MISS KAY ATTAINS SCRATCH HANDICAP

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 44, 14 October 1931, Page 3

MISS KAY ATTAINS SCRATCH HANDICAP

breaks course ! record ' • .i SEMI-FINAL STAGE REACHED | IN N.Z. LADIES' GOLF • & CHAMPIONSHIP '* — COMPETITION RESULTS j| : i» Yesterday was a day of successes w for Miss Oliver Kay, New Zealand 4 lady golf champion. Not only did Miss y . Kay create a golfing sensation by * breaking the record for the Arikapa- 5 kapa course when she went round in § two under the course par of 73, but « she also annexed the Donnelly Cup, -> an 18-hold stroke trophy, the Mellsop ^ Cup, which goes to the player re- S turning the best aggregate scratch 2 score for three round stroke play,^ and the trophy fos the best gross ^ ' score in the Dorfflefiy' Cup. 'fj Miss Kay played flawless golf to£ complete a round which included four^ , birdie holes. Her performance earns • her the distinction of being the first" New Zealand lady player to reach a* scratch handicap. A 71 score over the" stiffly bunkered Rotorua course is a,* "notable achievement, and in view of the fact that Rotorua is approximately* the same length as the Miramar^course for which the bogey is 78, ;j Miss Kay, on yesterday's performance" might well return even better figures over some other well-known Domin-'5, ion courses. She was over bogey" figures on only two holes, and at the" third, tenth, fifteenth and eighteejith.j she did birdies. Her card read: Out-", ward: 5, 3, 3, 4, 6, 3, 5, 4, 4,; total J 37; inward : 5, 4, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 3," 4," total 34. Grand total 71. ; q Semi-Finals To-day j® This morning Miss E. M. Upton'J (Auckland) will meet Miss Kay in the." first semi-final, while Mrs Guy WiLii liams (Masterton) will oppose Miss» Gaisford (Marton). Miss UptOiu is"' a 9 handicap player and has registetedJ an excellent performance in reach-i! ing the semi-finals. She drew a bye irW the first round but in the second she" defeated Miss M. Bull (Poverty Bay)» who is on an 8 handicap ; in the thirdii round she met some of the strong-" est opposition in the championshipij when she drew Miss D. Chrystall ofi'i Christchurch, an ex-New Zealand" champion. Despite a diff'erenee of |i five in the handicaps, however, she", was victorious in this match also, winJ! ning four and three, while yesterday? she beat Miss M. Loughnan, of,'| Christchurch, who is on an eight'g handicap, three and one. The femain-!^ ' ing three semi-finalists are all out-,|j standing golf ers. . j? Competitions decided were the Don^ nelly Cup which was won by Mis^fKay 71-1-70; the Mellsop Cup alse;^ won by Miss Kay with the gross total j of 227 ; and the inter-provincial teams^ match which was won by the ManaJs watu A Team with a gross total of« 336. - ;g. Fourth Round Games !*• Weather conditions yesterday were' ideal, but the greens were inclined! to be a trifle difficult as the result of« rapid drying after the recen,t rain." There were no surprkes in the fourtlj» round games, but wim the semi-finalsi imminent, players threw away nd5 chances, and were keyed up to theirj . best form. Miss Gaisford opposed!! Mrs Duncan Stout (Wellington) buij • although the game was very even untiji the turn, the Marton player at that; stage asserted a definite superiorityf" She won the tenth, eleventh and* twelfth in succession, and the game* ended at the sixteenth with Miss Gais-* ford holding a lead of three up*. Miss* Kay met Mrs E. Cooke, of Castlecliff in a game which provided interesting* golf, but here again the issue wa[s£ . never seriously in doubt. Mrs T. W.V Hoskings, of Titirangi, put up a goo'df fight against Mrs Guy Williams, five£ times champion of New Zealand. Mr(s*j Williams was two up at the fifteenth^ after the game. had been square at* the turn, but Mrs Hoskings struck"* trouble at the sixteenth and the Mas-* " terton champion took the match at* the seventeenth, three and one, Miss- ; Upton played very consistent gol'f« in her match with Miss Loughnan, % and her steadiness carried her through^ against the more erratie Christchurch^ player. . . « Kay-Cooke Match ® An interested gallery followed thfejj . Kay-Cooke match and was rewarded| ; by a well fought game with level^ pegging to the tenth, where Miss Kay^ definitely gained the ascendency ancf " clinched the match at the fifteenthS - with four up and three to play. It: was Mrs Cooke's lucky day, as twicp: • in the course of the play, she struck* trees with long shots which would or^l dinarily have placed her in advantage- 'v . ous positions. In the early stagesj Mrs Cooke was superior on the^ greens, but Miss Kay evened up this'advantage by getting better length f with her long shots. The champion's| putting rapidly improved, however',^ . and over the later stages, Mrs Cooko| lost something of her early accurac^.2 Both got away good drives, the first tee, but Miss Kay found "t)i&' lefthand bunker with her second while""Mrs Cooke placed nicely on to the" green. Miss Kay played out well on 1 to the green and both took two putts, to sink. Miss Kay 5, Mrs Cooke 4. MrsCooke one up.

Mrs Cooke drove a good straight ball at the second and fell just short of the green. Miss Kay was not quite so accurate and lay over to the left. Both players played good appfoach shots and taking two putts each, *halved the hole 4-4. , At the third both drove to the right of the green. Mrs Cooke fell short of the bunker and Miss Kay's strong drive ran right through and came to rest a trifle luckily, near the green. Mrs Cooke got into the bunker nyith her second and was on the green with her third. Miss Kay had the advantage when she was on the green with her second, but. lost it with indifferent putting. The hole was halved in fours. The fourth was Miss Kay's turn. She drove straight and true, was on to the green with two and taking two putts, was down in four. Mrs Cooke drove into the bunker on the left of the fairway, chipped out, but did not reach the green with her third. An approach and two putts made her score six. Miss Kay's hole, 4-6. Match square. Miss Kay drove straight from the tee on the fifth and was well down thefairway with her second. Mrs Cooke sliced her tee shot into the rough but found the fairway with her second 1