GOLF

Southland Times, Issue 22008, 6 May 1933, Page 14

GOLF

(By

“Cleek.”)

INVERCARGILL CLUB. May 6.—v. Queen’s Park. May 13.— Medal handicap. May 20.— Bogey handicap. May 27.— Four-ball bogey. QUEEN’S PARK CLUB. May G. — v. Invercargill Club. May 13.— Bogey handicap. May 20.— Medal handicap. Invercargill v. Queen’s Park to-day, seniors at Otatara, juniors at Queen’s Park. A strong team from the Otago Club will play Invercargill at Otatara next week-end. In the return match Invercargill v. Queen’s Park on July 1 seniors will play at Queen’s Park and juniors at Otatara, reversing the venues for today’s matches. If, as is expected, the Otago team due at Otatara next week-end includes the strongest Balmacewan players, the top matches should be well worth watching. Golf is well represented on the new Invercargill City Council. G. J. Reed, H. Ritchie, R. N. Todd, B. W. Hewat and J. A. Doig are all active playing members of the Invercargill Club, and C. B. Tapley is a past club champion. Congratulations to them all. The committee of ladies that arranged the tournament at Queen’s Park during Easter made a financial success of it and had a balance in hand of £2. This amount has been donated to the Ladies’ ’ Club. Miss O. Kay again showed her scoring ability in the first qualifying round for the Otago ladies’ championship at Balmacewan on Wednesday. Her card read:— Out 55335544 4—38 In 36452553 4—37—75 Miss Kay’s score was seven strokes better than the next best, Mrs Dodgshun’s 82. In her new book, “Golfing Memories and Methods,” Miss Joyce Wethered makes it quite clear that she has never taken either herself or her golf too seriously. “It is worth a great deal to be able to feel that our own peculiar idiosyncrasies are in reality as laughable as they are serious,” she writes. “What a merry business Jean Borotra would make of a golf championship,” adds Miss Wethered. Walter Hagen alone, of all golfers she knows, possesses Borotra’s temperament. Members of the Invercargill Club with handicaps of twenty and over were called upon to face conditions the reverse of pleasant in their medal handicap at Otatara last Saturday, and it says much for their enthusiasm that so many of them took out cards and saw the round through to the end. The course was soggy as the result of nearly eight inches of rain for the month. A drizzle of rain fell, chilled by a westerly wind. To play to handicap was a good performance under such conditions, but. several of the competitors did better. R. Curtis 91— 20—71 and R. C. Stewart 95—24 —71 tied for first place, and R. R. Binney 92—20—72 was next best. The tie will probably be decided on the scores in the May medal handicap next Saturday. On the scores it looks as if neither Curtis nor Binney will be eligible for this event again.

A lady golfer was about to commence the game. She walked into a shop and stated that her husband had told her that she would need six clubs. After a careful scrutiny of all types and brands she picked up a spoon. “Well,” she said, “this seems to be the best that I have seen; I will take six of them.”

Another story is told of a couple of very ordinary golfers who were having a really close go. At the seventeenth hole Harry’s putt came to rest about four inches from the hole and his opponent was conceding it to him when the caddie intervened. “No you don’t,” he said, “he has got to putt it out. Me and the other caddie have a bob on this match, and I am not conceding any putts.” An L.G.U. match was played by members of the Queen’s Park Ladies’ Club in ideal weather on Tuesday, although the course was very heavy. Mrs Clow with 104—17—87 had the best card in the A grade section, Mrs Willett heading the B graders with 99 —27—72. A tie resulted in the C grade between Miss Wren and Miss Thom. Next Tuesday a bogey handicap will be played. The Invercargill Ladies’ Club has been favoured with good weather during this week. On Tuesday they played a sealed hole bogey match for Mrs Corkill’s prize, the winner being Mrs H. M. Smith, 2 down. Other scores were: Mrs Tansley, 3 down; Mrs Tomlinson, 5 down; Mrs Hewat, 6 down. On Thursday the monthly medal round (L.G.U.) was played. In the silver division the best cards returned were: Mrs Tansley, 97—14 —83, and Mrs Hall-Jones, 97—10—87. In the bronze division the best were: Mrs Dunlop, 118—36—82; Mrs Dawson, 107 —19—88; Miss Lawrence, 113—24—89. The winner of the ball presented by Mrs Pottinger for the best net score was Mrs Dunlop with 82 net. The best score for the Handyside Cup for May was returned by Mrs F. W. Dixon, 90—9—81.

The play-off for the Handyside Cup by the eight members of the Invercargill Ladies' Club who qualified from last season has reached its final stages. In the first round Mrs Dixon and Mrs C. F. A. Jones won by default, while Mrs Israel beat Mrs W. Bews, 7 and 6, and Miss Lawrence beat Mrs H. M. Smith, 5 and 4. In the semi-finals Miss Lawrepce beat Mrs Israel, 3 and 2. Playing on Tuesday Mrs Dixon and Mrs Jones had a hard fight. Mrs Jones was dormy 3 at the Nest, but she missed a putt for a half which would have given hei' the match. Mrs Dixon took full advantage of the mistake and won the last three holes, squaring the match. Playing again on Thursday, Mrs Jones was dormy 5. Again Mrs Dixon put up a good fight, Mrs Jones winning by 2 and 1. The final be-

tween Miss Lawrence (24) and Mrs Jones (13) should prove interesting as they are both playing well down to their handicaps. The committee of the Invercargill Ladies’ Club is hoping that the fine weather will continue for the next few weeks and that the course will have dried up well for the championship. The first round is to be played on Thursday, May 25, and the second qualifying round on Tuesday May 30. This year there are to be three grades —A grade, consisting of those with handicaps of 18 and under, B grade, 19 to 36, and C grade, those who have not yet earned a handicap. By playing two strokes with the wrong ball in the medal match at the Park last Saturday, an A grade player had the bad luck to disqualify himself when showing good form. He was round in 82 and his net 70 would have been handy for the aggregate competition. He played his tee shot at the short second just after two women had walked off the green and gone out of the gate nearby? He was just to the right of the green, and proceeded to play his second with what he took to be his ball. On the green he discovered it was the wrong ball, but, thinking one of the women had played his in mistake, he played his third, which found the cup. Then he decided to have another look for his own ball, and found it. He played it and also got a three. The player himself considered that he had earned disqualification, but this was doubted by a club official. The player’s view, however, is the correct one, as, under the Rules of Golf, there is no escape from disqualification if two consecutive strokes are played with the wrong ball in a stroke competition. Although the weather was anything but favourable last Saturday, a light rain falling most of the afternoon accompanied by a fairly strong southwest breeze, over 70 players took part in the first official medal match at Queen’s Park, this fixture also marking the beginning of the ringer competition. A number of those who were prominent in the second round of the eclectic match the previous week slipped a few strokes on Saturday, while, others showed improved form. G. Robertson, making his first appearance as an A grader through the decision of the committee to increase the limit in that grade to 16, had a fine round of 82, his net 66 giving him a lead of one stroke from J. C. Kirkland, who was also on the 16 mark. J. McCreary had the best gross score of the day, 81, but was outdistanced by the longer handicap men. In the B grade R. T Barnett was the winner with a net 67. He had an excellent round of 85, during which he made mistakes and brought off some fine recoveries. G. R. Milward and N. Earl were also round under 90, the former’s handicap of 20 giving him second place by a stroke. Details of the leading cards are as follows: —

_r. intu - C. Rice 98—24—74 The following handicap reductions were made following the medal coinpetition at the Park last Saturday: R. T. Barnett, 18 to 16; G. Robertson, 16 to 14; J. C. Kirkland, 16 to 14; G. R. Milward, 20 to 19; C. B. Mathewson, 24 to 23; W. Kerse, 24 to 22. Barnett will therefore figure among the A grade players in future. While in U.S.A, recently Miss Diana Fishwick gave it as her opinion that women- golfers could never be as good as men. Per contra Miss Maureen Orcutt, one of America’s foremost women players, declared that Bobby Jones was'the only man she felt she could not meet on equal terms. Miss Orcutt would probably beat many men level, good players at that, but against the best she would have no chance at all. Bobby Jones once played the better ball of Miss Orcutt and Mrs Glcnna Collett Vare at Long Island, and though he was not at his best had no difficulty in beating them. Nor is it simply a matter of length from the tee. There have been several approaching and putting matches between men and women in which length was not called for, and the men have always had the better of it. It is generally agreed that Miss Joyce Wethered is the only woman who could hold her own against first class amateurs. To exceptional length from the tee she adds unequalled accuracy in shots to the flag and work on the green. Even Miss Wethered, however, would make no showing in the British and American open championships against the world's best men. The old vexed question of how to deal with the notorious evasion of the amateur definition in golf has cropped up again. “Golf Illustrated,” one of the leading British journals, makes an appeal alike to manufacturercs, hoteliers, shipping companies, tailors, travel agencies, advertising agents, professional’ journals, and newspaper proprietors “to refrain from tempting the amateur, who, by reason of his circumstances, may be more liable than his fellows to fall from grace.” The article goes on: “Scandals do exist, and in almost every sport the absurdities of so-called amateur status are doing untold harm. Golf and lawn tennis provide the most glaring examples. Apart from the winning of a golf championship (which is said by the present holder of a British title to be worth £10,000) any international golfer can make £3OO to £4OO a year from rebates at hotels and sports houses, advertisers, etc.” The writer of the article declares that he knows personally “one English ex-champion who is dressed for nothing by a tailor in order to popularize a particular cut of plus fours!” The writer continues, At present newspapers and magazines accept articles from individuals because of their skill at a particular game. That happens in the case of ‘Golf Illustrated. We ‘confess it. Although we are a party to it for competitive reasons we do not applaud it and would like to see it at an end.”

A writer in Sydney Referee has been figuring out some golf statistics. The growth of golf in Australia in less than a decade has been phenomenal, (he says). It is computed that there are 21,000 golfers in New South' Wales, as many in Victoria, and as many again in Tasmania, Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia, or 63,000 in all. This means the circulation of a great deal of money. On the assumption that a bag and set of clubs cost £lO, there is an initial expenditure of £630,000. If the kit is replenished by only one stick each year, the annual bill amounts to £94,500. Supposing that each player buys but one ball a week, the annual expenditure for balls is £491,400. The days have gone by when any sort of an old suit is considered good enough for golf. At Rose Bay once, when golfers generally were not so apparelled as they are to-day, the turn-out of one. particular player aroused the ire of his partner, who exclaimed, “You are a disgrace to yourself, a disgrace to your wife, and yes, sir, a disgrace to humanity!” That reproach is not heard to-day.A rig-out (plus fours or long trousers, coat, pullover, shirt, undervest, stockings, and shoes) will cost at least £6 10/-. This runs into £409,500. There

is probably more money invested in golf than in any other game and the annual “turnover” of the game maintains huge industries. Walter Hagen is regarded as the shortest driver in the American Ryder Cup team. Still, he hits a long ball, compared with our standards, as he disclosed when he visited the Commonwealth with Joe Kirkwood. In an exhibition match in which Harry Hattersley also figured, Hagen was consistently outdriven, although by only a few yards, by Australia’s big hitter. At one stage of the game he confided to Hattersley that he could hit a long way farther than he was doing if he cared to do it. But he added, “I am endeavouring to play out here just as if I was in a British open championship. In that event you take no risks if you are to win. You are hitting altogether too hard. I will hit like you at the next hole and we will see what will happen.” Hagen at the next hole watched Hattersley drive. The Australian hit a beauty. Hagen followed and hit the ball quite 40 yards longer. Apparently he did not alter his swing in the slightest degree, but he told Hattersley that he had pressed as hard as he knew how and it was a risk he would not think of taking in a big event. That caution on the part of Hagen no doubt explains why he is the shortest driver in the American team. Hagen is 41. When he was half that age he used to hit all he knew.

The first move in the preparations for the Ryder Cup match with the American professional golfers, which is to be played at Southport in the' last week of June, is the nomination of 22’British players for the team. Only 10 and two reserves will finally be chosen, and it is possible that others will be brought in according to the form shown in the tournaments. An innovation is the decision to appoint a non-playing captain. Both George Duncan, who was the captain when the match was last played in England, and Ted Ray have been suggested for the position. Duncan is one of the nominated players, and there will be a strong desire to pick him, if his form warrants it, in order that he may be set to play Walter Hagen. While the American captain has ridden almost rough shod over the players of Britain, he has never been able to dominate Duncan. In fact, Duncan has usually defeated him most decisively. Ray led the English team in 1927 in America, and he would make a good captain. Another suggestion is to call on one of the veterans, and, if this is done, the choice may be J. H. Taylor. How British golf is changing is indicated by the nominations. Of the elderly players only Duncan, Mitchell, Robson and Compston have been included in the list. They are over 40 years of age, and they have intimated that they arc willing to stand down in favour of younger men. But it is believed that both Mitchell and Compston are sure to be called upon. C. S. Denny, who is 24, is the youngest of the nominees, but A. H. Padgham, Bert Hodgson, A. J. Lacey, S. Easterbrook, and E. W. H. Kenyon are under 30. Among the others provisionally picked are Percy Alliss, who since leaving Berlin for a post in London is once more eligible to take part in the match, Arthur Havers, who hunted Gene Sarazen home in last season’s Open Championship, Herbert Jolly and the brothers Charles and Reginald Whitcombe. KIRKWOOD'S GREAT VICTORY. BREAKS EIGHT YEAR RECORD. WINS NORTH AND SOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP. At the end of March the cables reported the brilliant win of J. H. Kirkwood, ex-Australian and New Zealand open champion, in the North and South open championship at Pinehurst, North Carolina. American files now to hand give full particulars. The North and South open championship is one of the most important events of the golfing year- in U.S.A. Established over thirty years ago, it invariably attracts a representative championship field, and its list of winners includes practically all of America’s leading professionals. This year victory fell to J. H. Kirkwood, by far the greatest golfer Australia has yet produced, and Kirkwood won by a clear margin of five strokes. In doing so he bettered by four strokes the previous best score for the championship—2Bl by Macdonald Smith in 1925. The leading scores this year were:

Kirkwood’s win, which was worth 1200 dollars to him, was his first since his victory in the Southeastern championship at Augusta in 1932, but he has rarely been out of the first eight or ten in the big events, with scores that no one playing golf in Australia or New Zealand at the present time can approach. It transpires that for two months before the North and South event Kirkwood had given up trick shots and trick-shot exhibitions. In the championship he did not essay intentional pulls or slices, but played as straight as he could and was never off the line with his wooden clubs and was seldom bunkered. The probability is that if Kirkwood abandoned his trickshot displays and devoted himself to straight golf, as distinguished from stunt golf, he would win oftener, but in these times he is bound to consider whether it would pay him to refuse the remunerative engagements which are so freely offered to him. His gorgeous opening rounds of 68 and 67 put Kirkwood in a commanding position, and when he put on a 70 in the third round he had a clear lead of seven strokes from the next best competitor. He played the last round before one of the largest “galleries” ever seen at the tournament. He opened not too promisingly with two fives, missing a putt of twelve inches at the second hole, and then played four holes in par figures. At the seventh and eighth he again dropped a stroke at each hole to par and a par four at the ninth made him 40 out —four over par. He recovered almost at once with “birdie” threes at the 10th, 11th and 12th, played the next three holes in par figures and landed another “birdie” at the sixteenth. Two more par fours and he finished the second half in 32 for a score of 72 and a grand total o£ 277. Horton Smith, who was playing with him, had the same score for the fourth round, but Walter Hagen, the third member of the party (the field played in threes), took 75.

It will be noted that Gene Sarazen, British and American open champion, was well down the list, but his 293 earned him 25 dollars. Hagen was out of the money.

Worth commenting upon is the high place in the list taken by Geo. T. Dunlap, one of America’s foremost amateurs and a member of her 1932 Walker Cup team. Dunlap in the Walker Cup singles beat Eric Mcßuvie 10 up and 9 to play, turning on a blizzard of “birdies” that left Mcßuvie helpless. Subsequently Mcßuvie was the only member of the British Walker Cup team to qualify for the American amateur championship. It is characteristic of the best American amateurs that they can get the scores in stroke competitions as well as play brilliant match games, and Dunlap’s sixth position in the field at Pinehurst, ahead of some of America’s foremost professionals, was further evidence of the strength of amateur golf in U.S.A.

A Grade. G. Robertson 82—16—63 J. C. Kirkland 83—16—67 J. McCreary 81—10—71 J. W. Colquhoun 87—16—71 G. E. Glennie 84—12—72 J. A. Thom 84—11—73 T. H. Mills 87—14—73 H. Edginton 88—15—73 R. Miller 88—15—73 A. C. Steele 86—12—74 B Grade. R. T. Barnett 85—18—67 G. R. Milward 89—20—69 N. Earl 89—19—70 J. L. Duncan 91—20—71 J. F. Miller 93—21—72 W. , Kerse 96—24—72 H. Chapman 92—19—73 D. W. Reed 93—20—73 J. E. Stevens 97—23—74 P. Rice 98—24—74

J. H. Kirkwood 68 67 70 72—277 H. Cooper 72 72 70 68—282 Horton Smith 77 69 67 72—285 Craig Wood 68 71 73 73—285 H. Picard 71 72 69 74—286 Geo. T. Dunlap 74 75 69 69—287 T. Manero 71 72 75 70—288 Tom Armour 72 73 72 71—288 J. Golden 71 74 73 71—289 John Farrell 75 72 69 74—290 Denny Shute 70 79 71 71—291 Gene Sarazen 75 71 75 72—293 Walter Hagen 72 74 75 75—296