GOLF Canterbury Has Half, Loss On Second Day

Press, Volume C, Issue 29518, 20 May 1961, Page 15

GOLF Canterbury Has Half, Loss On Second Day

(from Our Own Reporter) NAPIER, May 19. Canterbury’s hopes of the Freyberg Rosebowl have virtually ended and in the final analysis perhaps two shots over the fence and out of bounds will be found responsible. One was played by I. S. Harvey this morning when he was one down with two to play against H. R. Carver, of ManawatuWanganui. Because the shot abruptly terminated the match it also gave ManawatuWanganui the unexpected gift of a half.

The other was played bj- G. P. Vesty this afternoon at the eighteenth hole. The effect w-as even more devastating for not only did \ esty lose his match but Canterbury was beaten 4-2 by the little favoured Waikato.

However, the glory of Canterbury, if tarnished, could be revived when the province tomorrow morning plays its old enemy, Wellington, in one of the key matches of the tournament.

Auckland and Wellington, which are co-holders of the bowL and Hawke’s Bay, are now the unbeaten teams and the opportunity will be offered both Canterbury and Hawke’s Bay the chance to take the defenders down. With the last two rounds to be played today the situation is that Auckland, Wellington and Hawke’s Bay have each scored four wins for 4 points; Canterbury has 2*i; Otago 2; ManawatsWanganui and Taranaki 1%; Bay of Plenty, Nelson-Marl-boroue<h-Buller-We't Coast, Southland and Waikato 1 each; and Northland %. Unbeaten Players

Players unbeaten are Newdick and W. J. Godfrey, of Auckland; S. G. Jones and a very young player, I. S. Macdonald, of Hawke's Bay: J. Durry, J. W. Scott, and J. E. Meikle. of Wellington; A. W. Middleton, of Taranaki: and R. C. Murray, of Canterbury. No team will follow the events of today with keener interest or deeper anticipation than Taranaki. Before the tournament the players agreed that if one of their number should be unbeaten it would be his duty to provide champagne for the rest. Middleton, who is now the only unbeaten player, is a lawyer in New Plymouth who has recently been appointed the coroner of the district. Canterbury will play Wellington and Auckland will play Hawke’s Bay, both this morning. The other key match is that between Auckland and Wellington this afternoon and if both of these teams should happen to win this morning the prospects are that the intense excitement of the final round at Middlemore last year will be repeated. Unusual Yesterday’s glorious weather brought out a large gallery which was rewarded with both the brilliant and the unusual. One instance of the unusual was supplied by B. P. Vezich, of Auckland, when he had to climb about 15ft to knock his ball out of a tree close to the fourteenth bole.

Another instance was supplied by H. F. Vivian, of Waikato, when he played R E. Clements, of Canterbury. At the short seventh hole Clements went so close to scoring a bole-in-one that Vivian conceded him the pnitt of only a few inches. Vivian’s own ball was at least 35ft from the hole. On and on over the hills and dales of this rolling green rolled Vivian's ball and into the hole it went for a half in birdie 2's. Another instance of the unusual was the last hole of the great struggle between Newdick and Stern. Stern's ball came to rest some yards from the green of the long ninth bole —they had played their round the wrong way round—and in the excitement it was accidentally kicked by a spectator some six or seven yards down the slope. Officials scurried all about the place and Newdick thoughtfully ploughed through a rule book before a ruling was given that Stem should pick up the ball and drop it as near as possible to its original place of rest Brilliant S. G. Jones played with brilliance; R. C. Murray, of Canterbury, completed two more rounds below scratch, making three out of Dour for the tournament; and J. D Durry continued to play well enough to look almost a certainty for the New Zealand team later in the year. But it was impossible to go past the Newdick-Stem encounter as an example of the best in New Zealand amateur golf. After nine holes. Newdick’s score was 33. three under scratch, but Stem was only a stroke behind him and the margin to Newdick was only one hole. While Newdick played exact and exemplary golf. Stern replied with superb recoveries which laid the ball dead against the flag and his shot from about 40 yards to within a couple of feet of the seventeenth hole, the eighth of their match, would almost certainly rank as good a shot as the tournament has produced. Newdick slipped a shot at the tenth hole and Stem seized the chance to square the game. Then each of them had to fight very hard to get his 4 at the 11th and when Newdick squeezed a little too much power into his tee shot at the long scratch 4 hole of 437 yards the ball disappeared down a bank into a bad lie which ended his chances of winning or even halving the hole. Stem’s touch on the chips momentarily deserted him at the SOl-yard fifth and Newdick. who had played a lovely iron to the green, squared the match with a fine 3.

Newdick was off line with his next tee shot and Auckland faces were gloomy. But Stem did worse for his ball struck the trunk of a tall poplar and rebounded so decisively that he had no chance of reaching the green with his second. Newdick failed to seize the chance and a half in s's with four holes still to play suggested that his touch might have left him. The suggestion became certain when at each of the next two holes he failed to get his first putt as far as the hole. The first failure deprived him of a half and the second cost him a win.

With two holes to play, both of them very long. Stern, as a long hitter and with the advantage of a lead by a hole, seemed certain to win. Qualities Then Newdick showed the qualities which have made him so outstanding a player m the last couple of years. At the second to last hole, of 520 yards, he placed his third shot of nearly 100 yards within five feet of the hole and sank the putt to square the match with a birdie 4. At the last hole, of 458 yards, he cut his second to

the right of the green with an intervening bunker and some pine branches to distract him. After the excitement of the ruling on Stem's ball, Newdick had to play his shot knowing that Stem, after a fine chip, was certain to hole out in 5. Newdick played the finest shot imaginable to within a little more than four feet of the hole and his putt went down for the match. Newdick came back in 38 and his 71 for the round was splendid golf.

Auckland had to battle hard to win this match. Godfrey for the first time looked his trie self and was rewarded with a big win over H. R. Carver, one of the best players of the tournament. Both Vezich'and N. F. Dowden, fine and consistent players, were soundly beaten and it was W. W. Smith, who had played three matches without success, who scored what turned out to be a most vital point for Auckland. Smith had good excuse for his defeat by D. L. Woon in the morning for Woon scored a 69 and looked very much his old self.

Woon struck another great blow in the afternoon by winning his match although he was two down with five to play. His opponent, B. A. Colquhoun. of Canterbury, sank a 35-footer on the 16th hole and Woon holed out from 15 feet to win the hole. Waikato-Canterbury

This Waikato - Canterbury match was desperately interesting. Vivian, as an example, shot a 70 to beat R. E. Clements, who in any case had not done too badly with a 73. Then the young Waikato lad, B. T. Boys, reached Dormie four when K. D. Foxton twice three-putted' greens. Foxton won three holes in succession and only by the narrowest of shaves did he fail to hole out an 8-footer for a win at the 18th. The final act was played by G. P. Vesty when he and F. J. Cullen played the last hole all square. Vesty is a most experienced sports player but when he sent his shot over the fence, there was the match for Waikato.