FIRST BIG GOLF TOURNEY.

Taihape Daily Times, 31 July 1919, Page 6

FIRST BIG GOLF TOURNEY.

. The old men of British golf are still young enough to’ win .the honours, For twent yyears Harry _Vardon, James Braid, and J.’ H. Taylor have made something like 9. “corner” in the chief prizes, and they are evidently still able to keep their rimls at bay. We have just had the first serious {professional championship since the war, on the famous links at Walton ZE[oa.th, on the fringe of which Mr Lloyd George lives, and on which he occasionally plays. The field included the cream of southern talent, and Braid zwas sllc(’S:‘Ss..t'ul, by :1. margin of a stroke, in two Lzunds, against a youth named Kirby, \ _o came out_ of the army with 9. serious wound in the leg which was mended pel'm:ulellily only by the inscrtion of 3, silver plate. Walton Heath, as we know, is Braid’s home, and it‘ is here that he has spent practically the whole of his golfing life. He knows every turn of the ground, and in -this had a great

advantage. In the circumstances, his *4 victory by such a small margin was, {perhaps, not a notable one. -On these Surrey Downs,-there is usually a bois-‘ terous wind, and during this tournament it blew across the course, mak- * ing play exceedingly difiicult. The l fair-ways are bordered by -thick i ‘heather, and one repeatedly saw men l, Zhacking their way back to a good lie from this fearsome hazard, while several had the misfortune to lose their ' balls. ‘ A ‘The old W-alton "Heath links have always had the reputation for being possibly the most ditficult of any situated inland, but the new course, which has been made in an inner circle, is about twopstrokes harder. As a matter of fact, the best score of the day on this new green was 79, and it was made by Braid. _ , The stamlard of golf generally was comparatively low, but this was to be_ i expected of m'en ‘who have only recently ibegun again to- play the -game i ‘seriously. George Duncan, that most fascinating player, who does everything in a, most facile manner, played his tee shots perfectly, but as soon as he reached the green he began to “fiddle around the'hole,” and make 9, mess c of his card. Ray thoroughly lived up to his reputation of being‘ the longest hittcr~in the world, but h‘e made several unhappy visits to the clinging heather, and in his first. round had an A 8 and two 7’s. Harry Vardoni has 4 again been attacked by his old putting a malady. In holing out from two, three, a or four yards, -he gets the ball down as regular as any man, but as soon as he ltakes his club in hand to hole out from anything else he seems to forget How to strike the ball properly. To ‘ correct this fault he h-asn taken to an old—£ashioned wooden putter, and in this tournament his play on -the greens . was as good as could he wished_ But izavinglmendcd this defect, be con—’

. -‘tracteri another. Most unusually for A him, he could not get his tee shots ‘ aawy .jprope'rly and all day he -was dropping strokes through Ithe green. ‘A Theeonclusion that one came to was that the whole ‘field of players will 7 Izave 1:0 ,pr:lctice most assiduously if they are to recover their pre—wal' form by .the ‘time /the national competition takes place at St. Andrews, at the end of June. This will b'o a championship in everything but name.