GOLF

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24903, 17 June 1946, Page 6

GOLF

WELLINGTON BEATS CANTERBURY

CLOSE GAME AT RUSSLEY

With the Jesuit in doubt until the last pair of singles players had reached the seventeenth green, and with the contest taking place in perfect weather on a course which was in excellent order, the first interprovincial golf match between Wellington and Canterbury, played at Russley on Saturday, could nardly have been more successful. Wellington won the match by 121 games to 111, after some fine contests which were enjoyed by very large galleries. In the foursomes Wei-, lington won four games to Canterbury’s three; and in the singles each' team won eight games.

Although they were practically all strangers to the course, and had but two hours previously stepped off the steamer express after a rather rough trip, the visitors, almost without exception, displayed excellent form. The team included a remarkable number of long hitters, and some golfers of rare all-round ability. Perhaps the most impressive was W. G. Horne, the leading singles player. Horne hit consistently long and accurate tee shots, and his iron play was also excellent. His easy, relaxed style did little to suggest the extreme accuracy of his short game. Horne lost his singles to D. L. Woon, but it was a close confest and the Wellington player appeared to tire in the concluding stages. Another whose work round the greens was exceptionally good was W. B. Reilly. Using his wrists t<s a very marked extent, Reilly kept his short game consistently, and for Canterbury, heartbreakingly, accurate. One of the players lower in the list who showed particular promise was F. Elsmore. In his afternoon singles he hit some fine tee shots and was consistently long and straight with his seconds as well as being sound round the greens. For Canterbury, Woon played excellent golf, particularly in the afternoon, and the captain, A. R. Blank, fought all the way. O. A. Y. Johnston 'and A. A. Holland played particularly well in the morning foursomes, and I. B. Cromb was also in very good form. The closeness of the contest is shown by the fact that 17 of the 24 games went to .the sixteenth green or further, and only three failed to reach the fifteenth green.

Some weak putting by I. A. Ewen and some excellent short work by his partner, Reilly, marked the first holes of the leading foursomes game. The Canterbury pair, Blank and Woon, were 1 up at the turn, but lost the thirteenth, “The Alps” (443 yards) when Woon tried to play a ■ wood from behind trees instead of taking an iron to the fairway. A good putt by Blank gave Canterbury the short fifteenth, but Wcon’s drive at the next found some trees and Wellington squared the match. It was at this stage that Blank revealed his best form. The pressure was on, but he went for distance and obtained it without losing accuracy. Reilly’s studied putting gave the Wellington pair a half at the seventeenth. The eighteenth provided a thrilling finish to a good game. Ewen exploded from a bunker at the side of the green to finish two feet from the pin. Woon had to sink a very long putt from the edge of the green, but the ball lipped the cup, the hole and match being halved.

In the second match, J. L. Blair, the South Island champion, and Cromb, were well beaten by Horne and D. J. Oliver. Blair was badly out of practice and sadly out of form; and although Cromb played some fine shots and was generally steady, the Wellington pair, playing excellent golf, was 5 up at the turn. Both J. L. Black and G. Tustin, the next Wellington players, steady in their match against C. J Ward and L. A. Watson, who started very badly inde'ed, ahd were 2 up at the turn. ■ A feature of the game was Black’s excellent putting and Tustin’s good driving. In the fourth game M. R. Blank and G. A. Ussher were opposed to two long hitters in L. Quinn and E. W. Thurgood, both of whom played stylish golf. Ussher played steadily, and Blank, although a little erratic off the tee, played some fine irons and putted well. The turning point of the game was at the sixteenth green, where Ussher, with a fairly short putt for a win, went too far and left Blank a stymie, and the Wellington pair won 2 and 1. J. L. McKay and C. Caldwell had a good win for Canterbury over two more long hitters in J. D. Nash and S. Keeble. Caldwell, the young Waimairi Beach player, played with all the aplomb of a veteran, and the Cante'rburv fiair was only one oVer par coming home. With, three birdies and a bogey, O. A. Y. Johnston and A. A. Holland won the first four holes of their match against the Wellington pair, D. G. Sutton and Elsmore. Consistent golf was played on the second half, but Johnston and Holland kept the lead and won 4 and 3. W Satterthwaite and E. G. Kerr held a lead of 2 up for Canterbury at the turn in their match against D. Stevens and V Palmer. Canterbury was 2up with three to play,, but three bogies at the remaining hq|es. gave the Wellington pair the game. - -to the last foursomes, the two Russley, players. J. W. Logan and G. W. Vivian, started brilliantly, winning the first five holes in par figures. Their opponents, F. Henderson and R. Small, enoyed an advantage in distance off the ees, but were sometimes inaccurate. Although they were one under par for the first six holes on the inward half, the Wellington men were unable to hold the Canterbury pair,, who played some excellent holes and won 3 and 2. Singles Woon and Horne started in brilliant fashion in their singles match in the afternoon. Horne won the first hole with a birdie three and Woon the third with a birdie two. They both turned in 36. Some inaccurate chips by Woon gave Horne a lead of 2 up at the thirteenth, but Home’s game began to fall away slightly, and the game was square with two to -play, Woon laid his chip dead at the seventeenth to win the hole, and at the last Horne found a. bunker and only just got out, Woon winning 2 up. Woon finished in 75, one over par, and Horne in 77. Reilly continued to putt excellently in his game against A. R. Blank, but both made mistakes. A birdie 4 at the ninth squared the match for Reilly, and thereafter he never lost the lead. C. J. Ward w’ent out in 38 to lead 1 un against Oliver, good approaching and putting enabling him to make some fine recoveries. Oliver played steadily on the first half, but later his tee shots began to stray. A stymie at the first and a birdie at the third gave Ewen an early lead against Vtetson, but Watson negotiated a further stymie to win the eighth. Both were out in 38, and Watson, playing excellent long irons, won the next two. Watson won 1 up, Ewen topping his drive at the last hole. Both were patchy with their short game. Cromb had a great battle against an excellent match player in Black. Cromb’s advantage in length off the tees was lost near the green, where Black was extremely accurate. Cromo maintained the pressure in the concluding holes to win, 3 and 1. Blair was in much better form against Thurgood. and was 3 up after 12 holes. Thurgood improved later, but Blair held on to win 1 up. In a rather mediocre match, Ussher beat Tustin, 1 up. In another game which produced few fireworks, Quinn, a very long hitter, beat Caldwell fairly comfortably, the Canterbury player frequently being short with his approaches. Logan lost to Nash after a* interesting game, and Sutton improved on his morning form to beat McKay. Johnston’s short game slipped in his match against Stevens, and he lost by a substantial margin. Satterthwaite was in very good form against Palmer, being 3 up at the turn. His success was due primarily to the extreme accuracy of his approaches and chips. Elsmore built up an almost unassailable lead against Kerr, winning the first five holes. Thereafter it was a close struggle, but Elsmore continued to play good golf and won easily. M. R. Blank played sound and at times brilliant golf in beating Henderson. Holland did not reproduce his morning form and was heavily defeated by Keeble. In the deciding match. Small beat Vivian after a good game. Vivian was consistently outdriven, sometimes by as much as 80 yards. Small hit an exceptionally long ball, and was consistently accurate.

Results were (Wellington names first): — Foursomes.—®W. B. Reilly and I. A. Ewen, all square with A. R. Blank and D. L. Woon; W. G. Horne and D. J. Oliver beat J. L. Blair and I. B. Cromb, 6 and 5: J. L. Black and G. Tustin beat C. J. Ward and L A. Watson, 1 up: L. Quinn and E. W. Thurgood beat G. A. Ussher and M. R. Blank, 2 and 1: J. D. Nash and S'. Keeble lost to J. L. McKay and C. Caldwell, 3 and 2; D. G. Sutton and F. Elsmore lost to O. A. Y. Johnston and A. A. Holland. 4 and 3; D. Stevens and V. Palmer beat W. Satterthwaite and E. G. Kerr, 1 up; F. Henderson and R. Small lost to J. W. Logan and G. W. Vivian, 3 and 2. Singles.—Horne lost to Woon, 2 down; Reilly beat A. R. Blank, 2 and 1; Oliver lost to Ward, 4 and 3; Ewen lost to Watson, 1 down; Black lost to Cromb, 3 and 1; Thurgood lost to Blair, 1 down; Tustin lost to Ussher, 1 down; Quinn beat Caldwell, 3 and 2; Nash beat Logan, 3 and 1; Sutton beat McKay. 3 and 1; Stevens beat Johnston, 5 and 4; Palmer lost to Satterthwaite, 4 and 3; Elsmore beat Kerr, 5 and 3; Henderson lost to M. R. Blank, 3 and 2; Keeble beat Holland, 6 and 5: Small beat Vivian, 3 and 1. Totals: Wellington 121, Canterbury 111.

WOODWARD CUP Inter-club competitions were played by A grade teams during the week-end for the Woodward Cup. Christchurch A beat Avondale by 7 games to 1, at Waitikiri. Results (Christchurch names first) were:—l. B. Cromb beat A. E. Ison, 4 and 3; C. J. Ward beat A B 8001, 8 and 6; L. A. Watson beat R. R. Senior, 4 and 3; J. L. Blair beat H. W. Lawrence. 6 and 5; O A. Y. Johnston beat C. C. A. Barnard, 4 and 3; A. j A. Holland beat A. Ibell, 2 and 1; E. J. Pumphrey beat A. L. Large, 6 and 5; l

P. H. N. Freeth lost to G. Cormack, 3 and 1. Waitikiri beat Christchurch B by 7 games to 1. Results (Christchurch names first) were:—C. Caldwell lost to D. L. Woon, 3 and 2; M Simes lost to A. R. Blank, 1 down; D. Wood lost to M. R. Blank, 7 and 6; R. Beadel lost to R. D. Frizzell, 3 and 2; L. Moorhouse lost to J. W. Jackson, 4 and 3; L. Beauchamp lost to N. Fowke. 3 and 2; R. Dagger beat T. Grubb, 5 and 4; S. Taylor lost to D. Barkle, 2 and 1.