CHRISTCHURCH.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVIII, Issue 11, 11 September 1912, Page 6

CHRISTCHURCH.

(Special Correspondent.) Shirley. Last Saturday was rather an unpleasant day for golf. A light drizzling rain from the east set in in the early morning ami continued with short intervals throughout the drty. There was not enough rain to do any harm to the course, but just about enough to make golf unpleasant to any but the most enthusiastic. The encouragement given to the festive worm was a feature, and on Monday putting was almost impossible for worm-casts. And while on the subject of worms it seems to me that a definite crusade should be started against the nuisance. The time of the men employed <learing the greens would be much more prolitably employed in other directions, and this consideration should be siulicient without mentioning the annoyance caused to players. A preparation containing formalin is said to be vew directive. No matches were down for decision at Shirley, but several enthusiasts turned out. Good form is being show n by most of tin* leading player*. B. B. Wood continues to play liist-class golf, and if he can retain his form he must do well in \\ ellington. He has the initial advantage of driving a tremendous ball from the tee—a ball which few 7 can got within thirty yards of. The rest of his play is in keeping with his driving. H. E. W right is also playing well and indulging in steady practice. H. B. Lusk is in fair form but needs more play yet to get to the top of his game. Fortunately he w ill have the opjiortunity. B. (’. Rutherford was in town last week-end and played his usual steady game. The removal of J. Forbes to Timaru will not I under-

stand, deprive us of his services at the ( hampionship meeting, but he will be missed thereafter. At least our loss is in this case a very substantial gain to Tima ru. Lyttelton. A new* golf-club has been formed at Lyttelton. Anyone knowing the peculiarity of the the situation of the port might wonder where a sufficient area could be obtained but the problem has been solved by crossing the harbour. On Mr Orton Bradley's estate at ( harteris Bay some twenty minutes by motor launch from Lyttelton, a nine-hole course has just been laid out by D. Hood. The land is undulating but not sandy. A creek lined with willows is an important feature of the course and considerable use has been made of it. The lengths of the holes are approximately as follows: 190, 240. 136, 380, 195, 350. 175, 220, 240. The club is already 25 strong and I wish it every Approaches. When I was playing on the two great Sydney eourses. Rose Bay and Kensington, I was struck by tin? fact that one could not toll where the green began. It was not at all difficult to define its boundaries at the sides and backs, but in the front the fairway merged so gradually into the green that the dividing line could not be accurately fixed—indeed there was no dividing line. It is needless to say that under these cir-

vumstances one’s approaches usually gotf their full value. One of the worst features of many N.Z. links is the roughwess of the approach. You go in an inch or less from long, or, what is worse, tufty grass to the finely-cut green. Shirley is certainly one of the worst courses in this respect. Right up to the green edge —a well-defined edge, too—runs a more or less rough fairway, which, strange to say’, is often worse nearer the green than farther away. Tufts of grass and uneven banks cause the most annoying and unfair kicks, and one seldom gets fair value for one’s approach at these greens. At Shirley the matter is to be dealt with on the new course, so one hopes that all will be well there. The same drawback I noticed at Wanganui last year. The* approaches to some of the greens put a premium on luck. 1 understand that now they have the freehold they will do something for those approaches, which arc certainly the worst features of those* very line links. The morai of this is: When making your greens make the approaches also for some forty yards from the Hag, excepting where a pitch shot is expected, when less will do. And let Hie approaches be as caiafully made as the* green. If greens have already been made, then there is nothing left fur it but to get to work on tiie approaches. Turf them, dig them up. top-dress them or whatever is needed, but so long as the annoyance of the badly treated approach lemains you lose much of the pleasure of the* game. Hagley. J. I). Boy*, last year's champion, having defeated (*. H. Sevmour, 6 and 5, met P. G. Withers in tb<‘ final of 36 holes. Boys won by 8 to 7. New Brighton. The wet winter has been of great benefit to the New Brighton course. The grass sown on the sand-hills has taken linn root, and before long an excellent fairway should be seen. The greens, too, are very good, and altogether the club is flourishing. The club championship is in process of being played off, but there are still about c igat left in. Worms. The worm nuisance at Shirley, after Saturday's'shower.*, e vidently roused the lion. The green -keeper and assistants wore occupied to-day spreading some stuff on the greens for the benefit of our humble? friends. One mixture, which required the hose to be played on it after spreading, brought up a good many, but another—some sublimate —brought up thousand* in a very few seconds. It is only a cjuestion whether these affect the grass injuriously or not, which question, once decided, the worms arc in for trouble.