GOLF.

Southland Times, Issue 18969, 16 June 1923, Page 12 (Supplement)

GOLF.

(By

"Cleek.")

June 18—Professional Tourney at Gleneagles. July I—French open championship, Dieppe. July 9—American open championship, Inwood. Sept. 6—N.Z. Ladies’ Championships at Nelson. Sept. 10—U.S.A. Amateur Championship, Flossmoor. Sept. 21—N.Z. Open and Amateur Championships, Wanganui. The bogey match on the Park last Saturday brought out thirty-four players. The match was won by W. M. Marcussen, who had a liberal bogey handicap of 14 he came out ail square with bogey. L. L. Padget (5) came second with o down. He was unfortunate in losing the nrst three holes in the round; after that he held his own with bogey. A. McDougall (8), W. Smith (5) and D. Cochrane (18) were each 4 down. Ladies playing on the Park this season are well provided with matches. At the present time they have weekly matches and a “ringer” and a “ladder competition. Last week’s play was for a prize donated by Mrs T. M. Macdonald, a sealed hole match which attracted over 40 players. Mrs Tansley had the best score of 40, while close up were Mrs Ferguson 41, Mrs Carr 42, and Mrs Jones, Miss Crofts and Miss Speirs, all 43. During the week two local ladies played sterling scores of 84 gross. Ten players from rhe Park Club motored to Riverton last Wednesday to try conclusions with the Riverton golfers. The day was an ideal one for golf, the sun being just warm enough to make everything pleasant for a winter's day. The Park players suffered defeat at the hands of the Riverton players, but though defeated they thoroughly enjoyed the day’s outing, as the Riverton golfers are noted for always treating their visitors right royally. The results of the match were as follows, Riverton players mentioned first:—Banks beat Padget 5 and 4, Rouse beat Myers 3 and 2, Stevens beat Masters 2 up, Instone lost to McDougall 2 down, Rae beat Vickery 5 and 4, Berndston beat Garrick 5 and 4, McNeil beat Brooke 1 up, Scobie beat A. Y. Smith 7 and 6, Buddle beat Tapper 2 up, Birch beat Macdonald 2 up. Quite unexpectedly W. G. Wight defeated his brother C. B. in the final of the St. Clair Club’s championship. W. G. came out second in the aggregates in the qualifying rounds, but there was such a gap between his figures and those of C. B. that there appeared to be only one man in the championship. However W. G. played exceedingly good match golf in the. final over 36 holes and beat Chris. 1 up. Following is the draw for the medal i match at Otatara this afternoon:—F. A. Barclay plays J. B. Reid, C. W. S. Cox plays A. B. Haggitt, J. F. Lillicrap plays G. Cruickshank, W. Stewart plays N. E. Hubbard, C. A. Masters plays A. F. Grenfell, A. A. Cramond plays G. S. Ferguson, C. R. Andrews plays J. McLeod, G. Millar plays B. W. Hewat, H. B. Farnall plays A. H. Mackrell, G. Beadle plays De Castro, A. B. Macalister plays S. M. Macalister, J. G. Macdonald plays M. H. Mitchel, C. B. McNatty plays D. Macpherson, and A. W. O. Johnstone plays R. 8. Galbraith. In the disorganisation caused by the change of half-holiday it is possible that names which should have been included have been omitted, from the draw. If any player whose name does not appear wishes to play the necessary arrangements will be made if he. will advise the secretary. Playing at Wentworth Falls (New South Wales! on June 1. Major Blake, with a following wind, made a remarkable drive of 360yds. His ball finished 20 yards beyond a green distant 340yds from the tee. No game has stricter rules of etiquette than golf, and it behoves every player to make himself conversant with the rules,' so that he may not spoil another’s game by ignorance.

The Wednesday players competed for the June medal at Otatara on Wednesday. The weather was perfect, though the low winter sun was a little too brilliant, and it was not easy to follow the ball when playing into the sun. The Saturday men will play to-day, and it is to be hoped that conditions will be as good for them. In accordance with former practice the Wednesday scores will not be disclosed until the Saturday rounds have been played.

When Jess Sweetser, American amateur champion, went under in the first round of the British amateur championship, Grantland Rice, the well-known American writer, pointed out that he was the eighth American title-holder to lose in the first round of British competitions. Jerome D. Travers, who had just won two amateur championships in U.S.A., went under in the first round of the British amateur championship in 1909, and Chick Evans met with a like fate in 1911. In 1914 Francis Ouimet, then American champion, tried for the British title, but received his quietus in the first round. Jack McDermott failed to qualify at Hoylake in 1911, and in 1920 Walter Hagen, American open champion, could not get a better place than fiftyfifth in the British open. Guildford was outed by Tolley in the first round in 1921, and Gardner shared Sweetser’s fate in this year’s championship. The Golf Council is working on sound lines in tackling the problem of national handicaps, and in endeavouring not merely to bring New Zealand handicaps into line with each other, but to bring them into line with British handicaps at the same time. If the British amateur champion is rated scratch, what is the mark of our amateur champion? No one knows better than Arthur Duncan himself, for not long ago he spent the better part of a year playing golf in England. He would go from the plus four mark to two or possibly three—an advance of, say, six strokes. That would just about put us all in our places and burst up the delusion some of us labour under that we are low handicap players. The sooner we look fact in the face and get on to our proper rating the better for everybody. The first big professional collision of the. year was the final of the Daily Mail £lOOO tournament at the Lytham and St. Anne’s course on 2nd and 3rd Mky—four stroke rounds with all the leading professionals engaged. As was cabled at the time, this was won by Edward Ray with the fine aggregate of 288—exactly level fours. Reports now to hand show that the leading scores were:— E. Ray (Oxhey) .. .. 70 74 71' 73—288 L. Holland (Northants) 77 72 72 68—289 Abe Mitchell (N. Foreland,' 72 71 75 71—289 G. Duncan (Hanger Hill) 75 74 70 71—290 Abe Mitchell would have had ah aggregate of 288 also, but for the fact that at the seventeenth hole in the last round he missed a 12in. putt for a 4. Once again we can console ourselves with the reflection that even the champions can do it. The amateur championship of New South Wales was played on the Rose Bay (Sydney) course at the beginning of the month. There was a large and strong field, and competiton in the qualifying' rounds for 4hc eight places available was keen and close. Those who qualified and their scores were:—

In the matches Murdoch beat Wines 2 and 1, Apperly beat Sturrock 3 and 2, Sinclair beat Morrison 6 and 5, and Thomson beat Harrison 6 and 4. The next mail will bring particulars of the semi-finals and the final. The cables have informed us of the bald fact that Murdoch wds the winner.

When Sweetser and Gardner, the Americans, were beaten in the first round of the British amateur championship, the golf writer of the Lop don Times (Mr Bernard Darwin) had this to say:—“The Americans are so good and so dangerous that we cannot afford to feel sentimental over their defeat, but Gardner has so endeared himself to the British golfers that one may shed one little tear over his departure without it being suspected of being a crocodile tear.” The Sweetser-Layton, match he described as rather curious golf with two rather restive and high-mettled players somewhat frightened of each other.

A London correspondent writes:—“Abe Mitchell (North Foreland), Fred Robson (Gooden Beach), A. E. Baggs (Willingdon), and Arthur Mitchell (Bexhill) took part in matches over the Bexhill course during the week-end, when some very good golf was: seen. Abe Mitchell, playing in a four-ball match with Mr W. Grundy, Mr J. H. Griffiths, and Arthur Mitchell, went round in the brilliant score of 62. His figures were:—Out, 3, 4. 3,4, 4,. 4,3, 2, 4 31. Home: 3,4, 4,3, 2,4, 3,6, 2—31. In a second match, Abe Mitchell and Arthur Mitchell beat Robson and Baggs by one hole, after a close match; and in a third match Arthur Mitchell beat Abe Mitchell by three holes up and two to play, going round in 66 strokes, each half being holed in 33.”

A. Ekstedt, Palmerston North, who defeated Arthur Duncan, amateur champion, in an interclub match at Heretaunga a fortnight ago, tied with the professional, J. A. Clements, for third place in the open championship at Palmerston North last year. Born at Stockholm 32 years ago, Ekstedt learned hisftolf in Palmerston North. He is one of those who believes that if a game is worth playing it is worth playing well, and he has gone on perfecting his play until to-day he handles all his clubs with consummate skill. When the Great War broke out, Ekstedt answered the call, and was so seriously wounded at the front that golf was out of the question for some time. He is, however, all right Again now, and will have to be seriously reckoned with at big tournaments in the future. Ekstedt drives a very long ball, which Duncan ascribes to the length of his arms (says “Niblick” in the Dominion). The pair measured reaches on the way round at Heretaunga, and the Manawatu men outstretched Dunean by full two inches. The latter declares that a man with long arms always drives a long ball.

The full reports of the play for the St. George's Challenge Cup at Sandwich early in May showed that the Americans had the satisfaction of seeing three of their team at the top of the list in a competition for one of the oldest and most coveted trophies in British golf, and, moreover, a trophy never before won by an American. The day was hot and breathless, hut a good day for scoring all the same. The best scores were:—

O. S. Willing (U.5.A.).. 74 79—153 F. Ouimet (U.S.A.) .. 76 77—153 R. A. Gardner (U.S.A.) 75 79—154 B. Darwin 78 79—157 H. D. Gillies 78 79-157 H. Brand 83 74—157

R. H. Wethered .... 76 81—157 In the play-off with Willing,- Ouimet won the prize. E. W. E. Holderness (British amateur champion) had an aggregate of 161. Jess Sweetser (amateur champion of U.S.A.) and Cyril Tolley (British amateur champion in 1920) tore up their cards. The best of amateurs can make a hash of things, which is some consolation to the struggling middle-weight amateur who so often sees his card slowly, but surely, go to pieces with a missed putt here and a fluffed approach there.

As the edition containing this column comes off the printing press the last players in the open championship at far-away Troon, on the west coast of Scotland, will be finishing their rounds. It will be Friday afternoon there, getting on towards five o’clock. The competitors who got away early in the draw will be finished and watching the results go up as the others come in. No doubt the issue is still in doubt, but we shall all know ere long. The cable man was very parsimonious as regards details of the qualifying rounds. We don't know who came out on top or whose name appeared in the place of honour at the head of the list. The highest qualifying score was 159, and the sensation of the day was the failure of Gene Sarazen, American open champion, to qualify. That would be a bitter pill for him, and for his countless admirers in the States, but perhaps it will serve as a wholesome corrective for the Americans’ tendency to elevate their sporting champions to the plane of demi-gods, or something very near it, and in the long run it will do the youthful champion himself no ..harm. Roger Wethered, the new amateur was another who failed to earn i e right to compete for the big prize, so he

has no chance of repeating the wonderful performance with which he electrified St. Andrews two years ago. Jim Barnes, exAmerican open champion and second in the British open last year, was another who found his name on the wrong side of the fatal line. So was Harry Vardon, six times open champion, and in his day the undisputed master of them all, but he bowed to Time and to no other opponent, and Time must eventually beat us all. The consistent Kirkwood with an aggregate of 152 qualified comfortably. Last year Hagen and Kirkwood tied for first place in the qualifying rounds. The second round on Tuesday was played under very stormy conditions, and, the west coast of Scotland being what it is, the competitors may have had to face severe weather difficulties in the championship itslef. The first available reports of the British amateur championship played at Deal on May 7 and following days are those in American papers to hand by ’Frisco mail early in the week. Of course they deal mainly with the play of the Americans, but are none the less interesting on that account. The first day brought severe blows* to American hopes when Noel Layton, the veteran international, settled Jess Sweetser, American amateur champion, to the tune of 5 and 3. Both were out in 41, not bad scoring in the tricky nor’-easter that had a lot of the competitors in trouble, but Layton was 1 up. The next two holes were halved, but while Sweetser needed 5 for each of the next four holes, Layton’s card showed 4,4,3,4, so that he won them all and the match. Gardner, famous for his great match in the final of 1920 when he was only beaten by Tolley at the thirtyseventh hole, was beaten by Forrester, exOxford captain, 2 up. Out in 44, Forrester came home with a solid 38,and finished in 82 to Gardner’s 85. These were bitter reverses for the Americans, but they still had a solid phalanx to carry on, and most of the others won their matches easily. The second day saw the fall of three more Americans—Herron, Johnston and Hunter. Douglas Grant beat Johnston 2 and 1. Both were out in 37 and Grant played the next 8 holes in 34, while the American needed 37, so that Grant didn’t give his opponent much chance. Finlay beat Herron 4 up and 3. Finlay was 39 for the first half and Herron 41, and the next six holes cost the American 27 to Finlay’s 25. K. F. Fradgley was altogether too hot for Hunter and beat him 6 and 5. Ouimet on this day defeated Bernard Darwin 3 and 2 and played brilliant golf to do it. He won five of the first six holes and thereafter held his own easily. The match was followed by a large gallery, for it was now recognised that Ouimet was the most dangerous of the invadefs, and though the sympathy of the spectators was naturally with Darwin the splendid strokes of the American provoked applause again and again. Ouimet was thirty years of age on the day of the match. On the third day Cyril Tolley defeated Marston 3 up and 2. Tolley was out in 38 to Marston’s 39, and then the Englishman reeled up 4444344—a score that gave the American a very slender chance of winning. G. N. B. Humphries, the ’Varsity golfer, disposed of Wright 3 up and 2, and the Americans then left in were Rotan, Willing, Ouimet and Neville. The fourth day saw all of these but Ouimet disappear from the contest. Ouimet himself put out one of them, Neville, for the fortunes of the draw brought the two Americans together. It was Roger Wethered. the ultimate winner, who settled Dr O. P. Willing, and it was a close match with neither man playing his best. The day was stormy, with a blustery wind accompanied by rain, and the Deal course took some playing. Wethered was out in 38 to Willing’s 30. He played the next eight holes in 36 to the American’s 39, and won 2 up and 1. W. L. Hope beat Rotan 3 and 2. Ouimet won both his matches on the fourth day, defeating his countryman Neville m the morning and Bretherton, ex-Irish champion, in the afternoon. But they were both hard and exhausting matches. Ouimet had to do a 75 to beat Neville, and he only beat Bretherton by a good 38 for the inward half, played in half a gale of wind driving in from the sea, and a rain that almost blinded the players. He was two down at the twelfth, and pulled the match out of the fire by good golf under terribly difficult conditions. At the close of the day Harold Hilton, examateur and open champion, said that if a vote of the players entered for the championship were taken, Ouimet would easily be awarded the distinction of “the best golfer of them all.” The files to hand do not go beyond the fourth day, but the cables have told us that Ouimet, after defeating Tolley, succumbed to Wethered, who went on to beat Harris in an all-British final.

There appears to be a superstition existing that a left-handed golfer can never hope to become a champion player (writes “Niblick” in the Dominion). Professionals firmly hold this view, probably because they find it impossible to coach players when looking at them the reverse way. It is said that J. H. Kirkwood started off as a left-hander, but was caught young and turned round the other way. Bruce Pearce, the Tasmanian, is a notable exception, and Kirkwood recently told him that if he were to go over to the States he could command a princely salary. Kirkwood declared that they would star Pearce in the States as “The Champion Southpaw.” Coming nearer home, it is not so clear that left-handers cannot excel at the game as well as right-handers. The honours board at the Miramar Club is a standing testimony to the prowess of left-handers. From 1915 until 1919 the championship of the club was carried off by left-handers. In 1915 R. L. Kidston annexed the championship; H. R. H. Balneavis won in 1916, 1917, and 1919, while another left-hander, Richmond, was successful in 1918. There is nothing wrong with this record. The Manawatu team which visited Wellington last week-end was strong in left-handers, among these being A. Seifert and V/. Seifert. This prejudice against left-handers at one time extended to other branches of sport. Cricketers who played on the wrong side of the wicket were severely frowned upon for a long time at Home, and when Norman Brooks, .the Austrian tennis player, first landed in London he was gravely informed that it would never do, and that he would really have to take the racquet in the other hand. Perhaps some of my readers can tell us why there should be an impression that left-handed golfers can never hope to scale the heights? That this conviction is deepseated I know from personal experience. I remember E. H. Bernau, the New Zealand representative cricketer, at Wanganui three years ago suddenly changing over from left hand to right at golf, and he played almost, as well with the right hand. Why should not all golfers be ambidexterous? They could then carry a few right-handed and a few left-handed clubs in their bag, and no shot would worry them.

F. G. Murdoch.. .. 79 76—155 H. S. Sinclair .. .. 81 76—157 G. Thomson .. .. 83 75—158 W. C. Sturrock .. 78 80—158 E. L. Appcrly .. .. 80 79—159 0. H. Mines .. .. 77 83—160 Keith Harrison .. 81 H. Morrison . . .. 78 84—162