TRADITIONALLY WET

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 19, 24 October 1944, Page 5

TRADITIONALLY WET

XABOUR DAY WEEK-END

GALE AND RAIN

■GOLFING UNDER DIFFICULTIES

WJth the exception of the Whakatane Annual Golf Tournament, all sporting; fixtures over Labour Day week-end appear to have been, abandoned in the ! Eastern Bay. Heavy rain and a J strong easterly wind were the features of Saturday <""rnino- |i when hopeful glances were turn!-. Ed skywards by thosie vvho were interested in the many and varied sporting and campiing events scheduled to take place; The gale continued without abatement until over two and a half inches had been recorded ini the local guage. The weather failed to clear until late on Monday morning ■when picnickers: took advantage of 4'he brief spell of sunlight to visit ■the Heads and Ohope. The only, sporting fixture which carried out its full programme was ithe Golf Tourney, Contrary to popular opinion golfers are apparently made of the sterner pioneerling dtuff for we have it upon genuine record that most of the play 1 -* ers in this contest changed their sporting outfits on no less than four ■occasion's. However, so great, is the fascination of the game that tliey ireturned to their 'muttons' without flinching and completed all cup •competitions. Players were from Auckland, Gisborne, Matamata Tauranga and Te Puke. In the final for the Open Cup, Thornton of Rotorua beat Barnes-Graham of Gisborne in a gruelling test over

the sodden course. The result was .most popular with the onlookers. In the Rangitaiki features were the. hotly contested semifinal between two locals J. Gonnell ami W. Henderson, which went to 27 holes and resulted in a win for the former. The final produced a similar battle between the local man and Blake of. Te Puke, in which the visitor won alter another keen con-i test.. In the Ngatiawa Cup if Taylor of Te Puke was victorious after: a sterling bout with the runner-up Rex Morpeth of Whakatane. Golfers all declare that in spite of the weather, the tournament was a signal suocess and produced fine golt■ing. In the bowling world, tlie official opening of the Whakatane Club's green's was abandon but on Mon-< day, the Taneatua Club staged an ■enjoyable pairs tournament the •winners bqing a Whakatane visitor, C. Loane. Scout camps throughout the Bay •were likewise abandoned on account of the weather. On the. whole it may be said of Labour Day week<end 1944 that it was one of the most miserable on- record (apart from the golfing stoics) and was spent largely indoors by Avinter fires'.