GOLF

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 19862, 27 July 1934, Page 11

GOLF

Once again players had to apply Stephen Leacock’s test as to whether it was raining or not and in spite of the severity of that author’s test the great majority of golfers locally decided that Saturday caine up to the test and in consequence only a mere handful of players braved the elements to try conclusions in the Stableford bogey on the Highfield links. The winner of the senior division was M. Martin, who scored 31 points from a handicap of 4 and the juniorsection went to W. D. Lunan with 32 points (handicap 15). It was a pity the day was so inclement for a proper try-out of this type of competition.

The singles knock-out competition at Highfield has now' reached the semifinal stage, Rex Jones having beaten W. J. Purdom, P. Sinclair, G. C. Reid and J. M. Kerr, accounting for J. P. Steven, J. Mackay and E. G. Kerr jr. respectively. It will be noticed that all the winners are yet in their pristine youth and the general song of lament Is “Where are the Boys of the Old Brigade.”

Last week's Bisque match of the Timaru Ladies’ Club found Miss O'Callaghan 1 24 i and Miss Torlesse (27) equal in the lead with scores of 3 up. The Irish Open Golf Championship found S. Easterbrook well in the lead with 284. seven strokes ahead of the second player. The winner’s first round was a 68. J. Kirkwood was sixth with 299. In the second round Kirkwood apparently found trouble with one of the course stewards whom he reported as having trodden twice on his ball. The incident seems to have given rise to a good deal of unpleasantness.

The bunkers at Rotorua are generally looked upon as being amongst the most remarkable in the golfing world and lately two new steam jets have made their appearance and have been built up like chimneys with stone in order to lead the steam away, a local contemporary. however, relates a story of the Tientsin Golf Club, North China, which some years ago had the following by-law. “A player may lift a ball without penalty if it alights on sand used for top-dressing the greens, graves in course of construction or open coffins.” ‘Apparently when the course was laid out the Europeans responsible were not aware the area had formerlybeen a Chinese cemetery. It is stated that the Chinese custom was to exhume the remains after 10 years and place them in urns. The local rule was made to meet the difficulties caused by these exhumations. Golfers are now at peace as all the remains have been dug up.

“It is a funny angle to me,” said Walter Hagen to Grant land Rice in a recent talk on golf, “why so many average golfers get sore and blow up over some bad shot. I have won a few championships here and there and yet I have always expected to miss five, six or seven shots during the round. Why? Because experience has taught me that I nearly always do. And when I make a bad shot I simply think to myself ‘That’s one of several that will come later.’

“If the average golfer,” he continued, would only take his error, his bad shot or his mistake, as part of the round, forget about it and concentrate on his next shot, he might be surprised at the difference in his score. Golf, after all, is about 60 or 70 per cent, mental, or emotional, or psychological, and that goes for everyone who plays it—duffer or star.”

Is there any practical guide for determining how far away from the ball a player should stand at the address? The first thing to remember in taking your position to play the ball is that the body should be as erect as possible within certain limits. It is necessary of course to bend forward to a degree but the player should also be sure that his weight is settled well back on his heels. This is necessary if he is to maintain his balance through the swing; the moment the weight gets forward on the toes, there Is a strong tendency to fall forward toward the ball. The next consideration is that the player should be just close enough to allow him to place the clubhead back of the ball with the arm dropping just clear of the sides. A great many beginners and high handicap players are given to the fault of standing too far from the ball, so that they have to stretch forward to reach it. This means pulling the weight on to the toes and frequently causes the player to become too stiff in the knees to allow a proper pivot. (“Western Mail.”)

One does not expect a paper with the reputation of the London “Daily Mail” to have its leg pulled. Commenting on the fact that Miss Oliver Kay was beaten in the first round of match play in the British Women’s Championship, it has this to say of the Australian and New Zealand woman champion—“ Never has Miss Kay seen a bunker until she played in this country and in fact she bought her first niblick here. Now she knows far too much about bunkers, She was beaten in the first round because she could not keep out of them. ("Western Mail”.)

Mr Henry Longhurst, the Oxford blue, in an article in “Golf Illustrated” entitled “The Coroners of the Press” has some rather pointed and unconsciously humorous criticisms to make on the various Press golf critics in their fulminations against the selection committee dealing With the British Walker Cup team. He says “in every newspaper office the inquest has now been held, the same coroner serving sometimes for as many as three or four papers, and it is possible for us, by comparing the different verdicts, to see if we can find a general solution to the problem. Personally, I may say, I have been unable to do so, but the search provided such a high degree of amusement that I feel it unfair to deny the golfing public a share in the fun. He then proceeds to give a number of extracts from various papers of which the following is the star item. The critic of one paper (named) irate at the exclusion of a local player says that the selection committee “by the very volume of popular denunciation must go by the board” yet the same critic in a previous paragraph said “I think the Selectors did their work reasonably well.” T. H. Cotton also, writing some time prior to the British Open Championship, had something- to say about the attitude of a section of the Press in respect to the Walker Cup. He says inter alia “I am going to say that the Press did their best to weaken the moral of our team before ever the match was played.” Even in Lancashire, his home county, one critic on the day before the match wrote that Harry Bentley should not have been picked. What is the big idea? Ido think this continual crying down of British players and crying up of Americans is most unfair and calculated to feed the inferiority complex from which we are accused of suffering.

Cotton gives an example of one critic who recently complained that the

swings of Padgham, Lacey and Cotton were too short for them to play well, and yet when he analysed the swing of the previous year’s American Ryder Cup team he said they were not comparable with those of the English players (England won the Cup) yet as Cotton points out the American’s with their socalled inferior swings wiped the field in the Open Championship that year. Since Cotton wrote these notes it will be remembered that he won the British Open and Padgham was well in the running, and the following ending to Cotton’s article on these Press critics is significant, it reads thus: “As against this criticism of Lacey, Padgham and myself look at the booming handed out to Gene Sarazen’s bombast that he was going- to win both the American Open and the British Open this year. In spite of Saragen’s blather I can assure readers that I intend trying for first place just the same!”

Writing of the recent ladies’ open championship at Portcaul. Guy C. Campbell relates, “In the ladles’ championship at St. Andrews that introduced Miss Cecil Leitch to a startled and enthusiastic golfing world, round after round was remarkable for matches that went far beyond the home green, lady after lady sinking putt after putt before the inevitable failure of one or the other. Altogether there was a series of the most gallant and arresting affairs, and John Low, with the intuition of so keen and discerning a mind, approached the famous Andrew Kirkaldy with, ’Well, Sam, what do you think of the ladies now,’ He was not disappointed, for like a flash came Andrew’s answer, ‘Gie ’em twa years, Maister Low, an’ they’ll hae the breeks aff o’ Us!”’ Campbell says, figuratively speaking, the ladies have fulfilled Andrew’s prophesy, though actually, save for two competitors, the ladies have left us our “breeks.” TIMARU LADIES’ CLUB The following is the draw for the stroke match to he played to-day;— Morning—Mrs Kerr v. Mrs Bruce; Miss West v. Mrs Kingston. Afternoon —Mrs W. A. Scott v. Mrs Grant: Mrs Brady v. Miss G. Campbell; Miss Horwell v. Miss Pringle; Miss V. Campbell v. Mrs Johnston; Miss Manchester v. Miss Beil; Miss M. McCallum v. Mrs O'Callaghan; Mrs Hawkes v. Mrs Knowles; Mrs Ewing v. Mrs Jowsey; Miss LeCren v. Mrs Revell; Mrs Blue v. Mrs Minifle; Mrs Martin v. Mrs J. A. Scott; Mrs Fair v. Miss A. McCallum; Mrs E. A. Scott v. Mrs Skinner; Miss Neill v. Mrs McClelland; Miss Roberts v. Mrs Hunt; Mrs Oxford v. Mrs Ferrier; Mrs Hunter v. Miss Davies; Mrs May a bye. Port Arthur. 1 p.m.—Miss Torlesse v. Miss Waddell; Miss Adams v. Mrs Greenfield; Mrs Steven v. Miss Matheson; Miss Walton v. Miss Fox; Miss Jowsey a bye. GLEN-ITI CLUB The final of the men’s doubles knock-out competition at Gleniti was won by E. O. Joseph and N. Kennedy, who beat D. T. Todd and R. Johnson 5 up and 4 to play. The winners had a successful passage throughout, and registered convincing wins of 5 and 3, 8 and 6, 6 and 4, and 5 and 4. The finalists in other knock-outs have been found as follow':—Women’s doubles, Mrs Caithness and Mrs Joseph and Misses Miller and J. Robertson; women’s singles, Mrs Robertson and Miss Stewart; men’s singles, W. E. Jones and J. Healey. The Glen-iti knockout competition results to date are as follow: Men's Singles (second round)— Lawrence beat J. Menzies, Jones beat King, Kennedy beat Davies, Milliken beat Clark, Collins beat Cole. Mantell beat Wain, Healey beat Joseph, Steele beat Caithness.

Third Round—Jones beat Laurence. Milliken beat Kennedy, Collins beat Mantell, Healey beat Steele. Semi-final—Jones beat Milliken by default, Healey beat Collins. Jones and Healey will meet in the final. Men’s Doubles (second round)— Todd and Johnson beat Bedford and Wain, Slade and Carmichael beat J. and D. Menzies, Joseph and Kennedy beat Steele and Mclntosh. Davies and Jones beat Cole and Mantell. Semi-final—Todd and Johnson beat Slade and Carmichael, Joseph and Kennedy beat Davies and Jones. Final—Joseph and Kennedy beat Todd and Johnson.

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