FROM FAIRWAY AND ROUGH

Taranaki Daily News, 11 May 1933, Page 10

FROM FAIRWAY AND ROUGH

SEAFIELD OUP CHALLENGE

ELTHAKTS STRONG TEAM. -

USE OF THE BRASSE FAVOURED.

(By

“Stance.”)

The recent wet weather is altering conditions very considerably at the Waiwakaiho golf course and players have not yet become accustomed to them. Consequently the scoring in the third round of the Standish Cup competition on. Saturday was ordinary. There is little run, on the long shots and the iron shots have to be taken cleanly; it is fata! to attempt to play anything in the nature of a crash stroke. The greens, however, have improved considerably and though slow are true in most cases. Commencing with a very handy lead of. four strokes, P. Smith failed to produce his form of the two previous rounds but fortunately for him neither did anyof his most dangerous rivals and his nett 82 was good enough to land him home a comfortable winner from S. Rowlands. K. P. Tomkins was only four strokes behind at the commencement of [the round but putting lapses were costing him dearly. Nevertheless he reached the fum.in 48, thus having a good chance. His hopes soon faded as the next four holes cost him 8,6, 5, 8. H. G. MacDonald with three steady rounds finished in third position. New Holes at Fitzroy.

The Fitzroy course, being on sandy country, is at its best after heavy rain and its condition is improving each week. The four new holes were in use for the first time on Saturday and though the greens have not settled properly yet they played very well The new third, fourth and fifth are all splendid holes which would do credit' to any course. The scoring in the Fitzroy medal competition was better than previously. J. S. Rollo the fine card of 83-15-68. He deserved his win as his score represented good steady golf. C. Hall, H. S. Waggstaff and C. Wilson also returned good cards, and all this trio, especially the .first-named, are improving.

Eltham’s Seafield Cup. _ The Eltham club .has been in possession of the Seafield 'Sup for some years and has successfully resisted • all. challenges. The first match of the present, season will be played during the weekend, when the New Plymouth , club will send a team in an endeavour to regain the trophy. ' New Plymouth’s prospects, however, cannot be described as being particularly bright. ' In L. T. Quin, H. P. Dale and E. L. Abbott, Eltham has a strong opening trio and with L. Gibson, S. Cooper, J. Quin, s A. A. Stewart, H. Casey and J. Stewart from which to pick the other three the club has certainly no lack of talent It' is doubtful whether any club outside the. big centres could field a stronger team. In all probability New Plymouth will be without the services of A. E. Conway and the team is likely to be F. Quin, A. S. Hasell, G. M. Chong, F. D. Johns and two to be selected from T. A.. Thomson, L. R. Curtis, T. V. Mackay and StL. Reeves. Though pitted against strong opposition nearly all these can be depended upon to give a good account of themselves.

Unplayable Lies. Many players, even those who have been playing, for many years, have some' hazy ideas concerning the rules of golf.

There are some who believe that in the case of an unplayable lie they may either tee the ball within two club lengths under a penalty of two strokes or drop it over the shoulder under a penalty of one. The first is provided for in the rules of golf but the second is not. There is, of course, another provisionin lieu of teeing up under the penalty ■ of two, one-may go back to where the original shot was played and sacrifice a

stroke and distance.' The rule allowing the teeing up was brought in for the purpose of saving the time that would be taken up in walking back. Where | a long shot ended in an unplayable posi- ; tion even an expert player would probably elect to use the teeing rule. | Errors with Driver. j

Concerning advice against the use of a driver on the grounds that the margin of error is too great for all but the most skilled players, Craig Wood, one of. America’s foremost professionals and the winner of the 1932 open match play championship, has some interesting remarks: “It is very. difficult,” he says, “to control a ball’ that is hit with a straightfaced club. Only a few players can do it. The straight-faced club gains distance but it loses accuracy. I was hitting a ball 20 to 25 yards farther with a driver than I am now getting with my brassie. And yet I hove found that by sacrificing 25 yards for every drive, I have cut my score from one to ’ two’ strokes a round and to five to six strokes in a 72-hole open event. Five or six strokes mean the difference between victory and a place about ninth or tenth. To me these strokes meant the difference between my rather mediocre showings in the past and my three big victories this year. , I am hoping that they may mean the difference between my previous showings in national competitions and a future open championship.” If the expert finds difficulty in controlling the driver, how can the ordinary player attain the necessary mastery ? It is next door to impossible and fully 95 per cent of players would be a long way better off if they were to put their drivers in a safe place at home and forget that they ever possessed such a club. Craig Wood’s is not an isolated case among the best players. In the last British open Tommy Armour after two indifferent opening rounds abandoned his driver and used his brassie off | the tee. The result was a snappy 70 on the 7000-yard Sandwich course in the third round.

Kirkwood’s Success. J. Kirkwood, the famous trick-shot artist had not been prominently before .the

public as a ■winner of big tournaments, and his record-breaking score of 277 for 72 holes, which gave him the NorthSouth American title, came as a welcome surprise to the many golfers who remember his Australian and New Zealand tour. Strangely enough, he attributes his win to an improvement in his game pince he has discontinued trick shot exhibitions. J&irkwood did 68 on the first morning, and sank a chip from the edge of the green for a birdie 3 at the last hole in the afternoon for a 67, seven shots below par for the course. day he. added rounds of 70 and 72. When he started the last round he was seven strokes ahead of Picard and Craig Wood, [and eight ahead of Horton Smith, but he itook fives for the first two holes,, and dropped strokes at the seventh and eighth,' taking 40 out, blit he came back in 32, .3 under par, reeling off threes at the tenth, eleventh and twelfth. He'was never off the fairway in the 72 holes. He led Cooper (Chicago) by five strokes, and Horton Smith and Craig Wood by eight strokes. '

NEW PLYMOUTH LADIES’ GOLF. The best cards returned in a L.G.U. match played by the week-end section of the New Plymouth Ladies’ Golf Club at Waiwakaihp on Saturday were:— Miss F. .Evans 113—28—85 Miss L. Corney 121—33—88 Miss L. Medley 108—20—88 ■For next Saturday a flag match over the first 12 holes has been arranged, players to take three-quarters of their handicaps and choose partners. FITZROY GOLF CLUB. DRAW FOR SATURDAY’S MATCH. Following is the draw for the Fitzroy Golf Club’s mixed Canadian foursome on Saturday afternoon. The handicaps for combined players will be published on the notice board. The match will be played over 13 holes: Mrs. Rollo and Wagstaff v. Mrs. Huxford and Luscombe, Miss Jury and Carter v. Miss O’Sullivan and Whiteside, Miss Walker and Quickfall v. Mrs. Knight and Holden, Miss Stephenson and Quirk v. Mrs. Wagstaff and C. White, Miss Hammond and Huxford v. Mrs. Lile and Webster, Miss Guscott and Hall v. Mrs. Jacka and Grainger, Mrs. Croll and Gorrie v. Miss Roberts and Flyger,T”rs Barry and Croll v. Miss Parker and Miss Free and McKeamey v. Mrs. Lowe and Pullen, Miss Mayes and E. White v. Mrs. Quay and C. Bellringer.