GOLF WOODWARD, BLANK CUP COMPETITIONS

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28263, 29 April 1957, Page 10

GOLF WOODWARD, BLANK CUP COMPETITIONS

The Christchurch B team in the Woodward Cup inter-club golf competition seems to find its best form only when opposed to Christchurch A. Yesterday at Rangiora. in a finish charged with golfing drama, a chip which would have left the match square went into the hole, popped out again, and sat tantalisingly on the edge of the cup. Christchurch A scraped home by 4$ games to 3j. The players who held the fate of the match in their hands were A. E. Benzie, of the A team, and A. R. Mac Gibbon. They were all square playing the last hole, with Mac Gibbon requiring a win to win his game and square the team's account. The last hole at Rangiora is 510 yards dog-leg to the right, with the fairway skirted by trees. Mac Gibbon, the New Zealand cricketer, hit a tremendous drive which, notwithstanding the lack ofrun, took him within 30 or 40 yards of' the. corner. From there he played a magnificent 3-wood over the trees which went full pitch into a bunker at the left of the green. Benzie. handicapped by an injured wrist, was much shorter off the tee, but played a safe second and put his third at the back of the green. Mac Gibbon only just got out of the bunker, and had to play his fourth from thick grass with a steeply sloping lie. The ball looked in all the way—until it jumped out again. Then Benzie added to the tension by being far short with his approach putt. He left himself one of five feet or more, but he sent it down confidently, for the half his side needed. Three members of Canterbury’s Freyberg Rosebowl tournament team appeared for Christchurch A. and the two top men, R. J. Charles and C. W. Caldwell, were in fine form. Charles, playing I. B. Cromb. was out in 34, two under, and two up. His putting was sound, and he sank a 14-footer for a birdie and a win at the ninth. But when Charles, on the second time round the nine-hole course, lost his accuracy for a time, Cromb was unable to win holes which seemed his for the taking. Cromb was out in scratch figures but on the few occasions Charles played a poor shot, luck was with him at some stage during the hole. Caldwell Consistent Caldwell, his swing as easy and graceful as ever, was scratch figures for the first eight holes, and he dropped one at the ninth. He was getting the greens with his seconds consistently, and H. J. Gosset was two behind at the turn. Gosset’s only trouble was with an occasional poor drive, and coming home he played well, without making any impression on Caldwell, who began the homeward half with two birdies. Caldwell was home in 37, for a 74, two over scratch. Another Freyberg Rosebowl player, J. O. Scott, went down to B. Cleland, a former Canterbury representative, who has not played much golf in the last year or two.

M. R. Blank played some spectacular golf against J. D. Bull, who holed his chip at the fourth for a win, but later in the round Flank made one or two costly errors. Bull’s steadiness kept him in command, and he was two up with three to play when Blank sent his tee shot far into the trees at the right. A. I. Charles was only one over •cratch when he beat the wellperformed J. G. Mangan. On the first half he had scratch figures at every hole and this gave him a lead of three up. He continued to chip and one-putt with phenomenal regularity. A Long Putt

There was one superb moment in J. H. Scott’s match with D. F. Williamson. At the first green Scott was confronted with the task of sinking a putt of 40 feet for his win. As he putted, some noises off took his attention, and he lifted his head. Turning to make some deserved and remarkably mild comment on the distraction, he did not see his ball rolling across the green and dropping into the hole. But Scott earned his victory, playing excellent golf for almost the whole round.

Two other members of the Canterbury team, M. W. Stanley and K- D. Foxton, won their matches for Russley A against Kaiapoi and the sixth player, R. E. Clements, was in a team which had a bye.

Russley A, now leads in the competition, points, but Christchurch A and Waitikiri have had their byes. The points are: Russley A 2, Christchurch A 1. Avondale 1. Waitikiri 1, Christchurch B 1, Kaiapoi 1, Russley B 0.

Waitikiri, beating Russley fairly easily, took the lead in the Blank Cup competition. The points so far are: Waitikiri 2, Waimairi 1, Rawhiti 1, Templeton 1, Rangiora 1, Hagley 0, Russley 0. Russley and Rangiora have had byes. The leader in the Simon Cup contest is Waimairi. The points are: Waimairi 2, Rawhiti 1, Hagley 1, Kaiapoi 1, Avondale 1, Windsor 0, Templeton 0. Avondale and Kaiapoi have had byes. Results were:—

WOODWARD CUP

Christchurch A v. Christchurch B R. J. Charles beat I. B. Cromb, 4 and 2; C. W. Caldwell beat H. J. Gosset, 4 and 3: T. G. Scott lost to B. Cleland, 2 and 1: M. R. Blank lost to J. D. Bull, 3 and 2: J. G. Mangan lost to A. I. Charles, 5 and 4: B. L. Clegg beat I. J. Campbell, 4 and 2: J. H. Scott beat D. F. Williamson, 3 and 2: A. E Benzie halved with A. R. Mac Gibbon Christchurch A won by 4| games to 31- The match was played at Rangiora.

Russley A v. Kaiapoi K. D. Foxton oeat L. Morris, 5 and 4; M. W. Stanley beat A. F. Green, 3 and 2; D. C. Watson lost to J. H. Eathome, 1 down; R. K. Atkinson beat D. G. McAllister, 4 and 3: W. D. Armstrong lost to R. G. Rainey, 4 and 3; F. Williamson halved with T. Monk; K. Galloway beat J. R. Dempster. 5 and 3; S. C. Cliff beat R. Bruce-Smith, 2 up. The game was played at Avondale. Russley won by 3J games to 21 Avondale v. Russley B H. W. Lawrence halved with A. J. McGillivray; vV. J. McGavock halved with G. Sinclair: F. W. Roberts halved with G. Speed: A. E. Ison beat A. B. 8001, 5 and 3; G. Burton beat W. L. Fairclough. 4 and 3 Strang lost to A. Richards, 3 and 2; C. C. A. Barnard lost to J. GUmcre’ 2°'S £ Mclntosh beat T -Avondale won by 4J games to 31. Tbe match was played at Shirley.

BLANK CUP Waitikiri v Russley J. Potts beat R. Hamilton, 4 and 2; A. Castle lost to C. Gibbs, 1 down; D. Gibb beat M. Forward, 2 and 1: L. Chappell beat A. Aldersley, 7 and 6; I. Wilby beat K. Watson, 3 and 1; L. Rhodes beat J. Footer, 1 up; C. Ogier beat R. Jiggins, 2 up; A. N. Bailey lost to R. Lane, 2 down. Waitikiri won by 6 games to 2. The match was played at Kaiapoi. Hagley v. Waimairi R. D. Johnston lost to L. Boyd, 4 and 2; L. Sumpter lost to W. EUis. 2 up; L. R. Stringer beat A. Henderson, 5 and 3; E. E. Burgess lost to M. Hall, 2 down; F. T. -Collins lost to L. Rhodes. 2 down; B. Walsh beat J. Sansan, 3 and 2; D. Wilson beat M. Hodgkinson, 1 up; D. Jeffreys lost to R. Day, 5 and Waimairi won by 5 games to 3. The match was played at Rawhiti. Templeton v. Rawhiti N. Matey beat R. Arnould, 2 up; D. Climie lost to L. J. Russell, 1 down; J. McGavock halved with I. Milesi; S. Leighton beat G. Anderson, 3 and 2; H. Drummond lost to S. W. Fox, 4 and 3; G. Day lost to M. Oates, 1 down; R. Collins beat R. McCourtie, 3 and 2; S. Andrews beat A. Croy. 1 up. Templeton won by to 3li. The match was played at Russley. SIMON CUP Waimairi Beach v. Templeton W. Watson beat R. E. Dunne, 2 up; S. O’Callaghan lost to R. Smith, 4 and 3; J. Macer beat R. Pugh, 1 up: C. Le Roi beat E. Holder, 5 and 3; R. Duncan beat L. Blumsky, 5 and 4; G. Worsdale lost to R. Batey, 4 and 3; W. Stevens beat E. Mitchell, 1 up; C. Broxton lost to F. Busch, 4 and 3. The match was played at Hagley. Waimairi won by 5 games to 3. Hagley v. Windsor W. Weatherhead halved with R Franks; D. Glue beat G. O’Neill, 5 and 4; K. Lomax lost to W. Brodie, 3 and 1; E. Hill beat E. A. Fisher. 7 and 5; B. Miles halved with M. Midgley; G. Stuart lost to A. McMillan, 4 and 3; R. E. Gillespie beat M. Mathias, 4 and 3; J. F. Churstain beat G. Fielding, 2 up. Hagley won by 5 matches to 3. The match was played at Waitikiri. Avondale v. Rawhiti A. Dickey lost' to C. O'Neill, 5 and 3; D. Osborn beat L. Muirson, 4 and 3; L. Mitchell beat W. McKenzie, 3 and 2; J. McCleary beat N. S. McCann, 4 and 3; G. Cormack beat C. Nevell, 2 and 1; Y. Bell beat I. Pockson, 5 and 3; C. A. Pascoe beat J. K. Lindley, 6 and 5; T. G. Kennedy lost to P. Southswood, 4 and 3. Avondale won by 6 matches to 2. The match was played at Waimairi.