DIFFICULT CONDITIONS FOR GOLF

Southland Times, Issue 24132, 22 May 1940, Page 10

DIFFICULT CONDITIONS FOR GOLF

By

PAR

Conditions were most unpleasant for golf on Saturday—light rain fell and a cold south-east wind blew—and it was not surprising that no one completed the round at Otatara. After about an hour’s play some half-dozen competitors had had enough, and by 3.30 nearly the whole field was back in the clubhouse. The match, the May stroke handicap, was the third to be postponed this season; it will be played,

weather permitting,' next Saturday. At Queen’s Park 32 competitors c ° m ” pleted the second qualifying round of the Holloway Shield competition and all of them qualified. • The open day arranged for the weekend at Otatara was not proceeded with, but scratch matches were put on for the two dozen who turned out. These included four men from Gore, who made the trip to play in the tournament and were able to get in a couple of rounds, as the weather, although very cold, improved as the day progressed. B. H. Palmer, one of the In-

J Most players grip the club too J ■ lightly. A tighter grip will impart a J more freedom to the swing and ( ■ a more delicate touch. Imagine , i that it is more the grip a violin J ! player takes with his bow than J a the hearty grasp which a farmer ■ * takes with his pitchfork.—Ernest J J Martin. a

vercargill Club’s promising colts, had a successful day, winning a stroke handicap with 72 net in the morning and being on the winning side in a four-ball bogey handicap in the afternoon. His partner was J. Smyth, another youthful player, and they were 6 up. x , The King’s Birthday tournament at Queen’s Park provides for a full weekend’s golf at a reasonable charge. When entries close next Wednesday the club is almost sure to have a . big field to cope with as this fixture is a popular one with both town and country golfers. The main event is the Invercargill amateur championship, which was won last year by J. E. Matheson after a play-off with G. A. Patterson. Both of these golfers are now serving with the military forces. There is also an intermediate championship and a junior championship and plenty of handicap events.

Entries for the Western District championships, to be decided at Nightcaps next week-end, close today with the secretary, Mr H. Hoskins. Championships will be played in three grades, senior (up to and including 9 handicap), intermediate (10 to 16) and junior (17 to 24), and there will be handicap events in conjunction with each round. HOLLOWAY SHIELD COMPETITION In spite of the bad weather on Saturday six of those who qualified for match play in the Holloway Shield competition at Queen’s Park managed to improve on their first-round scores, which were obtained under ideal conditions. Many of those who must have had excellent chances of qualifying did not finish. All those who did see it through had the satisfaction of qualifying, as only the required number handed in cards. Usually in this competition two net 75’s are needed to qualify, but this year two 83’s were good enough. This must be the highest average ever to gain a place. S. Robson, who led the field with 65 after the first round, had no difficulty in maintaining his position, his aggregate of 139 being a particularly good one. Six strikes away in second place was D. Nesbit, who took 77 net on Saturday. J. Boyd, P. E. Rice and J. C. Scandrett, who also had scores in the sixties the previous week, were next in order, in spite of big increases in their scores.

The best performance of the afternoon was credited to L. G. Algie, who had a score of 78 off the club. This gave him 72 net, which was equalled but not beaten. Algie must like the going a bit difficult because in the first round he could not do better than 85. A. R. Cullen was the other competitor to get 72 net, which is a Stroke more than the scratch score for the course.

With the strain of the qualifying rounds now over, the competitors can look forward to the less exacting conditions of match play, in which every stroke does not necessarily matter. The first round is due to be played next Saturday and judging by the draw there should be some keen contests. All matches are on handicap. A Stableford handicap was played in conjunction with the second qualifying round, Cullen (24-11-35) and Algie (30-5-35) tieing for first place in the A grade. It was hard luck for Algie, after playing such good golf, to be beaten on the count back. E. H. Hargreaves with 21-11-32 won the B grade trophy by a point from N. E. Shaw, whose figures were 14-17-31. A GOLFING SEAGULL A New Plymouth player had an unusual experience when playing the 10th hole at Ngamotu. As his drive came to rest a seagull swooped and picked it up. The thought of losing a good expensive ball was rather too much for the player, who set off in pursuit Much to his delight the bird duly dropped the ball some 150 to 200 yards nearer the green. Accepting this as a stroke of good fortune he played out the hole in good style. Back at the pavilion telling of his feat he was asked why he did not replace the ball from vzhere the gull had lifted it in accordance with the 'rules. There appears little doubt that that was the correct procedure, states The Taranaki Daily News.

In New Zealand it has become almost a universal practice to place or tee the ball on the fairways during the winter months. The reason is that the ground is so soft and the lies so close that it is impossible to play the ball where it lies without doing serious damage to the fairways. With very few exceptions New Zealand courses are wet in winter Many Sydney clubs have recently been enforcing the teeing-up rule not because of wetness, but because of a prolonged dry spell. For lack of moisture the ground has got into such a condition that to strike it with an iron or brassie causes irreparable damage, and to preserve the fairways club executives have required players to use peg tees through the green, even placing being prohibited. A small share of Sydney’s dry spell would be very welcome in Southland just now. Not so many years ago there was no name better known in Australian sport than that of “Slip” Carr, who wore Australia’s colours at the Olympic Games and against a British Rugby team. Like so many athletes, E. W. Carr turned to golf and is now a prominent member of the Pymble (Sydney) Club. He has just been chosen from many volunteers for the special duty of teaching recreational physical training to the A.I.F. and Militia men. He has been attached to the A.I.F. Training Battalion’s Eastern Command, New South Wales, and his job will be to teach the instructors, who in turn teach the men. He will train his men in the methods of organizing games like foot.ball, cricket, athletics, boxing and how to referee the games as well as in the technique of orthodox physical exercises. The course also includes a study

of remedial exercises for the treatment of wounded or sick soldiers who need physical exercise before they can resume duty. J. R. Kissling, son of Mr. George Kissling, of Auckland, has been appointed manager to the Metropolitan Golf Club, Melbourne, and has recently taken over. Mr Kissling is well known in Auckland golfing circles, and was a member of the committee for some years at the Glendowie Golf Club. When in Wellington he was a member of the Wellington Golf Club. The Metropolitan Golf Club has a membership of

more than 1000. It is interesting to recall that Sloan Morpeth, now manager of the Commonwealth Golf Club, situated handy to Metropolitan, was also an Auckland golfer. Mr Kissling’s many New Zealand friends will congratulate him on his appointment and wish him every success in his responsible task. Macdonald Smith, whose health became impaired after a tour of the Pacific North-West in the summer of 1936, has recovered to a great degree and has started giving lessons to a limited number of pupils at the Oakmont Country Club. This will be good news for the many friends of the greatest “uncrowned champion.” Mac Smith had every shot in his bag, but ill luck doomed him always at one hole in more than one national championship which he appeared set to win. His greatest tragedy was at Prestwick in 1925 when he started on the last round of the open championship leading Jim Barnes and Archie Compston by five strokes. Smith looked a cold certainty, but 20,000 Scots surged round, wildly enthusiastic, to bring him in champion. The vast crowd (the last free admission to the championship) got hopelessly out of control. Smith was overwhelmed in the rushing spectators, took 82 and was beaten by Barnes by three strokes. As a consequence of this happening the championship committee of the Royal and Ancient instituted gate money. Smith was the martyr, but professionals ever since have benefited financially by the increase in prize-money from £225 to £5OO made possible from the gate receipts. N.S.W. CHAMPIONSHIPS The qualifying rounds for the amateur championship of New South Wales were played under difficult conditions on the Lakes course. Downpours of rain and a stiff wind constituted a searching test—too stiff a test for most of the competitors. A. N. Waterson, the ultimate winner, took 85 for the first round, but reeled off a brilliant 72

in the second—easily the best round played. Very good players found their scores up in the high eighties when they completed their cards, and nineties vzere not uncommon. The last man to qualify got in with an aggregate of 174. There are very few golfers, amateur or professional, whose game is ironclad against rain and wind.

The Professional Golfers’ Association of New South Wales issues a handicap list for its members. Only three are rated at scratch. There are N. von Nida, V. S. Richardson and W. J. Bolger. The English and Scottish Golf Unions have resolved that, unless the war has an early termination, the championships of the two countries cannot be played in 1940. Neither union, however, wishes to discourage clubs carrying on competitions, but they express the hope that a proportion of all funds realized from such events will be devoted to charity. Alice Marble, attractive American girl and tennis star, has taken up golf seriously and is in the hands of a competent professional instructor. It is cheering to read that some of the leading golf club manufacturers of Britain are working at high pressure for export, though some staffs are somewhat depleted on account of war service. One firm reports the busiest winter on record, necessitating quite an amount of overtime to be worked. Sales of this manfacturer in the United States, in spite of shipping difficulties, created a record. Thus men of over military age are finding club making quite a busy occupation. At Sandy Lodge, one the the best courses near London, last month those great champions, James Braid and Sandy Herd, played Henry Cotton and Arthur Havers. The ages of the players were: Braid, 70; Herd, 71; Cotton, 33; and Havers, 41. The veterans played the modern ball and Cotton and Havers played the gutty. The match finished all square and the individual scores were: Braid, 78; Herd, Cotton and Havers, all 77. Writing in the Sporting and Dramatic News (London) Cotton had this comment to make: “It must not be forgotten that at 70 and 71 Herd and Braid are remarkable players still, but it is foolish to say the gutty we used is as long as the modern ball because we frequently outdrove our old opponents. The ball we used is so short that two young professionals would have outdriven us by 40 yards at least from the tee and much more with a brassie through the green, for the gutty is hard to get along from a close lie. I would rather say that the balls we used were too fresh. Gutties, I understand, go better when seasoned a while.” Incidentally the match was played in aid of the Red Cross Fund and £222 was collected.