A Diary of, Sport WET AFTERNOON FOR GOLF

Southland Times, Issue 24234, 18 September 1940, Page 9

A Diary of, Sport WET AFTERNOON FOR GOLF

Saturday’s Fixtures

QUALIFYING ROUND AT OTATARA By PAR Although the weather was threatening early on Saturday afternoon it was decided at ’Otatara to carry on with the first qualifying round of the knockout competitions. Not long after play began light rain started and continued for the rest of the afternoon. The rain, a light wind from the south-west and playing the ball as it lay instead of placing it provided conditions that seemed strange after what golfers had been used to for the past three months. The scoring ranged from very good to pretty bad, 22 strokes separating the best A grade score from the worst. The fourteenth (Manuka) proved costly for many players, an astonishing number of B’s and a couple of 10’s being recorded there. The second qualifying round will be played next Saturday and after that the eight qualifiers in each of the four grades play off. The conditions evidently suited G. Robertson, who played at the top of his form and finished at the head of the A grade "field with a score of 77. Going out, Robertson had 6’s at the second and fifth, both bogey 4 holes, but had birdies at the third and sixth and reached the turn in 42. He played the second half faultlessly, missing bogey ox - better at only one hole, the eleventh. Birdies were obtained at the tenth and seventeenth and he was back in 35. His net score of 72 gave him a win in the unofficial stroke match played in conjunction with the qualifying round.

TROUBLE AT MANUKA A. H. Broad and S. A. Bell are level in second place with 79’s. After playing 12 holes Broad, who started at No. 6, was level with bogey, but dropped a stroke at five of the last six holes he played. Bell began very strongly, carving out the first seven holes in two under bogey. .He dropped a stroke at Long Tom, but'got his 4 at the ninth and was out in 37, one under bogey. He started back with 5 4 3 5 and a great round seemed in prospect. Then for some reason came an unaccountable breakdown. Bell played Manuka like a novice, capping several bad fairway shots by taking four putts and carding an 8. He retaliated with a fine birdie 3 at the next hole, but helped himself to four putts at Knolls. The result was an indifferent 42 for the second nine holes. J. D. Strettell, who is fourth with 80, also had his adventures at Manuka, but, unlike a lot of others, got out of them with a 6. His drive was hooked out of bounds and his next was in a ditch. It took him 5 to reach the green, but he managed to get down in one putt. B. Mehaffey 82, H. M. Smith 83, F. H. Hughes 84, G. R. Hanan 85, J. S. Dick 85, W. F. Poff 85 and J. R. Woods 85 are next in order.

Only one player in the intermediate grade broke 90. That was F. O. Rice, who is at the head of the field with 87. J. A. Doig is next with 91. The scores of the next eight competitors range from 93 to 97, so it looks as if there will be keen competition among them for places. As only nine B grade cards were returned all but one of them are assured of qualifying. The position is the same in the competition for 20-24 handicap players. . ECLECTIC COMPETITIONS The ringer, Hogg Trophy and Morrah Cup Competitions at Otatara will be completed with next Saturday’s round. In the ringer competition the scoring is very close, F. H. Hughes leading by a stroke from S. A. Bell, who is half a stroke ahead of G. Robertson. The leaders at present are:—F. H. Hughes, 65-2-63; S. A. Bell, 67-3-64; G. Robertson, 67-2J-64g; H. M. Smith, 69-4-65; J. A. Thom, 68-2|-65L' S. F. Williams, 73-7-66; W. F. Poff, 70-2J-67i; G. R. Hannan, 71-3i-67|. In the Hogg Trophy competition—the four best net A grade scores during the season—S. F. Williams seems to be in an unassailable position, nine strokes ahead of the next competitor with a chance of improving a stroke or two. The best cards are:—

There is a similar position in the Morrah Cup competition, which is open to B graders, C. W. Francis holding a lead of 11 strokes. This margin will probably be reduced after this week’s round, but the prospects of anyone overhauling Francis are about nil. The leading scores are:—

The Queen’s Park Club had also intended playing its first qualifying round on Saturday, but after examining the sky the committee decided to postpone it for a week. Instead an unofficial stroke match was played. A. Des Forges overcame the adverse conditions and played impressively for a round of 75. It was pleasing to see that his net score was also the best. Rounds like that on a wet afternoon deserve to win, but often they are just beaten, A. R. 'Cullen and G. M. Thom tied for second place with net 73’s. In the B grade H. A. Giller showed improved form and was round in 90, which gave him 67 net. This score tied with that returned by A. J. Milne, who had a very good round of 82. Giller won on the count back.

AMERICAN AMATEUR CHAMPION The winner of the American amateur championship, R. D. Chapman, who was successful in the final by the big margin of 11 and 9, was prominent in the British amateur championship at Hoylake last year, when he caused an upset by defeating the defending champion, C. R. Yates, mainly by relentless and miraculous putting. Chapman went on to reach the quarter-finals, in which he was beaten by A. A. Duncan, who was runner-up to the champion, A. T. Kjfte. Before going under to Duncan, Chapman eliminated Gordon Peters, a British Walker Cup player, who was thought to have a chance of winning the title. That was Chapman’s third try at the British title. When he was there in 1937 the story got about that he was worth £2,000,000. At Sandwich he was made a great fuss of, and it was in. the match he played against Bruen (said Golf Monthly) that a small London clique disgracefuly stirred up an unwarrantable incident. Last year, according to Golf Monthly, he was acting as a master of ceremonies and crooner in a Florida night club. If he was worth £2,000,000, as the story went three years ago, it was infernally hard luck to have lost it so quickly. However, singing to his patrons did not take anything away from Chapman’s golf for he was a better player in 1939 than he was either two years or three years previously, when he went to

England with Joe Ezar, the . professional, as his tutor companion. J. P. Hornabrook, the brilliant New Zealand amateur golfer, recently had a round of 68 on the Masterton course, the (Standard scratch score of which is 74. The holder of the New Zealand open and amateur titles, Hornabrook is now rated as plus three.

S. F. Williams 69 72 71 76—288 H. M. Smith 70 75 75 77—297 S. A. Bell . 74 76 76 73—299 F. H, Hughes 72 77 75 76—300 J. A. Thom 72 75 75 78—300

c. w. Francis 74 72 72 74—292 R. C. Cook 77 77 73 76—303 A. W. Owen-John-ston 78 75 76 76—305 A. R. Macnee 75 71 81 86-313