GLENEAGLES RECORD

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 156, 22 September 1927, Page 9

GLENEAGLES RECORD

WHITCOMBE WINS FROM RAY CASUAL PIECES OF COURSE A new* name has .been added to the illustrious list of winners of the Gleneagles Thousand Guineas tournament —that of Charles Whitcombe. Ted Ray was for the second time runnerup. Whitcombe won by a record margin of ten and eight, this being the most severe defeat ever inflicted on a Gleneagles finalist. Ray was outplayed. After fighting for halves by holing missable putts, he lost touch on the greens, and Whitcombe, playing with relentless precision, drew away from him. At the end of the first round Whitcombe was five up, and, after becoming dormie 10, he won by 10 and 8. Without detracting from Wlntcombe’s brilliant play and his great achievement in beating the British Ryder Cup captain by so ample a margin, it is but fair to say that the conditions were freakish. A drizzle of rain became a heavy downpour, during the latter stages of the first round, and during the luncheon interval it was torrential. Water cascades fell like mountain torrents from the high first green, and everwidening lakes developed all over the course. Some of the greens were partially submerged, and the resumption had to be delayed. “Casual water” could not have been applied, as a term, to the prevalent conditions. It was more like “casual course” in a vast expanse of water. The deluge of rain caused so much casual water on several greens that new holes had to be cut. This action was taken while the players were delayed in the restart after lunch. When the second round did eventually begin sweepers and groundsmen made a vain effort to improve the conditions by clearing the water away. The thousand spectators were drenched to the skin, and the golfing ability of the players was discounted by the extraneous influence of the water-logged course. Whitcombe adapted himself better and played superbly.