as far as the semi-finals in the Otago Championship was a good one. Brown has devoted great attention to his game and is now on a 5 handicap. Both players were scoring par figures most of the way and Scoulei 1 finished with an approximate 73. They were all square at the tenth, but Scouler had a birdie at the fourteenth and a bogey at the next to he 2 up. The sixteenth and seventeenth were halved in bogey figures. RESULTS Otago Amateur Championship First Round.—A. Gibbs beat L. B. Whinam 3 and 2; J. A. Scouler beat T. C. Tyrrell 7 and 6; L. C. Brown beat A. McLean 3 and 1; J. H. Randle beat J. N. Lemon 4 and 3; A. ,H. Boyd beat H. S. Ross at the twentieth; N. H. North beat N. G. Hay 2 up; D. C. Bennie beat F. R. Nicol 6 and 5; T. B. Ferguson beat T. G. Lemin 8 and 7. Second Round.—Scouler beat Gibbs at the twentieth; Brown beat Randle 1 up; Bo'yd beat North 5 and 4; Ferguson beat Bennie 1 up. Semi-finals.—Scouler beat Brown 2 and 1; Ferguson beat Boyd 4 and 3. Intermediate Championship First Round.—R. Murray beat J. L. Mathieson 1 up; I. S. Fowler beat G. M. Kelly 3 and 2; D. Milburn beat A. J. H. Jeavons 5 and 3; I. A. Forgie beat E. J. King 6 and 4; J. P. Andrew beat T. V. Nelson 2 and 1; W. Peterson beat M. B. Gunn 3 and 1; F. B. Thomas beat F. R. King 1 up: F. A. Leslie beat J. R. Holloway' 3 and 2. Second Round—Murray beat Fowler 5 and 3; Forgie beat Milburn 3 and 2; Peterson beat Andrew 2 and 1; Leslie beat Thomas 5 and 4. Semi-finals.—Forgie beat Murray 3 and 2; Peterson beat Leslie 2 and 1. Junior Championship First Round. —D. Mearns beat J. W. Smeaton 5 and 4; R. O. Talbot beat A. N. Turnbull>s and 4; A. Malcolm beat E. N. Aslin 6 and 4; G. D. Moore beat R. J. Applegarth 6 and 5; R. W. Muirhead beat W. A. Sharp at the twentieth: A. R. Dixon beat J. B. Robertson 4 and 2: C. J. Read beat J. H. Gilkison 2 and 1; P. Caldwell beat W. Cleland 1 up. Second Round.—Mearns beat Talbot 4 and 2; Moore beat Malcolm 3 and 2: Muirhead beat Dixon 3 and 1; Caldwell beat Read 4 and 3. Semi-finals.—Moore beat Mearns 7 and 6; Caldwell beat Muirhead at the nineteenth. Otago Plate Elimination Round.—T. C. Tyrrell beat L. B. Whinam 3 and 2; J. N. Lemon beat A. McLean 5 and 4; H. S. Ross beat N. G. Hay 2 up; T. G. Lemin beat F. R. Nicol 3 and 2. First Round.—Tyrrell beat D. C. Bennie 1 up; N. H. North beat Lemon 2 and 1; J. H. Randle beat Ross 2 and 1; A. Gibbs beat Lemin 5 and 4. Semi-finals.—Tyrrell beat North 2 and 1; Gibbs beat Randle 7 and 5.

Other Competitions Single Bogey.—O. McManus all square, H. A. Sime all square. Single Australian Stableford.—E. J. King 35, W. A. Sharp 34. Four-ball Bogey.—A. Malcolm and B. W. Cleland 8 up. S. W. Fox and I. S. Fowler 7 up. Special Foursome Stableford Handicap. —J. W. Mclntosh and W. A. Sharp, 41 points, tied with G. P. Latimer and N. A. Turnbull.