UPWARD SWING

NZ Truth, Issue 1181, 19 July 1928, Page 14

UPWARD SWING

The Weekly Round of Putts and Drives

(From ( "N.Z. Truth's"' Special Golf Correspondent.) ' ■ H. Li Plum Icy is steadily advano- . ing to the scratch mark, rteturning scores of under bogey, week after week, soon will give him the desire of every golfer — to be p scratch player. ■ . THIS left-handed player's latest effort: was a 74 m the Bloomfield Bowl at Middlemore. : • Tail; with a- fine, free style and plenty of determination, Piumley is the stamp of a great golfer. Since-; winning the Rotorua tournament, he has proved that the win was not a fluke, and as the season advances he will prove a difficult man to defeat m the club championship. . ' ■ Up -nortn, golfers are savage — eight wet. week-ends m succession. Bat golf was, never a. winter game— mud, slippery tees and "suckers'' is not golf. Play it m summer and keep , the competitions till then, and realize; golf as it should- be. ' E. M. McFarlane, the ex-open champion, is devoting lots of time to practice and is beginning to- show line scores again. The open is only a matter 0f ,12 weeks away. Perhaps that's the- reason.? The Christchurch crack plays the golf which will suit the Dunedin links. , If your shots are going astray, look ■ first 'to your grip. A goklon rule for the grip is: When looking _ down on your hands as they grasp the club, sec two knuckles ol' the left, hand and the second and third finger-nails of the right hand. Players. in the -King Country look forward and practise har^d for the K.C. championship. This year the presence of, J, 1,. Black m .that district: is giving, the King Country ex-champions a lot of worry. Don't forget that, champions sometimes go off, so there should still. be a little hope. . ■■ Since the announcement that Miss Oliver Kay. was going to Sydney to play m the Australian open championship, Miss M. Stevens, of Dunediri, and Miss M. Payton, of Rotorua, have entered for the. same events and will accompany Miss Kay to Australia. Before the entries close we expect to read of an entry from Wellington, and then the team, of lady invaders would be complete. Artd they are going to prove that the playing strength of ladies' golf m New Zealand is stronger than m Australia. ■••:■■■ GOSS DISPOSED OF Miss M. McLeod and Miss L. Bailey will,, be their strongest opponents over there, yet L have never seen scores returned by the Australians to be so near par as the girls who are travelling have returned m championship matches m New Zealand. ' • . ■ =■•.'• It is a fine sporting spirit which has made. Miss Pay ton enter and help the younger players with her advice and experience, and it is the 'spirit to go and conquer, which has called to the Dunedin girls. . . All New Zealand golfers will watch theji* efforts at Rose Bay, and golfers there will have a; surprise 'coming to them when they see Miss Oliver Kay stand up an<3 hit her drives as far as a professional. They ; leave on the 20th of this month, and on their way back — as forecasted some weeks ago — they will play m the New Zealand open at Middlemore. "Truth" wishes the lady invaders all success. Kapi Tareha was m a scoring mood • when, playing m the match, Napier v. Wanganui, at Taradale. Kapi cleaned up Jack Goss 6 and 4 and holed out 17 holes m 71, the river hole • being unplayable: Goss had recently returned, a great score of 71 over Belmont links, nine under bogey, but against the irresistible Kapi the Wanganui player lost his touch. ,-'.■■• ■•-■•■. ' ; A. Stewart, a popular Eltham golfer, has holed but a real one. This was at the 3rd on the Eltham course, a hole of 210 yds., certainly a good wallop. Rana Wagg's 68 over the Hutt course shows a touch of form. Several scor.es under 70 have been played on this course, and this is Rana's second • offence. If he would stick to golf alone and practise, Wagg would go far m New . Zealand golf, as he has everything m his' favor — youth, power and a bagful of shots. '„■■'• Dp. McKenzie's solo effort m golf architecture m New Zealand . — the Titirangi course— is now revealing his wonderful touch. The greens, with their" bold sweeps and contours, are now thickly grassed and the links look like a golf course. E. S. Douglas, the professional, who has played over several of- McKenzie's courses at Home, is keen on his new links, and thinks, once completed, they will be a great test of golf.