Tournament Golf

In spite of miserable weather conditions of rain squalls and gusty winds the competitors in the recent New Zealand Universities Golf Tournament at Miramax produced some really excellent golf.

Individual scores in the four rounds of stroke play, while not up to national standard, showed that this country need not worry about its future in world golf. The match play, moreover, was spectacular.

Canterbury University won the teams stroke competition with a four-round total of 947. Runners-up were Auckland on 951, and Otago and Victoria tied for third with 967.

The Individual Medal provided one of the most thrilling finishes of the tournament. R. Callaghan (Auckland) and R. Barltrop (Victoria) completed the four rounds on 305 and in a dramatic sudden-death playoff Callaghan got a birdie 4 on the 73rd hole.

The match play on the third day saw the best golf of the tournament, and it was generally felt that the first round clash between Callaghan and L. Elder (Otago) would have made an excellent final. These two played par golf until the 16th, where a lapse by Elder gave Callaghan the match 2 and 1. The final was won by P. Amos of Canterbury, a steady 1-handicapper with a brilliant short game, who beat J. Allison (Lincoln) 1 up.

It was extremely encouraging to note the closeness of these matches, and it would seem that the standard of university golf is again reaching the strength it had some years ago.