GOLF AT ROTORUA

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19881, 7 March 1939, Page 10

GOLF AT ROTORUA

TWO YOUNG FINALISTS EX-GISUORNH COACH Two young players contested tire recent Rotorua golf final, the old hands being able to reveal their best form in patches only. The winner, A Murray, is not yet 30, and the other finalist, W. Allbon, an ex-Gis-borne coach, is still in his early twenties. Allbon has been in the limelight of national golf for the past three years. As an assistant to J. Watt at Here* taunga, Wellington, he appeared m his first New Zealand meeting at New Plymouth in 1930, finishing m thirteenth position. He was at Masterton for two years in his first coaching position, and had a year at Gisborne bpfore going to Auckland 12 months

ago. He and A. E. Guy. the present Gisborne coach, had a due) in the medal championship meeting at Dannevirke, Guy, with 70, beating Allbon by one stroke after starting on their last round on equal terms, In the Rotorua final, Allbon was five strokes to the bad when the second half was started, and when he finished the round in 68 Murray had increased his lead to nix strokes. At that point Allbon seemed to have no opportunity of pulling the game out of the fire, especially as Murray was playing with unerring accuracy; but Allbon made a great fighting finish,

having a brilliant run. of five threes after reducing the six lead to four. At the sixteenth Murray recorded a six to Allbon's three, and struck trouble again at the final hole. Pulling his drive, he landed in a fairway bunker. Ho hit a perfectly flighted ball from there towards the green, but it dropped a yard short of the bunker, and then his recovery shot ran over the back of the green under a little tree. Ailbon had finished in 67, and Murray had to get down m two to win. He did so, jabbing his ball from under the tree and sinking the putt for a spectacular recovery and with real championship temperament. „ , Guy did not have the finesse ol those who finished above him, and his long-hitting powers were not an asset on the short Rotorua course. Also his tee shots were mostly astray during the first two days of the championship.