GOLF.

Otago Witness, Issue 2809, 15 January 1908, Page 65

GOLF.

NOTES BT-BULGEB. It will be remembered that the Royal Melbourne Golf Club recently submitted a case in connection with "the Scott incident to St. Andrews for the opinion of tho Rules of Golf Committee. This case, however, did not meet with approval in New South Wales, and so a fresh case has been sent to St. Andrews for their decision. A letter was sent along with this case explaining that the matter in dispute was ! the same ac that referred to in the case ] submitted from Melbourne, but as the first [ case was considered to be deficient in several respects, it was thought that in justice to all the competitors a fresh case should be sent, and this fresh case, which follows the Melbourne case as closely as possible, reads as follows : — Case. "X was playing in an open championship stroke" competition on a course where it had been the custom for several years to have the tee box (about 3ft high and painted white) on the left of a peg on the right to indicate the teeing: ground, thus: Plan 1. Sand j Tee Box ■ - D peg Water " On the first day of the meeting, which extended over a week, and three days before the commencement of the competition in question, two small discs (painted bia.ck) were used to ma-rle the teeing* gr-ouncls. One of them (A) was placed close to the teeing box, and the other (B) at the usual Jistanee, or where the peg ! was formerly placed, but no notice was posted as to the change in custom of | marking- the. tee. I Pf.AN 2. i " Sand i Tee Box ABO [ Wattr " On. Thursday, the fourth day of the [ meeting, and the first "day of the comi petition in question, the tee was marked j in this* position at the twelfth hole (Plan 2 with discs- A and Bas shown}. On Friday, the second day of this competition, new ; tees were set out, but at the _ twelfth tee ! this was done- by removing disc A to C, ! leaving disc B in its old position. (Plan 2} [ and now meant as the inner disc. The tee I box, however, was not moved up close to B, but was left where .it was on the pre- | ceding day. Disc C was' placed at the edge j of the tee-, and, as some say, on a slight slope, but it was plainly visible to any player who took the trouble to look for I same. On Friday morning: X, at _ the twelfth tee, drove off from the position marked Bon Plan 2. His partner immediately drew has attention to the fact that he had driven off from outside the discs. X thereupon teed another ball between the discs and drove came, but subsequently picked up the second 'ball and continued hfe round with the first ball. The committee becoming- aware of the fact at j end of the third round, allowed X fo oon- , tinue his fourth round,, and at the close of 'j the competition they took certain evidence from various players, including X, wh6 admitted that the discs were properly placed on the twelfth tee, and that he drove outside the limits "thereof, " but he stated that he did so thinking that the , space between. B 'and the tee box was the teeing ground. The committee eventually decided that X could not be disqualified, as they were of opinion that the greenkeeper had, by failing to move the tee box close up to disc- B, misled players, including X, and induced them to believe that a tee was indicated between the. tee box and disc B. R, another competitor, not being satisfied with the decision of the committee, lodged a protest in writing with the- secretary at the clubhouse before ■7 p.m. on the day on which the disputed matter arose. The committee, however, i took no further notice of the protest, but awarded the championship to X. They, [ however (i.e., the Green and Match Cbm1 mittee of the Royal Melbourne Golf Club, | Melbourne, Victoria), recently submitted a case for your opinion. A copy of this has teen received by R, .and as he is not satisfied with the way the case has been : stated, I have been directed to lay the case - before you, and at the same time to point out that the case already submitted to you does not disclose the whole facts, and might, therefore, on that account be most misleading. For instance, the case should ; have stated that X was well aware of the - change in custom of marking the teeing j grounds, as ha presented the discs to the. club, and it wa? at his instigation, so I understand; that they were painted black. It • also should have been pointed out to you that X played on. the course in competition on Monday,. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday,, and that on each. of these, days the tees were marked by the beforementioned black discs. " And it further should have been mentioned that this was an onen competition, and that the great majority of the competitors were strangers to- the links, and were consequently unaware of any custom of marking out the tees* aa they all knew that each and every tee was marked by the ; discs. Again, from, the case submitted to- j you it might be inferred that the tee box < was in every instance placed on the left close to disc A, but this was not so (at ; the ninth, eleventh, thirteenth, and sixteenth tees the tee box was placed on. the ' right). . . . "Of course R's contention was, ana is,, that the tee box, no matter where it wa* placed, had nothing- whatever to do with the marking of the teeing ground, and that X having played from, outside the_ limits of the teeing ground — that is, outside the discs — should, under rule 5 of special rules for stroke competitions, have been disqualified. He also contends that the fact that other players may have similarly offended at different tees should not have - weighed with the committee in any way whatever."— Sydney Mail. Some time ago we- heard that Home, the professional: of the Beekenham Golf Club, rhad driven a ball from the twelfth tee at pfeekenham 381 yards, carrying- a. banker 5250 yards from the tee, and 'it was stated the drive was made in the presence of a ' Mr Botter, a. member of the eIUb, who, it was implied, measured the ' distance. It -> was added that the ground was level, and " that thare was only *■ slight following wind," This announcement caused do little*, sehsa- _ tion, because the drive appeared -to be a . record" for carry as. welT. as iunr under" the" : conditions described, - «and was, moreover,, apparently-much better authenticated than such exploit^ usually are. A letter, how- ,

ever, .was subsequently published- in th& English papers from Mr Lome Wallet, a member of the South Herts Club, challenging the truth of the announcement. H» said that the distance of the bunker had I been measured by two members of the club, and it was found to be only 215 | yards to the back tee and that the • drive I was made some six weeks before the announcement appeared in the. papers, and i that the distance was only guessed. ITor some time there was no reply from anyone to Mr Wallet's statements, but shortly after the publication of his letter the following appeared in the News of the World, and possibly in other papers: — "Beckett* I ham Golf Club writes in regard to the reI cently-reported great drive by its professional, W. H. Home, that although the shot was" * "without doubt a 'phenomenal one,' it was not measured on the day when made, or in the presence of either th« officials of the olub or Home's partner, so that it ought not to rank as an "official record." I understand, howevOT, that the committee of the club has recently had _ the distance measured, with the result that although the distance from tee to bunker - was found to be a good deal less than . 250 yards, still it was more than 215 yards. Again," the total length of the drive' was found to be much under 381 yards, co all "the record" has disappeared from the wonderful drive.' „ - The- following Jus the result of the OtagoLaclies 1 Golf Club's senior medal competition on Tuesday: — . wu • Gross. Hdcp. Net! Mrs Mackie '98 7 -91" Miss^K- Eatfaay - XOI _ »« -*«- Miss Holmes . 115 U 101 - Miss Batchelor ..- 113 11 -" 103 . The following is the result of the Otago Ladies' Golf Club monthly Bogey competition on Friday last: — Miss K. Battray . . s.up.. up. Mis 3 W Scott . . . * up. ' Mrs Fergus .. All square. Mrs Mackie .. • ' All square