WOMEN’S GOLF FINAL

Southland Times, Issue 23782, 1 April 1939, Page 11

WOMEN’S GOLF FINAL

MISS FLEMING BEATS MISS SMITH GOOD STANDARD OVER FIRST NINE HOLES (Special to The Times) DUNEDIN, March 31. The women’s golf championship of Otago was won this afternoon by Miss Valmai Fleming (Christchurch), who defeated Miss Claire Smith (Invercargill) by 2 and 1. In the semi-finals this morning Miss Smith beat Mrs H. Dodgshun (Otago), 4 and 2, and Miss Fleming beat Mrs Chartres (Christchurch), 6 and 5. Both finalists played good golf over the first nine holes, Miss Smith, who turned 1 up, being out in 38 and Miss Fleming in 39. The Invercargill girl won the first hole with a birdie 4 to Miss Fleming’s 5. They halved the second in regulation 4’s and Miss Smith was 2 up when she won the third with a beautifully-played 3 to Miss Fleming’s bogey 4. The Christchurch player turned the tables at the short fourth, where she putted confidently for a birdie 2 and sank it. The fifth was halved in good s’s and the match was squared at the sixth, where Miss Smith took one over bogey. At the seventh Miss Fleming won with a bogey 4, but the Invercargill girl squared the match at the eighth. She sliced her drive into the rough, but Miss Fleming was to the left of the green with her second ana recovered too strongly. She chipped short and Miss Smith’s 5 was good enough for a win. Both were astray with their seconds at The Glen, but Miss Smith played a great explosion shot from a bunker and left herself an easy putt for a 4 and a win to be 1 up. MATCH SQUARED

Miss Smith caught a bunker again at the short tenth and exploded well, but just missed a 10-foot putt for a 3. Miss Fleming played a sound 3 to square the match. Tipperary was an interesting hole. Both hit good drives, but Miss Fleming topped her second and Miss Srnith hit a lovely iron from a downhill lie. She nlayed a beautifully-judged pitch. Miss Fleming was still short with her fourth and lost the hole to a bogey 5. She got it back again at McGlashan s, where Miss Smith’s third was over the back of the green. Miss Fleming was well on in two and made no mistake about getting her 4. The thirteenth was halved in s’s after Miss Smith had pulled her drive badly and made a good recovery. She pulled her tee shot again at Roy’s and just missed a long putt for a 3, which would have halved the hole.’ Miss Fleming was making few mistakes now, while Miss Smith was losing direction with her tee shots and becoming wild round the greens. Miss Fleming was well on the fifteenth green in two, but she . took three putts and allowed Miss Smith to escape with a half in ss. The game virtually ended at the sixteenth green, where Miss Smith’s tee shot went off the green into a bunker. Miss Fleming was well on and when Miss Smith failed with two attempts to get out of the bunker the hole was Miss Fleming’s. The Christchurch player was dormy 2, and although she gave Miss Smith a great chance to carry the game to the eighteenth it ended at the seventeenth. Miss Smith hit the longer drive and the green was open to her when Miss Fleming topped her second. The Invercargill player also fluffed her second, however, and a half in s’s .meant a win by 2 and 1 for Miss Fleming.

MRS DODGSHUN’S DEFEAT The semi-final matches this morning produced a surprise—the convincing defeat of the titleholder, Mrs Dodgshun, by Miss Smith. Her win was well deserved, but it was not altogether expected, as throughout the championship Miss Smith has not been playing well, while Mrs Dodgshun has been producing very consistent form. However, this morning she was definitely not in form. The story of her lapse could be briefly told—erratic play off the. tees and on the fairways. And her short game was not consistent. Miss Smith was at her very best. She played every shot with freedom, and only rarely did she lose direction. From the turn, at which point she held a lead of two holes, Miss Smith was at the peak of her form; Mrs Dodgshun on the other hand showed only glimpses of her skill, and though admittedly she encountered a lot of trouble through no fault of her own, she was making too many mistakes against a player of the Invercargill champion’s class. Mrs Dodgshun caught a bunker at the tenth and Miss Smith, well on the green, won the hole in 3. Tipperary was her worst hole. She was out-driving her opponent consistently, and a terrific tee shot left her with a difficult second, the ball stopping on the hill side. Her third ended in a bunker, and Mrs Dodgshun’s third finished with the ball running in and out of another trap. Mrs Dodgshun won the hole in 5. A pulled drive and an approach that was too strong placed Miss Smith in trouble at the twelfth, which was won by Mrs Dodgshun, who was now 1 down. Miss Smith produced another fine drive at the thirteenth, where Mrs Dodgshun had a chance of halving the hole, but missed a 3ft putt. It was the beginning of the end now, for at Roy’s Mrs Dodgshun’s tee shot was pulled, the ball catching a bunker. Miss Smith holed nicely in bogey 3, and she was three up. The fifteenth was halved in s’s, Mrs Dodgshun making a strong recovery after a “fluffed” second, and then being laid a stymie. This hole was halved and Miss Smith became dormy 3. The cross wind was a distinct obstacle at the decisive sixteenth, and so was a bunker where Mrs Dodgshun’s ball finished. Then she played an extraordinary shot, the ball soaring over the green and on to the top of the hill at the back. She conceded the hole to Miss Smith, who reached the green in 2, and that ended the match. EASTER TOURNAMENT When entries for the Eastern golf tournament at Otatara closed yesterday nearly 100 had been received. Further entries will be accepted at the discretion of the committee.

TIMARU WINS HIGH SCHOOLS’ MATCH OTAGO TEAM DEFEATED (United Press Association) TIMARU, March 31. The cricket match between Timaru and Otago High Schools was concluded today, Timaru winning by 30 runs. Timaru made 76 and 179 (Roberts 66) and Otago scored 130 and 95 (Clarke 36; Enting took six wickets for 35 runs off 17 overs).