LAING SHIELD GOLF MATCH PLAYED IN DIFFICULT CONDITIONS

Southland Times, Issue 24114, 1 May 1940, Page 10

LAING SHIELD GOLF MATCH PLAYED IN DIFFICULT CONDITIONS

By

> PAR

Golfers had extremely rough weathct to contend with last Saturday, the day of the annual match between the Invercargill and Queen’s Park clubs. The weather is invariably B bad for these matches and again this year a postponement had to be made. On this occasion a start was made, but so many players did not complete the round that it was decided to cancel the match. However, the competitors in the Laing shield match, which was being played in conjunction with the inter-club fixture, saw it through and finished very wet and very cold. The inter-club match will be played on a date to be fixed. „

An open day is to be held at Otatara on May 19, with a four-ball Stableford match in the morning and a stroke handicap in the afternoon. Post entries will be received. If the fixture is successful it is possible that similar tournaments will be held each month during the season. The King’s Birthday tournament will be held at Queen’s Park on June 3 with the same events as last year—the Invercargill amateur championships in three grades, senior, intermediate, and Junior.

The proceeds of next Saturday’s bogey match at Queen’s Park will be handed over to the patriotic fund. An entry fee of 2/- will be charged and it is hoped that those members who are unable to play will send in contributions. Saturday’s fixture at Otatara is a four-ball bogey handicap. LAING SHIELD MATCH The 12 players who took part in the Laing Shield match at Otatara had a strenuous afternoon battling with a strong westerly wind and driving rain. It was very difficult trying to keep your balance and naturally the scoring was nothing -wonderful. No one could break 80, which was equalled by H. W. Rogers in the top match against D. W. Cochrane, the Queen’s Park champion. With four matches decided Queen’s Park was leading by three wins to one and a victory for the challengers seemed in sight. But both of the remaining matches went to Invercargill and each side had three wins. The result then hinged on holes won, Invercargill having an advantage of four.

The three top. matches went to Invercargill and the other three to Queen’s Park. Rogers handled the difficult conditions much better than Cochrane, his round of 80 representing scund golf. Cochrane finished well up in the eighties. J. D. Strettell and G. P. Glennie had a close match, the former winning with a hole to spare. G. A. Patterson was expected to notch a win for the Park, but he found D. F. Lindsay too good on the day. A. Des Forges scored a comfortable win over A. H. Broad, but J. J. White and L. G. Algie had to fight hard to win against J. A. Thom and G. Robertson respectively. There is not much between the leading six players of these clubs and another clash is being looked forward to.

A scheme to improve the system of transporting players to Otatara on Saturdays is being prepared by a subcommittee of the Invercargill Golf Club. It is proposed to divide the members into groups, each of which will include one or two non-car-owners, and each car-owner in a group will be asked to take his turn at picking up the others. Thus if there were three owners in a group of, say, five, each would take his car every third Saturday. The members of a group would know that one of them would be responsible for the transport each Saturday and it would not be necessary for them to make other arrangements which may involve a series of telephone calls. It is proposed that those who do not take their cars, whether owners or non-owners, should contribute sixpence each Saturday and a box for contributions, which will be devoted to the club funds, will probably be provided at the clubhouse. The success of the plan will depend on the co-operation of members, for whose benefit it is being drawn up. It is not claimed that it is perfect, but it is considered to be worth trying out. Modifications will no doubt be made in the light of experience. The scheme is to be brought into operation on May 11. The question whether original or current handicaps should be used in handicap match play competitions which require some weeks to decide has often been debated. After many years of playing the captain’s prize on original handicaps, the Auckland Club has decided to change the system this year and every match will be played on the handicaps in force on the day of the match. This system is essential in a club where young players frequently reduce their handicaps by many strokes in a few weeks.

C. C. Ruwald and T. S. McKay won the foursomes championship of New South Wales at the Lakes course with rounds of 78 and 75. Their aggregate of 153 was nine strokes above par. D. J. Davies and J. C. Barkel shared second place with a little-known pair, W. R. Fielding and E. Rigney, a stroke behind the winners. Generally, the play was poor. There were too many weak shots for such an event. Some players found the greens troublesome, and often the short approach shots were difficult owing to the crumbly nature of the turf, following dry weather. Ruwald and McKay played steadily in the afternoon after - a morning round m which their putting was occasionally at fault. Temperaments, as much as their skill, gained them their win. The holders of the title were J. Ferrier, who is now in the United States, and G. Thompson. . Some years ago a Japanese journalist, who had never seen a game of golf, went to England and attended a Walker Cup contest, which he duly reported for his Tokyo newspaper. “The game is very skilful,” he wrote. “’Hie small white ball is induced by violent blows toward a small piece of grass, in which a hole is dug. The object of the contest is then to propel the ball as near the hole as possible without it dropping in. In this the British much excelled their American opponents, who were unable to prevent their balls dropping in the hole.” COTTON’S WAR EFFORT When Henry Cotton inaugurated his Red Cross matches last year, he was subject to criticism, but the fact remains that the scheme has been most successful. It is amazing to recall that when last year’s series began—somewhat inauspiciously with Cotton’s match against Archie Compston at MidSurrey—Cotton’s modest hope was to raise £lOOO for the Red Cross Fund. Before long he was aiming at £3OOO, then £5OOO, and by the end of 1939 the Red Cross matches had raised a total of nearly £6OOO. Ernest Jones, the noted American golf tutor, whose slogan is “Swing the Clubhead,” said recently that the trouble with most golfers was that they were always trying to find out why they missed shots, instead of understanding why they hit some shots well. The failure of so many golfers to realize what they are doing right, when their games are going well, is the reason why golf seems to be such an in- ! consistent game. A good player, for example, times his shots perfectly when he is hitting the ball well, whether or not he is conscious of the fact. But if he does not recognize good timing and suddenly loses it for a moment, the chances are that he will be in for a bad patch, which will remain with him until he unconsciously stumbles on true timing again. Many are the fine players who, failing to appreciate the simple fundamentals of the game (conI trol, balance and timing), have experii mented with the thousand and one tips which are offered wherever golfers congregate, and which probably ruin more good golfers than any other single factor in the game. WALKER CUP CONTEST It puzzles golfers that the American Golf Association, ignoring all obstacles, has fixed the Walker Cup contest for next August at Minnesota, apparently with the approval of the Royal and Ancient. “Perhaps we should say,” comments an English critic, “its silent approval, for the Royal and Ancient is lying low about things in golf these days. As far as it is concerned, the amateur championship stands and the open is ‘on,’ so why shouldn’t the Walker Cup be played? “Maybe it is a little diplomatic game the two bodies are having, for no one dreams for a minute that Britain will send a golf team to the States in

August. Henry Cotton was to have led a Ryder Cup side there last November, but, of course, it was called off owing to the war. And that’s what will happen to the Walker Cup trip.

“It would cost £3OOO to send a team of 12 and a manager; if we could raise a team, which I very much doubt, as many of Britain’s leading amateurs are engaged in war service. “The money will certainly not be wasted on a scratchy side whose lot could only be crushing defeat. To proceed with arrangements as though the match is assured is therefore a silly waste of time—or should we call it optimism? “There is little prospect of the British championships being played either, yet the fixtures stand. That’s optimism, too, I suppose. The English Ladies’ Golf Union, being more realistic, has cancelled all its events for next summer, including the Curtis Cup. It says that so many women golfers are on war work that a championship would be a joke.” TALENTED YOUNG GOLFER I met and played at Pinehurst with Dick Metz, a talented young Chicago professional golfer, a successful tournament player, and acknowledged as one of the finest American stroke makers. Metz is an impressive player to watch (says J. Ferrier in an article in The Sydney Morning Herald). A stockily-built golfer, about the same size as the Sydney amateur, H. W. Hattersley, Metz has been prominent in events for the last two seasons. Like most other great stroke-makers, Metz has a smooth swing, and concentrates on perfection in hitting. In many respects he can be likened to W. Bolger, the Sydney professional, as both swing the club beautifully. Owing to an injury to a wrist in 1937, Metz was unable to play that year after having an outstanding run. Starting again in 1938, he won many rich tournaments, and became one of the biggest earners among the professionals. Metz has a tendency to fade all his shots slightly—that is, they work from left to right something like the way R. T. Jones played in his prime. To do this, he uses an upright swing, and the club face at the top of the swing is kept well open. By using fairly light irons and woods, Metz is able to swing his clubs in such a manner that he imparts club head speed effectively just before impact with the ball.

Seemingly, he is merely a smooth swinger, but a study of his play reveals that the club head is travelling extremely fast at the bottom of the swing. He has an open stance, and takes the ball about level with the left heel. He hardly takes a divot with his iron clubs; his club swings so sweetly that the ball is taken neatly off the top of the turf. ' A SECRET OF SUCCESS One of the secrets of Metz’s success is his fine hands and wrists. Having large hands and thick, powerful wrists, he should be a hitter, but instead they have the delicate touch so needed in first-class golf.

With the driver he favours a low tee and sweeps the ball away with a fairly high trajectory. His driver has an exceptionally deep face. Owing to his swing, it connects with the ball on the up swing, and, with the club face slightly more open than is orthodox, he gets a high bail with long carry. At one hole in my round with him he drove more than 300 yards.

Metz hits long, accurate iron shots, which are also played with a slight fade from left to right, and are also high in trajectory. The ball has a long carry with little run. Metz has the habit of pulling up on his swing fairly suddenly after the ball has been struck, giving the impression that he deliberately tries to fade the ball away. He finishes some of his shots with the weight evenly distributed on both feet instead of with it mainly on the left leg. His swing has a flat finish, going around the body rather than through and up. ACCURATE LONG IRON SHOTS Metz’s greatest asset is his accuracy. Even with the Nos. 1 and 2 irons, he can get almost as close to the flag as he can with the pitching clubs. Metz is the only player I have seen to get such carry with the straight-faced irons. At the fifth hole at Pinehurst, where his drive finished about 210 yards from the green, which is on the top of a gradual rise, Metz hit a grand No. 1 iron into the breeze, carrying on to the green, and finishing eight feet from the hole. At pitching and chipping, Metz is up to the best, especially with the high approaches 120 or 100 yards from the green. Tossing the ball well up into the air, he makes it stop suddenly when it finds the green. His only weakness is his green work. For one endowed with such fine hands and touch, his putting is below standard. Using a fairly light putter, he has the fault of not keeping his club swinging close enough to the ground. He picks up the club on the backswing and again on the follow through, giving the ball a bumpy run to the hole even on the smoothest greens.