GOLF

Southland Times, Issue 24421, 29 April 1941, Page 9

GOLF

OTAGO VETERANS IN FORM INTERESTING FOUR-BALL MATCH . An interesting four-ball nialch between veterans of the Otago Club has just been completed at Balmacewen. The sides were K. Ross and E. S. Douglas against A. Sime and W. G. Wight. Dr Ross’s name is plastered on tne championship board of the Otago Club like the star’s name in a theatrical advertisement and he has also won the Otago and Southland provincial championships. He has to his credit some outstanding performances in the blew Zealand amateur and open championships, though he never succeeded in winning either. Douglas, the Otago Club s professional, is as good a golfer as ever swung a club in the Dominion and just before and after the last war was the Dominion’s number one player. He won the open championship in 1913 and 1914. When it was next played in 1919 Douglas won again and repeated his success in 1921.

Sime is a former amateur champion of New Zealand and always has been a first-class exponent of the game, while his consistent accuracy on the green earned him an enviable reputation as “one-putt Sime.” Wight is as solid as a rock, and, though he has not the record of successes that stands to the credit of his brother, C. B. Wight, is always a dangerous opponent. None of the quartet will see 50 again, but all of them will for some years to come from time to time give a proper dressing down to players half their age. The four-ball was played over 72 holes and Ross and Douglas won 14 up and 13 to play. Douglas’s four rounds were 71, 68, 69 and 69—277 for the 72 holes, or 15 less than the standard scratch score. Even allowing for the fact that the scores were made in match play,' which, as every golfer knows, is a very different thing from the card and pencil game, Douglas clearly retains a large degree of the skill that made him almost unbeatable in the Dominion a quarter of a century ago. And by way of showing that he, also, is not dead yet, Ross reeled off a tidy 67 in a four-ball knock-out last Saturday. His card read:— Out—4 4 4 2 5 3 4 4 4—34. In —3 445 4 4 3 3 3-33.

It is a pretty card finished off in workmanlike fashion with three threes —the kind of finish that most golfers get only in their dreams. BANKS’ TOURNAMENT Hie banks’ annual golf tournament was held on the Invercargill Golf Club’s links at Otatara. The results were as follows: — “Robbie Burns” Cup (for best net score over two rounds).—E. A. Jenkins, 75, 71—146; H. P. Semmens, 81, 73—154; S. A. Bell, 75, 82—157; B. N. Mac Gibbon, 84. 75—159.

Stableford Match.—S. A. Bell, 29-5-34; E. A. Jenkins, 27-7-34; J. A. L. Tansley, 18-11-29. Four-ball Bogey Match.—E. A. Jenkins and A. H. J. Wyatt, all square; R. A. Douglas and H. P. Semmens, 1 down.

Mr S. A. Bell, who presented the trophies, congratulated the winners on their good play under difficult conditions. A vote of thanks was extended the Invercargill Golf Club for the use of its links.