CHRISTCHURCH.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVIII, Issue 2, 10 July 1912, Page 8

CHRISTCHURCH.

(Vrom Our Special Correspondent.)

At Shirley. Saturday was • very nnpleasant day, for golf m ChrWtchureh. A tkW. wind

blew throughout the day, and in the middle of the afternoon a equal) of considerable power brought icy driving rain •nd hail. The rush for the pagoda wan quite an edifying Bight. I doubt if Mr. MacDougall's handsome gift was ever better appreciated than when that shower eame on. A fierce hailstorm on Saturday night whitened the ground, and much of the hail was still to be seen in sheltered places on Monday. We have been having frosts of some severity ever since. I don t think I have ever seen the course so wet as it is now. It may be that so much work being done has knocked the ground about in places, but mud is so seldom seen at -Shirley that one notices it particularly. The ground contains about as much moisture as is good for it, and our sun in July is not powerful enough to dry it to any extent. The greens are excellent considering the frost. The treated land is looking splendid, and I think the days of bad lies on those parts of the course are over. The new grass has come through in large quantities, and I was particularly pleased to see yesterday large patches of “ poa pratensis ” apparently well established. A good deal of rolling will have to be done when the ground ia a little firmer, but once done the effect should be permanent.

It is the intention of the committee to have the permanent course made this year, so that 't may be played over by October. This w.ll involve new greens for three holes, and these will be made and turfed at once. It will not be necessary to do any more heavy work after this year though light treatment of several fairways will be advisable. Land’s End green has been entirely remodelled. It is now quite three times as large as before, and extends across the angle from fence to fence. There is a rise of some five feet up to the green, and a fall of one foot from the baek to the front. It will be sown down next week, and should be ready for use about January or February. Mean while we use a temporary green at the foot of the hill, not so bad as most temporary greens, but, of course, not very good.

The new 18th hole putting green has now assumed shape, and will be sown very soon. The two levels will be connected by a gentle slope over which it will be possible to putt. Mr. Geo. Rhodes has kindly offered to donate a rustic fence to run along the club-house side of the green, the purpose being to prevent people walking down the slopes on to the green.

No matches were set down for Batw* day week, which was just as well, cob> tridering the weather. The week have been less favourable than usual this winter, a serious matter to the greafj majority who get goM at no other time'.

The new Commissioner of Lands, Mr, R. Pollen, who comes last from Napier, >e an old member of the Auckland Golf KJlub. He has already been nominated for membership of Shirley. He used to play a useful game from a fairly low handicap. His name figured in the old ” Freaks Book ” at One-tree Hill, he hav'ir.g holeil the old second hole in 2, tho “ utt ” being a brassie shot of 180 yards.

New Zealand Golf Council. I understand a sub-eommittee is eonsidering certain amendments to the conf stitution. The particular matter whieaf seems to me to be urgent is the management of the N.Z. Championship meeting. One does not desire to find fault with the management of this meeting in the past, but all golfers know it has nob always been equally efficient. If the Council were a financial body, able to retain an experienced golfer as its secretary a good step would be taken, but afc present that is a dream of the future. Then, again, the general body of delegates should each year decide the date as they already do the place of meeting, so that local interests cannot override the general interests of the New Zealand golf. The time is coming soon when the championship courses will be expected to reach a higher’ standard of excellence than has been the ease in the past, and future championships—perhaps for some years —-will have to be played on two or three courses only. The question, too, of standardising handicaps must be considered with a view to getting some sorb of equality at open meetings. One chib puts its best man on scratch, another puts its best man on plus 5 or plus 6. What guide has a tournament committee in handicapping? Quite possibly the man) on scratch is as good as the man oit plus 5. A sort of informal list, in wTrieti all the prominent men are handicapped',

from Arthur Dunean, would toe a guide and wonk! help a tournament committee to gauge the value of local handicap*. Three-akot Holes. Once ■when Vardon was in America’, they prepared for him a hole of nearly •XN) yards, so that he should not get up in three shots. These, too, were the days of gutty balls, so I doubt if he got there in 5. By general consent, no holo J» put oustide three shots from the tee, so that 520 to 540 yards is very nearly the extreme length of a golf hole. Anything longer is a freak. The general Idea ie that a three-shot hole should be reachable in three full-shots against a fairly strong wind with ground normal. That would seem to indicate 500 to 530 yards, hole as quite sufficient. By a three-shot I don’t meant that sort which is just outside two-shots, say 420 to 450—these I think are just bad length two-shot holes. We shall have an excellent one at Shir-ley-Land's End. The fairway is bounded bv a road on the right, and will be bunkered on the left. The tee-shot must carry a water hazard, some 140 yards away, though short players may, by a slight sacrifice of distance, clear it at 120 yards. The line is slightly dog-leg, and the green is in the angle where two roads meet. The green, which is now being recast will be a raised, one with a slight rise to the back. It will occupy a width of some 35 yards, and will be very large. The total length will be about 470 yards, perhaps a trifle short. Dunedin has a very good three-shotter in the 11th. Tne first, shot is over a rush-bed, and mist be short of the road; the second is on to a narrow fairway over a very rough, place, and the green itself is guarded by rushes. Tire total length is about 490 yards. At Wellington the one three-shot hole is over 500 yards, but owing to the flat nature of the ground it is commonplace. Tire green, too, is in a hollow and quite blind. Napier has in Shirley’s a fine hole. Two long shots put one within an iron shot, and the hole is on a terrace at the top of a 20ft. bank. The road at the back penalises the too strong shot. Tire Willows is also a good hole, a trifle shorter. Long Tom at Wanganui would be better if the fairway were not so rough. The green, too, is placed in an extremely awkward position. It could be macle a magnificent hole. The Dress Chile ‘s also a good hole, the third shot being the chief feature. Auckland is well off in having two such good hole? a- the 9th and 18th. The 9th hi particular. with its approach into the trees is an admirable bole.