GOLF

Southland Times, Issue 22487, 24 November 1934, Page 15

GOLF

“Cleek.”)

(By ‘

A one-club match will be played at Otatara this afternoon .for a trophy donated by Mr E. Russell. The competition will be restricted to the first nine holes of the course and competitors will be allowed precisely half handicap. The big Centenary tournament finishes in Melbourne to-day with the final of the professional championship. The performance of the New Zealand professionals in the Melbourne tournament was disappointing. The scores of E. S. Douglas and J. Lambie in the first two rounds were not good enough to qualify them to play the last two. A. J. Shaw and J. Watt played the four rounds but finished well down the list arid neither qualified for the professional championship. After an enforced spell owing to severe leg injuries received in an accident last Christmas Eve, F. H. Hughes, a former champion of the Queen’s Park Club, is playing again and is showing surprisingly good form. His first full round since his accident was played a fortnight ago when he did an 83, following this last Saturday with 80. Starting at No. 6 Hughes was only two over bogey after holing out at No. 18, but from No. 1 to No. 5 the strokes began to pile up and he just missed getting into the seventies.

One of the best rounds played at Queen’s Park for a long time was a 72 by J. G. Niccol last week-end. He was out in 37 (two over bogey) and home in 35 (two under bogey), thus equalling the scratch score for the course. Since joining up with the Park Club Niccol has been scoring regularly in the seventies, and is likely to figure prominently in the singles handicap competition at present in progress. The Centenary championship was rather an upset, one fancies. The winner, J. Thompson, was not in the selected American professional team. He entered independently, making the trip to Australia as a free lance. His win by six clear strokes was remarkable and his ebullient somersault on the last green when his last putt went down was justifiable enough. His win was worth £lOOO to him. The official American party did not fare so badly, however, Leo Diegel got £4OO for second place, H. Cooper £75 for fifth, K. Lafoon £5O for sixth, Craig Wood £4O and the others lesser amounts. In addition the winner of the professional final to-day will get £5OO and the runner-up £2OO, while there is £lOO each for the other semi-finalists

Apropos money winnings E. Naismith, the Victorian pro., was rather unfortunate. He finished in a tie for third place with Gene Sarazen, their scores being 290. He and Sarazen divided third and fourth money, £3OO, taking £l5O each. On each of the last two greens Naismith took three putts. Had he got down in two putts at the 17th and 18th (or the 71st and 72nd) his score would have been 288 and he would have taken £4OO as runner-up to J. Thompson. His two extra putts on the last two greens cost him £125 each—expensive luxuries.

Ideal summer conditions were experienced last Saturday when a medal match was played at Queen’s Park. There were one or two exceptionally low net scores, but generally the scoring was no better than it was in the depth of winter. It seems that while most players are able to despatch their long shots fairly consistently they lose strokes on and about the greens, which are much faster now. In the A grade section R. T. Barnett was the winner with a net 67, three strokes better than anyone else. The leading scores were: R. T. Barnett, 83—16 —67; J. R. Deal, 77—7—70; R. Miller, 81—11—70; J. G. Niccol, 77—6—71; F. H. Hughes, 80—8— 72. E. Hughes left the B grade field standing with a net 63, winning wth five strokes to spare. The best .cards in this grade were: E. Hughes, 82—19—63; H. McCulloch, 87—19—68; J. F. Miller, 87—17—70; S. Wootton, 89—19—70; E. H. Ball, 89—19—70; J. M. Daly, 94—24— 70; N. S. Kenward, 94—24—70. A general reduction in handicaps, to apply during the summer, was made during the week. LADIES’ MATCHES. The first round of an eclectic match, and in conjunction a medal competition with sealed partners, was played by members of the Queen’s Park Ladies Club on Tuesday. The best net scores returned in the sealed partners’ match were: Mrs Speirs (84) and Miss Thom (81), 165; Mrs Treeby (82) and Mrs Earl (85), 167. A sealed hole match for C grade players was won by Mrs Carter.

The Invercargill Ladies’ Golf Club played a flag match for Mrs Dixon’s prize on Thursday last. The conditions were rather difficult owing' to the high wind. The winner in the senior division was Miss M. Stout, who took the flag down the 18th fairway, Miss Henderson being a close second. In the junior division, Miss D. Stout and Mrs McCallum both had one shot to spare at the 18th tee, Mrs McCallum winning by 22 yards. Last week the final of the bisque matches was played at Otatara between Mrs Israel and Miss L. Stout. Both played good golf and the match was very keenly fought all through, Mrs Israel winning 1 up.

Next Thursday is the closing day of the Invercargill Ladies’ Club, when a four-ball match will be played in the morning and competitions will be held in the afternoon. Members are to arrange their own foursomes _ and communicate them to the captain. J. McLEAN, CHAMPION. All that was said at Home of J. McLean’s quality has been amply justified in Australia. He finished in seventh place in the Centenary open and was easily “first amateur.” Four of the American professionals finished behind him and all of the Australian professionals except one. Having given this convincing proof of his soundness as a stroke player McLean proceeded to win the Centenary amateur championship with almost ridiculous ease. In the language of the “sport of kings” he was never asked to gallop. In the. first round he won his match 5 and 4, in the second 12 and 11; in the third 10 and 9; and in the final he beat Hattersley 11 and 9. McLean has not been seriously pressed in any match since his arrival in Australia and from the outset he has impressed observers as a golfer of outstanding class. • When he played in South Australia one writer said that “it was unlikely that any Australian amateur would get the better of a match with him.” When he beat Ferrier in Sydney the comment was that Ferrier played well and was not disgraced. “McLean’s play would have beaten any amateur in Australia. He is in a class by himself.” Of his play in Queensland a writer said that McLean gave the impression that he could meet any attack. If hisopponent notched 72 he would do 70, and if he had a 70 to beat he would do 68. The writer predicted that whoever could beat McLean would win the Centenary amateur, and that nobody would beat him. After the internationals in Sydney “Golf in Australia” wrote:—“McLean is undoubtedly the most brilliant amateur ever seen in this country. He splits the fairwaj’’ with every drive and plays his irons like a professional. Brilliant and unperturbed, a great fighter and a reliable putter, he is a match for anyone.”