GOLF.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume IX, Issue 663, 20 November 1902, Page 6

GOLF.

“ Niblick ” gives the following interesting particulars of the Ladies’ Championship of Australia : — “ It wat unfortunate that the only really bad golfing weather during the Sandringham meeting should come on the opening day for the Ladies’ Championship. The men would have put on goloshes and old felt hats, and simply revelled in the mud and slush, but to> ask ladies to go out and play golf in rain and hail was absurd. It was no pleasure to the players, and certainly no true test of golfing ability. Besides, it must have been recognised that those who started off late, wfien the,rain had stopped and the water soaked in, had a big pull on the early beginners, but it was a still greater mistake for the ladies to play the game over again. . The bad luck must be taken with the good in a game of golf, and nothing more he said about it.

It, would bo very hard—perhaps impossible —to find a precedent in the gelling annals of, say, St.‘Andrews. At the same time, one cannot but admire the true sporting spirit in which Mrs de Tittle and Miss Ayres gave up their lead. “The fact., however. that the resuit would have' been the same, even substituting Tuesday’s scores for "Friday’s proves that the best players came out on top. Miss Calder; w'ho has now been Australian champion twice, drives a low running ball with a free but rather jumpy swing. It was generally her second shots' that put her into trouble, as they had not enough carry to clear blinkers. Putting with an aluminium putter, Miss Calder gets her approach puts very near the hole, but is rather shaky with shorter ones. Mrs de Little was perhaps the most reliable on the green's of the ladies, but she as unaccountably off her drive in the last two rounds, and this put her badly out of it. She. plays with a, free, even swing, and a good follow through, but she gets too high overhead, a fault which sacrifices both distance and steadiness.

“ Mrs Fairbairn was playing very brilliantly, but erratically, and did not seem to have the same faculty for getting out of bunkers that Miss Calder had. Mrs Fairbairn is not at all certain with her second shot ; indeed, I noticed that- none of the ladies were so steady in this respect as the gentlemen. Miss Bell also got some very pretty drives, but her putting was not at all up to the mark. One hole that Miss Bell played stands out as one of the best of the competition. / Going to the eighth in Wednesday's round, Miss Bell got two beautiful shots over the bunker, laid her approach put within 2 feet of the hole, and ran down a very pretty four. “Miss Ayres, of Adelaide, did not find her trufe form till well on in the meeting. ■She excels in every department of the game, driving with a loose wristy swing a fairly long ball. Miss 1). Ruse, of Charlton, also pulled up wonderfully towards the -end. and showed that with a little mor>. experience she will make one of the best ot our-players. The Ladies’ Championship,, which was won by Miss Calder with a score of 299, or two less than her nearest rival, Mrs Fairbairn, brought the meeting to a close.”