GOLF.

Waikato Times, Volume 111, Issue 18642, 21 May 1932, Page 18 (Supplement)

GOLF.

THE HAMILTON CLUB.

GILBEY CUP COMPETITION. VISIT TO PUKEKOHE. The Gilbey Cup competition was concluded last Saturday, the winner being Dr. P. G. Blundell, who is a full member of this club, though a resident .of Te Awamutu, and consequently his win will give him encouragement. 0-lis two rounds of 2 up and 3 up on bogey from a handicap of 7 indicate consistent golf. The runners-up were \V. Wynne (4) and R. P. Edmonds (4), who each had cards of 3 up and "all square. The Franklin Association. The Franklin Association is a very live body, and can muster 12 to 15 players of handicaps in single figures. They look forward each year to the matches with the Hamilton Club. ' The majority of the matches played at Pukekohe last week-end resulted in favour of the Franklin players. The local team was much too weak after the leading five players, but some of the longer handicap members did well to win or square their matches. . Black was not extended by Coyle, although the match ended only 1 up. The local player was/ dormy 5 and, perhaps owing to easing up, lost the next four holes. Dr. Colbeck always had the measure of his older brother, but Wynne had a hard fight against Johnson, to be 1 down at the finish He was very unlucky not the match on. the last green. Edmonds Fisher and ■Blackie were the other winners, while Wilkes and Welch ended all square. . j «j .

Blaok’s Course Record

In the afternoon, probably to make amends for his morning finish, Black played great golf, and established a record for the course. With a little less bad luck at a couple of holes he might have clipped at least two strokes off his card, which read — 4

Out: 3 3 3 4 4 3 5 5 4—-34 In: 5 5 3 4 3 4 5 4 5—38

Par is 37 out and 30 in. Milne and Gunn, wlios were each solidly beaten in their singles in the morning, turned the tables on Ihe same opponents in the four-hall game. This indieates I hat il would lie a decided advantage lo visitors'oil strange links to reverse Ihe usual order and play the four-hall games in the morning and the singles in Ihe afternoon.

-’he Pukekohe links have improved considerably, hut Ihe bare and uneven fairways and rough greens made .1UT....U <V... U...

Black’s round was a great effort, and a sure indication that .he'has the shots and can adapt himself to any course. WHAT IS A THREESOME ? A threesome is a recognised match in golf, as the rules give singles, threesomes, and foursomes preference over every other kind of match, but how many New Zealanders have taken part in a threesome? In a threesome one player plays against two, ■Jhe two playing one ball, like partners in a foursome. The reason that a threesome Is given its standing is that there may be only three players left or available. A threesome, being a two-ball match, ranks practically as a single, and has precedence over a threeball or fourball, in which each player plays his own ball in medal play, but a threesome has no preference over a foursome, which is also a two-ball match. Whether a threeball match has any preference over a fourball is not clear. PAR. ON DISTANCE ONLY.

While there Is no question that the golfer who can place'his shots on a properly constructed course should be handicapped on a par based on distance only, because troubles are his own fault, there is also the question of faults In construction and the influence of the weather on the fastness or otherwise of ihe course. Length, however, remains the test of a scratch golf handicap. There are many players, handicapped on a course where* there are too few full two-shot holes, who find themselves all at sea when put up against golfer's who have to play-a good wood second to reach half a dozen of the holes on their course. The New South Wales Golf Council handicaps by a par based on distance. This was opposed at the annual meeting of the Riverina District Golf Association, which body has adopted the basis of the system used by the Ladies’ Golf Union. “Play on metropolitan courses during the summer months has definitely shown that there is a weakness in handicapping from par based on distance alone,” says Hector Morrison. “The discrepancies in the playing length of the inland suburban courses in summer and in winter Is so great that any system based on distance alone obviously cannot form a reliable 'basis of general comparative handicapping, unless the par be altered to conform with summer conditions. The majority of country courses come under the same category as the surbanban courses, except that with some summer conditions prevail during the golfing season—the winter. So that Hie Riverina Association's system will at least bridge the gap between slow and fast courses, which Ihe N’.S.W. Council's system does not do. Actually only sandy courses give satisfactory results throughout llu; year, under Ihe X.S.W. Council’s system of handicapping from par based on distance solely. The Australian Golf Union recommended Ihe various Stales adopting much the same scheme as that adopted by Ihe Riverina Association, and on the face of it it seems that the N.S.W. Golf Council could with advantage modify its svslen\ pu.