Wet Weather Last Week-end Caused Postponement Of Club Golf Fixtures

Southland Times, Issue 23825, 24 May 1939, Page 11

Wet Weather Last Week-end Caused Postponement Of Club Golf Fixtures

By

PAR

For the first time this season club golr fixtures were postponed on Saturday because of wet weather. It was possible to have played on Saturday afternoon, but it was a miserable day and club committees acted wisely in postponing the fixtures. The second qualifying round of the Holloway Shield competition at Queen s Park will be played next Saturday in conjunction with the May medal handicap. There will be a bogey handicap at Otatara. . ~ The Western District championships —senior, intermediate and junior—will be decided over 36 holes at Nightcaps on Sunday. Play is to begin at 9 a.m. Entries for the King’s Birthday tournament at Queen’s Park, on June _ 5 close next Wednesday. The main event is the Invercargill amateur championship, which was won last year by J. S. Lindsay. There will also be intermediate and junior championships, the three events being over a 6 holes stroke play. The holders of the latter two titles are: Intermediate, L. G. Algie (Queen’s Park); junior, E. Christiansen (Wyndham). The programme includes stroke handicaps and an interclub teams’ competition. An entry fee of 8/- for the day covers luncheon, to be provided at the links. A special charge is being made for scratch matches on the two preceding days. This tournament is a popular one with Southland golfers and it. is expected that a big number of entries will again be received. An engagement full of interest to the golfing community in New Zealand is that of Miss Suzanne Collins to John Homabrook. Miss .Collins is at present the champion woman golfer of the Dominion, and Hornabrook has won the open as well as the amateur championship of New Zealand. HOLE IN ONE On Wednesday last the welkin, or that part of it which bends above the Otatara course, was shattered and rent by a chorus of shouts and cheers from the members of a four-ball match on the Schoolhouse green. . The occasion for the hilarity and rejoicing was that one of the party had holed out in the irreducible minimum number of strokes, to wit, one. The player responsible for the feat was H. W. Rogers, one of the Invercargill Club’s back markers. It was Rogers’s first hole in one and. good player as he is, he may have to wait a long time for another. Holes in one do not necessarily go with outstanding skill in the game. At short holes the scratch or plus player will always lay his tee shot somewhere near the pin, but in all his playing life he may hole out from the tee at fewer holes than some rabbit who is never sure of finding the green even at the shortest holes. The case of Harry Vardon may be cited. When he was at the zenith of his powers Vardon’s

accuracy was deadly, but holes in one evaded him, and he had fewer than some amateurs who play only at weekends and never get below a 10 handicap. A hole in one is always a fluke. The rejoicing of the players with Rogers was, of course, not altogether, disinterested and no doubt it was justified by what happened when, in due course, the club house was reached. No doubt, also, his companions were perfectly sincere when they extended to Rogers their enthusiastic wishes for a speedy repetition of the feat. And, if it comes to that, no one playing at Otatara is more likely to do it again. WYNDHAM CLUB Conditions were not the best for low scoring in a flag match at Wyndham, as a strong westerly blew. However, Christiansen, with a very fine round of 79, carried the flag to. the twentieth fairway. Christiansen played five strokes under his handicap, which has now been reduced from 14 to 11. Even with his handicap he should again reduce as he is one of the most improved players in the club. No other player managed to play to his handicap, but several were just one or two strokes over. , Knock-out matches played at Wyndham resulted as follows: —Gibson Tanghey; Barnett beat Panknurst; Davey beat Harper; Milne beat Crawford. In. this competition several sections are nearly completed; in other sections some competitors have not yet played a game. It is hoped, that they will make an effort to get their matches off in the near future. The ringer competition at Wyndham has already roused keen competition and some excellent scores are on the chart. The best are: Henderson, 67-5-62; Barnett, 66-2-64; Davey, 69-4-65, Crawford, 69-34-65 J; Stirling, 73-7-66; Stark, 73-6-67; Pankhurst, 71-4-67. FERRIER DEFEATED The unexpected has happened—Australia’s No. 1 golfer, J. Ferrier, was defeated in the final of the New Soutn Wales amateur championship. His conqueror, A. N. Waterson, had been playing magnificent golf, and it was no doubt expected that Ferrier would have to fight hard in defence of his title. Evidently Waterson was able to hold his good form, for it is difficult to believe that he could have beaten Ferrier without playing sub-par golf. Waterson, who won the state foursomes championship last year with *• Hughes, was one of seven or eight competitors who were regarded as Ferrier’s chief obstacles. He was a finalist in 1933, when he was defeated by H. W. Hattersley. An indication of the brilliant golf Waterson is capable of playing was given recently at the Pymble course, where he lowered terrier’s record of 69 by one stroke. In

the Sydney grade competition he plays for Moore Park, of which team he is captain. The story of his defeat of Ferrier should make interesting reading. COTTON’S GOOD WIN Henry Cotton, by general agreement Britain’s No. 1 professional, though he is not open champion, began the 1939 tournament season well when he won The Daily Mail £2OOO tournament at the beginning of last month. The scene of operations was the Queen’s Park course at Bournemouth. It was the first time that so important a tournament had been decided on a public course, but there was no doubt about the fitness of the course for the purpose. Heather, gorse and trees provided punishing rough for those who wandered from the fairways. A high wind blew on the first day, and though the field was made up of the best professionals scores in the 80’s were common. For instance, Reginald Whitcombe, British open champion, began with an 81. What kind of score could be expected from sound play was demonstrated by Cotton’s 69 for the first round; but how easy it was to slip strokes was also demonstrated by Cotton’s 77 in the third round, and by the fact that, on a course that could not honestly be described either as very long or very difficult, no one “broke” 290 and only six finished under 300. The truth is that the scores were not as good as they should have been. The feature of the tournament was Archie Compston’s reappearance in big competitive golf after an absence of two years caused by poor health, and his great bid for victory. He tied with Cotton for first place, but lost on a playoff over 36 holes. Compston is one of the finest exponents of the game in Britain and if his health holds he may play a conspicuous part in this year’s events. The leading scores were:—

In the play-off Compston fought stoutly, but Cotton, despite a few lapses, played golf that gave his opponent few opportunities. Cotton’s score in the morning was 70, as against Compston’s 74, and in the afternoon both carded 71, so that Cotton kept his morning lead of four strokes. The contest excited widespread interest. First thing in the morning an orderly .crowd of a few hundred saw Cotton and Compston hit off. When the afternoon round began there were 2000 on the course and before many holes had been played the “gallery” had increased to 8000 and people were rushing helter skelter from one vantage point to another. THE MASTERS’ TOURNAMENT The annual “Masters’ Tournament” at Augusta, Georgia, United States, was played last month. Bobby Jones had much to do with the designing and construction of the course on which the tournament is played, and, as usual, he turned out for the event. His entry, however, was more in the nature of a compliment to the field than a serious effort to win, for since he established an all-time record with the “grand slam” in 1930, when he captured the open and amateur championships of both Britain and America, Jones has taken no part in competitive golf. No longer does the starter’s call “Mr R. T. Jones on the tee” set the thousands “milling” over the course to see the champion fight his way to yet another victory. At big tournaments now the “Emperor of the links,” whose deeds are still without parallel in the records of the game, takes his place among the spectators, and his appearance at Augusta was a gesture—no more. He finished well down the list.

At the outset Ralph Guldahl, reigning American open champion, and the par-shatterer Sam Snead were strong favourites, and they finished first and second. - Guldahl has strong claims to be considered the best stroke player in the world today. He has won the open championship of the United States for two successive years (a very rare achievement) and he won this tournament with a score nine strokes under par (and in America par means par—there is no standard scratch score there). Par of the course was 72, and the leaders at the finish and their

The best aggregate previously made in this tournament was 282, so that both Guldahl and Snead broke the record. The W. L. Little who figured so prominently was Lawson Little, for two successive years British amateur champion and now “a business golfer.” Our old friend, Gene Sarazen, blazed out momentarily with a 66 in the second round, but could not hold it and was fifth with 283. Another old friend in Walter Hagen had an aggregate of 304 and took thirty-third position on the list. It should be mentioned that hail and rainstorms and a boistrous wind made scoring difficult in the second round, yet Sarazen notched a 66 and Guldahl a 68—great players these topnotch American professionals! ODDS AND ENDS Play in the British amateur championship began at Hoylake on Monday. The 167 entries included D. C. Collins, of Wellington, father of the present women’s champion of New Zealand. He was drawn against C. S. Buckley (Blackwell) who defaulted in the first round.

N. von Nida sailed from Auckland last week for the United States where he intends to take part in the open championship, which is to be played at Philadelphia from June 8 to 10. Von Nida will then proceed to St. Andrews to play in the British open championship, beginning on July 3, and hopes to be back in New Zealand in time for the centenary events. The Ryder Cup contest between the professionals of Britain and the United States will take place in the States this year and the course selected is that of the Ponte Vedra Country Club at Jacksonville, Florida. Gene Sarazen does not think much of the choice. No fault is to be found with the course, but Sarazen does not think much of its location. He thinks that whereas on a more centrally-situated course the event would attract the public in big numbers, at Jacksonville “the attendance will be composed largely of seagulls.” Walter Hagen has again been appointed captain of the American team. Hagen has captained every professional team that has represented the States in international matches. The British Professional Golfers’ Association has selected Henry Cotton to lead its side and no one is likely to cavil at the choice. Cotton is certain to play in the team as well as captain it, but Hagen will probably take no part in the match. The date for the match has not been finally fixed, but it will be played late in October or in November, when the heat of the American summer, which has prostrated visiting British golfers m past years, has lost its intensity and conditions more nearly resemble those to which Britons are accustomed.

T. H. Cotton 69 75 77 71—292 A. Compston 73 75 73 71—292 D. Curtis 76 74 76 70—296 C. A. Whitcombe 72 76 76 73—297 S. L. King 76 76 75 70—297 D. J. Rees .75 72 76 75—298 R. A. Whitcombe 81 70 73 76—300

scores were:— R. Guldahl 72 68 70 69—279 S. Snead 70 70 72 68—280 W. L. Little 72 72 68 70—282 B. Burke 69 71 72 70—282