SPORTS.

Shannon News, 27 December 1929, Page 4

SPORTS.

Woman Professionals.

[\ - The appearance of a woman golfer \o in the field of professional sport marks 'V, ■ a new stage in the progress of tho ,j'"'game. It was left to France to take £'"the" initiative in this matter, and for '-£', : the first time a girl competed with men %/iu a national open championship when I'' G'encycvo Dorff took part, in the French /• '. open' championship at Fourqueux in V'-, October. This little French* girl said &",' ' :,bhe had' no,groat" aspirations nbout the championship, but that }'• she was seeking competition experi- '-/ ence, of which there is so little in : : -' , France. She is only twenty years of: \ age,'and has mastered-her iron clubs h thoroughly. For eight years she was one of those girl caddies who oufc '■<. number boys at all French Clubs, at \ s •'. Di-nard, where she began to play. Now '. \ she is woman professional at Fourv, queux, just outside Paris.

/. Soccer in Germany.

1.. The German Football Association \i : <> has published a report which shows the >'J enormous hold Australian football has ;:/. in that country. The Association now jl comprisos 7117 clubs, with 890,688 !■»? -members. The clubs put into the field *| -.last year 23,892 teams, which played •'!' considerably over half a million match-: J".» es,"of which 233,811 were in organised Of the affiliated clubs <H" 2.163 have their own grounds, and 306 f<, employ a trainer. The association has s'■ ■ set aside £7OOO toward the building of jtf\ headquarters, and has a reserve fund If'"'of £2500.

11. Appreciation of Professionals.'

H;'" ' One of the most pleasing developft'Tnents of golf clubs in recent years, ■ /-and;one that pays tribute to golf proft'"; fesSionals as a body, is that many of have been made honorary members t," >bf the club to which we have render4/ ed service, writes J. H. Taylor, who !' ; \\ton the British open championship on 's.,- five occasions. This recognition is much |fh ; appreciated, for the very delightful 11-",I 1 -", reason that it does not carry with it h §" 'a monetary .reward, but is, lam happy ff to think, awarded for something money ?*"'" .could not purchase, or that money could not repay. Fortunate recipients s?'':,.of'this mark of favour have proved to clubs that they are . worthly of the &:': honour —bestowed, in most cases, for '</}.': .years of service and, loyal devotion lo §X-\the interests of those who employ JT-fthem. If this were not so, the honour U ■'• would be an empty one, shorn of the $ .'kindly sentiment that prompted it's f,'. bestowal. ft:; Chess Prodigy. Hi'' It is expected here that the New H.-r South Wales chess champion, the ex* jfyy.will win. the dominion championship M[ tonriuy starting on Boxing Day. ttf ij. ; Chess apparently does not run in the ftf'Purdy family, for the young chamfather, Dr. J. S. Purdy, MetroMedical Officer of Health in formerly of Auckland, is sail know no more about chess than the 'man in the moon. Father and son are ft/ both well known in the Dominion, the ■■( latter as the New Zealand champion ■'.'/of 1924 at the youthful age of 17. ft-'. The amazing career of young Purdy ■:' __ a brainy-looking, studious youth —in ft; the chess world might suggest that ft';'this wildly exciting game in a form of ft{'t; monomania with him, but he is able to ftv-fdo quite a lot of other things successHe plays a fine game of lawn Bfl'tejinis, for example; wields a facile ft&fo'en as editor of the Australian Chess Htf.Review, and is now completing an arts ft!' course at Sydney University. Ky Chess, like golf, is apt to become a menace with most players, but young Purdy it has not become a ftp;-species of madness. ft £ Auckland Rhodes Scholar. ■ >.; ''fcifcrvft.pt Mr. Percy Minns, the recently seH'fvic'cted Auckland Rhodes scholar, was* ft;(born in Albany, West Australia, in Hf|l9o7, but he has lived in New Zealand the greater part of Iris life. He ftf.-'camc to the Dominion at an early ag(his parents, who settled in the Hg'Wairarapa. ft? In 1921, he won a junior national and entered the Auckland ftfiGrammar School, where he had a disHjitinguished athletic and scholastic carHlifer. He was a prefect, a member of ftlvthe first "Rugby fifteen, a member or Hf'the tennis and swimming clubs, anrl ftl|»enior athlete of the school in 1924 H&ftnd 1925. ft'* ' He then entered - the Auckland UniHfoyersity College in 1926 with a junior scholarship, being seventh ftjron the Dominion list. He complete©: course for the Bachelor of Arts deftf'gree last year, and since then has been ftta, member of the staff of the Mount. ftjpLlbert Grammar .School. He has taken interest in the University Colwas chairman of the A.U.C. Bl&thletie Club. has shone particularly as a Mprngjby footballer, in which game he HlnW- represented his college, his proBpniee and the North Island; He was selected to play for the All Blacks Hpast year,.but was unable, to play, and HlthV same cause this year prevented again winning that distinction. r Another Australian Arrives. Australian dirt track rider arrived in- Christchurch,. under toi,S,tadiurasi. (Christchurch),

Ltd., Charlie Perabo by name, a Sydneyite. He is a two second handicap man, riding in scratch races and has competed against Paddy Dane. He has a lower handicap than most of the other Wcntworth Oval riders now in New Zealand. He will appear at Christchurch for five week, after which he will probably go on to. Wellington and Auckland. He started off this season in meteoric fsshion on his first evening 'out, starting in six races and gaining five firsts and one second. Thereafter he has ap peared at least one night, a week, in various Australian tracks, and has;secured a place at every meeting. He fras been in the game for about six years. Four Instead of Thirteen.

The 18th hole on the Pebble Beach course,' on the California coast where the United States amateur championship was played this year, measures 540 yards. It is a tough five, with varying winds, off the ocean adding to the long carries necessary. On his firsi round the English player, Lord Charter Hope, stood .82 on the 18th tee. He played a fine drive and then hookeil his second near the rocks of tho shore of the Pacific. So he dropped a bal! and played five. That one went into the sea, so he played seven with the r.cxt one. That stroke was even worse so he made ready to play nine, and still 330 yards from the green. But ho had run out of ammunition, and so strolled over to see if there was any salvage on the bench. He found his ball sitting up on half a dozen pebbles, banged at it with a mid-iron, took a long mashie for his next, and sunk the putt for a "birdie" four, when, a 13 seemed more of a likelihood.