GOOD PROSPECTS FOR GOLF THIS SEASON

Southland Times, Issue 23767, 15 March 1939, Page 11

GOOD PROSPECTS FOR GOLF THIS SEASON

By

PAR

Anothetgolf season is about to begin. Both the Invercargill and Queen’s Park clubs have held their annual meetings, and each had the satisfaction of reporting an excellent season last year. Queen s Park has already had its opening day; the Invercargill club will open its season on Saturday. The prospects for another good season are very bright. The Queen’s Park links have never been in better order than they are at present. The topdressing of the fairways from a certain distance from the tees has had the desired effect, and they are now better grassed than ever they were before. The greens are about as good as one is likely to find anywhere in the Dominion. What is badly needed is improved clubhouse accommodation. The existing facilities have remained unchanged for years and are now quite inadequate for a club with the active membership Queen’s Park has.

Entries for the Easter tournament close on March 31. -The South Island Amateur Championship will be played in conjunction with the Southland Championship, so that this year’s provincial champion will also be the South Island champion. The holder of the latter title, J. W. Jackson, of Christchurch, will probably defend it at Easter. It is also expected that a stronger contingent than usual from Dimedin will be here and that several of the leading North Otago golfers will be competing.

A team of eight golfers from Otago University will pay a visit to Otatara next week-end and an interesting contest should result. Among the students at the University are some competent golfers, and if the best of them can make the trip they will keep their Otatara opponents busy. It is to be hoped that the suggestion made by Mr R. M. Strang at the annual meeting of the Invercargill Golf Club, that steps be taken to introduce golf to the secondary schools, will be followed up. Group teaching of golf is carried out in Britain and the United States, the pupils being taught how to pivot and swing correctly before any attempt is made to get them to hit a ball. The details of the scheme have been left to the committee of the Invercargill club, which no doubt will first have to ascertain what support is likely to be forthcoming from the schools. Another Murihiku championship has been decided, the winner, J. E. Matheson, being as good a golfer as there is in Southland today. His rounds of 74 and 78 gave him a win by the good margin of four strokes. The holder of the title, M. B. O’Dowda, made a bold bid to retain it for 24 or 25 holes, but could not keep up the high standard he had set. Conditions for the tournament were ideal and it is surprising there were not more scores in the seventies. It is possible that more one-day open tournaments will be held at Otatara during the coming season. The summer championship of the Queen’s Park Club, decided over four rounds of stroke play, was won by J. S. Lindsay with 78 75 73 80—306. G. E. Glennie, who was four strokes behind Lindsay after three rounds had been played, needed 75 to win, but could not do better than 79, his aggregate being 309. The intermediate title was won, by E. H. Ball, with 327, S. A. Glennie being runner-up with 334. R. Anderson won the B grade championship by five strokes, his total for the four rounds being 343. The runner-up was A. R. Cullen. There should be some fine golf witnessed this season in Britain, for more than £15,000 has been set aside to be won by the professionals. This can be likened to the famous winter circuit in the United States, where 150,000 dollars is given over a few months of tournament play. The attractive financial results which are procurable this year in England are expected to encourage a mild invasion by leading American professionals. Headed by the old master, Walter Hagen, the party will include Sam Sned and Jimmie Thomson, who are expected to linger after the British open championship, which it is their ambition to win.