GOLF

Southland Times, Issue 19184, 1 March 1924, Page 12

GOLF

(By “Cleek”). May ZT>—British amateur champ., St. Andrews. June s—American open champ., Oakland Hills. June 26—British open champ., Hoylake. September I—American women's charnp„ Rhode Island. September 20—American amateur champ , Morion. The splendid entry received for the Haggiit Cup must be as satisfactory to the donor of the trophy as it is to the Invercargill Golf Club. It shows that there was room for the competition which Mr Haggitt has promoted, and it also augurs well for the Club competitions during the earning season. Probably the special handicaps issued for the event had something to do with the large entry, but while it is obvious that the handicapper has set the low handicap players a very difficult task in- : deed there ought to be some close and in- . teresting fights among the long handicap • men, and the final rounds should be nar- ; rowed down to players with practically equal chances of success. In view of the large entry it is very satisfactory that the ( course should be in such nice order for the matches, and it will probably improve, as the Committee must shortly begin seriously upon the preparation of the course for the Easter Tournament. There is one . thing that the Committee must insist upon, : and that is that matches be decided within ; the time allowed. A competition of this ' sort is usually robbed of its interest, if delays are permitted to creep in, ana in any i case as there will be thirty-two players in ; the second round the time available is , short enough. Players drawn together can > suit their own convenience so long as their match is played on or before the date fixed, but it is certain that no extension of time will be allowed and that in regard to matches not played one will have to default in order to let the other go on to the next round. All matches in the first round have to be played not later than Friday next so that the second round may be begun this day week. The effect of the competition has been to put a number of players into practice and it should be an excellent preparation for the Easter Tourna- ■, ment and for the first competition on the Club’s regular programme of fixtures. Congratulations to Gore golfers on resuscitating the Gore Golf Club. It is now a good many years since Invercargill golfers used to go up to Gore pretty well every season for an inter-club game, and it is rather a singular thing that with the game going ahead by leaps and bounds in other places the revival in Gore should have been so long delayed. Now that the Gore Chib has been re-established with a good membership and a satisfactory financial position, Gore should soon become an important factor in Southland golf. The club is certain to challenge for the Laing Shield and Riverton’s task in holding it will become more difficult than ever. There is some very good material in the Gore Club, and among its officers is Mr A. J. Hawke, by whose recent removal to Gore the Invercargill Club lost one of its most promising players. Ladies who wish to play in a match on the Park course on Monday next are requested to send their names to the captain of the Queen’s Park Ladies’ Club as soon as possible. The opening of the regular golf season is heralded by a preliminary announcement of the Wellington Chib’s Easter Tournament at Heretaunga on April 19, 21 and 22. The Invercargill Club’s Tournament will be held at Otatara as usual, and particulars and entry forms will no doubt be available early this month. The two local clubs are now getting ready for their annual meetings. The proof of the amazing capacity of “Bobby” Jones as a stroke player is that his grand aggregate for the last four American open championships of 72 holes each ris 14 strokes better than Walter Hagen’s and from 20 to 30 strokes better than that of any other competitor who has played in them all. Next month Jones, who is at present open champion of ÜBA., will be 22 years of age. J. H. Kirkwood followed up his win in the Texas open championship at San Antonio by winning the open tournament at Houston, in which he played the 64 holes in 257, one over an average of fours. Among the hundreds of thousands of amateurs playing golf at the present time there are only ten rated at scratch in the national handicap scale. Of these four are British and six are American. Hie Britons are:—- Cyril Willie Hunter (bow vesi-

dent in California), Ernest Holderness and Roger Wethered; the Americans are:— Francis Ouimet, “Bobby” Jones, “Chick” Evans, Jesse Guildford, Jesse Sweetser and Max Marston. These ten are the elect of v the world’s amateur golf. Efforts are being made to induce a team of British amateurs to visit Australia in the spring. J. W. Trumble, once a great figure in Australian cricket, and now a prominent member of the Royal Melbourne Golf Club, is endeavouring to enlist the support of the Hon. Michael Scott, examateur and open champion of Australia, and ode of the loading amateurs in Britain. It is hoped that a number of>British golfers will be induced to visit Australia, as in addition to the golf, they will have the English cricketers as travelling companions and Will be able to see the Test matches.

The golf ball question wall come into prominence again this year and it seems probable that some further restriction will be imposed with a view to keeping down length. George Duncan, in an article in the Golf Monthly, expresses the opinion that but. for the limitation of the size and weight of balls in 1921 no links to-day would provide a good test of the game. It appears that the manufacturers have by no means exhausted their ingenuity in producing balls capable' of longer and longer flight. J. H. Kirkwood put up the brilliant score of 279 for 72 holes to win the Texas open championship. There would be a great field, including the leading American pros, and Arthur Havers (British open champion) and James Ockenden, who are at present touring U.S.A. Ockenden, by the way, was second, but he was seven strokes behind the Australian, who had the marvellous average of 9 under 4’s for the 72 holes. The first prize was worth £3OO. The course over which the Texas championship was played is the municipal course at San Antonio, a links which is absolutely free to the whole world to go and play over without money and without price. Naturally, it is freely patronised. As a fact, last year more than 150,000 names appeared on its starting list. Of course an elaborate starting system is in force to prevent undue congestion, and at the same time ensure a maximum attendance. Intending players can register three days in advance, so there is no need to get up in the small hours of the morning as was the practice for years at other courses of the kind. Texas is the “Dixie Land” of romance, and a trace of the old romanticism evidently still lingers about and pervades its links, of whiqh, besides the municipal course, there are three others—and more are being planned.“If we were to analyse the reason for poor competitive golf we should, I think, probably find that in ninety-nine of the cases the poor golf produced is due to faulty memory and misconception, not to mention faulty concentration, which is embodied in the first-mentioned shortcoming,” remarks Arthur Le Fevre, the wellknown Australian professional. “The things thought by the average player as he mounts the first tee are wrongly thought, because in many cases you will find that the muscles do not co-operate correctly with the thoughts owing to a gap in the intellectual faculties. To play sound golf one must think sound strokes, and, what is more, perform them right up to the last foot putt. If you stand on the tee and think that with a suspicion of slice in your drive the wind will drive the ball out of bounds, then you deserve to slice. If you think you will overrun the hole with your approach putt, and stand a chance of missing the next putt, then you deserve to take three putts. The same thing applies to one and every shot. It is the type of thought that destroys what good there may be in a person’s game. The things thought should be more fluid, instead of allowing them to be vague impressions. Golf, I think, calls for the very clearest of brains, and unless one can cultivate—it is within the reach of everybody—and clarify the intellectual faculties, the golf one plays in the field of competition will always be anybody’s form than a sample of their own. To keep one’s heart and soul in the game for two or three holes is a very simple matter, but to keep it religiously there for thirty-six holes is an entirely different proposition. It is tremendously tedious .work, yet to do your best it is absolutely necessary, and has to be done.”