GOLF

Southland Times, Issue 21431, 27 June 1931, Page 14

GOLF

(By

“Cleek.”)

OTATARA. June 27 —Four Ball bogey handicap. QUEEN’S PARK. June 27—First Rd. Holloway Shield matches. Four-ball bogey, A and B grade partners, at Otatara this afternoon. Ladies’ sealed hole match on the Park on Monday. , L.G.U. match at Otatara on Thursday next. Ladies’ match Invercargill v. Queen’s Park Clubs on the Park next Wednesday. The usual L.G.U. match is set down for decision at Otatara on Thursday next. Laing Shield match Tuatapere v. Queen’s Park on the Park to-day. B and C grade Queen’s Park players who desire to play at Otatara next Saturday in the return inter-club match are requested to enter their names on the list in the club-house. Park players who qualified in the Holloway Shield competition will be engaged in the first round of matches this afternoon.The return match Invercargill v. Queen’s Park will be played next Saturday, seniors on the Park course, juniors at Otatara. Both Invercargill Clubs will begin the principal event of the season next month—the club championships. Both at the Park and at Otatara the first qualifying rounds will be played on July 11. Under the new system of handicapping in New South Wales J. Hattersley, amateur champion of Australia, is rated at 2. Eric Apperly, Australian amateur champion in 1920 and several times N.S.W. champion, is also on the 2 mark. Under the ordinary system of club handicapping both would be plus 3 or plus 4. The Ryder Cup matches, British professionals v. American professionals, began yesterday and will be finished to-day at Columbus, Ohio. The open championship of the United States follows at Toledo, Ohio, on 2nd, 3rd and 4th July, and Bobby Jones, who holds the championship, will be among the spectators. Advice has been received that the scratch score of 74 for Queen's Park has been approved by the New Zealand Golf Council.

The handicaps on the Park are to be based as follows: 4 to 9 on 74; 10 to 15 on 73; 16 upwards on 72. W. Peters, a member of the Queen's Park Club, has had his handicap reduced from 20 to 19.

Leonard G. Crawley, new English amateur golf champion, is one of the most versatile of athletes. He is a Cambridge triple Blue and four or five years ago played cricket, golf and rackets for the university. The South African Golf Union recently asked the following question of the Rules of Golf Committee, St. Andrews: “Is it legal to stand at the hole and raise, and continue to hold, the flag-stick in the air at a blind hole so that the player may see the flag when making his approach shot?” “When playing from a part of the course front which the hole cannot be seen a player is entitled to have the flag held up at the hole while he plays his stroke,” was the ruling of the High Court of Golf. Although a slight easterly wind Was in evidence on Thursday, conditions were not unpleasant for the playing at Otatara of a ladies’ sealed hole match. The course was in very good order. The match, which was for a prize presented by Mrs T. F. Macdonald, was won by Mrs Broad with a score of 39J net. Mrs Tomlinson took second place with 40J net and reduced her handicap by one stroke.

Before the British women’s open championship Miss Enid Wilson’s father, Who is a medical officer in the Ministry of Health, promised her a reward if she could win. Miss Wilson duly won and had the choice of a motor car or all expenses for a trip to the United States and Canada to compete in the championships of those countries. Like a good golfer she chose the trip to Canada i®id U.S.A, with the opportunity of measuring herself against the best American players on their own courses. IL A. Black, N.Z. amateur champion, has done exceedingly well in the amateur championship of N.S.W. He was one of the last four, and to reach the semi-finals he beat some'strong players. C. H. Fawcett, the holder of the title, whom Black beat in the first round, is one of the soundest golfers in Australia, and in beating him Black at onte established his footing in the front rank. In the semi-finals Eric Apperly beat Black to the tune of 8 up and 7 to go, but Apperly is a great match player and an old campaigner, and Black had to be on the top of his game to make a match of it. Aa it happened the N.Z. champion was not in his best form and showed weakness on the greens, where, in earlier matches, he had been very sound and often brilliant. Black did not win, but he went far enough to .uphold the prestige of N.Z. golf and justify his visit to “the other side.” The result of the final between Apperly and Ferrier will probably be among the sporting cables elsewhere in this issue. Apperly, as has already been said, is a hard man to beat at any time, but Ferrier has done it before. He is a in his teens, the son of the secretary of the'Mahly Golf Club, Sydney. He was mentioned in this column some months ago as a boy to be watched, for he has some brilliant performances to his credit, he is very consistent, and some golfers in Australia well justified to express an opinion believe that he may turn out to be as good as Kirkwood was at his best. It may not be Ferrier’s day yet, but he is

marked as a prnbuble winner of the biggest prizes Australia has to offer—the open and amateur championships of the Commonwealth.

This item is from a Christchurch paper: —Christchurch has several claims to fame, especially in sporting and athletic circles, and not the least of these is the great popularity here of the game of golf. The Rbj'al and Ancient Game is Coming into its own all over the World, and in New Zealand has gained many devotees over the last decade; but nowhere in the Dominion are there so many actual players as in Christchurch, nor does any other city offer the visiting golfer such variety of play. Nearly 3,000,000 people play golf in America. In the United States there are 5856 standard golf courses and 13,000 miniature courses. During 1930 golf players increased by 20 per cent., although the increase in number of clubs was lower than in 1929. New York has 493 standard courses, Illinois 401, California 325, Texas 323, and Michigan 277. In 1930 25,000,000 golf balls and 3,300,000 clubs were sold. On clubs, balls, bags, etc., America spent nearly £4,000,000 during the year. The total value of the 58a6 golf clubs is estimated at Upwards of £180,000,000. The cost of play on good courses is very heavy. Good lies mean money everywhere, but the rapid rise of clubs in America means that clubs tend to become expensive in a very few years indeed. An interesting and knotty point of golf law has arisen over a match played at ft Christchurch club recently, and the New Zealand Golf Council, representative in New Zealand of the Royal and Ancient Club, St. Andrews, has been called upon for a ruling (reports the Christchurch Sun). The match finished in the dark, and on the putting green a light was produced to show where the hole was. The point hinges on whether the light was held on the hole or behind it. If it were held on the hole there could be no complaint, but apparently it was held behind it, thus giving a line to the hole, which is against the rules. The position is complicated by the fact that according to the players it was not a match that was Used, but a cigarettelighter, and there is ■ no mention in the Rules of Golf of the uses to which a cigar-ette-lighter may or may not be put! The club concerned gave its decision against the players, but the matter is now being referred by the players to a higher court. The Queen’s Park ladies participating on Wednesday in the match with a team from the Wyndham Ladies’ Club were unanimous' in their verdict that the afternoon was the most enjpyable one they had had on the Park for a very long time. The visitors, too, expressed themselves as delighted with their trip and were hopeful of playing another match before the season ends. Although having to submit to a severe trouncing at the hands of a Riverton team on Wednesday, the members of the Queen’s Park Club who visited the seaside course returned home full of praise for the manner, in which the Riverton men had entertained them. In addition to a course surprisingly dry after so much rain the previous day, the weather was perfect, bright and warm, with an entire absence of wind. In the circumstances the golf could not be anything but enjoyable and so it proved. The hospitality of the club is proverbial and this occasion was no exception to the rule. Mem bers of the Ladies’ Club provided a. most acceptable afternoon tea and the visitors were not slow to express their appreciation in no uncertain terms prior to embarkation for the return journey to town. As to the result of the match it may be stated that the local men Won nine games out of'the twelve and halved another. The Queen’s Park players were, however, not one whit concerned. As the leader remarked ■as he entered the pavilion and .was informed of the state of the games: “Well, whoa worrying? We came out for a game and a great time we've had.” a remark that was endorsed by several “Hear, hears, from assembled clubmates.

Although the later part of Monday afternoon turned out Wet and blustery the majority of the competitors in the ladies flag match on Queen’s Park had concluded their round before matters became too unpleasant. The winner was Mrs Miller, who carried the flag to the 19th green, thereby reducing her handicap .by four strokes. Miss S. Pope played very well to gain and reduce her handicap by four. She just failed to reach the flag, duffing her last, stroke. In view of the excellent, showing by the competitors in the first qualifying round of the Holloway Shield, played on Queen’s Park last Saturday week, it Was predicted that 150 would be necessary to qualify. Last Saturday’s play proved that this estimate was very little short of the mark, in fact 154 was needed to gain the sixteenth place. Considering that several of the greens had not thawed after Friday night’s frost, the scores were, on the whole, quite good. The outstanding performance of the day was that of A. Thom, whose round of 75 represented really good golf under the conditions ruling. Through the green he was steady without being anything wonderful, but on the greens he produced the fireworks with a vengeance. His work in this department was superb. On 11 greens he required only one putt and these were not short ones by any means, ranging from five to ten feet or so. And they never looked like staying out. It was wonderful work on greens that presented, ill many cases, a Surface like cast iron. 11. Semmens, who wrote “finis” to the scores of the competitors the previous Saturday, with a net 67, dropped five strokes on his first round, but still had enough in reserve to take second place, one stroke behind Thom. B. Hilton was another stroke away in third place. Following are the aggregate scores of those who enter upon the match-play stage of the competition today: A. Thom 143, 11. Semmens 144, B. Hilton 145, G. Tapper 148, G. Robertson 149, E. Hughes 149, A. H. Nicholson 150, A. Wilson 151, D. Davis 151, A. J. Shaw 152, W. Gellately 152, W. Peters 152, R. A. Brown 154, R. T. Barnett 154, J. Strettell 154, H. P. Fougere 154.

While it is realized that playing the matches in fours on the Park reduces the amount of holding-up considerably, there appears to be a growing feeling among members that this method of procedure is not in the best interests of good golf. Certainly it makes for a more sociable game, but this leads to the inevitable barracking and in many cases gratuitous coaching. Then there is a great difference in the time it takes fours to get round as compared with pairs. By four o’clock on Saturday the air had become decidedly chilly and many players found themselves too cold to do themselves justice. And last, but not least, there was the waiting for the others from tee to hole and with a steady drop in the temperature there was corresponding rise in tempers. Taken all round it looks as if the committee will have to evolve another scheme for handling the large fields. What about a member of the Match Committee pairing and despatching the players to -respective tees as soon as they arrive ? The first qualifying rounds for the Roxburgh Club’s championship were played on Saturday last. Though the sun was shining it was a very cold day and a biting wind tested the players severely. It' was not surprising, therefore, to find scores on the high side when the cards were handed in, .and it may be mentioned, as showing the keenness of the competitors, that practically all of them put in Cards. The best scores for the seniors were:—N. Sandes, 85; D. J. Simpson, 89; A. Scolon, 92; A. Lamb, 94; J. Broderick, 97; F. Laloli, ( 105; F. A. Laloli, 109; G. Jeffery, 110. Juniors: — Bruce Gilmour, 102; F. Dingwall, 103; K. Wright, 103; J. B.- Gilmour, 104; Jack Jeffrey, 106; T. T. Sandes 106. Ladies:— Mrs F. A. Laloli, 96; Mrs J. George, 105; Mrs J. R. Gilmour, 108; Mrs J. Uren, 110; Miss Howell, 114; Mrs A. Wilson, 117. The handicap was won by K. Wright, a firstyear player, whose card was 103—30—73. Bruce Gilmour, who had the best score among the juniors, is a schoolboy 15 years of age, and has the makings of a good playfer. Besides having the best gross score for the ladies, Mrs F. A. Laloli won the handicap event with 96—16—80. The Roxburgh Club aims to have the Club championship concluded before the annual Goldfields tournament, which is so popular a fixture.

The weather has treated golfers no more Bcurvily than the rest of Wellington, but they are rather tired of soggy fairways and puddled greens (writes “C'hipshOt” in the Wellington Post). Teeing Up is Only a makeshift. It is not golf, and it is far too often resorted to. There are pieces of fairway that will never make winter golfing possible, but ■ teeing up should be restricted to only such places, and not allowed on the entire course, except, of course, where thefe is a special reason for saving the turf for some important fixture. To publish scores which knock bogey all askew merely because the ball Was teed Up for every Second shot right round the course is misleading. It is also bad for the good golfer, who sooner or later will find himself, with all at stake in an important fixture, during, say, a three-days’ rain, without the ability to get the ball Up with his brassin or iron. Ail that “Ohipshot” says is quite true, and yet Green Committees are fully justified in certain circumstances in requiring players to tee up through the green. Fcrtiinately there has been no occasion, so far, to put such a rule into force on Invercargill courses. The annual inter-club matches between the Christchurch and Otago Clubs for the Campbell-Hosking Shield (singles) and Hanmer Shield (foursomes), were played at Shirley last week-end, when both Shields wete won by the Christchurch Club. Scores were :— CAMPBELL-HOSKING SHIELD. OTAGO. ’ CHRISTCHURCH. K. Ross 0 R. T. Tosswill 1 W. G. Wight 0 R. A. Wilson 1 J. Spence . 0 A. R. Blank 1 J. A. Scouler 0 C. A. Seymour 1 E. A. Reed 4 R. C. Abernethy J G. Barnett 1 E. J. Pumphrey 0 J. G. Dick i H. W. Macfarlanc •> J. R. Laidlaw 0 Sir Cyril Ward 1 J. H. McDougall 0 W. D. Wood 1 2 . 7 HANMER SHIELD. - jtu Otago names mentioned first. K. Ross and W. G. Wight lost to R. T. Tosswill and R. A. Wilson 2 up. J. Spence and J. A. Scouler lost Io A. R. Blank and C. A. Seymour-4 up. G. Barnett and E. A. Reed beat R. C. Abernethy and E. J. Pumphrey 1 up. J. G. Dick and J. R. Laidlaw lost to 11. W. Macfarlanc and Sir Cyril Ward 2 up. Totals —Otago 1, Christchurch 8. The advantage that a team has playing on its own course was demonstrated again in this match. Otago sent a good team up —it was stated at the dinner to the two teams that it was the strongest team that had eVer left Otago—but the Christchurch men scored an easy win in both fixtures. Otago won both shields last year on the Balmacewan course. Though beaten in his match with R. T. Tosswill, Dr. K. Ross, the Otago crack, showed that he is still a force to be reckoned with, his score for the 18 holes being 75. He was 2 up at Farthest South, but after that Tosswill played very consistent golf to win 1 up. R. A. Wilson had a good win over W. G. Wight, 6 and 5, and A. R. Blank accounted for J. Spence 4 and 3. G. Barnett was this only Otago man to notch a win in the singles.