GOLF

Southland Times, Issue 19099, 17 November 1923, Page 12 (Supplement)

GOLF

By ‘

“Cleek’

The Invercargill Ladies’ Club had tneir dosing day on Thursday. The weather was perfect, and in spite of the long grass the scores were very good, bogey receiving a good shaking. The A grade four-ball resulted in a tie between Mrs Pottinger and Mrs Henderson and Mrs Handyside and Miss Pilcher, each pair beng 7 up. Mrs Cowie and Mrs Jones were a close second, 6 up. In the B grade, Mrs Scandrett and Miss Gughton and Mrs Cruickshank and Mrs Mitchell tied, 2 up. In the play-off Mrs Scandrett and Miss Oughton proved the winners. The A grade tie has still to be played. The driving competition was won by Mrs Cowie, and the approaching and' putting by Mrs Pottinger. The most exciting event of the day was the putting competition. One ball was played from each corner of Dunn's Road green. Mrs Handyside, Mrs Smith, Mrs Cruickshank, Mrs Cowie and Miss Campbell all finished with 10’s. In the play-off Mrs Handyside and Miss Campbell were left in with 10’s. The next round resulted in another tie, 9 all; also the next round, 11 all. The fourth round went to Mrs Handyside with a 12 to Miss Campbell’s 13. Mrs Pottinger presented the prizes won during the year. At the close! of the afternoon three cheers were given for the president (Mrs Pottinger). The following is the prize list: — Mrs Cowie —A grade championship, silver buttons (21. Mrs Ferguson—L.G.U. silver medal, captain’s trophy, sealed hole (Mrs C. Jones’ trophy'. Mrs Carr —Best gross score (Mrs Cochrane's trophy i, A grade ringer. Mrs Pottinger- Flag match (Mrs Handylide’g trophy). Mrs Jones—Silver button. Miss Pilcher —Silver Buttons (2). Miss Oughton—B grade championship, B grade ringer (Mrs Gilmour’s trophy). Mrs Mitchell—L.G.U. bronze medal, best nett score (Mrs Pottinger’s prize), Mrs Masasy’s trophy. Mrs Haggitt—Sealed hole (Miss Oughton’s trophy). Miss Henderson —Flag match (Mrs Carr’s trophy), sealed hole (Miss Pilcher’s trophy).

Putting prizes presented by Mrs G. Hen- i derson were won by Mrs C. Jones and Mrs Masters. Those players who wish may reduce their handicaps during the summer, provided ' they enter their names in the book before going out and have their cards signed by a member of the club, cards to be left in the box in the ladies’ room. An interesting foursome played in Am- ; erica recently was that between Miss Glenna Collett and Gene Sarazen on the one side and Miss Alexa Stirling and Walter Hagen on the other, the former pair winning 2 ( up. Arthur Ham, the Wellington Club professional. is at present redesigning the Heretaunga course. The new course will be 6108 yards in length, as against 5816 yards. Many alterations have been provided for, which should make the course a better test | of golf. A. D. S. Duncan again won the cham- ; ionship of the Miramar (Wellington) Club, defeating A. A. Stichbury in the final over ; 36 holes 6 up and 4 to play. Duncan got j i remarkable 4 at the first hole of the « .natch. He hooked his drive into the 5 rough, got his second about 6yds in the I long grass with the niblick, got a fair bras- ' sie to the fairway for his third and then . holed out with his spoon from 170yds for one under par. Three times Duncan holed out from outside the green. . For the second time in three years C. J. H. Tolley won the Welsh open amateur championship on September 29. In the final over 36 holes he defeated Major C. 0. Hezlet 2 and 1. In the final for the professional championship of U.S.A. Gene Sarazen, the holder, beat Walter Hagen 1 up at the 38th hole after a brilliant match. In the morning round Hagen was round the Pelham Country Club course (6419yds, par 74) in 77 to Sarazen’s 78, but in holes the i match was square. In the afternoon Sarazen began to reel off the holes in par or | better and 35 for the first nine holes to I Hagen’s 38 put him 3 up. Then came i Hagen's run and he came home in 35 to j ■ Sarazen’s 38 and the match was square, [both being round in 73 (one under par). I The 37th was halved in 4’s (494yds. par 5), and then with a perfect approach out of the rough at the 38th (310yds) Sarazen got a 3 (one under par) to Hagen’s 4 and won. The idea was advanced some time ago writes Grantland Rice in the New York Tribune I that golf was a good game to >lay. but not a game to arouse any keen interest for a gallery. Those holding this belief should interview Max Marston and Jess Sweetser, who fought out the final round of the amateur championship of U.S.A. at Flossmoor. When the two players started for the thirty-sixth green they were engulfed and overwhelmed in the rush of the crowd that came charging forward in the wildest possible state of excitement. Just after Sweetser played his chip shot to the thirty-eighth from the edge of the course he was knocked to his knees by the stampeding gallery bent upon getting close enough to see every muscle quiver. And as each fine shot was played under the heavy strain the roar that followed would have matched the vocal reception accorded one of the “Babe” Ruth’s mightiest wallops. Even those who knew little of golf sensed the drama at hand and joined in the chorus. Among leading professionals in Britain just now there are several who are playing magnificently up to the green, but once on the green they become children, and incompetent children at that. Abe Mitchell is one of them. James Braid failed to qualify for the great “News of the World” contest because he missed putts of six and eighteen inches—several of them. And there are others. This moves the golf writer of the London Observer to comment: —It seems a thousand pities that a golfer, who is still able to hit the ball vast distances with both wood and iron, should bow the knee when it comes to a tiny putt. Mr John Low laid it down recently that the Americans excel because “on the putting green they do not have the strange diversities of opinion which seem to take possession of many of our players whenever they near the hole. They 'the Americans) stand up and hit the ball in a natural manner, instead of assuming curious postures which seem to indicate that the hitting of a ball in a straight line becomes much more difficult when it has only to be hit a few feet instead of 200 yards. We are brave at the hitting of a long, free shot; why should we bend the knee and grovel before a wTetched little’ stroke which calls for no other treatment than the stroke played from the teeing ground?” How very true of the vast majority of British professionals. The weird attitudes they strike and the cowardice displayed in hitting the ball when near the hole are sufficient to make one go hot from very shame. Mitchell is another who, when he has the putter in his hand, makes your heart leap into your mouth from downright fright. And I verily believe that, he is as mortally afraid of his putter as the man who handles a live bomb for the first time. Whoever saw Hagen, or, for that matter, any first-class American professional, exhibit signs of nervousness when the holing out comes to be done? The putts may not go in, but Hagen, instead of becoming pusillanimous, grows more courageous. It is the right mental attitude. Mitchell has been suffering so long from a species of putting introspection that one has almost begun to despair of his ever regaining that exquisite touch and that buoyant confidence which, three years ago, were his to a very marked degree. What is the earthly use of crashing the ball 300 yards down the course if you take four more shots from 80 yards? This is Mitchell. The contest for the amateur championship of the United States at Flossmoor, Chicago, September 15 to 22, was marked by a number of brilliant matches and a titanic struggle in the final. There was very keen competition for the thirty-two places available under the conditions of the championship. and the highest qualifying aggregate for the two test rounds was 161, on which mark no fewer than six competitors finished. “Bobby” Jones, open champion of U.S.A., and “Chick” Evans tied for top position with rounds of 75 and 74. W. I. Hunter, British amateur champion in 1921, was well up with rounds of 79 and 75, and J. W. Sweetser, holder of the title, qualified comfortably with an aggregate of 157. Captain E. E. Carter, not long ago a prominent British amateur, was also among the elect, two rounds of 80 giving him an of 160. The first sixteen on the 1 Fst and their scores were:—

The others who qualified ?.nd their aggregates were:—Francis Blossom (Chicago), James Manion (St. Louis), D. Shute (Wheeling), H. K. Davis (San Francisco), J. P Guildford (Boston), and Arthur Sweet (Chicago) all 158; T. J. Frainey (Chicago),

!A. Haines (Rockford), G. Blossom ; (Chicago), and J. N. Simpson (Indianapolis), all 159; Captain Carter (Chicago), E. P. Allis (Milwaukee), and L. Jacoby ’ (Dallas), all 160; Edward Held (St. Louis), R. Martin (Chicago), and T. B. Cochran (Wichita Falls), 161. The great match of the first round was I that between “Chick” Evans and W. I. Hunter, and the ex-British amateur champion vanquished his redoubtable opponent 2 and 1 over 36 holes. The next round brought Hunter up against Francis Ouimet, and the American won 3 and 2. Captain ; Carter had been beaten by Von Elm in the first round 8 and 7, so that the British element was quickly eliminated. In the second round Sweetser beat Herron (champion in 1919), and R. A. Gardner (twice amateur champion) beat W. C. Fownes j (champion in 1910). Bur the big match I of the second round was that between Max Marston and the open champion, Bobby Jones, and Marston won 2 and 1. Jones i played the first 18 holes in a brilliant 70 to ' Marston’s 73 and was 2 up. Marston then • rang on a perfect 34 for the next nine ' holes. He was square at the twenty-fourth, j won the next two in 2 and 3, and turned 1 for home 2 up. The next four holes w’ere : halved, but Jones won the 32nd and was one down with four to go. Marston regained his lead by taking the 33rd in 4 to 5. A half in 4 at the next made him I dormy 2, and the thirty-fifth was also halved in 4, giving Marston rhe match 2 and 1. For rhe 17 holes of the second I round played Marston was 66—a brilliant effort against a brilliant opponent. In the third round the outstanding match was that between Sweetser and Guildford, the holder of the title winning 2 and 1. Sweetser put on a 72 in the first round, and was 72 for the 17 holes played in the second round. After the third round the survivors were Sweetser, Gardner, Ouimet and Marston. In the semi-finals Sweetser settled Gardner (who was so narrowly defeated by Tolley in the final of the British amateur championship in 1920) 8 and 7. ! Gardner lost touch with his game while Sweetser was playing at top. He reeled I off the first 18 holes in 73 (one under par), was 36 for the next nine and dormy 9. Gardner won the 28th, but a half in 3 at the 29th settled it. Marston disposed of Ouimet 3 up and 2. At the end of the first 18 holes they were all square. Ouimet 1 won the first hole in the afternoon and then five were halved in succession. Marston squared with a 3 at the 25th to Ouimet’s ! 4, halved the next and won the 27th in 4 1 to s—Marston lup and 9to go. The next three were halved and then came a . dramatic hole—the 31st. Ouimet laid a ■ beautiful shot from the tee within 3ft of the pin, while Marston was 40ft away • and would have been further but for the ) fact that his ball hit a spectator. With a great putt he sank it and the “gallery” ' burst into round after round of cheers. i Then Ouimet missed the short one and Marston was two up. He was down in 3 ’ to Ouimet’s 4 at the next and 3 up and ; 4to go. The next two were halved and the match was Marston's. The final went ! to the 38th hole before the amateur title i passed from the hands of Sweetser to those of Marston. The struggle was grim all ■ the way. Marston played the first 18 holes in 76 to Sweetser’s 77, but in holes the match was square. With 27 holes gone Marston was 2 up, thanks to a stymie on the 27th which robbed Sweetser of a win. ’ Sweetser won the next two holes and squared. At the 33rd the match was still square, but Sweetser got his nose in front i at the 34th and was 1 up with 2 to go. Fate was against him, however, for when he appeared to have a safe half at the 35th Marston stymied and won—all square. 1 Once again Marston laid Sweetser a stymie 1 on the 36th, when the champion had an J excellent chance of a win, and the hole ' was halved in 4’s. Off they went to the i first tee again and halved the 37th in s’s. At the 38th Marston put his ball from the I tee 10ft from the pin while Sweetser was I to the right of the green. He approached 1 short, but was still well inside Marston’s 1 ball. Putting for the hole Marston failed to get down for 2, but again laid Sweetser a perfect stymie (if any stymie can be I called perfect). Sweetser made a great try I to get round into the cup but failed, and ) the hole went to Marston in 3 to 4, and ’ with it the championship. ) It is clear that the new champion had 1 the luck with him, but luck in a big con- ' test was overdue to him. In the amateur ! . championship he has always had a hard 1 row to hoe. For five years in a row he was forced to meet either Francis Ouimet ■ or R. A. Gardner at the top of brilliant games, and on each occasion up through ! 1921 they elbowed him from the road. Ouimet beat him 1 up in 1914, the year ' he won his championship. Gardner beat ' him 1 up in 1915 on the thirty-seventh ■ green, when Marston had an eighteen-inch ’ putt to win on the previous hoi« wb--e 1 the grass had been worn away from the cup upon a decided slope, nriliiant gon ‘ by Gardner beat him in 1916 and again in 1919. In 1921 Marston met Ouimet firing a salvo of 2’s and 3’s, and so dropped ’ out once more before unbeatable golf. Last ‘ year at Brookline he caught the heaviest 5 force of the storm which deluged the course, and failed to qualify. At this last championship at Flossmoor, Chicago, he got ’ the thick end of the draw, and he beat ’ “Bobby” Jones by the finest continuous day’s golf seen during the tournament. ? Again it was only grit and sterling golf that enabled him to overcome Ouimet, so 5 that if fortune was a little kind to him in • the final the lady’s smiles were given to a fine player and a very gallant fighter. Max Marston, the new champion of the United States, whose home town is Philadelphia, is six feet two inches in height, well built, 1 with a long, loose rhythmic swing—a swung ’ that never is hurried at any moment of any ‘ match. He uses a fuller, freer swing than ' most stars use on the short pitch, yet he 1 can play the half stroke when he cares to. He gets better results with the fuller swing ’ and so sticks to it. Marston has a fine 5 putting touch and a fine putting stroke, ‘ with no sign of jab or stab, but always 5 with a stroking follow through. He is ‘ up with the good hitters in length, despite } the fact that he never seems to lash at • the ball. H* bes the swing without the ’ hit, in direct coztrast to most of the golf one sees in this era of long driving.

Charles Evans Jr.. Chicago . . R. T. Jones Jr., Atlanta .... 75 74 149 75 74 149 S. D. Herron, Chicago .. .. 77 74 151 W. C. Fownes, Pittsburg .. F. D. Ouimet, Boston . . .. 78 74 152 80 73 153 George von Elm, Salt Lake. . 76 77 153 Albert Seckel, Chicago .. .. 76 78 154 W. I. Hunter, Los Angeles .. 79 75 154 R. E. Knepper, Sioux City .. 77 78 155 R. A. Gardner, Chicago 74 82 156 J. W. Sweetser, New York . . 80 77 157 C. F. Wells, Ann Arbor, Mich 83 74 157 Harold Weber, Toledo . . . . 80 77 157 M. R. Marston. Philadelphia 82 75 157 Dexter Cummings, Chicago.. 80 77 157 Joseph Wills, East Liverpool 82 76 158