SOOTH TARANAKI GOLF

Taranaki Daily News, 9 June 1931, Page 5

SOOTH TARANAKI GOLF

PLAY AT VARIOUS CLUB? ANDERSON CUP AT HAWERA PRETTY COURSE AT PATEA (By “Bunker.”) In spite of the recent variable and cold weather experienced in South Taranaki, members of the. different golf clubs have been busy with their own competitions and inter-club matches. Many players have been returning good cards, and the secretaries of the different clubs report that their members, are rapidly gaining form. At Hawera, as at most of the other clubs, there are many young players whose progress is being watched by the older members. Considerable work is being put in on several of the Hawera Club’s fairways, rough spots undergoing repair and sand encroachments receiving attention. A number of tees require attention and it is expected that these will be improved in the near future. The golf house is now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. J. Hunt, who have undertaken the task of caretakers. The Opunake club sent a team to Hawera on May 25 and, although the home players won 11 games to the visitors’ three, the play of the different fours was most interesting and enjoyable. During the afternoon Murray Page, a Hawera player, holed in one at the short Crater hole and the penalty upon his return to the club-house was a heavy one. Tompkins, an Opunake man, did the long 17th. in an eagle three during the morning’s round. On June 3 the annual match with , New Plymouth took place at Hawera, and the local players avenged the defeat of the year before. CHANCES IN THE ANDERSON CUP. First round play in the Anderson Cup at the Fairfield links saw the elimination of R. S. Ward, the young player who returned a net 65 in the qualifying round. L. Hunt, whose qualifying score was 76, proved too strong in match play and won by 6 up and 4. W. t G. Sutton, who beat Muir 3 and 1 in the first round and Vinnicombe 3 and 1 in the second, should again reach the final. Sutton is the present holder of the cup. H. Whitehead was too strong tor C. Meyrick junr. in the first round, winning 3 up and 2. His score for that round was an excellent gross 77. Meyrick put him on hie mettle by taking . the first two holes and, from then on, continued to play well in spite of the excellent golf of his opponent. Whitehead won his second round game by beating Nyberg, one of the younger players, 6 up and 4. Wallis, who beat Grace 1 up some days ago, is the only other second round winner yet on thq sheet. 1 The course at Patea is in excellent order and many of the holes delight the visitor. The first impression one receives on an initial round is the prettiness of the course and the deceptive distances. Some of the narrow fairways call for straight hitting, while the tee shot at the second demands nerve and—more evident perhaps—a good supply of balls; the water and swamp below take heavy toll with a bad shot. At the' fourth, where the fairway leads over the hill and the green is on the slope, the distance is most deceiving. The course is one to be proud of. MARKED PROGRESS AT PATEA. -' z 4 The ladies of the Patea Golf Club 1 are well on with their season's programme. On Thursday they meet the challenging Eltham club’s ladies in the Taplin Cup match, which was previously postponed owing to nought weather. In addition an inter-club match is to be played, and the result should prove interesting. The Eltham ladies can depend upon keen games and a hearty welcome. Patea ladies to reduce their j handicaps recently are:—Mrs. Wither > to 35, Miss W. Hurley to 31 and Miss ; K. Hurley to 13. j On Wednesday last the Patea men , played the annual match with Mr. F. I. Jones’ team of Wanganui golfers. This match has occupied a prominent place on the Patea programme for rne past 25 years and, after tea on Wednesday, Mr. F. I. Jones commented upon this. Mr. Jones was the only visitor who was a member of the original Wanga- , nui team. - ’ Players from Hawera will visit Patea to-morrow to meet the local players in an inter-club match. ' U'-C’U Waverley has definitely begun its season’s programme, and both the men and the ladies have completed inter-club matches. A large party from the Sea- . field (Wanganui) club visited Waverley on the King’s Birthday and defeated the local players by 14 games to 9. The course was in excellent order and the greens fast and true. As usual with visitors to Waverley, they were most hospitably entertained, and the day was most successful from every point of view. The ladies played a return match with the Maxwell ladies and avenged the defeat they suffered in the first match. The Manaia club, too, has been busy . of late, a team of men visiting Opunake on Wednesday, when they were beaten by 10 games to 5. On the same day a visiting 'team of Opunake ladies were beaten on the Manaia links after a good day’s play. j With the results which appear from day to day and the above details of the activities of the different South Taranaki clubs, it can be seen that tho game of golf receives strong support in the south of the province.