LOOKING FOR LOST BALLS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18939, 9 December 1929, Page 10

LOOKING FOR LOST BALLS.

TOO MUCH “ ROUGH ” AT MUNICIPAL LINKS. “ It is the finest thing New Brighton has ever done,” said Mr A. R. Blank to-day, when discussing the municipal golf links. “ The Christchurch City Council are to be congratulated on the splendid spirit they showed in joining in with New Brighton.” Mr Blank was critical concerning some features of the municipal links, and he offered some advice concerning their management. Mr Blank was an ardent advocate of the establishment of the links, and 't was due in no small manner to his efforts that the local bodies concerned —the New Brighton Borough Council and the Christchurch City Council—took steps that resulted in the links being laid down. Mr Blank visited the links recently, and he said he was struck by the large number of people using them. “ There is no doubt in my mind,” he said, “ as to the success of the scheme. That is proved beyond all doubt already.” Mr Blank said there was only one man employed on the links. A charge of 2s 6d was made for playing, but on the No. 1 green, for instance, no man could sink a ball with a putter. The trouble appeared to be that there was too much cheese-paring. “ They want to spend sixpence and get six shillings back for it,” said Mr Blank. “ You cannot do that with golf.” Expensive For Player. “ Wicked,” was the term used by Mr Blank to describe the state of the greens. He was struck, he said, by the large number of people hunting for balls. “ A golf ball is an expensive thing,” he said, “ and a man who plays on the municipal links cannot afford to lose a ball every few minutes. I lost four balls in a round, and all from beautiful shots. It is in the long grass round the greens that you lose them.” Mr Blank said there was an entire absence of the necessary machinery for keeping the links in order. There was not even a horse. The groundkeeper had been cutting the fairways with an ordinary hand mower. “In a municipal course,” said Mr Blank, “ there should be very little rough. Players do not want to have to spend a lot of time looking for balls. A new player will get 4 fed up.’ They should clear out all the rough, particularly as many of the holes are blind. You have to hit your ball over a sandhill, and you cannot see where it goes.” • The necessity for providing an up-to-date grass cutter was stressed by M. Blank. The links should be under the supervision of a man skilled in the work, who could set out the operations to be undertaken each day. “I was astonished,” he said, “at the greennes-. of the links compared with other courses. The need for water there is not so great as at the other links in Christchurch, though, of course, it is necessary.” Mr Blank urged that a small room should be erected at once At present,” he said, “you have to hang your coat on an elderberry bush. Club Spirit Needed. “It is necessary to try to get a club spirit on these links—l do not think you can get a municipal spirit on a golf course. If they can rope in a number of the leading players, and give them certain discretionary powers it would improve matters, there should be a strong players’ committee, who would see that the players played according to the rules, etc. A golf course cannot be run from a central body miles away.” Mr Blank characterised as ridiculous the proposal to open up the second nine holes in the autumn. “They will not be ready for twelve months at least, said Mr Blank. “The proposal to sow down grass is a great mistake Plenty of good turf can be got from Bexley and other places, and the ground should be turfed. It is a waste of money to sow grass on sand.” DisciiEsing the lay-out of the links, Mr Blank said no matter who laid the course there would be somebody want ing to pull it to pieces. “Mr Blair has been considerably handicapped because he has not had enough room,’’ said M r Blank. Mr Blank urged that the water should not be laid on to the greens in the meantime. “Undoubtedly,” he said, they will find better positions for their greens as time goes on. To lay the water on to the present greens would mean that they would not mov-. the greens to better positions because of the expense of shifting the piping. An elastic policy is needed with a new course. I am not prepared to criticise the lay-out. Mr Blair is a competent man, and I think the lay-out he has made under the circumstances will be very satisfactory indeed. They want to keep Mr Blair there as much as they can. It will pay them ” Mr Blank advocated the clearing of the rough and the planting of the sandy knobs with ice plant. The New Brighton Borough Council should see that it spent its fair share on its nine holes and not leave too much to the City Council.