GOLF.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18232, 17 November 1924, Page 11

GOLF.

NOTES OF THE DAY.

(By "Jigger.'')

LOCAL CLUB FIXTURES. Shir'ey. Saturday, November 22nd—Tuson Cup Hatch -d-nrl Veterans' Match, at Heretaunsa, Wellington.. Saturday, ' Xbromber 29th—Denniston ' Cup, second round. Ha'rewood. Weti-end—Closing Day. . C'oni- . petitions.

A New Zealand Golf Annual has been established, under the auspices of the Golf Council, and the first issue is now'on the press. The Council claims fhat it is now in a position to forward the best interests of golf in the Dominion —as it undoubtedly is—and welcomes the new publication as a means to this end. ' ' '

The Miramar Club-in Wellington has announced that it will hold a Christmas tournament this year on December 29th, 30th, and 31st. The tournament will bo a handicap one, worked on the flight principle, the players being divided according to ■ handicap, and playing off in groups, each winner, iu a group receivirfg a trophy. In addition there will be. tho usual medal and bogey competitions, with probably a foursome and a four-ball.

Thrceof tho first round matches in the Denniston Cup', at Shirley, were played on Saturday, and' in each case the short handicap man who was conceding strokes won. E. M. Macfarlane, conceding eight strokes to E. L. Eonaldson, won by : 4 up and 2to play. E. A. Wilson, conceding two strokes to C K. J. Ward, won by. 4 up and 3 to play, and H. W. Macfarlane, conceding five strokes'; beat. L. J: Taylor, 4 up and 2 to play.' C. A. Seymour and' D. Keeso havo not yet decided their match. They were air square on the first, match of 18 holes. The second round" will .bo played on Saturday, November- 29th, when E. A. Wilson plays H. W. Macfarlane, and E. M. Macfarlane plays the winner of tho Seymour-Eeeso match.

Once more A. D. S. .'Duncan has shown- his outstanding brilliance as a golfer when fyo is pressed. Ho was off his gamo in the morning when he played H. E. H. Balnea vis in the Mir. liar club championship (36 holes),- and at' one stago was 7 down and' 14 to go. ' He did tho fourth, fifth, and sixth in threes, and, turning for home, scored mostly under bogey, returning a card for the afternoon round of 74, and winning 1 up. -

. Tho.. Christchurch Golf Club -will hold its third annual Christmas tournament this year at the ■■ Shirley 1 .links, but the dates havo not been officially, decided upon as yet. Heretofore the tournament- has been in chargo of a special committee, - and not directly under the auspices of the--club, but this year the club will havo : complcto com trol, ■which will assuro a much more successful meeting, regardless of the fact .that the tournament-has been both successful ptpular in tho .past. It is hoped that the date and: tho -events will,be •decided upon at - an early, -date, so: that dofinito.'announcement can bo made.

A .-New York /Tcport says:—"Geno Sarazen drove. off the' first ball in . a great night play experiment on tho night of Oetober §th... Splendid searchlights •• illumined ;the Broar • Cliff o grounds, while electric- glares; with a' total power- of 200,000 watts,. .>' hung i-frbm tho--trees!:., Amber, red and Mother coloured-lights marked tho holes."

• Next' Saturday 'the Christchurch. Golf Club will • have two - teams playing l •at Heretaunga, Wellington. The "players selected'for-the team to defend- the ■Tuson, Cup t aro as'.follows (without regard to tho order in which, they will play):—-E. M. Macfarlane, C...'8. 'J. Ward, H. W. Macfarlane, A. L. Crojlp, C.-A.- Seymour, G. W. Haverfield, C. W. Hpdsdon, E. A. Wilson. ... .

The selections for the ■ veterans' team, also without regard to the order in which they will play, are': —L. Bonnington, W. P. Anderson, W.'.T. D. Harrnan, C, K. Sams, C. H. Hewlett, C. Wood, W.8.-Pur chas, T. W; Woodroffe.

James D. Harnett, in "Golf Illustrated" (New York), says:—"Walter Hagen'B victory in the National Professional Championship, at ;French Lick Springs, ■ was more : than anything! else a personal triumph for him and a vindication of his standing as America's greatest competitive golfer.. I might even go so far as to include the world as his kingdom, for his victofies__in tho British Open and in-'the. P.G."A."e"vents have re-established him as the golfer of the year in this, country. Hagen is now on a par with Jim Barnes and Gene Sarazen in a number of victories scored in the.P.G.A. event; Each have won it'twice, but Barnes for consistency is one point up in that he has been runner-up on two occasions, while Hagen has'only reached this stago once. The passing of Sarazen, coming as it does at the end of a season in which he has shown little of the : former skill that made his efforts so noteworthy, suggests-that the 1922 and 1923 meteor of the golfing world'is on the verge of being relegated to the ranks of those who have been described as ' flashes in the pan.' While I am not convinced that •■ Sarazen has degenerated to this degree, the fact that he seems to have lost that confidence which was one of his outstanding, characteristics of a year ago is not helping his game any."