GOLF

Southland Times, Issue 22188, 2 December 1933, Page 15

GOLF

(By

“Clock.”)

The postponed medal handicap will be played at Otatara this afternoon. In the bogey handicap played at Otatara last Saturday J. S. Dick and C. Campbell tied with 3 up and divided the half dozen balls provided by Mr E. E. Broad as a special prize. The stroke competition at Otatara this afternoon will be for a special prize donated by Mr P. P. Wimsett. The encouragement given to summer golf by donors of prizes is much appreciated by the competitors. A medal competition was held at Queen's Park last Saturday, the best card returned being D. W. Reed’s 8719 —63. The conditions were favourable, but the scores generally were not as good as usual.

Accounts in connection with the exhibition match at Otatara have not been finalized but the contribution to the “Kay-Gaisford Fund” will exceed £30 —a very satisfactory result.

The exhibition match at Otatara was the first golf “show” on a large scale held in Invercargill and the spectators were inclined at times to press in too closely on the players and also to crowd on the greens. They very quickly complied with a request to give the players a little more elbow room and to keep off the greens. The request was conveyed through Mr C. J. Colley, whose introduction of the players at the first tee and reports on the state of the match after each hole were greatly appreciated. The suggestion has been made that if they go to England Miss Kay and Miss Gaisford should return by U.S.A, and play in the women’s championship there. It is an excellent idea and if funds permit should receive favourable consideration.

The holders of the “Cock o’ the Walk” badges at Otatara, A. G. Seddon and N. L. Watson, dealt with a challenge from C. A. Masters and G. C. Broughton during the week. “Dealt with” is the appropriate term since the holders were not merely successful but chased the challengers off the course to the tune of 7 and 6. The weather was ideal on Tuesday evening when members at the Queen’s Park ladies’ club played a flag match. Mrs Miller won in the senior division by carrying the flag to the 18th green, and Mrs Colquhoun planted the junior flag down the 18th fairway, where it remained.

An interesting ferns match was played at Queen’s Park last Saturday, the holders,F. J. Perham and T. H. Mills, retaining the trophies not because they beat the challengers, but because the latter could not beat them. T. J. Gosling and H. Edginton were dormy two and appeared to have the game safe. Mills, however, made it dormy one with a two at the 17th and Perham squared the match with a birdie 3 at the 18th. Additional results in the singles knock-out competition at Queen's Park are as follows:—First round, G. McQuarrie beat F. J. Perham, 2 and 1: G. Robertson beat H. Chapman, 4 and 3; H. R. Mottram beat J. C. Kirkland, 3 and 2: Second round, H. McCulloch beat K. F. Jones, 6 and 5: L. B. Smith beat M. Daly, 8 and 7; F. H. Hughes beat E. Halder, 7 and 6; S. C. Smith beat S. Blomfield, 4 and 2; D. Keane beat G. R. Milward, 1 up at the 21st: J. R. Woods beat A. Wilson, 6 and 4: J. A. Thom beat O. Rice, 2 up; T. H. Mills beat H. R. Mottram, 1 up.

Basil J. Smith jun. made his bow as a professional to Southland golfers in the exhibition match at Otatara and put the seal on his certificate as a golfer of class. His fine, free hitting delighted the spectators. Smith swings the clubhead through a wide arc with great power but always under control, and in the short game has a delicate sure touch. High lights of his game were a No. 3 iron to the green at the Rushes, and mashie-niblick shots to the pin at the 17th and 18th. Smith was a little anxious at the start (which was not surprising under the circumstances) but at the fifth had himself in hand and from that point was home in one under fours. For the last nine holes his card showed seven fours and two threes. Had he been getting some of the long putts down several of the fours would have been threes.

According to Australian papers it seems fairly well assured that a team of British amateur golfers will visit Australia next year. It is stated that Victoria and New South Wales will meet the visitors on an international basis. It is expected that the team will also visit the other states, playing one-day matches only. The Australian Golf Union has already fixed 2/6 as the admission charge for all matches, and any loss that may occur will be made up by the various states. Commenting on the fact that the Prince of Wales, after watching the American Ryder Cup golfers play a round, invited Walter Hagen to have a drink with him at the club bar, a Nevz York paper states: “Without any doubt the Haig quaffed his brew by royal grant with no more agitation than is his wont when performing in similar fishion with gentlemen in his own country. And we venture to express the belief that Hagen spilled not a drop of it on his waistcoat in embarrassment and we are positive that he did not wipe his mouth with his coat sleeve.” The Otago Club's championship has now been reduced to four, the survivors of the second round. They are T. B. Ferguson, A. G. Sime, W. G. Wight and K. Ross. Ferguson retained his place by defeating the N.Z. amateur champion, B. V. Wright, 2 and 1. Ferguson, who headed the qualifying rounds, was in his best form against Wright and his best form is very good indeed. Sime had a prolonged struggle with J. A. Scouler, the holder of the championship. Sime had a lead of five holes at one stage, but Scouler stuck at it doggedly and at the 18th the match was square. Sime holed a putt of five or six yards to win at the 19th. J. R. Laidlaw did not strike his game against W. G. Wight, always a solid opponent, and a win 6 and 5 put Wight into the semi-finals. K. Ross won comfortably 4 and 3 against A. C. Begg. In the semi-finals Ferguson meets Sime and Wight plays Ross. The event of the week was, of course, the exhibition match at Otatara in which Miss Oliver Kay, N.Z. and Australian champion, Mr B. V. Wright, N.Z. amateur champion, Dr K. Ross, N.Z. Kirk-Windeyer Cup player, and Basil J. Smith jun., N.Z. foursomes champion and professional to the Invercargill Club, gave a display of golf which delighted a “gallery” that came fully up to the expectations of the committee. Just how many spectators there were is a matter of estimate, and estimates differ. Probably the number was between 350 and 400, and a particularly pleasing feature was the substantial proportion of country golfers among the followers. Players from Riverton, Ohai, Otautau, Winton, Mataura and Gore were there, and other country clubs may have been represented also. All who attended were amply rewarded. The golf throughout was first-class, and, as it happened, the match went in a way that kept the interest of spectators keyed up. Of the first eleven holes only three were halved. Ross and Wright won the first hole but the match was square at the third; they won the fourrth and the match was square again at the sixth. They won the eighth and lost the ninth; won the tenth and lost the eleventh. Then followed two halves before Miss Kay and B. J. Smith got the lead for the first time at the 14th (Schoolhouse). The last four holes were halved. With the lead taken so early, and then so I quickly lost and regained interest never I flagged. For the great majority of the

spectators the afternoon went too quickly and the 18th hole was reached too soon.

The .Invercargill ladies spent a very pleasant day on the links on Thursday last, when the club closed for the season. In the morning a four-ball bogey match was played while the afternoon was spent in competitions. The winners in the four-ball were Mrs Dawson and Miss Lawrence, 4 up, the runnersup being Mrs Pottinger and Mrs C. F. A. Jones, 1 up. The winner of the driving competition was Miss P. Pilcher, of the nutting, Mrs C. F. A. Jones and of the approaching and putting, Mrs Tansley. Before presenting the prizes for the season the president, Mrs Gilmour, welcomed the honorary members present and expressed the committee's gratifications at the success which had attended the season just concluded, despite occasional bad weather. She also remarked on the fine state of the links, reminding members that scores could be returned during the summer. She also spoke of the interest of the members of the Ladies' Club in the intended visit of Misses Kay and Gaisford to England, and of their gratitude to the members of the men’s committee for their help in raising money towards the project as well as for the enjoyment provided by the excellent match staged recently for that purpose. Extra prizes not reported during the season are as follows:— Senior extra-day ringer, Mrs Sturman; junior extra-day ringer, Miss Lawrence; lowest gross score during the season, Miss Pilcher (85); Massey Shield, Miss Lawrence; greatest reduction on handicap, Miss E. L. Jones (36 to 27). Members present besides those taking part in the match were:— Mesdames Hazlett, Abbey-Jones. T. F. Macdonald, Hewat, Reid, Binncy, Chilwell, Frank Webb and Miss Hazlett.

Leo Dicgel is, unquestionably, the most highly strung, and the most temperamental of the great golfers (says a writer in the Sporting and Dramatic News). At one moment he is exultant, living in the skies, and the next he is floundering in the depths of despair. The latter was his state at St. Andrews, where he missed the shortest of short putts on each of the 17th and 18th greens to win the championship. Diegel is always in a terrific hurry, fairly galloping round the course. Imagine his dismay, therefore, when a tactless committee in the United States championship paired him with Cyril Walker, the slowest player who ever stepped on to the links. "I could feel myself growing older between the shots,” said Diegel. The climax came at the sixteenth hole, whore Walker tramped backwards and forwards reconnoitering the ground. Then he had a few practice swings with different iron clubs and finally hoisted a handkerchief to test the direction and the strength of the wind. Unable to stand it any longer, Diegel stretched himself full length on the ground, saying to his caddie, “Wake me up when it is all over.”

Many fine shots were played in the exhibition match at Otatara. The reference is not to the booming drives and accurate seconds that were the order of the day; these are expected as a matter of course from players rated at plus. What is in mind is the way difficulties were handled when they arose. Take B. V. Wright’s second at Long Tom. His drive was over the ridge but the ball rested on a pronounced slope and gave him what the average golfer would call “a nasty hanging lie.” As if the ball was teed up Wright connected with a full brassie, and had the fairway been flat would certainly have got the green, so hard and so straight was the ball hit. Or take B. J. Smith's shot from the bunker at the Clubhouse. His ball lay under the back ledge of the bunker. He first, of all tried a stance with one foot out of the bunker, but that wouldn’t work and there was nothing for it but to stand with both feet together close against the side of the bunker. From that position the clubhead was perforce brought down on the ball vertically. Out flew the ball in a shower of sand and Smith holed a good putt for his four. Smith's pitch over the mound to the right of the Knolls green was also a cleverly executed shot. Ross’s beautifully struck chip at the Bth was another that comes to mind, and at the 18th the same player very nearly provided the spectacular touch which golf "galleries” like so much. Ross put his second over the mound at the back of the green. He pitched back with as perfect a stroke as even a plus man could wish for, missing the hole by a whisker. It would have been a great ending had he holed out for a three to square the match On the greens the honours were with the lady. The greens were not easy—weather conditions had made them what the Scots call “kittle.” They were true enough, but tricky as to pace. All the men failed at putts they should have got. Miss Kay missed a yarder on the first green but after that she sank everything that could reasonably be called sinkable, and some that her opponents might have thought unreasonably long.