GOLF

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 23, 27 July 1939, Page 20

GOLF

WATT CUP PLAY

WHETTON'S IMPROVEMENT

SOME POSSIBILITIES

(By "Chipsliot.")

I Manor Park's clean sweep against jPaekakariki at Manor Park last Saturday gave the Watt Cup competition for 1939 new lease of life: Previously, the failure of Manor Park, the holders, to average more than five and a fraction points a match (suggested tbst Shandon, with an average of nearly eight, was practically a certainty to win. The odds are still on Shandon. But they have been reduced and thj match between the two at Manor Park will be the decisive one of the competition. Titahi, by a heavy win over Paekak. at Titahi next Saturday could make itself dangerous and the club cannot be ruled out as a possible upsetting agent. But at the moment, it looks as though the struggle is between Manor Park and Shandon. Chronicling last Saturday's match, one is pleased to report a steady improvement in the game of L. Whetton, leader of the Park team. His defeat of F H. Kember was comfortable and deserved. He usually ha' superior length and his putting was much more free than Kember's. Kember, in fact, was always uneasy on the greens. He has developed a slight hook in his putts. And though he has been trying hard to eradicate it the trouble keeps popping up at the most critical stages. Perhaps his very firm grasp of the club has something to do with it. On the other hand, he has always gripped the olub firmly and the slight hook is by no means a permanent feature tt his putting. More than likely It is one of those periodical faults which develop in anyone's game and which are best eradicated by paying not the slightest attention to them. Whetton still needs to be-a''little more careful with his seconds, though his accuracy on Saturday was better than before. In other ways, there is no doubt of his ability. A week before the match, ht had 36 holes *t Hutt. In the morning, his inaccurate seconds lodged in several bunkers. But in the afternoon he tackled lan Ewen and was only defeated by 1 up, Ewen going round in a par 74 to win. Most of the time Whetton outdrove Ewen; and that is quite a trick, because Ewen is one of the longest drivers in the country. Ewen, incidentally, was much impressed with Whetton's £orm. It is unusual for a team of twelve members of a club to strike form unanimously. But there were few poor performances by Park men in their success. Even at No. 12, W, Marchant, one time of Titahi, went round in 73. Marchant, at one time a No. 1 player in the competition, has been in the doldrums for a long time. He had, it seems, purchased a faulty driver with a head of soft wood. He developed the nasty habit of pressing for distance. And the more he pressed the less effective his golf became. Only a week or so ago he purchased a new driver. Distance with it came more easily. And he has begun a return, if Saturday's form were any criterion, to his old standards. His opponent, Dick Perkins, a few years ago one of the stalwarts of the strong surf life-saving movement in Taranaki, scored a 76, the best round of his career. In the circumstances, he did not cavil very much at Marchant's success.

Manor Park has another youngster of promise in Ted Moriarty, who scored a heavy win over J. B. Craighead. Craighead certainly did not show anything like form, for he was 8 down at the turn, reached by Moriarty in the good but not wonderful score of 36. Nevertheless, the youngster shows promise. He is on 4. He hits the ball cleanly and for the most part accurately, and he is cool and determined on the greens.

Perhaps there is something in the theory that members of a particular club develop a style peculiar to that Club. F. W. Page, Manor Park's No. 2, has an extraordinarily long backswing and turns his head almost completely away from the ball. Eric Butler, the present club champion, who developed while Page was scoring his four successive victories in the club championship, has an almost similar style, turning his head distinctly from the ball and taking the club away back. Then, on the Paekak. side, Frank Kember and Alex. Murray have similar styles. They go almost to the other extreme by taking the club back less thap three-quarters of the way and very flat and whaling into the shot with the right hand coming in very fast.

If there is nothing in the theory, the fact remains that on Saturday the Park style was better than the Paekak. Butler played very well. He hit some enormously long irons and there was nothing timid about his driving. Accuracy has not yet become the para* mount feature of his game; and just as "most other Watt Cup players need abundant experience on heavilytrapped courses to give them the consistent soundness essential in the lowhandicapped golfer, Butler needs an intensive course of play at other clubs He has himself realised the need and now and again he visits Hutt and Miramar. But he could do with more And it would help him a good deal to take part in a few tournaments of major status. There is good stuff in his game. It only needs discipline and control to make it very much better.