GOLF.

Taranaki Daily News, 31 May 1927, Page 5

GOLF.

FIRST OF THE TOURNAMENTS. (From Our Own Correspondent.) London, April 7. The professionals have picked up th threads of competitive golf surprising!-, well. In the first of the big tournament for the Roehampton Cup the form dis played was really first-class, and on< was convinced that there was no rea reason to fear American competition This, indeed, has been tho impressio: even during all the years the American have carried all before them in thtcountry. Mitchell, Duncan and the othe leading players secured the figures e' Roehampton just as well as any of tin Americans could have done, and, more over, they lacked nothing in cleverness The Roehampton course is short, am there are as many as seven holes whici can be reached from the tee. But th. one-shot h6le leaves no margin for erroi and, to qualify for the match-pla; stage- of the competition, it wa necessary to maintain al. average o. nearly four's over thirty-six holes. Tha. represented first-class golf. The ma: who led the field in the preliminary test was Ernest Whitcombe, who is tin eldest of three golfing brothers, all o whom were brought up on the links o the Burnham, the Somerset club, when J.H. Taylor received hij first appoint nient. This Whitcombe excels with his iron clubs, and, on the form he display cd this season, it seemed as though I. mistake had been made in leaving hin ou‘ of the team to visit America. Hie younger brother Charles has been in eluded. Tho event was notable for tin revival of George Duncan. For two years he has had a hear’ breaking experience. All his splendid play through tl.j green has been destroyed by wretched putting. He got into a style of hitting the ball on the greens which wa: hopeless. He would cut underneath the ball, and make it jump at though he were playing with a mashie. Last year, when the American amateurs were here, they played a good deal with Duncan in practice and they were horrified by his hopeless putting. After one round George von Elm, who on going home robbed Bobbie Jones of the American championship, said to him: “What you say about golf up to the hole goes without a question, but J wish you would let us show you how tj putt.” So von Elm started to try an 1 get Duncan to roll the ball into the hole in the general American style, and it now seems as though he has succeeded. At any rate, Duncan to-day is a much improved putter and at Roehampton he equalled the recoifl for the course with a wonderful round of sixtysix. There were se’ en members of the team to go to America in the field, and four of them Duncan, Mitchell, Charles Whitcombe and Arthur Haversqualified for the match play stage of the competition. The three to fail were Ray, Gadd, and Robson.