FROM FAIRWAY AND ROUGH

Taranaki Daily News, 13 July 1933, Page 10

FROM FAIRWAY AND ROUGH

THE BRITISH OPEN TITLE SHUTE’S CONSISTENT PLAY. QUESTION OF THE ROUGH. (By "Stance.**) The annual contest for the captain’s trophy at Waiwakaiho on Saturday produced a splendid contest and some very keen scoring. In previous Canadian foursome matches the pairs have always played off half the combined handicaps, but on this occasion the committee fixed this at three-eighths of the total, ana the innovation proved most successful and will undoubtedly be adopted in 'the The winners, K. F. Kirk and K. Ward, had a great run going out. Kirk was driving in great style, and Ward was playing his seconds consistently. Botn were making no errors on the greens. Their card read 55 44435 5 3—38. They commenced the second half with a fine five at the long tenth but then started to drop on the scratch score figures at each hole. They had bogie fives at the last two holes for an 82, but putting lapses at both made it two sixes and an 84. Nevertheless it was a fine effort and their success was due in no small part ’to the fact that both Understood the other’s play and took the lapses that are always bound to occur in a true Sporting spirit. ' - G. W. Haughton and W. H. Freeman were the runners-up. Freeman was • playing some great shots off the tee and, through the fairway, but his short gamei fell down at times. Haughton as .usual was very steady. They went out in 42, but a disastrous six at the short twelfth was fatal to their chances. C. H. Strom-, bom and' S. A. Black were going very ; well until they came to the long tenth,' .where an eight appeared on their card.' They followed this with another crash at, the eleventh, and though they played, well over the remaining holes the leeway was tod great. Black was driving in great style, but' his irons were not so reliable. T. G.; Thomson and L. H. .Johnson had a similar disaster at the tenth, where they ran into a whole heap of trouble. Like Black; Johnson was hitting them in great style. • off- the tees but his-chipping was weak. He would do better if he ran them up: with a . number four iron instead of at-, tempting, to chip them with a mashie : niblick. Golfing Brains. ' . Concerning this there is a,very amusing story, told of the late Lord Balfour., He was playing on a well-known Scottish course and did not do too well.: When his caddy returned to the professional he said, “That fellow has got no brains.” “Nonsense,” replied the pro., “that is Mr. Balfour, the Premier, and one of the brainiest men in the world. However, the caddy was quite unimpressed. “He may have brains,’ he replied, “but they are not the right sort. . You can’t tell me a.man with the right sort of brains would try to play his short approaches with a niblick. Get me a decent . player to caddy for this afternoon ” No reflection on Mr. Johnson s intelligence,' but those caddies knew a thing or two. Stratford sent its elect to Eltham in an endeavour to lift the Seafield Cup last , week-end, but the. defenders,, though without the services of H. P. Dale, proved equal to the'occasion and came through without the loss of a game. Their two ; top players, L. T. Quin and E. L. Abbott, ; however, were hard pushed by N. P. . Green and R. B. Anderson, who is playing well this season, and managed to i hold’their opponents to a draw., H. P; ; Wills, who is right back to his best form, •. overwhelmed K. N. Neal, and ’ though D. S. Morris made a good fight he found J. Quin too good. S. Cooper ‘ and L. Gibson had comfortable wins. ' Fitzroy Course Improving. ; ' A four-ball bogie Was played at Fitz- • roy but the scoring was not as good as is -usually -the case in events of this type. It was the first of its kind on the club’s programme and the players were not familiar' with the combining necessary in this match. Three pairs finished first ’ and drew for the prize, J. S. Rollo and : partner winning. The course was in good playing order, though one or two of the greens were cut rather dose. All the greens oh the top part of the property are improving wonderfully, the seventh especially having an excellent , surface. ■ i Dt. MacKenzie’s Opinions. ’ ‘ “Rough grass is of little interest as a hazard,” says Dr. MacKenzie, the noted golf course architect. “It- is frequently . much more difficult to play than a fearsome looking bunker and it causes considerable annoyance over lost balls, holding up the game with the consequent loss of morale and spoiled enjoyment. Fairways bordered by long grass make bad golfers. They do w> by destroying the harmony and continuity of the game and in causing a stilted and cramped style by destroying all freedom of play.” In his opinion 22 bunkers are sufficient for any course, and that is to say one well-placed trap is sufficient for 90 per cent, of all two-shot holes. As he states, the great joy of the amateur golf architect is to make the life of the average golfer one of misery. Bunkers are placed both sides of each group and there are 100 to 120-yard carries over rough at nearly every tee to add to his annoyance. Tire old die-hards will say that if a player does not hit straight and cannot carry 100 yards he deserves all the trouble’that he runs into. In other words, the duffer is the forgotten man, and it is lucky for the golf world in general that a man of Dr. MacKenzie’s courage and vision has risen to such eminence that he is able to ride roughshod over the narrow-minded opinions of the old school. * " Great Struggle. The British open championship produced the best struggle for years, and for the first time for 12 years there was a tie for first place. Walter Hagen, who had won the title four times before, set off at a great pace with a 68 and a 72, and his total for the first two -days’ play of 140 was a stroke ahead of Ed. Dudley, with Mitchell, Tolley and Robertson next. Never in the history of the event have there been more sensations than there were on the final day. All the leaders crashed in the third round with the ex- ’ ception of Mitchell, whose 74 ppt him in the lead with Easterbrook, Cotton and Kirkwood with a total of 216 for the three rounds. Kirkwood and Easterbrook had both returned great 71’s. Dudley, who had slipped into a 76, was only a stroke further back, equal with Craig Wood, who had suddenly jumped into prominence with a par-shattering 68. Sarazen and Tolley were on the 218 mark and Hagen and Shute only another stroke away. If ever a stage was set for a grandstand finish this was it, and one can well imagine that excitement was, at t .fever heat. Hagen, strangely for him, 5 lapsed badly and his 82 put him right out of the picture. Mitchell found the strain too great and 79 was the best he could do. Sarazen and Diegal, though displaying none of the fireworks of which they are capable, held the lead for a long time with a grand total of 295. Dudley, Tolley, Cotton and Kirkwood all failed to produce their earlier form and faded , out. Craig Wood then came along with ■ a 75 to take the lead from his two fellow .countrymen, but shortly afterwards

Denny Shute with his fourth consecutive 73 equalled his total. Easterbrook was the last of the leaders, and' at the conclusion of the thirteenth hole had a glittering chance of regaining the title for England, but the fourteenth proved his F downfall. It cost him an inglorious seven and he failed by one stroke to reach the Americans. It was a sad tale of lost opportunities. Shute was the only one of the 11 leaders at the conclusion of the third round who proved capable of breaking 75 for tije final 18 holes. Olin Dutra, the American professional champion, staged a grandstand finish. His first two rounds cost him 152 and he was then hopelessly' out of it, but at the finish was only two strokes away. His final two were done in 142, or an average of 71, but his effort came too late. Densmore Shute, who beat Wood in the re-play, is a recruit from the amateur ranks. He was the State of Virginia amateur champion and changed his status five years ago. His game improved rapidly and he has been in the forefront of American golfers ever since. He was runner-up for the professional title in 1931, and just prior .to going over to England this time beat a strong field in the big Miami Biltmore open championship. Craig Wood has only just jumped.into prominence during the last year, when he won four big events in a row during the winter season.