SPORTING.

Southland Times, Issue 18620, 19 August 1919, Page 3

SPORTING.

NOTES BY SIR MOORED.

One of the most promising horses seen »ut at the Grand National meeting was the tour-year-old gelding Brackenficld, by Boniform —Gaigaron. He won the Avonhead Handicap in convincing style and his owners fully anticipated his success. The Boniform galloper was not produced again at the meeting, his connections taking him home to Blenheim to be held in reserve for early spring meetings. Mr W. T. Hazlett picked up a younger full brother to Brackenfield cheaply at the last November bloodstock sales in Christchurch, the youngster being allowed to change hands almost without competition, owing to the fact that he was a July foal and consequently not eligible for classic events —he ranks as a three-year-old, whereas he is really only a two-year-old. The ex-Sputhlander, Mr J. L. Jopp, now of Pleasant Point, South Canterbury, still takes a live interest in the light harness sport and has several novice square trotters undergoing the process of education. Mr Joop- has no liking for owning pacers, cons'VUftutly a three-year-old gelding rankTrTu brother to Cromstall is not fj, . rsevered with and is on the private j fait. nst, as he has adopted the gait used by hoppled horses. Cromstall was very suc _" cessful in the south when trained by W. Grant, and subsequently won a mile event in Auckland under the guidance of M. Edwards in fast time round about 2.12. The steeplechaser Dardanelles will not return to Rorke’s Drift Lodge, having been disposed of by his owners, the Messrs Leonard, of South Canterbury. In exchange for the son of Battlefield his owners took over Marvelite, who will come to Invercargill to be trained as a steeplechaser by P. T. Hogan. In future Dardanelles will be used as a hack and hunter by his new owner. Marvelite was schooled as a hurdler for the Grand National fixture and surprised experts by running into third place in the Hunt Club Cup behind Graftella and Lawsuit the first time he was asked to race over big country. He is well forward in condition and will probably be tried out between the flags at Winton in November next. It is announced that the Kurow Jockey Club will take entries for their meeting on October 2 on the presumption that the railway service will be fully restored by that time. In the event of the present restrictions still obtaining the meeting will be postponed indefinitely. Visitors to the Grand National meeting last week were loud in their praise of the efficient manner in which the temporary grandstand at Riccarton had been erected to take the place of the edifice destroyed by fire some time back. The building in galvanised iron and wood fully occupied the apace previously taken up by the burnt building, and, as a matter of fact, held more spectators than its predecessor. It i: weather proof in every way and contains ample luncheon room, bar, kitchen and retiring room accommodation. In the event of any difficulty being experienced in procuring the necessary material to re-build the original stand, the temporary structure will e«dly fulfil all requirements at the New Zealand Cup gathering in November next. The success of L. Hagerty as a horsemac

at the Grand National fixture was heartily approved of by owners, trainers, his brother professionals, and the general public by reason of the fact that he has proved himself one of the hardest-working jockeys in the land. For some weeks prior to and up to the day of the big cross-country gathering Hagerty was to be found on the training tracks early and late, riding gallops across the flat or schooling hurdle or cross-country horses as the occasion arose. He put in an immense amount of work in this way and must have stripped the fittest rider at the meeting. He won five races, including the Grand National Hurdle Race on Sir Solo, Enfield Steeplechase on Manawapango, styjf bundles on !pp Up, Sydenham Hurdle Race on Sir Solo, and Lincoln Steeplechase on Meny Lad, while his mounts gained place money on several occasions. The winners referred to won £1985 in stakes, Merry Lad securing first and third money in the Lincoln Steeplechase in which only the winner and Polthogue completed the course. The owner of Merry Lad, by the way, made Hagerty a present of £6O the third prise in the latter event, which was. of course, accompanied by the substantial winning fee attached to the event. Each time he returned to the birdcage on the back of a winner Hagerty received a warm-

er reception of approval than on hia previ ous appearance in the role of a successfu horseman. Arrangements have been made to tak Rewi Poto and another horse across to Aus tralia to race over hurdles. The jockeys J Deeroy and R. Tapp will accompany th Maori!and team to the Commonwealth Deerey has previously ridden in Sydne; and Melbourne, but the Blenheim horsemai will be paying his first visit to the Islam Continent. It may be mentioned that Tapi possesses a unique record in connection witl the last three Winter Cup contests, in tha in 1917 he rode Parisian Diamond into sec

ond place behind King Star, last year he steered Bedford to victory, and last week he was in the saddle when Gold Kip acted ss runner-up to Gazique. At latest advice the local jockey, W. Robinson, was progressing satisfactorily in the Christchurch hospital on the road to recovery from his accident of last week. It appears that four horsemen were concerned in the mishap, viz., W. Bush, H. Were, F. E. Jones, and W. Robinson. The party were proceeding homeward to Riccarton from Christchurch by night in a motor cycle and side chair owned and steered by W. Bush, when the wheel of the cycle caught in the tram rail, the handles refused to act'and the machine twisted and dashed into an electric light post. Robineon’s face struck the post, while Jones also had hia face injured, and H. Were received body injuries of a painful nature, Bush escaping unhurt, Robinson was the only one of the victims taken to the hospital, but it is understood that it will be some time before Jones and Were fully recover from their hurts. GOLF NOTES. (By “Cleek.”) Local golfers are making a presentation to George Forrest, the local professional, in view of hia approaching marriage. A meeting for the purpose will be held in the library of the Times Office this afternoon at 2.15 o’clock, and all contributors are cordially invited to be present. The first qualifying round far the Ladies’ Championship of the Park Club will be played on Saturday. * In the play-off for the Men’s Park Championship only one semi-final has been played so far, that between A. Masters and G. Henderson, the latter winning 5 up and 3. The second of the qualifying rounds for

wie invercargui oiuu s uiiaui|jiuu»uips» played on Wednesday. The competitors who had established a good position in the first round came out to maintain or improve it, while those who had clone badly set themselves to an effort at recovery. In the A grade the scoring was appreciably better, despite the sheets of water which lay all over the course and the softness of the ground. The weather for the play was beautiful, but there was ample evidence of the heavy rain which had fallen throughout Monday night and nearly all day on Tuesday. It is doubtful if there has ever been more surface water on the course than there was at the beginning of last week. The ground everywhere was soft, and it was quite a rare occurrence for a ball to have a run of even three or four yards. In these conditions the shots were deprived of the length that they would otherwise have had, and the round had to be played with the carry of the balls only. The scoring in the circumstances was by no means bad, and R. A. Wilson’s 83. was excellent. Going out

his golf was only fair, the 9 holes costing him 43, but he came in strongly in- 40, and his card is the best returned in competition this season. This score brought him out at the head of the aggregates with a gross 172, and he now holds the Smith Cup. W. Stewart also improved, and his card of S7 showed good steady golf and gave him second position in the qualifying list. D.J. Gilmour, who had headed the list on the first day, went out very groggy after two or three days in bed and took 95 for the round, giving him third position with an aggregate of 183. E. Russell, whose putting was all to pieces in the first round, put in a good card of S8 and pulled himself up in the list from last place to fourth. F. A. Barclay and J. Mackintosh, who were 95 each in the first round, showed consistency by coming in 96 each in the second. G. Henderson fell away from 93 to 99, but qualified seventh. In regard to C. A. Masters the card for his first round was put in as 96, but in checking a mistake was discovered and it was found that his first round was really 101, He took 100 for his second last Wednesday, but qualified with an aggregate of 201. A. Masters was in ninth place with 99 — 107—206. The details were as follows;

The field in the A grade was smaller than in the championships of bygone years. Removals have hit the A grade pretty hard. Among those who would have made the task of qualifying much more difficult had they remained here, may be mentioned, G. Cuthbertson, O. J. Wiison, C. J. Ronaldson, W. H. Robertshaw, J. R. Webb, Cyril Ward and W. B. Purchas, while Marcus Raymond is still on active service. The club records are not complete, but so far as they go there is no previous ease of an aggregate of oyer 200 qualifying for the play-off in the A grade, and very seldom did the highest qualifying aggregate exceed 190. The depletion of the A grade could not be helped, however, and there are young players coming on who will help to make the comI petition for places keener in future championships. I The Smith Cup which goes to R. A. Wil- ( son, was presented to the Invercargill Club • in June 1913 by R. J. (“Slogger Bob”), H. C. and B. J. Smith, whose names are printed «I 1 over the prize boards of the Balmacewan Club and also in the records of the Easter Tournaments at Invercargill, while Hamilton Smitli held the title of amateur champion of the dominion. When they went sheep-farming in the Oamaru district before the war the Smith brothers’ connection with golf ceased. They had made so many friends here, and enjoyed themselves so much at the Easter tournaments that they presented this trophy to the Invercargill Club with the condition that it should be awarded annually to the player making the best aggregate in the two qualifying rounds of the Club Championship. It was first played for in 1913 on the old Park links and won by W. F. i Handyside, with an aggregate of 176. In j 1914 the championship was again played i on the Park links just before the outbreak of war, and G. L. Cuthbertson carried off the Smith Cup with an aggregate of 172.

In ‘1915 the championship was played for the first time at Otatara, and the Smith Cup was won by 0. J. Wilson with two rounds of 83, an aggregate of 166. Then the war thinned down the membership of the club and knocked out all interest in competitions and no matches were played in 1916-17-18. R. A. Wilson is therefore the fourth to carry ofi the trophy. In the B grade there were marked variations in the scores. J. F. who I headed the list in the first round with 102 (the best round played in the B grade) ! could not get going properly and fell away ; to 113, dropping down to fourth place in the aggregate. C. M. Benzoni’s round of 107 was three strokes more than his first, but was sufficiently good to bring him in first man with 211. P. H. Vickery returned a card of 108 and took second place in the aggregate .with 212. C. F. A. Jones had the best round of the day in this grade—lo6—and with an aggregate of 214 was third in the list. W. Thomson (just back from active service) knocked 7 strokes off his previous round and qualified well in fifth place equal with J. E. Cuthill. J. D. Mitchell, a consistent player, maintained his position, as also did C. E. Yates. G. Cruickshank’s card showed a marked falling off from the previous week, but he got into eighth place by a margin of two strokes from L. Mcl Donald and N. E. King, who tied for ninth place with 229. L. McDonald, who had a good round of 105 on the first day and ] should have qualified easily, was quite at j sea on the greens and could not do better than 124, probably the worst round he

has played at Otatara. Another player who failed to do himself justice was T. W. Vickery. His round on the second day was 10S, quite good, but he had spoiled his chances

with a card of 122 in the first qualifying round. C. M. Benzoni scratched immediately the second round was played. After the draw P. H. Vickery found that it would be impossible for him to play the matches through and withdrew his name. J. D. Mitchell, with whom Vickery was drawn, could have claimed his match in the first round by default, but when the position was explained to him he said that it would be no satisfaction to him to get a match by default and he would much prefer that McDonald and King, who had tied for i ninth place, should play off to decide which i should fill the vacancy left by P. H. Vickery’s withdrawal. This very good sportsmanship will be appreciated by the members of the club. McDonald and King have not yet played off. The following are the details:—

The draws were as follows;—A grade. - F. A, Barclay plays E. Russell, R, A. Wilson plays J. Mackintosh, W. Stewart plays C. A. Masters, D. J. Gilmour plays G. Henderson; B grade; J. D. Mitchell plays McDonald or King, J. F. Lillicrap plays W. Thomson, C. E. Yates plays J. Cuthill, C. F. A." Jones plays G. Cruickshank. In the A grade Russell and Barclay have already played their match, Russell winning 7 up and 6. The first two holes were halved in s’s, but Barclay allowed Russell to win Hill 60 in 6. Russell in turn allowed Barclay to win the Dardanelles in 4, and not to be outdone Barclay obligingly took 10 for Long Ton* , and though Russell was 7 he won. Tne golf up to this point was indifferent, but Russell now brightened up. He had an almost certain 2 at the Pitcher, but a stymie compelled him to take 3. He won the Ridge in a nice 4, the Club House in a regulation 5, and the Nest in 4, turning 5 up. Both men got 4’s at Verdun. Then Russell gave Barclay a chance by taking 7 to Anzac, but Barclay, Who was playing far below form, could not do better than 9 and Russell was 6 up and 7 to go. He settled the match by taking the Schoolhouse in 3 to Barclay’s 4. In the B grade Yates and Cuthill have played, a “ding-dong go” resulting in a win for Cuthill 2 up. Yates won the first hole in 7, but Cuthill got a bogey 4 at the Outlook and followed it up with a win at Hill 60. Yates squared again at the Dardanelles, but Cuthill reestablished his lead with an excellent 5 at Long Tom. The Pitcher was halved in 4’s and Yates squared the match with a 5 at the Ridge and got 1 up by winning the Club House.' A 5 at the Nest gave Cuthill a win and the players turned for home all square. Yates took the 10th and Cuthill the 11th, and the Schoolhouse and Dunn’s Road were halved so that the players reached No. 1 tee still all square. Cuthill took the Rubicon la bogey 5, the

loth, 16th and 17th were halved and Cuthill was dormy 1. He gave Yates a great opening by driving into the bunker in front of Long Tom tee, but Yates refused the chance by following suit, and Cuthill eventually won the hole in 9 and the match 2 up. The approximate stroke scores were Cuthill 107 and Yates 108 —in all respects a capital B grade match. At its meeting last week the Committee of the Invercargill Golf Club received from Mr F. H. Tucker a detailed balance-sheet showing the receipts and expenditure in connection with the recent ball and a cheque for over £2O, being the balance of profit. This amount may be increased by a guinea or two, there being some subscriptions still outstanding. Members of the committee expressed satisfaction with the statement submitted to them and a motion was carried embodying the thanks of the committee to Mr Tucker for his valuable assistance in managing the ball. The secretary was instructed to communicate the resolution to Mr Tucker in a letter of appreciation. Mr J. Gilkison has very kindly made another handsome donation of shrubs to the Invercargill Club and these have been planted out on the Otatara course. On the exposed tees shelter hedges of Olearias have been planted. These are quick-grow-ing, hardy natives which stand severe trimming, and players should soon have on the tees in question stout hedges that will afford shelter from wind and rain and protect the tees. A nice plantation of ornamental shrubs has been made on the left of number one tee. The shrubs look very healthy, and as the site is well protected by growing manukas the clump should in a few years be an attractive fea ture of this part of the course. This is the second donation of the kind that Mr Gilkison has made, and in a few years’ time the result should be very pleasing to the eye. The competitions of this season, and par ticularly the championships, have, as was expected, revealed a general all-round ignorance of the rules of the game. In the war years a number of new players took up golf but they had no opportunity of learning the rules in play, the only way to learn them satisfactorily, while in the absence of 1 competitions the older players got very rusty in regard to many of the rules. During the last two or three weeks there has been a great reading up of the rules, much discussion of questions arising in actual play, and some breaches have been committed that would give the “big wigs” of the Rules of Golf Committee ‘‘a pink fit” if they heard of them. The effect must be beneficial to all players. Those who are taking part regularly in competitions will find it advantageous to read the rules through regularly, and to carry a copy for reference should any point arise in the course of the game. At a meeting of the Comnittee of the Invercargill Club last week the general question of work on the links was thoroughly discussed. There wai a consensus of opinion that the most urgent requirements were improved drainage and work on the fairways and round the greens. While everybody is anxious to see the remaining five holes of the course put in j hand, the Committee were unanimously ; of the opinion that the work should be deferred until such time as the 13 hok» al-1

ready in play were got into first-class condition. During this season the surroundings of the golf house have been very unsatisfactory, and it was considered a matter of urgency that drainage should be provided to prevent water from accumulating and that paths should be raised and gravelled in order to give a reasonably clean access to the golf house in all weathers. It was also agreed that as the result of the wet season, and the increase in lie number of rabbits during the last two or three years, it is now a matter of urgency that an effort should be made to

repair the damage done to the playing course by rabbits, and to bring the fairways and the ground surrounding the greens into good order. The statement of the Club’s financial position submitted by the treasurer was carefully considered, and after discussion it was decided that an expenditure not exceeding £IOO could be undertaken and the Green Committee was authorised to spend this amount forthwith on drainage work and the general improvement of the course. It is hoped that the amount will be supplemented by a contribution from the Ladies’ Club. The Green Committee intends to get expert advice and to put the work in hand without delay. The semi-finals of the A and B grades were played on the Riverton links on Wednesday. In the A grade Gifford won from Willett 5 and 4, whilst Mansell secured a victory over E. Harrison by 7 and 5. In the B grade Philp won from Gordon, and will play the final with Melvin or Stevens. The ladies commenced their championship on Wednesday, when Miss Southberg won from Mrs Gordon 2 and 1, Mrs Berndtson won from Mrs Stevens 3 and 1, and Miss Collins won from Mrs Willett 5 and 4. In the B grade Miss Ste-

vens won from Miss R. Berndtson 2 and 1, and will meet Miss Petchell in the final. The Ladies’ Golf Union has decided to hold the New Zealand Ladies’ Championship meeting in Auckland, commencing September 29, the date originally fixed. It is anticipated that the railway restrictions will be removed by that date. —Press Association. R. 0. Gardner won the Auckland Golf Club’s championship, defeating F. Binney

6 up and 5 to play.—Press Association. BILLIARDS. (Per United Press Association.) AUCKLAND, August 18. H. Siedeberg, of Dunedin, won the amateur billiard championship of New Zealand, defeating Warren in the final by 683 points. Sicdeberg’s average was 13.4 and his highest break was 188.

1st Rd. 2nd Rd. Aug. R. A. Wilson ;. .. 80 83 172 Stewart .. .. GO 87 177 D. J. Gilmour .. 88 95 183 E. Russell .. 97 88 185 F. A. Barclay .. .. .. 95 90 191 J. Mackintosh .. .. .. 95. 90 191 G. Henderson .. .. .. 93 99 192 C. A. Masters .... .. 101 igO 201

IstRd. 2ndRd. Agg. c. M. Beazoni .. .. 104 107 211 F. H. Vickery .. .. 104 108 212 C, F. A. Jones \. .. 108 106 214 J. F. Lillicrap .. .. 102 113 215 W Thomson, .. .. .. 114 107 221 J. E. Cnthill .. .. 110 111 221 J. D. Mitchell .. .. 110 113 223 C. E. Yates .. .. 115 226 G. Cruickshank .. .. 109 118 227 L. McDonald .. .. .. 105 124 229 N. E. King .. .. .. 114 115 229