GOLF

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLII, Issue 20493, 11 August 1936, Page 12

GOLF

VISIT OF WORLD STARS SARAZEN AND MISS HELEN HICKS On Sunday afternoon next golf enthusiasts will have an opportunity of seeing Gene Sarazen and Miss Helen Hicks, of America, in action on the Highfield links. Sarazen visited Timaru in 1934 and gave a splendid exhibition at Highfield, but enthusiasts are particularly fortunate on this occasion in that they will see two world stars in action. The visitors will be matched against two well-known local players, and a most interesting contest should result. Sarazen was born in the State of New York and he learned his golf as a caddie, obtaining his first important work as a professional at the Titsville Country Club in 1921. This well-knit, stocky little golfer who has won the American professional title several times appears to be quite definitely the successor of Walter Hagen in the golfing world. Sarazen has brilliance and he has revealed it repeatedly. His golf does not give the impression of mechanical accuracy which the hypercritical used to find in the performances of “Bobby” Jones; it has the fire and adventure and daring of Hagen, the early Hagen who used to pull Iris drive into the rough, slice his second into a bunker, chip out and hole a long putt for a birdie four, who laid himself dead from the middle of hazards, and was always to be counted upon for a thrill every other hole. This dark, dapper little golfer has been in the first flight for a long time. He swarmed up to the very top by notching the big “double,” the British Open and the American Open in 1932. In the British event he spreadeagled the field with a 283 to beat Jones’s previous record for the event by two strokes, which would win the Open Championship in the year when the highest standard was set, by four strokes. In the American Open, a few weeks later, he triumphed with a 286, which tied the best score for the event, and with a 66 in the final round he set a new course record. These victories did not came suddenly. In 1928 Sarazen was runner-up to Hagen in the British Open, wo strokes behind. He was ninth in 1929, and in 1931 tied with Percy Alliss in third position, two strokes back from Tommy Armour, who won. He won the American Open Championship in 1922 when in his twenties, and was third in 1927 and fifth in 1928. His previous victories in the American Professional Championship were in 1922 and 1923, while he was runner-up in 1330. Sarazen was also prominent in the Ryder Cup contest last year. In the foursomes he and W. Hagen defeated A. Perry and J. Busson 7 and 6, while in the singles Sarazen defeated Busson 3 and 2. The presence of Miss Hicks will add greatly to the interest attaching to the visit, because she is one of the world’s best and most powerful players. Miss Hicks was born February 11, 1911. In a brilliant career her outstanding performance was the winning of the American championship in 1933. She was runner-up two years later. She won the Canadian championship in 1929. In 1934 she turned “business woman golfer,” and with Sarazen and others she has toured extensively since. In winning the 1931 championship Miss Hicks defeated two of the foremost golf-women of the day, eliminating in the semi-final Miss Enid Wilson (second only to Miss Joyce Wethered in British and world golf), and in the final Mrs Glenna Collett Vare, who on five occasions has won the American championship. Those who attend at Highfield should see from Miss Hicks how those of the “weaker sex” abroad play golf with power and punch. Australian and New Zealand women golfers, despite their excellena physique and robust health, in the main fail to bring to bear their utmost strength on their links activities. While our leading players display form as perfect as many of the best abroad, they lack the “devil” and “tear through.” After the 1934 visit of the Americans their influence on men’s golf in Australia was marked. To a lesser extent has a similar reaction to the visit of the British team last year been noted among women players.