NEW GOLFING COURSE

Taranaki Daily News, 3 December 1930, Page 5

NEW GOLFING COURSE

WAITARA CLUB’S CHANGE * . — OLD LINKS ABANDONED., ■?'." ADVANTAGES TO PLAYERS. • " A dcision to abandon the present link©;? ion the Recreation Reserve in favour of/ a new course on Mr. C. H. Barnitt’a property, about half a mile from th©; town, was made by the Manukorihi Golf ; Club at a special general meeting last s night. The club captain, Mr. N. C. Fookes, presided over an attendance of 14 members. / •.’ . The meeting had been called to dis< ; cuss the questions of abandoning th© bld course and the construction of a new course on Mr. BarnitVs property, A said the chairman. If the club kept to the old course there was a chance that' ; many of the members would be lost. It was obvious to every player that the present course fell far short of what a course should be, said Mr. W. B. Glasgow in outlining the project. When he:;had first played on the present • >urse in 1920 it was just possible to do round without teeing up frequently, but even at that time there was a rule that ,? permitted lifting. Since then the eours©had gone back from the golfer’s, point of view owing chiefly, he thought, . to! the fact that part of the land had 'been farmed more intensely. There were a number of objection© to the present course. In the first place ; the turf was not suitable for golfing.jv The country might be ploughed and.-;i eown with grass, but the club had the right to do that. Access to the course by the river-bank ws not good., and it was not possible to.take a carl ’ within about a quarter of a mile of the..;; clubhouse. ■?; . • . I . The club house Was inconvenient. !':-; There was no light or water laid on I as the building was without the borr./ ough reticulation scheme. J OLD COURSE LACKS VARIETY - ■ : '•* - Referring to the course itself . Mr. Glasgow said it lacked variety. On -a. small nine-hole course members could hardly expect to have the variety the way of country and hazards., that wap provided on such a course as that at New Plymouth. Still, on the pre< ; sl?nt course there was a singular JacfejV of variety. Another disadvantage was the publicity of the present course.;. Everyone had as much right to use: public reserve as the club members. Horses and dogs could be trained there while small boys were frequently a nuis- ' ance. Owing to this it was almost im--possible to stopwandalism.. / ’A The present course \vas also too short. The last hole and “prairie” were’the. - only two long holes, and neither was a true three-shot hole. • In his opinion, continued Mr. Gias-. / gow, the greatest disadvantage of tha'. .' old course was the lack of golfing turf. V The advantages of the present course- J;; seemed to be its proximity to the town, i and the fact that there was no rental; ; In his opinion the course would gradually deteriorate. The possibility of a - change had. been discussed for a long ;time but there had been nowhere to-. d go. Before- the pavilion had been ac- ' quired from,the tennis.cliib,,four or five f , years previously, an attempt had been made’, to'fin'd another counsel ’However/ nothing had been done. "At the end of last season he had ap-L proachcd Mr. ,Barnitt with a proposal that he "permit’ the club to form links on .hisi property. - Mr. Barnitt) had felt that, though he could not; give th© club the right io go all over the- farm, lie Could give it. a parti on (he - town side. V The. . boundaries ■' enclosed a. piece b£ / ground somewhat like a capital L ebv- ? eririg about 50 acres. He had ■ been in conversation with Mr. ’Darlow and Major.. Conway and both had submitted meth-’.; ods for the construction Of the course; . 7? Mr. Darlow had supplied’ a, '.plan for & j? course covering 30 acres. - Mr. Conway.’' ’'had said it would be possible: .to construct a good nine-hole course on 50 -fe acres, although 40 acres or less might «?. do. On the property under review there ; w'ere two main swamps which -.would ’ take an area of about. 10,acres froni - the total, but would also form natural . hazards! ’ ' ? . ' -■? Last.(week Major Conway,;,who wa©-.?;-an expert on course construction, had. gone over the ground. . He .was‘ favour-, i-ij, ably impressed with the si especially the turf and the surroundings. He pressed the opinion that the area be ample for a good nine-hole course. CONDITIONS OFFERED.

Mr. Glasgow had ascertained that . the club agreed to construct the course i Major Conway would lay it. out. He would expect no. other remuneration'll than his expenses. Mr. Barnitt hadUjA stipulated that no dogs be brought' to the course and that no cars'.' taken on his private road. *•;’ Vehicles ’« would have .to stop in Richmond Street. In return he would keep the. grass short enough to play on between March and October, though golfers - could actually ' play on the country as.'it-was -at tfio /yi present time. He had - given- Mr. Glasr?-.*i< gow to understand that the - rental?”-'-? would be about £2O a-year, though he would charge nothing the first year, 'goLfii? that the club might Fave a .chance to start. ' Mr. Barnitt was of- opinion that .:.; the swamps would be, in grass in ’two> years as they had been 'thoroughly-.' ' drained. , ‘ At the beginning of the year club subscriptions had been raised and it. wa« , ijp; not intended to raise them any higher, l/'a The club was in an ■ excellent financial position and had finished the year with f a-credit. balance of £4o,' which would , give it a,-, good start for - ? the . season. . This indicated, that if, the membership ? did not decline the' club would have . sufficient to pay the rental. There would < be some expense entailed in the change- ' ■ over.) He suggested the present pavilio* ■ -. be pulled down and the timber used t*'“. - -p bpild' a hew one. .The pavilion would • be the greatest, expense.- On the new course the greens would require merely ■ ' ' mowing and rolling. There might be?',. -s further expenses in the installation , yvater and electricity at the Mr. George had written offering to help in the transport of the club’s gear. In answer to Mr. 'Sampson the chair- i? man said it would not be necessary to fence the greens for at least two ,r years, as there would be no heavy stock, .-i? The place would be grazed by aheep ’d.’W and a few head of young cattle. X-fSi The paid membership of the club., was _■ about 45, replied Mr. Glasgow to * r’question. . . /’■ The chairman suggested the taking - L out of about 10 £5, debentures to cover; *?]® expenses. He would be --illing to con-d.;.',?'.' tribute. The question of tenure was discussed, Mr. Glasgow remarking, that- it woiiidCW be necessary .to obtain the lease for a specified period. On . the motion of Mr. D. H.Purdia the meeting agreed unanimously . to .. ' abandon the present course and wove to the new one on Mr. Barnitt’s property. . A committee consisting of Messrs W. ' ' 'B. Glasgow, N.-C. Fookes and E. A. . 5 George was set up to conclude th*?, W negotiations. It was agreed that every member -ef the dub be asked to take out • Hi'. ' •iebenture. -