NOTES ON THE PLAY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 918, 10 September 1910, Page 5

NOTES ON THE PLAY.

',- (By Telegraph.—Special .Correspondent.); Ch'rlstohuroil, ; September;.9.l ; : The;;third' round' ;of. ;-:.tho--.: amateur championship : ended in : 'H. ,:C. ; Smith beating . Balieavis, Luslo. beating; Kidstori,', Wood beating ■ B;.; j .'. Smith, and Duncan.Seating Seymour. ; None of :the. matches proved hard contests, 1 the victors, having matters geueially .all, their own'-way..'.ivy.' X-., , ; ;v' \f\ : In the-afternoon,'Duncan met: Wood,: and Lusk 'met..Smith,;;.t.ho;,two:.Chnst r church; inen 'getting' home. Duncan,: as in his previous; games, got' behind'• Wood in the",early -stages,, but Wood retained his brilliancy ; of the previous day. and theiopen champion had no chance,-Wood winning at the 17th hole ("The'Nest"/ by 3.up and l.toplayVamidst applause. Wood was somewhat lucky-at this' his; second ball on the; lip ,'qi the' green,' and, after .wobbling for, ,'a moment, -rolling into .the', greens.,',-t. -A' fraction of an inch. more 1 : to; the, butsido and: it would have rolled into rough' country.:,-In the other.match-Lusk-beat .Smith, by 3up and 2;to. play, after, a, 'fairly even ''gq."';' ; X ; .' '■' VY;X'X--;X '-.•'■ At the be'ginnitig'of : the :tournament that. A; Duncan would win-.:th'e .open championship,.: but; lie;.did .win then! As the tournament advanced,: and Dun can had ■ escaped defeat twice by a": very .narrow'.margin; .it .looked ;'. as :.if both. luck...and:-;;' reserve:;' power ;,were his to command,, -and.. that, no one.. could": .wrest ;-' v .■ from '.: him the :■. amateur ; championship'X:;; B. - 4B;' Wood, though: a brilliant player,'.; was quite unequal -.to '• the . strain'■ of ' fo'ui'-' rounds of the open championship play, and, a. 1 little earlier, in ..the; season, was fairly'beaten by his club-mate, .H.'.-B . Wright.; On form, therefore, it did not look as if he. could really ;beat; Duncan from the''field': unless the; latter :">as;; for a third time, caught napping, which appeare'd most improbable. :Howeyer,'< it is already a thing of the past,'and B. B. Woodhas beaten Duncan; It is an achievement of which: he may;, well bo proud, and it was due to [ almost; faultless.,golf: on y.'his ":'part?.~ ; Duncan threw away the second nolo,'and, twice" afterwards, he only extricated." liimself f rom . an-, awkward predicament .by : the: finest .play. Apart from those .mistakes he played a very solid round, andj at several.holes whore he'..seemed,to. Havel the .'advantage, Wood played with' such' deadly accuracy -that - Duncan could' get out of; it.,:-.': ~'.'.' :,; ';

A great feature; about - Wood's game, was, first, his magnificent driving, and, secondly, 'the ■ accuracy, of his' long'.: approach shots... At."several-long, holes lie' laid. in each .'case, "a. long approach almost dead." His .tee shots-at '. "The "Upshot" and "O'Rorke's" were equally, .effective. Had he been in;."a mood for getting down long putts,-,"-. his score would .havo been phenomenal, j and he .would have beaten Duncan sooner than he .did. : His putting, .though, sound, was never sensational... It.'is' just :pos-. siblo that the extreme; caution, which he observes- on ; every green' does" not, in ireality,-. help him j and .to 1 ; ithe-' on.'looker. it suggests undue. anxiety... .The game was. a very .fine ■ one -.to. watch, and "Wood's win:should he popu- , lar here," as. it has ■ mado. it a certainty that member of the.local club" will be. champion of New Zealand. ■'. The match' between .Wood ; and :• Lusk :tb-morrow will be a most interesting one, should be fought but to a good: finish. Of course, a;'great deal;of ;'sympathy, is felt for Duncan," who • has always been highly popular,tbothias aiplaybr of the very, .also .-.as.':'a ■ true sportsman. .To: the: onlookers,".it:is as. when '.'a well-graced' actor'; leaves the stage," and : the audience feels -that things, have fallen 'rather flat. Everyone recognises that he played a splendid game. . :- .-.

H. B. Lusk ha-s succeeded in disposing of all his opponents—some of them first-class players, .such as 8.. J. hndH: C. Smith, and H. E; Wright. He plays with great- confidence, ! and, ih.ihis terday morning's round ho put ,up a very fine performance indeed.. - He has been runner-up so often-that. he must be intending to make a supreme' effort to-morrow: to arrive at.tho: g0a1."..-'