GOLF.

Southland Times, Issue 20225, 9 July 1927, Page 18 (Supplement)

GOLF.

(By “Cleek”) Bogey match concludes on the Park to-day. Bogey foursomes for the Cuthbertson Memorial Cup at Otatara this afternoon. Queen’s Park ladies play a bogey match on Monday afternoon. A bogey match will be played at Otatara by the members of the Invercargill Ladies’ Club on Thursday. Australian papers report that Joe Kirkwood has accepted an appointment with the Skywater Country Club, U.S.A. The ex-Australian and New Zealand open champion’s retaining fee, which is only part of his earnings, is the small matter of £2,000 a year. No golfers in Invercargill have more thoroughly deserved their elevation to the ranks of the senior division than M. H. Mitchel and A. F. Grenfell. Both men have been playing steadily-improving golf throughout the season. Needless to say, the promotion will be just as popular as it is deserved. Members of the Invercargill Golf Club who visited Wyndham on Wednesday were much impressed with the improvement that has been effected in the course there. One member who has visited the township on many occasions in recent years declares that he had never seen the links in better order. The members of the Invercargill Ladies’ Club played their usual monthly L.G.U. match at Otatara on Thursday under perfect golfing conditions. The silver medal was won by Mrs Carr 93—8—85, with Miss Oughton 104—18—86 as runner-up. Miss McQueen won the bronze medal, her card reading 100—21—79, while Mrs Camm, 111—31—80, gained second place. The ball given for the best nett score on the day was won by Miss McQueen. Miss McQueen has been playing steadily improving golf during the last four weeks and requires only one more score in the nature of Thursday’s performance to qualify for the A grade. When Tommy Armour and Harry Cooper set out on the final round of the Open Golf Championship of the United States, a gallery of 10,000 followed the match. Both players had completed 72 holes in 301, and the excitement rose to fever pitch as the game progressed. Cooper bagged a “birdie” four on the ninth, which put the players all square. With 39 strokes each player was two over par. A 50ft putt on the 151 h started Armour’s triumph. He gained two more strokes on his rival at the 16th, the match ending on the 18th. Armour took 76, total 377; Cooper took 79, total 380.

Competition is likely to be keen to-day for the honour of being the first to be named on the Cuthbertson Cup, a handsome trophy which ornaments the dining room in the Otatara Club House. Competition has been keen throughout the season and to-day’s match will be no exception to the rule.

In view of the large field which will contest the bogey match on the Park to-day it may be as well to remind players that when a hole is lost to the “Colonel” it is lost. When that happens pick up the ball and give the man behind a chance. One player at Otatara during the Easter tournament was in receipt of a stroke at the Schoolhouse—bogey three. His opponent was on the green stone dead, but the player in question was still 20 yards from the flag when he played his seventh! Meanwhile the unfortunate pair on the tee were having apoplectic fits. First qualifying round at Otatara next Saturday. Golf being golf it would be a bold man who would prophesy record qualifying scores but it is quite on the cards that such will be in evidence a fortnight hence. When eight members of the junior division can finish a stroke round with nett scores below bogey there is justification for the assumption that excellent cards will be the order of the day. Whatever vagaries of weather will be encountered there is one thing in favour of good cards, and that is that the course has never been better for championship play. Given anything like good weather some particularly interesting golf will be witnessed. Bobby Jones, champion golfer, has not been playing anything like so much golf as usual this year, the reason being that he is slogging at his law course. And he seems to be pretty good at the university as well as on the links. A telegram in the New York papers, dated from Atlanta, June 7, reported that Bobby had completed the difficult Emory University freshman law course, gaining second place on the list one mark behind the leader.

The scoring at Otatara last Saturday was particularly good especially among the juniors. The ground was hard with frost, and while this condition gave unusual length from the tees, approaching the greens and putting on them was a tricky business. In the circumstances the cards were excellent and in the B grade quite a number of handicaps were reduced. As the result of their scores A. F. Grenfell and M. H. Mitchel enter the A grade ranks—congratulations to them both. Each of them was round in 89 and might easily have been a stroke or two better. But, of course, many competitors lost strokes that should have been saved. J. E. Cuthill, out in 39, appeared to be on the way to a good card when he crashed at the eleventh and a 9 went down on the card, to be followed not long afterwards by a 6. His round of 84 might easily have been 79. Eustace Russell (the winner) took 6 for the short second (bogey 3), including a putt of a couple of inches missed. He finished in 83 by steady golf. C. Prain had the makings of an excellent card when he came to Dunn’s Road, thanks to a 4 at Long Tom, a 3 at the Elbow, a 3 at East Neuk and steady figures at the rest, but at Dunn’s Road his ball hit the ladies’ tee box and bounced off into a desperate position. He hacked away at it and had played 10 when he finally holed out. Even so he finished in 94 and had a nett 73. Prain is rapidly improving and it would surprise nobody to see him in A grade before the end of the season. Eight players in the B grade had nett scores better than bogey. Obviously there will be very keen competition for the places in the qualifying rounds of the junior championship, and also some strenuous matches in the match-play stages. How the junior players in the Invercargill Club have been going this season may be judged from the reductions that have occurred in handicaps, and it may be explained that the handicaps are not a matter of the opinion of any person or committee but are arrived at by a simple calculation from actual scores in stroke competitions as compared with bogey for the course. So far the following players have reduced their handicaps this season—T. R. Abercrombie, from 24 to 22; W. D. Barclay, from 23 to 18; T. Baird, from 24 to 22; J, Doig, from 24 to 20 and from 20 to 18; A. F. Grenfell, from 17 to 14; J. Hain, from 19 to 18; M. H. Mitchel, from 20 to 19, to 16, to 14; W. D. Palmer, from 20 to 19; C. Prain. from 24 to 20, and from 20 to 16; G. Tangney, from 18 to 17; T. S. Tomlinson, from 24 to 22; H. Trevethick, from 16 to 11; T. W. Vickery, from 22 to 20, and from 20 to 18. Three players who started the season as juniors are now in the A Grade:—H. Trevethick, A. F. Grenfell and M. H. Mitchel*

For so young a club Winton made quite a good showing in the Laing Shield match against Gore. It was plucky of the Winton players to challenge. It shows that they are animated by the proper spirit of enthusiasm and ambition, and all golfers will be pleased if the shield finds a resting place at Winton in course of time. It is reported that the Queen’s Park Club intend making a bid for the trophy, and the probability is that the holders will be kept busy defending it. The team from the Invercargill Club which went down to Wyndham on Wednesday had a very pleasant outing. The afternoon was beautifully fine, the prettily situated course w r as in capital order, the golf was interesting and the matches were fought out in the friendliest spirit. Four and a half wins to each side constituted a very happy result. As is usual at Wyndham the ladies turned out in strong numbers to join in making the visitors welcome, and served an abundant and tempting afternoon tea. The little speeches made at the close of proceedings by Major Rice and Mr Lillicrap were admirable in spirit and expression, and stressed the good that is done to the players and the game by the interchange of visits. It is hoped that the Wyndham players will pay a visit to Otatara before the season finishes. A non-swearers’ golf club has been formed at Barnsley (York, England). The chairman, Mr Joseph Jones, who is the general secretary of the Yorkshire Miners’ Association, confesses that the idea is revolutionary, but it was hoped to prove that profanity was not a good golfer’s handmaiden.

Apparently golf is one of the recreations of Rotarians when they assemble at their annual conferences and conventions, and a golf competition was held in connection with the big international convention held at Brussels last month. As there were over ten thousand delegates at the convention the field of Rotarian golfers was probably pretty strong, but a cable to the Australian papers shows that the championship of Rotary International was won by R. Nettlefold, of Tasmania, who established a new record for the Brussels course on which the championship was played. R. Nettlefold is the father of I*en Nettlefold, the brilliant young amateur champion of Australia, who distinguished himself by reaching the last eight in the British amateur championship at Hoylake in May. R. Nettlefold is himself a brilliant golfer and has won the amateur championship of Tasmania several times, as well as figuring prominently in the amateur championship of Australia. The golfers of the United State were looking forward to the appearance of Abe Mitchell in the American open championship at Oakmount last month, not only because of the fact that he is admittedly the best golfer in Britain at the present time, but also because they hoped to settle to their own satisfaction by their own observation the much-discussed question whether Abe Mitchell or Bobby Jones is consistently the longest and straightest hitter in the game. In view of the difference of opinion on this point it is interesting to hear what Harry Vardon has to say. Speaking of Mitchell’s driving Vardon writes:—“Mitchell is beyond all doubt, I think the best driver of a golf ball in Britain. The ease, the seeming lack of deliberately applied forcefulness with which he makes the. ball start like a bullet from a rifle and fly tremendous distances, and the certainty with which he controls its direction have never been equalled.” Vardon goes on to mention some golfers who hit the ball very hard—Mr Tolley, Mr Wethered, James Braid, Edward Ray and so on. Mitchell does not seem to hit anything like as hard as these players but he drives the ball farther than they do. Then Vardon goes on to say:—“lf he has an equal in the art that hides hard hitting and also keeps the shot straight, probably that equal is Mr Bobby Jones. Mitchell once gave me his picturesque impression of how Mr Jones drives. He does it, said Mitchell, with something of the easy grace with which an expert thrower discharges those paper streamers which are sometimes features of gala nights at clubs. And the effect is much the same; for the ball rises and rises into the air, seemingly gaining strength of flight as it progresses, just like the well-delivered paper streamer. The simile is a good one.” So even Vardon does not seem to be certain which of the two has the greater length. Unfortunately illness prevented Mitchell from going to the States and the Americans did not see him in action with their own champion. The point is still one for debate among golfers, and one on which golfers will continue to differ, but one thing clear is that Bobby Jones and Mitchell stand alone for their power consistently to hit the ball prodigious distances, without effort and with full control of its direction.

AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP THE AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP. TWEDDELL A FIRST-CLASS PLAYER. Though London papers with full reports of the British amateur championship at Hoylake are now to hand there is not much to add to the notes that have already appeared in this column. The point of most interest is that it seems to be agreed that Dr. Wm. Tweddell, of Stourbridge, is a truly great golfer. Thirty years of age, sturdily built and determined, he has ail the strokes, and throughout the championship he consistently played the best rounds. With only four left in Roger Wethered was an odds on favourite for the championship, but in the semi-finals Tweddell put Wethered out decisively 4 and 3. Tweddell started brilliantly with 4,4, 4,3, 4, and won all five holes, and thereafter he met every effort made by Wethered to recapture a hole with an effective reply. When Wethered holed a long putt Tweddell holed his too, and Wethered’s attack, which had won his matches for him in the earlier rounds, made no impression on the Stourbridge doctor. Though born in Durham of English parents, Tweddell learned his golf in Scotland, where he got his degree at St. Andrews University. He is a slow player—in fact in the earlier rounds he was often painfully slow. On the tee and through the green he would waggle and waggle interminably, and just when he appeared to be ready to hit something would catch his eye and he would start the waggle all over again. The match between Tweddell and Len Nettlefold, the young Australian champion, must- have been very nearly a record for slowness. An American following the game reckoned that "Mr. Nettlefold was not exactly a back marker in a forked-lightning contest,” so Tweddell seemed to have found his match for slowness. The pair took half an hour to play the first three holes, in which they hit 24 strokes. It took them an hour and a half to reach the turn, and an hour for the next six holes, where Tweddell won 4 and 3. The matches following, starting at intervals of quarter of an hour, were all held up and the players sat on the tees smoking cigarettes while Tweddell and Nettleford went through all their exercises. In the final, however, Tweddell was not so wearisome, and the writers are unanimous that despite his slowness he is a high class player. “There can be no doubting,” writes Mr. R. E. Howard in the Daily Mail, “the trueness and control of his swing, nor the snap and accuracy with which he hits the ball.” And again Mr. Howard refers to “his unquestionable ability to hit the shots with all the style and effect of a first-class player.” In the London Times Mr. Bernard Darwin describes his game as “powerful, precise and machine-like,” and adds that Dr. Tweddell’s name “is a very proper one to be added to the list of his illustrious predecessors. He is a worthy champion.” One regrettable thing about the championship was the lamentable failure of D. E. Landale in the final. He took no less than 90 for the first round, giving one of the worst exhibitions of golf ever seen in a championship final. Landale is a good player and he was on his own course, but nothing would go right for him. A magnificent putter, he could not even hold his end up on the greens. Tweddell was round in 76 and 8 up—winning several holes by two strokes. Landale made a better showing in the second round, but Tweddell was never really hard pressed and won 7up and 6. If Tweddell fulfills exjieet-

etions he will be heard of again, for it was generally agreed that a new star had appeared in British amateur golf—and that at a time when a new star is badly needed. THE RYDER CUP EASY WIN FOR AMERICAN PROS. Files to hand by this week’s mail show that the Ryder Cup matches were played at Worcester, Mass., on 2nd and 3rd June. The first day was devoted to the foursomes (played over 36 holes) in which the results were as follows, the names of the American professionals being given first:— Johnny Farrell and Joe Tumesa beat George Duncan and Archie Compston 8 up and 6 to play. Leo Diegel and Bill Mehlhorn lost to Aubrey Boomer and C. A. Whitcombe 7 and 5. Walter Hagen and John Golden beat Ted Ray and Fred Robson 2 and 1. Gene Saraxen and Al. Watrous beat Arthur Havers and H. C. Jolly 3 and 2. The singles were also played over 36 holes and the results were as follows: — Farrell beat Boomer, 5 and 4 Golden beat Jolly 7 and 6. Diegel beat Ray, 7 and 5. Mehlhorn beat Compston, 1 up. Hagen beat Havers, 2 and 1. Watrous beat Robson, 3 and 2. Sarasen and Whitcombe all square. Turnesa (1 down) lost to Duncan. The United States thus won 3 of the foursomes and 64 of the singles—a total of 9 i matches. Britain won one of the foursomes and of the singles—a total, of 2| matches. This gave America the> Ryder Cup by a majority of 7 matches. At Wentworth, England, last year, when the teams were ten men each side, the British professionals won all five foursomesand 8| of the singles—winning the trophy by 13| matches to Is. The open championship which followed showed clearly,. however, that the Americans did not strike, true form in the Ryder Cup. Abe Mitchell was absent- through illness and Ted Ray captained the British team, while Walter Hagen led the American “Home-breds.” GOLF. THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP at Rotorua was won by SHAW, Wellington,— with a KRO-FLITE ball. SHAW’S aggregate of 274 is the lowest ever scored in four rounds in N.Z. The Bogey, Medal and Stroke Handicap won with KRO-FLITE. This Spalding British product is the finest ball in the world. “It lasts till it’s lost.” —(Adwt.)