CANTERBURY GOLFERS HAVE NARROW WIN AGAINST OTAGO SIDE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27093, 30 May 1949, Page 6

CANTERBURY GOLFERS HAVE NARROW WIN AGAINST OTAGO SIDE

On saturated fairways and greens, and in a thick mist, the Canterbury provincial golf team beat Otago by one match at St. Clair yesterday. Otago won five of the 12 Singles (three were halved) and Canterbury won three of the foursomes, two being halved. Bad enough in the morning, when the Foursomes were played, the conditions became worse in the afternoon, and the players had to contend with driving rain and a fog which cloaked the course and made it extremely difficult to estimate either direction or distance. There was some good scoring, nevertheless. A. Gibbs, the national amateur champion, playing against the brilliant D. L. Woon, completed the,first nine holes in par figures and beat his opponent 6 up and 5 to play. J. A. Scouler, the Otago scratch player, was approximately two strokes over par in his match against J. W. Jackson.

C. B. Wight, through Indisposition, dropped out of the.Otago team, and his place was taken by G. Mackay. The way in which Woon played the first hole in his afternoon singles match against Gibbs suggested to the small knot of spectators that the tall Canterbury player might have a brilliant round. In a practice round the previous day. when conditions were favourable, Woon covered the course in 70 —three under par.

Driving from the first tee yesterday, Woon sent a long one down the middle of the fairway, placed a number four iron shot *on the green, and narrowly missed a birdie 3. Almost from that point he displayed weaknesses round the greens, and took 40 for the first half. Gibbs, on the other hand, after being two over bogey in the first three holes, settled down to play admirable golf under atrocious conditions, and scored par figures for the nine holes to be 4 up on Woon at the turn .He eventually won the match 6 up and 5 to play. Woon obviously was worried by the conditions, but Gibbs showed superb qualities. The Otago player's drives were long and straight, his shots through the fairway were brilliant, and his putting on soaked greens was impressive.

The match between C. J. Ward and T- B. Ferguson was an interesting tussle. At the national championships last year Ferguson beat Ward in the final of the New Zealand Plate. The Canterbury player had his revenge yesterday, however Ward was 2up after three holes, mainly because of Ferguson’s lapses near the greens. Ferguson was repeatedly short with chips and approach putts, but a number of courageous second putts saved holes for him. Ward, who was 1 lip at tho turn and who won at the sixteenth, played some magnificent fairwav shots.

J. A. Scouler was 2 up at the fourth against J. W. Jackson and held the lead until the sixteenth, where the match finished. Both men played few loose shots and Scouler dropped only two strokes to par—a fine performance under the conditions.

Putting lapses by E. G. Kerr were costly mistakes in his match against A. H. Boyd, the game finishing all square. Kerr was 2 up with six to play, but he three-putted on two of the remaining greens. Boyd won the last hole to square the match.

J. N. Lemon, the Dunedin amateur champion, accounted for J. L. Blair 4 up and two to play. Lemon played steady golf throughout and won his advantages on the putting greens where Blair showed weaknesses

F. W. Dixon (Otago) was 3 up after nine holes against L. A. Watson, but he lost four holes In a row. From that stage onward, fortunes changed frequently and the game developed into one of the most interesting of the day, eventually finishing all square. N. H. North (Otago) sank a 14-foot putt in semi-darkness on the last green to win his match against D. C. Watson 1 up. Watson was 3 up at the turn.

There was never more than one hole difference between D. C. Bennie, the St. Clair player, /and A. R. Bl.?nk. Many times adversaries in the past, Bennie and Blank had a grand game which finished all square. T. C. Tyrrell (Otago) found difficulty on the greens against H. J. Gosset, the Canterbury man winning 2 and 1.

On his home course, H. S. Ross accounted for O. A. Y Johnson, while Mackay brought Into the Otago team at the last moment, gave M. W. Stanley a tough game before he was beaten on the last green. B. Forrest, the Timaru player, had a fairly comfortable win over J. H Randle. Results were (Canterbury names first): Foursomes D. *L. Woon and C. J. Ward beat A. Gibbs and T. B. Ferguson 1 up, J. W. Jackson and E - G. Kerr beat J. A. Scouler and A. H Boyd 5 and 4, J. L. Blair and L. A. Watson lost to J. N. Lemon and F W. Dixon 1 down, O. A. Y .Johnson and A. R. Blank halved with N. H. Nortn and T. C. Tyrrell, H. J. Gossett and D C. Watson beat D. C. Bennie and H. S Ross 2 and 1, M. W. Stanley and B. Forfest halved with G Mackay and J H Randle. Singles Woon lost to Gibbs 6 and 5. Ward beat Ferguson 3 and 2, Jackson lost to Scouler 3 and 2, Kerr halved with Boyd, Blair lost to Lemon 4 and 2, L . A. Watson halved with F W. Dixon, D. C. Watson lost to North 1 down, Blank halved with Bennie, Gossett beat* Tyrrell 2 and 1 Johnson lost to Ross 1 down, Stanley beat Mackay 2 up, Forrest beat Randle 6 and 5. CLUB RESULTS A Stroke Handicap competition was played by the Otago Club at Balmacewen on Saturday. The best scores returned were:—Seniors: I. A. Forgie 75—7 — 68, W. G. Aitken 76—6—70, G. Grayson 82—11 —7l, A. Robertson 82—11—71, A. Wardle 79—7—72, L. C. Brown 76—3—73, J. W. Mclntosh 76—3—73, L. A. Rankin 77—4 —73. Juniors: J. B. Steven 89—24—65, G. D Moore 83—16—67, li. C. Gray 94—24—70, J. R. Day 92—24—70, T. Matheson 94—24 70, A. R. Mason 95—24r-71, L. M. Satterthwaite 89—18—71. Matches played by the St. Clair Golf Club in the fourth round of the Paterson Cup resulted: —W. Peterson beat R. T. Simpson 2 and 1, D. C. Bennie beat A. Hutton 1 up, G. F. Bolwell beat P. M. Dunnet 1 up, R. Murray beat R. C Anderson 4 and 3, A. A. Hunter beat E Bolwell 1 up at the twenty-third hole, W. D. Read beat T. W. Grimsdale 2 and 1. L. Johnson beat C. B. Wight 4 and 2, F. M. Tuck beat F. W. J. Oakden 1 up. The Single Bogey Handicap was won by H. J. Rackley in the A Grade, with O McManus runner-up, while the first and second places in the B Grade were filled by J M. Sydney and W. Wilson respectively. The Chisholm Park Ladies’ Golf Club played a Medal Match on Saturday, best scores being: Miss Carr 106—36 —70, Miss Tyrrell 106—36—70, Miss Monk 107—34 73, Miss Smith 105—32—73, Miss Atkinson 92 19 73, The best cards returned in the Arthur Hudson Cup Match played by the Onslow Ladies' Club on Thursday were: Mrs Simmonds 93—30—63, Mrs Valentine 101 —35—66, Mrs Renton 95—25—70, Mrs Don 95—24—71. In the McGrath Cup. Mrs Day 113—36—77 and Mrs Evans 114—36 78 returned the best cards. On Thursday next the first round of the Margaret Adair Cup (knock-out) will be played. A Medal round will be played by those not competing in the above match, both grades commencing play at 10 a.m. A putting competition will follow the matches. , The annual President versus Captain s match was played at Belleknowes on Saturday and resulted in a win for the Captain's side by 15 games to 12