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NEW CHAMPION NOT IN BEST FORM.
"SAVED BY MAGNIFICENT RECOVERIES:'
' -By- J. Ferrier, N.S.W. Amateur Champion.
; , V (Copyright; All Rights Reserved.)
.. SYDNEY, Thursday. — H. L. Williams,
tho new Australian amateur -golf cham
pion, was not Iri his best -form yester
day, when ho beat T. Tanner in the
flnal. He played. too many loose shots.
In contrast to Ills great golf of Wednes-
day, Williams appeared at times to be
undecided about the right club to take,
which Is always an unnerving experi
ence for a golfer In match play. As a
consequence Ills shots were "sometimes
misjudged.
His woods ' caused him visits to the
rough, as ho . was . nob quite following
on to his ball enough. This fault was
invariably counter-balanced by beautiful
irons from heavy lies. His second shot
to ''the thirty-second green, after slicing
his drive, was. an excellent example. The
ball was lying well down In soft grass,
and he hit llrmly down and through,
and. the ball finished only slightly short
of the green.
The new champion's short pitching
Is his greatest asset. He is a master of
that stroke, and when called upon yes
terday for many delicate little pitches
he' never failed to put tho ball close
to tho pin. One of the best shots he
played was at the twenty-first hole; Well
short' In - two, and faced with a nasty
semi-blind shot of approximately 80
yards, he played the- ball beautifully . to
within eight feet of the hole, and ob
tained his. par 4. '
During the morning round Williams
was slack with his shots, and found the
rough many times. His magnificent re
covering shots enabled him to have a
lead of one hole at lunch. Typical rc-
covery'was at tho 17th. Wllllnms, who
was bunkered, appeared likely to lose the
hole, as Tanner wns on the green, but
Williams exploded out, obtained his' pur,
and won the hole, taking three putts.
Tanner also made some line recoveries,
his best being at the 34th hole, when he
stood 2 down and 3 to go. His drive
finished in a bunker on the left side of
tho fairway. From there he used a No.
7 -Iron, ancl placed his ball on the green.
This stroke, played under pressure, was
one of the best during the championship.
Tanner followed this by an nmnzing 30-
feet putt on the next green to keep the
match alive. These two shots, apart from
many others, stamped Tanner as a player
with tremendous prospects. He stood up
to the most severe test a golfer can face,
ancl nearly came through wljh flying
colors.
This was Tanner's first Australian
championship meeting, mid from the be-
glnnlrig he wns in the front rank. His
71 In the open handicap event was his
best stroko performance. He lias -been
in golf only a few years, and his success
lias been obtained by hard work at the
game and much tedious practice. His
style Is a flowing one. At times he tends
to overswlng, and this causes him to take
many shots heavily. With that, error
conquered, lie should develop Into one
of the State's best amateurs.
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