BRILLIANT GOLF

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 November 1939, Page 8

BRILLIANT GOLF

HORNABROOK WINS OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP SUPERB PLAY ON SATURDAY. A. MURRAY SECOND. THREE STROKES BEHIND. (Uy Telegraph—Press Association.) 11 . WELLINGTON. This Day. s With brilliant rounds of 68 and 72 S on Saturday. J. P. Hornabrook, the :t Masterton amateur, won the New •. Zealand open golf championship on • the Miramar links with an aggregate , of 291. three strokes ahead of A. Murray, the unattached Auckland professional, who made a brave challenge ■ foi 1 victory with rounds of 71 and 69. The conditions were much more r favourable than on Thursday and Fri■f day, though the north-westerly wind i. was still fairly strong throughout the !] day. Players seized the opportunity to improve their figures, and much brilliant golf was seen. Seventy was e broken three times, and even 4’s was bettered or equalled no fewer than * 14 times. 11 Hornabrook. who was open cham- - pion in 1937 and amateur champion in f 1935 and 1936, caused a sensation at Dunedin last year by failing to quali--0 fy for the amateur championship. . Last however, he proved that 1 he had regained his best form and t that he is unquestionably New Zea--1 land's No. 1 golfer. s With a glorious third round of 68 -I on Saturday morning he placed himi self four strokes ahead of the field, i His only blemish on the out journey 1 was a 7 at the seventh, where the j wind took charge of his drive and , landed his ball far up the hillside. ' Even then he did the first nine in even 4’s. 2 It was when he headed for home, 1 however, that he showed what a com- - plete golfer he is. With birdie 4’s at - the tenth (490yds) and the eleventh j (470yds) he continued to play like a golfing robot. At the fifteenth (450 yds), which is admitted to be the hardest hole on the course when a north- ■' erly wind is blowing, he rose to great. 2 heights by recording an eagle 3. He followed up a good drive with a mag- - nificent brassie second, which landed . his ball six feet from the pin, and down went the putt. He finished a , superb home journey of 32 by recordj ing a birdie 3 at the home hole (380 ’ yds) to give 68 for the round, his fig3 ures being:— I Out: 444333744—36 I In: 443443343—32 ’ 68 I With Hornabrook four strokes ahead . of the field at the end of the third round, it was all over bar shouting, as no player in the Dominion could give him such a handicap over 18 holes when at the top of his form In the fourth round he was followed ■ by a gallery of about 3000. who saw ' some sensational play from Hornabrook 1 and G. Watt, the Wanganui professional . Watt recorded eagle 3’s at the first (425yds) and the third (456yds), and they halved the . short sixth in 2’s. Hornabrook recorded a birdie 4 against the wind at the seventh (420yds), and got his bogey 4 at the eight. He made a bad drive off the ninth tee. and the hole cost him 5, but he completed the out journey in 34. Watt took 35 for | the first nine. | Hornabrook had now only to stand on his feet to take the supreme golfing title of the Dominion for 1939. He played badly at the eleventh, where he chipped into a bunker to the left of the green, and the hole cost him 6. Thereafter he was steadiness personified, and completed the run home in 38, which gave him 72 for the round, and an aggregate for the four rounds of 291, which, as it proved, was good enough to make him open champion by a margin of three strokes from A. Murray, the Auckland professional. There was a burst of cheering from the large gallery when Hornabrook sank a 6-foot putt for his 4 on the home green, and he was then chaired through the cheering crowd back to the clubhouse. Hornabrook took all the honours of the day, as he won the Bledisloe Cup. which goes to the first [ amateur in the open championship, i' j and the Earl Jellicoe Cup for the best I individual score in the open. GALLANT BID. A. Murray, who was open champion in 1935. made a gallant bid for the title by recording brilliant scores of 71 and 69 on Saturday. He was right on form and macle few mistakes in either round. In the morning his card read: Out: 435344444—35 In: 433545345—36 71 It was in the afternoon, however, that he gave a taste of his highest quality by covering the course in 69. his figures being: Out: 435433534—34 In: 453435344—35 69 I J. D. Mclntosh, the unattached Wei- J lington professional, had the distinc- , tion of leading the field in the first and ' second rounds. Starting off with 74 and 75, he followed this up with scores of 74 and 72 on Saturday. He is a rare fighter. In the third round his brassie second at the tenth trickled into the drain. The ball was lying on the grass close beside a cut ditch filled with two feet of water. After | studying the problem, Mclntosh took oil his shoes and stockings, rolled up his slacks, and stepped into the cold water. With his trusty sand-blaster he landed his ball on the green amid cheers from the gallery. The fates were unkind to him, as several of his putts lipped the hole, and refused to drop. A. Guy. the Poverty Bay professional. has assumed the mantle so long worn by Kapi Tareha as the longest driver in the Dominion. He caused a sensation on Saturday morning by doing the out journey in 31. He started off in amazing fashion with 443232, but

then sliced his drive up the hillside, and took 5 for the seventh. He could not maintain such fireworks on the home journey, which cost him 40. He did an out journey of 33 in the fourth round, with an eagle 3 at the first hole, but took 37 for the run home, his figures being:— Out: 345343344—33 In: 554434354—37 70 I. Ewen, the Hutt amateur, can usually be expected to turn on fireworks. He won the Jellicoe Cup at Dunedin last year with a 68, and made another bid for this cup with a 69 on Saturday morning, his card reading:— Out: 443343555—36 In: 443434344—33 69

THE FULL SCORES. Following are the full scores in the open championship:J. P. Hornabrook ... 78-73-68-72-291 *A. Murray ... 75-79-71-69-294 : 'J. D. McIntosh .... ... 74-75-74-72-295 ’A. E. Guy ... 75-81-71-70-297 *A. J. Shaw ... 78-75-74-72-299 B. M. Silk . . 78-77-71-75-301 R. H. Glading ... 74-80-75-73-302 Rana Wagg ... 79-77-72-75-303 I. A. Ewen ... 75-82-69-77-303 i *J. Gallowaj' ... 79-79-72-74-304 D. O. Whyte ... 76-81-73-75-305 *E. S. Douglas ... 77-82-76-71-306 *G. Watt ... 81-75-77-75-308 W. B. Reilly ... 79-74-78-78-309 A. R. Kitto ... 77-72-77-83-309 J. Jeffery ... 77-83-74-76-310 R. B. Cameron ... 79-80-78-74-311 J. P. Mortland ... 77-82-74-79-312 L. Quinn .. 77-80-79-76-312 D. H. Graham .. 77-79-78-79-313 J. L. Black .. 83-76-75-79-313 *J. Weir .. 78-79-76-80-313 P. G. F. Smith .. 78-81-77-77-313 *T. S. Galloway .. 81-84-74-74-314 G. P. Roberts .. 74-84-76-77-314 *J. A. Clements* .. 81-79-77-77-314 4 W. Allbon .. 81-82-73-78-314 A. D. S. Duncan .. 80-84-77-74-315 A. G. Sime .. 77-84-78-76-315 ~C. C. Clements .. 79-83-75-78-315 J. Shelly .. 80-81-83-72-316 “R. C. Butters .. 81-81-80-74-316 1 I. B. Cromb .. 83-80-77-76-316 K. Glendinning .. 79-82-76-79-316 H. A. Black .. 80-80-75-82-317 K. J. S. Smith .. 80-78-80-79-317 F. F. Kitto .. 79-81-81-77-318 :! B. St rat more .. 79-81-76-82-318 E. Henderson .. 76-83-79-81-319 ’A. H. Dyke .. 82-81-75-81-319 A. E. Doneghue .. 83-78-80-78-319 J. W. Morrison . 78-85-79-78-320 P. Quinn . 78-86-81-75-320 *J. Lambie . 81-82-73-85-321 F. W. Dixon . 76-87-82-76-321 ’John Watt . 78-87-77-79-321 J. D. Nash . 79-84-82-77-322 J. B. Tunnell . 81-84-79-78-322 ’N. H. Fuller . 80-85-76-81-322 S. C. Taylor . 80-84-78-80-322 R. G. Holland . 80-84-78-80-322 4 D. M. Boyd . 31-81-80-81-323 H. Marshall. Junr. .. . 86-75-82-80-323 W. J. Davidge . 83-80-75-86-324 •A. C. Sheriff . 81-79-82-83-325 H. D. Gyles . 79-80-80-86-325 L. A. Watson . 77-84-83-81-325 E. J. Pumphrey . 81-82-81-81-325 M. R. Moore . 83-80-81-81-325 ’R. Jackson . 84-80-83-78-325 E. J. Moriarty . 81-84-82-83-330 E. G. Fletcher . 80-85-81-86-332 H. H. McLean . 81-84-83-86-334 ’Denotes professional. — - — .