AROUND THE LINKS

Hawera Star, Volume LIII, 17 June 1933, Page 8

AROUND THE LINKS

COMPETITIONS AT HAWERA

; ANDERSON CUP ROUNDS. ; IMPROVEMENTS TO COURSE. A competition among the men of the Hawera Golf Club which creates each season keen rivalry and has the added merit of judging players on an aggregate of two rounds, of medal play, is ’ that for the Anderson Cup. This is a, trophy given by one of the keenest supporters of the club and a most enthuisiastio player. Qualifying lpunds are needed before the match play begins, just on the lines of the championship. The first round was nearly completed last w r eek-end, and players are urged to get their matches played as curly as possible because the season is going and there are a large number of competitors still on the programme. There were sixteen matches in the -first -round and all were closely contested.' The most unusual result was that- between Whitehead and T. E. McKenzie, the latter being conceded four • strokes. Fifteen holes on the round were halved and McKenzie used three of his strokes and won by a very narrow margin. s , The week-end was a very busy* time for, besides the Anderson Cup matches, the ladies v. men fixture and the Inglewood match had to he piayed. This week the competitions are senior and junior four-ball bogey, with, a match at Patea next week. On July 5 and 8 the ladies w 7 ill again be called upon to provide teams tc meet teams from the men’s club, Wednesday and Saturday players. ■ Steadily, small improvements are being effected in various parts of the course, and arrangements are being made to improve the third tee. So fax, hunkering has not been carried oiit : on* the course,’ but •as time goes on and the committee is able, no doubt thev will add this to their programme. The severe rainfalls experienced during the past month or more have had no effect on tbe sandy country on the seaward side of the course, but in the first,' second and eighteenth, rain has affected the greens to some extent and has made the tees and fairways very soft. - . The question of bunkering is one that has been much discussed. Opinions vary as to how severe bunkering should be and one leading authority who was an expert on golf course architecture, stated plainly that he believed clubs were going too far m making courses difficult. His opinion 'was that golf should be made .more for the average player than the champion.- This, however, brings up the difficulty of getting decisions among the real “top-notdhers,” unless courses are laid out as a pretty searching test. One would assume that a solution would be the provision of clubs and courses for low handicap men and for the "average players. It is a question that can. be discussed with great interest, according to different points of view. . „„ ■ , . , The Hawera Ladies’ Club' has justfinished., the second round of a threebogev match—a most interesting and use-fill competition and one that will conduce to improvement by making consistency and steadiness essential. This week’s competition was asenior and junior four-ball match, another useful type of contest, because it brings the younger players in touch with’ the seniors and should give their play a fillip. In the . ordinary course pf. events, juniors are somewhat diffident about asking seniors to play with them and such a competition as scheduled is excellent experience for the juniors and. a very good thing for the club and conducive to its best interests.

TE NGUTU GLEB. It is. pleasing to.see that there is a consistent improvement in the average standard of play among the members of the To Ngutu Club, a fact which is noticeable, especially among the young players. Several of them have shown quite marked progress and, if they can get steady play and some coaching, they will continue in the way they have begun. If a) player has natural ; ability—some show aptitude m every- game, while- others- can never get beiyond a certain standard—he will natural!v have ,a better chance of excelling ‘ when he begins the game yohng. Most champions have begun at ah early stage and many of the great professionals have graduated from the ranks of the caddies and have almost begun life on the links. But practice is essential and one knows of cases in 'which players who have achieved greatness, have spent months perfecting the use of only pne club. J. A. Clements is said to have used an • iron for a-whole season, with the natural result, excellence with that club. Congratulations to Te Ngutu Club committee on their enterprise in affiiliating with the New Zealand Council, This will give the club a distinctlv improved status. It is good to see that the total of affiliated clubs continue to grow, despite the hard times. It is, however, an outstanding Jfeature that golf, like many other games, continues to increase its numbers of devotees. MANAIA LINKS. IMPROVEMENT IN GREENS. Until last year the Manaia Club had to be content with small greens that were not popular with members and made play somewhat difficult for approaching for visiting players used to wide unfeneed. greens. But before this ■swason. (the committee arranged for much, larger ‘greens and hit upon the very effective idea of getting two members to take in hand the care of one green in the off-season, so that eighteen jgembers undertook the whole of the greens. They did their work well and "the result has been a decided and valuable improvement, much appreciated by all members and certainly iust as milch by visitors. The fairways were somewhat slow, in coming into play this year, because of the abnormal growth of grass in the autumn, hut this was hastened materially bv the consideration of the owner in allowing them to be mowed and now, after the cold spell, they are better than ever before.

OTHER CLUBS. One of the most improved lady plaviers of the Patea Club is Miss M. U Sullivan, of Manutahi, who is a very keen enthusiast. She lias been successful during this and last year, in winning several competitions. She has now given a nice trophy to the club, to be allotted to whatever event the committee desire. These kindly acts help a club very materially and serve x? i°; s^er a spirit of friendly rivalry that is all to th_e good of the club and of the game. The conditions on the Patea links on Wednesday last, the dav set apart for competition in the annual L.G.TT. medal rounds, were not good, although the weather was fine. The previous heavy rains had made the course soft and slow and competitors found play somewhat difficult. Scores were, in consequence, not very good. The returns from Dominion clubs show that Miss Simpson (Napier) and Mrs Dalgleish (Miramar) with a score of five under the scratch score of the course, tied for first place for the Coronation Medal and the former won on a count back, of the last nine holes Tho same thing happened for the Aotea Roa Cup. Miss W. Judge (Wairnato) and Mrs M. Boag (Amuri) hieing with 10 under scratch and a count back gave the award to Miss Judge. Members of the Rawhitiroa Golf Club' are playing a medal match tliis week the results of which will aid the handicapper, Mr. F. Belcher, to adjust the the yhave begun. If a player has nathandicaps of players. • Although the recent bad weather has made the ground rather heavy the links are in good condition.