WAIKATO GOLF

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21206, 31 August 1940, Page 20 (Supplement)

WAIKATO GOLF

MANY FINE SCORES GLADING’S BRILLIANT ROUNDS CHITTY’S CONSISTENT FORM (By “Fyfe Scott”) The annual tournament for amateurs and professionals was the main interest at St. Andrews last weekend, the chief events on the programme being the Silver King Cups —one for amateurs and one for professionals. A representative field took part, players coming from as fai as Auckland and Rotorua. The winner among the amateurs y/as L. Chitty, who certainly is playing great golf for a first-year player. His rounds were 85 and 91, which off a handicap of 16 made him 144 net. Although his handicap has been reduced from 24 since the season started, he still continues on his winning way and it looks as if he is due for another reduction. Runner-up in this event was R. Glading, whose rounds of 70 and 73 plus 4 left him 3 strokes behind the winner. His morning bogey card of 2 up was just the 1 stroke too many, as L. Chitty also won this with a great card of 3 up. In the 36 holes gross R. Glading was the winner with 70, 73—143, which 1 don’t think has been bettered for 36 holes medal play on St. Andrews. In the afternoon Stableford, Eric Etheridge was the winner with 36 points, but only on the count back, as Bert Haggie showed a welcome return to form with a well-played 88, which also gave him a Stableford card of 36.

Among the professionals, Jack Galloway from Lochiel was the winner of the Silver King Cup with net scores of 70 and 75, which gave him a margin of 5 strokes from Alex Murray. This is the third time Jack has collected this event in the foui years it has been played for. The 36 holes gross was won by Alex Murray with two nice 73’s, the highlight of which was his afternoon round when, after going out in 40, he started home with a brilliant burst of five threes—three of them birdies —the result of beautiful seconds to within 3 and 4 feet of the hole at the 11th and 12th and a 30-foot putt at the 13th. The best round of the day, however, among the professionals was a 72 by Jack Galloway, whose card of 4 up was the winning bogey. In the afternoon Jack Weir came to light with a well-played 74, which gave him a 36 .Stableford. At Ngahinapouri the club championships were finalised when E. Reid, playing really good match-play golf, beat A. Morgan 5 and 4 in the final. After the morning round Reid was 5 up, having played sparkling golf, and he then won the first five holes in the afternoon to make him 10 up with 13 to play. Morgan was not yet beaten, as it was his turn to put on the fireworks, winning the next 5 holes to give him still a fighting chance. Reid never faltered, however, and they halved the next four holes for Reid to take the match 5 and 4. In the women’s championship Mrs Mills turned the tables on Miss Mills to win the match 5 and 3 after playing very good golf—well under her handicap, a nice performance for a final.. In the consolation handicap the finalists were found when J. McWhannell won after a very good match from S. Reid on the 18th green, 2 up, and S. Valois won his semi-final match, defeating E. Hartstone by the smallest margin. This final is to be played this week-end and a good match should result. In the Mugs Cup D. Livingstone had a 4/3 victory over L. Marcroft, and E. Wilkinson beat L. Rybum 2/1 after a very even game. This final will also be played this week-end. At the Narrows the qualifying rounds for the club championships were completed and in the senior section D. Coventry qualified top with 79 and 91 and is the logical favourite for the senior championship. In the junior championship A. Hinton was the leader with rounds of 90 ?,nd 98, which placed him 2 strokes ahead of D. Commins. Ir. the women’s section Mrs Burton qualified first with 90 and 99, Miss Mavis Wallace being second with 94 and 98. In the juniors Mrs Windsor led the field with rounds of 105 and 102. The first round of match play will be played this week-end.

At Te Kowhai the chief interest was the play-off for the Frank Herbert Cup between M. Sing and C. Allen, resulting in a win for Sing by 3 strokes with a nice net 71. In the play-off for the Cann Cup between Mrs Cotter and Mrs Knight, Mrs Cotter was the winner with a net 74. At Lochiel some extraordinary cards were returned, the best of which was R. Badcock’s 86, 24—62 net. As a result he has been reduced to 20 and should have no difficulty in playing to his new handicap. Another excellent card was that of A. Cowley, who returned a net 64 off 24 handicap. He also has been reduced to 20. In the final of the four-ball best-ball match play competition, C. Cowley (17) and D. McGowern (20) beat R. Dennis (10) and P. Gwynne (20) by a wide margin. On the day Cowley and McGowern were unbeatable as, after the first 9 holes, their best ball was 36 (par figures) and when the match finished they had dropped only one stroke to par.

On Sunday an open day will be held at Lochiel to be run on the same lines as the monthly open days at St. Andrews. All visitors will be welcome and the club assures them of a very pleasant day. The course is playing very well for only its second year and all the permanent greens are quite good, although one or two of the holes are still on temporary greens which, as only to be expected, are not very true putting surfaces, but as everyone knows a golf course cannot be made perfect in just a few months.