LADIES’ GOLF.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLV, Issue 19, 9 November 1910, Page 11

LADIES’ GOLF.

Napier. A handicap stroke match was played tin Thursday afternoon for the President’s medal. The following were the best cards given in:—Mrs. H. Smith, gross, 103; handicap, 21; net, 82; Mrs. Bernau, 105—19—86; Miss Balfour, 108— 17 —91; Miss Hamlin, 104—12—92; Miss Newbold, 116—23— 93; Mrs. Kennedy, 113—19—94. Dannevirkc. The Dannevirke Golf Club terminated the season on October 21st. The championship was won this year by Miss Belle Pellet, with Miss Myra Tansley as run-ner-up. Knight Cup: Mrs. C. Baddeley. President’s Bracelet: Miss M. Tansley. L.G.U. Silver Medal: Miss Hartgill—--92, 86, 97, 89—364. Bulton Competitions: Mrs. Robertson ’(J), Miss Tansley (3), Miss Hall (1). Best gross score: Miss Tansley, 91. The following players lowered their •L.G.U. handicaps this season: Misses Tansley, Pettit, and Benzie, Mesdames Nymand, Baddeley, Robertson. The Lady Professional. ■ No doubt all male professionals will have noticed that an advertisement re-

cently appeared stating that the advertiser, a lady professional, was in want of a situation. I see no reason whatever why a lady professional should not prove a valuable servant to any ladies’ club (says a writer in “Golfing”); in fact, I know of several whose knowledge of golf is as great as most professionals. It cannot be expected that a lady will ever win the Open Championship, but women are now in all professions, and there is no knowing what is possible to them. Assuming that lady professionals become popular, they would being golf professionals—be perfectly eligible for election to the Pros. Association, and, once members, they would be able to attend any meeting of the Association, in which case we can anticipate something such as the following:

The general meeting of the Professional Golfers’ Association was held on Monday at the Suffrage Hall, Sandwich —J. H. Taylor in the chair. The meeting was a crowded one, there being no less than 154 members present, 60 of whom were ladies. The minutes of the last meeting were read, the chairman remarking that a perusal of this year’s balance-sheet would show that a considerable amount had been spent in special grants, which the secretary would explain should any member have the audacity to ask for an explanation. Mr. Percy Hills wished for enlightenment on an item of £ 10 placed under the heading of “Special Tournament Expenses.” The secretary, who was obviously ill at ease, announced that £8 of this was for the purchase of a gold bangle for the leading lady player in the recent Association Tournament. Ae regards the remaining £2; he trusted Mr. Hills would not insist on details, which, however,- he would be pleased to furnish him with privately. A letter was read from Mr. Lloyd George, calling attention to the treatment he had received at the hands of the lady professional of the — Club. She had supplied him with a “Travis” caddie, whose name he discovered was “Redmond.” He was so very llancstrumable (Welsh) that he lost badly to his opponent, a member of the Opposition. On his remonstrating with the professional, he was informed that <she had received orders to “do it on him” from Miss Pankhurst. He would ask the P.G.A. to reprimand the offending member. It was decided that this should be done. The secretary then announced that since the last meeting they had lost 18 members through marriage. Miss begged leave to ask the chairman what he thought of the conduct of Mr. W. Leaver, who was her partner in the recent tournament. He had made use of language at No. 6 which was positively wicked. Mr. Leaver was asked to explain, and lie said that the meeting should understand that he took four putts on No. 6 green. The opinion of the meeting was that Mr. Leaver was perfectly justified, and the chairman further assured the lady that there were moments in every golfer’s life when nothing but strong remarks •would ease the mind. He had no hesitation in saying that Mr. Leaver had experienced one of those moments. (Cheers.) The proposal that Miss be elected to the Executive Committee gave rise to niueh comment, and a vote was taken, with the result that there were 77 for and against. On being appealed to for his casting vote, the chairman remarked that the result of the vote placed him in an unenviable position. If he voted against the candidate, the effect of his action would probably cause annoyance ill his home circle, and if he refrained from voting it would have a similar result. Again, if he voted for the lady, it would be possible that his motive would be misconstrued by the aforesaid ■ home circle. The members ..would, quite realise that he was between the gentleman with the horns and the

deep sea; therefore, taking al) possibilities into consideration, he would spin the coin, head for, tail a gams L This' was done, and the lady was defeated. A request that the coin be examined was refused, and the meeting proceeded. Of course, the foregoing might be a failure as a prophecy, but it is within the range of possibilities. I said in the beginning that a lady professional would doubtless be a good acquisition to a ladies’ club, but I cannot imagine a woman taking over a position in a men’s club. Suppose, for instance, she had charge of the course. Troubles would crowd upon her, especially at this season of the year. An irate player who has lost several balls in the course of his round naturally puts this loss down to the professional, whom he assures, in language more forcible than polite, that the condition of the course is disgraceful, and that he pays his five guineas a year to a golf chib, and not to a “back to the land” association. And the pro. has to take the blame that should rightly be ascribed to the wet spring that laid the foundation of a record hay crop. Now, if the irate member’s club possessed a lady professional, on whom could he pour forth the vials of his wrath? Again, his caddie is, we will assume, the usual idiot. The only satisfaction that the victim has is to "go for” the person who gave him the freak. This is usually an occasion for a display of eloquence, to which the pro. listens with admiration not unmixed with sympathy.

I ask, “How can a man enter into a conversation over the burning question of worms with a lady professional?” My argument is this: A pro., being the recognised recipient of lurid elocution, must obviously be a male, and a person eteeped in golfing crime—one whose chance of future happiness is in the betting at 1,000 to 3—for, given’ a lady professional, the suggestion book is the only resource left to the man with a grievance, and we are all aware that the book of suggestions is not a popular medium for complaint, for a man naturally prefers to argue yvith one of his own species, whom he is positive he can convince of the soundness of his argument, which, being done, raises him in hie own estimation. As far as playing the game is concerned, I know of several ladies whose husbands and brothers are professionals, who could hold their own with the majority of golfers. I Hope the lady who' is in want of a situation will be successful—we coulci do with a little more refinement in our ranks, and her presence would always act as a deterrent to many things. Absorbent Golf. “I have heard many a golfer of great experience say that it is just about as bad to inix your games as it is to mix your drinks,” says Mr. Henry Leach in .the "London Evening News.” "Now this becomes a very important consideration to those who take their golf at all seriously at a time when the majority of outdoor pastimes, being suspended during the cold and wet months of winter, are in full swing again, and are daily inviting those who have acquaintance with them to go out an<l play. Happily—in a sense—the enthusiastic golfer does not care much about other games as a rule. He may have been a most versatile sportsman before he fell in love' with golf, but from that moment he is most frequently a golfer only. This is so generally the case that the exceptions seem sometimes to be rather proud of themselves for their broad-mindedness and toleration of other pursuits, and when they talk of other games their achievements wore generally accomplished far away in the past, before golf really became a considerable part of their lives. One good golfer has the courage to make the plain confession that when he took up this absorbing game he there and then gave up every other. It is not merely enough that the years of an ordinary lifetime are quite insufficient for the acquirement of a complete knowledge of and proficiency in golf, but that this golf is a very jealous thing, and refuses to come out right when the man is concerning himself with other things. She must have him altogether. I cannot recall any instance of a man becoming anything like a ehampion e.t golf while still keeping up his highest and most successful form at other games, whereas the champions of these other games arc quite frequently men of great distinction in other walks of sport—axoept golf.”

Le Jeu de Vio liar da. Mr. A. C. M. Croome tells a good story of the way in which a French Customs House officer, who knew not golf, examined his bag of clubs. “ My modest pack, ’ says Mr. Croome, “excited the suspicions of the douanier, who inquired whether all of those were for the use of monsieur and his friends. The idea of anyone else handling my driving iron, which they all want, or my cleek, which none of them will look at, quite robbed me of the power to answer t) man in his own language. Fortunately a bystander explained, and the official said: ‘Ah! Lc golf j’en ai entendu parler. Mais, e’est le jeu des viellards, n’est ca pas?” 1> is impossible, he adds, to convey in cola print an impression of the contempt in his tone, but it is interesting to find that the only thing about the game which had reached an obscure frontier village of France was an old and often disproved libel. Miscellaneous. It’s easy enough to be pleasant When you reach the green with a pitch; But the man worth while is the man who can smile After topping his ball in the ditch. Tn a prominent position in the smokeroom of the Olton Golf Club, Birmingham, there hangs a most delightful motto, quoted from Oliver Wendell Holmes: To brag little, To show well, To crow gently if in luck To pay up, To own up, and To shut up if beaten. Are the virtues of a sporting man.” It should hang in every club house. “Well, George, what did you think of the sermon?” “Oh, excellent! excellent! But I think I shall use my iron instead of my brassio at the third hole in future.” There is a tale being told just now in England of a certain nobleman who was playing very badly, and at last, after he had just sent what should have been a six-loot putt nearly as many yards, asked his caddie if he could give him no advice. “Ay,” said the knight of the bag, reflectively, “If ye could only drive as far as ye can putt, and putt as far as ye can drive, ye’d dae no sae bad.”

Extract from the letter of a keen bridge player, dated from a Club-house: —-“Owing to the unfortunate clemency of the weather, we were obliged to play a few holes on Saturday.” All golfers know what a stymie is, but the word is a great, stumbling—block t» outsiders.. There is a story of a man who was asked if he played golf, -and who replied, “No, I don’t play. A year or two ago I was given three clubs a putter, a driver, and a stymie. L broke the putter and the driver, so 1 gave up golf, but I think I 'have the stymie still.” Miss O. Deuton, at Harrogate, holed out from the tee at the seventh bole of that course. The length of the hole is 140 yards, so that for a lady the feat requires a fairly powerful, as well as a very accurate shot. “ How were you playing this morning?” “Well, I thought I was in fairly good form, but my opponent said we were play ing ‘ rotten golf,’ and as 1 only beat him by 5 and 4, I suppose he was right. A correspondent asks if the “Corsets” bunker at Sandwich is so-called because the ball stays there. Of corset is. How many strokes in a round can a firstrelass player of the male persuasion afford to give a first-class lady player? Mr. 11. H. Hilton says nine strokes pciround; James Braid estimates it at six or seven. Mr. Hilton, however, intends to put the matter to a practical test, and he and Miss 0. Ijeitch, who holds the ladies record for long driving, have arranged to play a match shortly, the lady to receive a half in order to decide the question. No one will quarrel with the claim of either of these players to be a fair representative “ player of the championship rank.” But the odds are rather against Mr. Hilton, for it is not so long ago since Miss Leitch, receiving a half, defeated Tom Ball by 1 up. 'rhe contest is to be of 72 holes, the first 36 at Walton Heath on Tuesday. Oct. 11. and the second 36 at Sunningdtvle two days later. The match will be held under the auspices of “ The Ladies Field.” Overheard at a London School of Golf. Fashionable lady: “What? Grip the stick with both hands? And how pray am I to hold up my skirt?”