THE ROYAL AND ANTIENT GAME OF GOLF

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16984, 7 March 1923, Page 2

THE ROYAL AND ANTIENT GAME OF GOLF

H By

“The Caddie"

The annual meeting of the Hagle> Gclf Club will be held in the Y.M C.A. rooms on Vvcdnesdoy, Alarch 14. at s p.m. The annual report to bo presented to members states that the extension of the Course to 14 hole** enabled the committee to increase the membership, and two ballots were held early in the season, resulting in the election of 21 laches and 18 men. The momi»vship was then closed for the season. The membership on January 31. 1921. was:—Ladies o 1 Active, 4 Lite. 7 Absentee, 4 Nurse, and 3 Junior Mer. bors. Men—9s Active. 21 Life. 8 Ho.i orary, 1 Country, 3 Absentee, and JO Junior members. There is already a Jong list of applications fer inembei-s-liip for the coming season, but as onL a. few resignations have been received there is little prospect of many candidates being elected. The Club had .» most successful season, and the various competitions were keenly contested. 'I he Laxlies’ Championship was won by Miss 1.. Beau, and the Men’s by H. F. Feitlington. The Ladies’ Junior Championship was won by Miss M. Robin, son. The Bean Cup (Senior) was won by Miss M . Tv. lion in o is. and the Beau Cup (Junior) by Mrs Bonuington. The Meares Cup (Senior) wa* won by .?. Wyn Irwin, and the Hagley Cup (Junior) by R. cle R. Worker. Additional interest was given to the Ladies’ Competitions by the introduction of a Ringer Match, n which a member's lowest

score made at each hole in specified Competitions during the season was entered. The winner of Miss Preston's prize for this match was Miss L. Bean with a. gross total of 64. Interest in the Men’s Medal Competitions was al.-o sustained by the donation of a tropbv by Mr T. M . Reese for tJie lowest net aggregate of any four medal scores. The trophy wa R won bv P. A. Laurie with a net aggregate* of 290. The increase in the number of holes in the course not only relieved the congestion oi former years, but gave, the opportunity for better and more enjoyable golf. The appointment of A. J. Shaw as the Club’s professional has given great satisfaction. Throughout the season his services were in great demand, and a? the result of his excellent coaching many handicaps were lowered and general standard of golf in the Club was considerably raised. At the Now Zealand Championship Meeting last September. Shaw was runner-up in the Professional Championship match. Thu Club’s finances are in a very satisfactory condition. There is a balance in the Revenue Aocourit of £lsl IB's Bd. and the Assets contain War Loan Certificates to the value of £4O. The extension of t]ie Course naturally increased the maintenance ami general expenses, necessitating the employment

of the greenkeeper full time and an increased use of the horse mower. Fight lookers were added to the ladies’ ! room and a. bicycle stand was erected J for the convenience of members.

At the annual general meeting of the Hagley Golf Club on March 14 the proposal to hold an Easter tournament on Easter Saturday. Monday ami Tuesday will be considered. The Avondale Golf Club opened it* season last Satnrdav on its own links. The. Club Captain. Sir E. J. Pumphroy declared the season open, and referred to the satisfactory position of Pie Club’s finance. The links were in firstclass order and the course promises to he one of the best in New Zealand. The club, continued Mr Pumphrev has still room for another 40 membe.s. After the club captain had driven off the first hall, a mixed foursome go’! .

win for J. M. Preston and Miss M. Sapsford with E. T. Harvey and M-n K. Thornton runners up. The Christchurch Club will open its season on Saturday, March 17. when the usual opening day competitions j will be played. The R rook lands golf course is looking very well at present and is in fine playing order, despite the fact that the greens are only of a temporary nature. The course, which is situated between the Styx River and the Maimakariri Lagoon, is distant seven miles from Cathedral Square. The club aims at a, membership of 100. Tt is the intention of those in charge to lay down permanent greens if sufficient members come forward. During this coming week-end a regular club will probably be formed and it is intended, if membership warrants it. to erect a week-end accommodation house for players. The annual subscription is j only £1 Is, which is remarkably rea- j EASTER TOURNAMENT. PROGRAMME OF EVENTS. | The fifteenth annual Easter tourna- J vnent of the Christchurch Golf Club v\ill . be held on the club’s links. Shirley, j from Saturday. March Ml. to Saturday. • April 7. inclusive. i The programme includes the men s amateur championship of Canterbury and also the ladies’ Canterbury championship. Roth these matches will he decided by two rounds of stroke play over eighteen holes each. The present

holder of the men’s championship is C. A. .Seymour, of the Christchurch Club, and of the ladies’ championship, Miss X. Wright, of Timaru. Previous winners oF the men’s championship are as follows: 1006—S. H. Gollan. , 1907- C. Treweek. 1908—B. C. Rutherford. 1909 B. C. Rutherford. 1910 -B. B. Wood. 1911— B. B. Wood. 1912- B. B. Wood. 1913 ~8. C. Rutherford. 1914 H. R. Brit+an. 191.5—H- R. Brittnn. 1919 H. B. Lusk. 1920 K. Ross (Otago). 1921 -B. B. Wood. 1922—C. A. Seymour. The Indies’ championship hsa been won in previous years as under : 1907 Miss Mort. 1908— Mies N. B. Campbell. 1909 Miss Rutherford. 1910— r-Miss X T . B. Campbell. 1911— Miss Rutherford. 1912 Miss N. B. Campbell. 1913 Miss Pearce. 1914. - Miss Pearce. 1915 Mies Pearce. 1919—Miss R. Cracroft-Wilson. 39204-Miss X’. Wright. 1921 Miss X'. Wright. 1922 — Miss N. Wright.

The Challenge Cup for the men’s championship and also the Challenge Cup for be held by tile club of which the winner is a member and will he retained by the club until the next competition. Both the winner and the runner-up in each championship event will receive a trophy. There will he putting competitions going on continuously throughout the tournament, both for ladies and for men. The men’s programme is as follows ; Saturday. March 3 —Morning: First championship round and stroke handicap. Afternoon : Second championship round and stroke handicap. Monday, April 2—Morning: Bogey handicap. Afternoon : Foursome bogey handicap. Tuesday. April 3—Morning: Stroke handicap. Afternoon : Four-hall bogey handicap. Saturday. April 7—Afternoon : Mixed foursomes for Islington Cup. The ladie6’ programme of events is as follows : Thursday, April -s—Morning : First round Indies’ Canterbury championship and stroke handicap. Afternoon: Bogey handicap, over eighteen holes. Friday. April 6—Morning: Second (four-ball), over eighteen holes, round of championship and stroke handicap. Afternoon: Bogey handicap Saturday, April 7—Afternoon : Mixed %ursomos for Islington Cup. ALTERING STYLE.

u Is a player justified in altering his style after having played in a particular stylo for years?” “ Can he improve his game by doing so?” These are questions that have frequently been asked lately, due, no doubt, to the keener interest that is being taken in the game and the improvement In the standard of play. Many of the older enthusiasts, although playing as well as ever, keep slipping behind in the race for honours, and naturally desire to keep pace with the leaders, writes D G. Soutar. in the Sydney Sun.” With regard to the first question, it all depends whether the saving is fundamentally wrong. If such were the case, a man will certainly derive a greater amount of pleasure out of the game by changing to more orthodox methods. He will play more consistently, and will undoubtedly improve his game. Many players and critics also have a mistaken idea in regard to a faulty style. There are instances of players appearing to he radically wrong through cultivating some peculiarity of movement which is really only a detail and not a principle. In such a case ’.o concentrate upon the mannerism with a view to checking it would not be difficult, and the faulty movement would soon disappear without any fundamental alteration in the swing. \N itli a, player whose swing is fundamentally wrong, the case would be difficult. He should obtain the correct theory of the golf swing—and there is no mystery with regard t-o that—find out where ne is wrong and set to work to master the defects. It would mean hard practice for some time, and his score niignt suffer in the. process, but his game would ultimately benefit. Besides, the player who understands the game and plays it correctly gets far more pleasure and enjoyment out of it- than he whose knowledge is scanty in that respecti It is the difference between achievement and happening. A good deal has been said and written about a player’s natural style. It has frequently been stated that cue s natural style must he the best for on* While almost every movement in the execution of the golf swing is a natural movement, it does not follow that a new player will do them naturally. For instance, a new player would never grip the club with his hands close together, let alone overlap them! He would he certain to hit at the hall instead of swinging at it. All those movements have to be practised, and when ana-

lysed prove to be the natural moans to the end of swinging a golf club pro. psrlr. LADIES. GOLF NOTES. The Christchurch Ladies* Golf Club opens its season to-day at Shirley. Mrs Wigram, a prominent member or the Christchurch Ladies’ Colt Club is leaving for England early next, month. Her presence will be great!v missed from the Club. Mrs Pumphrev. the champion of the Avondale Ladies’ Golf Club ror the last two yefirs in succession i* playing good golf--her wooden shots being especially long and accurate. The Avondale Ladies’ Golf Club in conjunction with the Avondale Colt Club opened it« season last Saturday. The day wag beautifully fine. There was a large gathering of members and their friends. A mixed foursome Flag match was plave-d which was won by Miss Sapsford and Mr Preston. The Captain Mr Pumphrev. with Mrs Pumphrev entertained those present at afternoon tea. Amongst the players were Mr and Mrs Francis. Mr and Mm Manning, Mr and Mrs Early. Mr and Mrs ‘Stevens, the Misses Sapsford. Mir.-. Dixon. Mrs Kitto. Miss Thorton. M and Mrs Mills. Miss Gibbons, Mis* Cameron-v Smith. Mrs Robbie. The Avondale links has improved very much since last season. A few of the holes have been lengthened and others added, making it. now a full 18 hole, course. The Ladies’ Club has become affiliated to the L.G.U.. and is now eligible to challenge for the Bovk* Inter-Club Challenge Cup. at prosent held hv the Christchurch Ladies’ Golf Club. At the end of last year a hook on golf, which is described as being masterly. hv Miss Joyce Wethered and her brother. was published. It is having a great sale in England.

Miss Wethered. the open champion, is the first lady golfer on the coveted •plus” mark, on© incident in the earning of it being a wonderful 78 at Walton Heath, with which she annexed the handicap award of the Surrey Coronation Medal, against a field of over one hundred competitors. She is credited with complete concentration powers, largely made possible by entire absence of self-consciousness, coupled with marvellous ease of style and power of fingers, which seems to be the main secret of Miss Wethered’s golf, a secret which the whole world may safely follow, if it can. THE GOLFER OF THE YEAR. There is a Miss Wethered, Joyce, Whom critics all praise with one With the simplest of styles The ball flies for miles. And her swing is as smooth as a Royce. Do not play golf when you are feeling tired. This is the time when one is apt to fall into bad habits. A player should rest whenever she ran during the busv season at golf, when the matches' are in full swing and the players are mostly keen. Concentration at golf is essential, but it is utterly impossible to concentrate or take any interest in the game when exhausted. Strain and excitement take far more out of a player than she imagines, and when one meets with success in a big event she should give the game a few days’ rest immediately after it is over, otherwise her play will become uncertain, and her confidence will disappear. Tt is the player who retires early, lives the moderate quiet life, who becomes the consistent and steady performer compared with the pi aver who dances, or plays bridge until a late hour. When playing a shot from a bunker the weight of the hotly should be thrown on the left foot at the moment the club meet* the sand. In order to do this the player must make up her mind to bury the club-head in the sand under the point where the ball is resting. This will prevent her from falling away from the shot. The “ push" ” shot should he used with all iron clubs when plaving against the wind. The ball that ri bit in the ordinary floppy manner is absolutely at the merer of the wind and can he blown about like n feather, but the ball that is hit with the “punch” will cut through the wind like the shot out of a gun. j THE MODERN GOLF COURSE. Dr Mackenzie, tlje great golf architect of England, gives the following twelve suggestions for use when laying out a. golf course : (1) The course. where possible, should be arranged in two loops of nine holes. (*2) There should be a large proportion o: good two-shot bole?, two or three •In e-and-pitrb holes, and at least four 'ore-shot holes (3) There should be little walking between be greens arid tees, and the course should be so arranged that in the fiit>t instance there is always a slight walk forwards from the green to the next tee. then the holes are sufficiently elastic to be lengthened in the future if necessarv. (4) The greens and fairways should bo sufficiently undulating, but there should be a minimum of bill climbing. (5) Every hole should have a different character. (ft) There should be a minimum of

blindness for the approach shots. (7) The course should have beautiful surroundings, and all the artificial features should hare so natural an appearance that a stranger is unable to distinguish them from nature itself. (8) There should be n sufficient number of heroic carries from the tee, but the course, should he arranged so that

the weaker player with the loss of a stroke or proportion of a stroke shall always have an alternative course open te him.

(9) There should be infinite variety in the strokes required to play the various holes, viz., interesting brassy shots, iron shot, pitch and run-up shot. (10) There should be a complete absence of the annoyance and irritation, caused by the necessity of searching for lost balls. (11) The course should be so interesting that even the plus man is constantly stimulated to improve his gam© in attempting shots he has hitherto been unable to do. (12) The course should be so arranged that the long handicap player, or even the absolute beginner, should be able to enjoy hi* round in spite of the fact that he is piling up a big score. Apropos of the frankness of caddies,a lady golfer writes: “Are caddies frank? Why the little imps are cruel. I asked mine yesterday if he considered me a had golfer and he replied solemnly: ; Mrs Smith is worse.’ ”