A Diary of Sport GOLF CONTESTS

Southland Times, Issue 24240, 25 September 1940, Page 9

A Diary of Sport GOLF CONTESTS

Qualifying Rounds Played

CLUB CHAMPIONS TO GO INTO CAMP 7 By PAR No official golf matches will be played at Otatara or Queen’s Park next Saturday because of the patriotic sports rally, which will be held at Rugby Park. The present champions of the two clubs, H. W. Rogers (Invercargill) and D. W. Cochrane (Queen’s Park), go into camp with the 4th Reinforcements. All golfers will wish them successful careers in the Army and hope they will soon be back to defend their titles which will not' be in dispute for the duration of the war. Rogers has not played any golf for several weeks, but Cochrane has been a regular competitor at the Park. He did not play in the first qualifying round for the 1940 Plate on Saturday, but entered for the September stroke handicap, in which he had a fine round of 75—the best gross score returned. There is no doubt that if Cochrane had been available he would have been the hardest man in the Plate field to beat. And Rogers would be in the same position at Otatara. The annual report of the New Zealand Golf Association reveals that 335 clubs are now affiliated with the association compared with 328 last year and 315 two years ago. The revenue account showed a credit balance of £62/11/- and the balance-sheet disclosed that the association had £l4OO in the Post Office Saving Bank and £lOOO on fixed deposit. , The annual meeting of the New Zealand Golf Association will be held at Wellington on October 11. The following are eligible for election to the council: Messrs C. A. Burgess, J. H. Drake, W. E. A. Gill, W. A. Kiely, >D. R. Richmond, Sir Alexander Roberts, Mr A. R. Sclanders and the Hon. V. A. Ward, M.L.C. All but Mr Ward are retiring members of the council. Seven are to be elected. DISAPPOINTING SCORES With rounds of 79 and 78, A. H. Broad finished nine strokes ahead of the second man in the qualifying rounds that were completed at Otatara last Saturday. Although there was a fair wind from the south-west conditions were not difficult, and in the circumstances the scores returned in the second round were disappointing. Of the eight who qualified in the senior grade only Broad improved on his first round figures, which were obtained in more testing conditions. Broad’s 78 included a 7 at the last hole, where he duffed his drive, took four to reach the green, and then had three putts. S. A. Bell, who played so well the previous Saturday, could, not do better than 87. and must have been surprised to find that he was in second place. B. Mehaffey dropped three strokes, but nevertheless moved up from fourth to third place. The leader of the field after the first round, G. Robertson, putted badly on Saturday and mainly as a result. of that placed an inglorious 90 alongside his 77. Although J. R. Woods was below his best form in each round he qualified comfortably with 85 and 86. J. D, Strettell had a bad day—probably his worst for years—but even a 92 enabled him to qualify. Now that he is in. he will take a power of putting out. After rattling up a score of 89, F. H. Hughes thought he had “missed the bus,” but of course he had then not heard of the other scores. H. M. Smith completes the field of eight. Judging by the qualifying scores, which are not always a reliable guide, Broad seems to have a great chance of winning this event, but as long as Bell, Strqttell and Hughes are in the field there is always the likelihood of his being defeated. In the intermediate grade F. O. Rice led the field with an aggregate of 182, five strokes better than that of the second player, U. R Smith. Rice was the only intermediate player to break 90. His 95 on Saturday was much higher than he is capable of doing. Others to qualify were A. G. Stubbs, S. F. Williams, E. E. Broad, H. Ritchie, A. E. Smith and J. A. Doig. Rice and Williams are the favourites in this grade. The scoring in the junior grade was closer, only eight strokes separating No. 1 from No. 8. A. W. Broad beat A. R. Macnee and W. D. Palmer by .a stroke for first place, the others in

order being A. W. Owen-Johnston, R. C. Cook, M. H. Mitchel, C. M. Davis and C. W. Francis. Macnee, who had a bad lapse in the first round, is regarded as having the best prospects. There is also a competition for 20-24 handicap players, only seven of whom returned cards for the two qualifying rounds. B. H. Palmer, who qualified first, and A. J. Kingsland, who was next, should just about reach the final. In the September stroke match played in conjunction with the second qualifying round only one competitor played to his handicap. That was A. H. Broad, who had 74 net. The next competitors were five strokes away—poor scoring indeed by the seniors. Macnee beat A. W. Broad by a stroke in the junior grade, the winner’s net score being 76, two more than the scratch score for the courseQUEEN’S PARK PLATE Golfers at Queen’s Park took part last Saturday in the first qualifying round of the 1940 Plate, which has been substituted for this year’s championships. The second round will not be played until October 5. With Cochrane not competing pride of place is held by A. Des Forges, whom one would naturally expect to find there, and J. C. R. Fleming, who had scores of 77. Fleming would have beaten Des Forges by a stroke if he had not carelessly stabbed at a six-inch-putt on the fourth green and missed it. These two are not likely to be dislodged from the top positions, but there will no doubt be changes in the order of the next six, most of whom can. do better than they did on Saturday. It is just possible, too, that some of those round about 90 will improve sufficiently to qualify. A fine round of 80 enabled E. A. Jen-

kins to lead the intermediate field by three strokes, A. R. Gimblett being second. As only five strokes separate No. 2 and No. 8 the competition for places should be keen. The juniors •were in particularly good form, the scores of the first nine ranging from 86 to 92. .At present E. H. Bray has a lead of a Stroke from H. A. Giller and T. Cagney. There should be a great tussle for places in this grade. Among the 24handicap players A.. V. Crombie and I. Shand were the only ones to break 100 and they are first and second respectively. The monthly stroke handicap was played in conjunction with the qualifying round at the Park, three competitors, E. A. Jenkins, J. C. R. Fleming and A. R. Cullen, tieing in the A grade with 70 net. On the count back Jenkins was declared the winner, so the missing of that tiny putt robbed Fleming of a win that is not easy to get from his handicap of 7. D. W. Cochrane and R. Gimblett were next with net 72’s. There was also a tie in the B grade, H. A. Giller and E. H. Bray each returning the very good net score of 66. Giller won on the count back.

INVERCARGILL LADIES’ CLUB The following is the draw for a sealed hole match to be played at Otatara at 1.15 p.m. tomorrow: First Tee.—Miss C. Smith v. Mrs S. F. Williams; Mrs E. Partridge v. Miss M. Hamilton; Mrs J. D. Speirs v. Miss M. Nichol; Miss N. Gilkison v. Miss B. Drewe; Miss L. Henderson v. Mrs R. C. Coolc Sixth Tee.—Mrs F. G. Hall-Jones v. Mrs B. W. Hewat; Miss M. Stout v. Mrs K. H. Allen; Miss M. McCallum v. Mrs W. L. Bews; Mrs F. M. Corkill v. Mrs G. C. Cruickshank. Eleventh Tee.—Mrs C. C. Anderson v. Mrs A. H. Broad; Mrs H. M. Smith v. Miss M. Gardner; Mrs S. R. Lowden v. Mrs N. Earl; Mrs O. G. Gilmour v. Mrs A. C. Ford.

QUEEN’S PARK LADIES’ CLUB

The qualifying rounds of the Queen’s Park Ladies’ Golf Club’s championships were completed yesterday in fine weather. The following qualified:— A Grade.—Mrs J. F. Field, 92, 90-182; Mrs G. E. Glennie, 90, 92-182; Mrs D. W. Stalker, 91, 94-185; Mrs J. F. Miller, 94, 96-190; Mrs N. Carter, 97, 94-191; Mrs J. Clark, 98, 98-196; Mrs E. J. Morgan, 102, 97-199; Mrs T. J. Dwyer, 97, 103-200.

Draw for match play.—Mrs Field v. Mrs Dwyer; Mrs Carter v. Mrs Miller; Mrs Clark v. Mrs Stalker; Mrs Morgan v. Mrs Glennie. B Grade.—Mrs F. H. Hughes, 94, 109-203; Miss P. Sweetman, 104, 102206; Mrs A. G. Gifford, 100, 106-206; Mrs H. Halligan, 113, 103-216; Mrs W. H. Gregory, 109, 107-216; Mrs R. Field, 106, 111-217; Mrs L. Larcombe, 116, 103-219; Mrs L. Barrett, 112, 110-222. Draw for match play.—Mrs Hughes v. Mrs Barrett; Mrs Gregory v. Mrs Halligan; Mrs Field v. Mrs Gifford; Mrs Larcombe v. Miss Sweetinan.

The draw for a B grade consolation .competition is as follows: —Mrs R. Littlejohn v. Mrs S. Kean; Mrs R. Richardson v. Mrs W. Kissell; Miss J. Andrews v. Mrs E. Halder; Mrs A. 'Stuart v. Mrs S. Fraser.

The winner of the match for C grade players was Miss E. Marshall. Handicap reductions were gained as follows: Mrs Gifford, 24 to 23; Miss Holdsworth, 30 to 29. Mrs Wallis and Mrs G. Kean gained their handicaps. The winner of Saturday morning’s match was Mis£ L. Curtis.