THE YPRES TIMES
250
PURLEY.
The Bombardier's Foursomes, 1933.
Third, Fourth and Final Battles.
Now the competition among the eight teams
remaining was very great.
In the first of the Third Battles, The
Bombardier and his mate Lindsay met Bell-
ingham and Brewer and behold, there were
many strokes, but the Bombardier's side pre
vailed 2 and 1, at Woodcote Park.
Then Feathers and G. Carr played Midgley
and Forster (strongly tipped by Purley
Downs) at Coulsdon Court, and a good battle
it was being 2 down with 5 to go, the Staff
finished with 3 birdies and 2 bogies to win
2 up, in a score of 78.
The last two battles were fought at Wood
cote Park the same eveningScott and Green
were dormy 2 down to Douse and Taylor,
after some good golf, and finally extricated
themselves from a desperate situation to win
at the 20th.
Butt and E. H. Carr in their match with
Ray and Irens started giant killing with a
vengeance there may have been unexpected
incidents, but anyway the back markers of
the competition, Ray and Irens, were put out
4 and 3.
So to the fourth or semi-final, battles.
Scott and Green invited Feathers and G.
Carr to Woodcote Park, but omitted to notice
that there were three good reasons why they
could not win
(1) They were improperly dressed.
(2) Scott had done a practice round of 79
the night before.
(3) It was the 13th of the month.
At any rate, a very close match resulted.
Scott and Green won the first, but the Staff
got the next 2 and managed to keep just about
one nose-length in front to win by 2 and 1,
in reasonable figures.
Butt and E. H. Carr went invading to
Woodcote Park of their own accord to play
the Bombardier and Lindsay, and started
taking liberties by winning the first hole with
a birdie. Nothing daunted the Bombardier
and his mate holed the first 9 in 37, and were
exactly one up. (The Chairman arrived while
the 10th was in progress, to find the whole
army apparently hay-makingbut it was only
somebody had sliced out of bounds.)
The sides played shot for shot after this
a rainstorm caused a d,elayfinally they
arrived at the 18th and were all square.
It was then that Butt and E. H. Carr took
another liberty, playing the 19th in a very
good birdie to win the battle, having gone
round in many strokes under handicap.
On the Final Battle our Special Corres
pondent, The Bombardier himself, reports as
follows
The last battle by mutual consent was played
at Coulsdon Court, and the Bombardier was
invited by the Adjutant to undertake the
combined duties of Reporter and Umpire. In
the latter capacity he was not required to
function matches between gentlemen rarely
require supervision.
The troops were paraded at 6 p.m. on
Tuesday, 11th July, and numbered off as fol
lows Major Graham Carr, Chairman and
Secretary of the Branch, and Captain Feather-
stone on the one side, and Private Butt and
Captain Ernest Carr on the other.
The night being wet, the troops were served
out with jerkins, mackintosh-capes and gum-
boots and instructions were given to the
canteen to prepare hot rum on return to the
bivouac.
The start was somewhat delayed owing to
the acquisitiveness of a certain member of
the Club (a "Wiper" withal) who purloined
Captain Carr's clubs.
The first shot was played by Feathers, who
drove a safe but not a very straight ball.
Butt pulled his to glory, leaving his 18-
handicap partner a difficult shot over the
trees, which he accomplished nobly, only to
see his partner putt short and lose the hole.
At the second hole, the Adjutant lifted his
august head and deposited the ball in a
bunker from which he and his partner took
four more to get down. All square.
The third gave the Adjutant an opportunity
to reinstate himself, and he holed a stout putt
of 20 yards for a 2, putting his side one up.
They lost the next hole rather sadly, and
also the 5th, where they conceded a stroke.
At the 6th, a magnificent short hole, the
Adjutant played a peach, after his brother
had made a complete foozle the 7th was
halved in 5, but at the 8th Feathers retrieved
a bad second by holing a long putt and his
side again took the lead. Bad putting by the
challengers, who had a stroke at the 9th, let
their opponents off with a half, so at the turn
the holders were one up.
They won the 10th and 11th to become
3 up.
At this moment the Bombardier, who was
getting wet, almost decided that he could
nominate the winners and retire to the Bar,
but a change came over the proceedings.
Real bad play by the holders lost them the
12th and 13th.
At the latter hole Butt drove amongst the
cars on to a road, from whence his partner
played a clever shot back on to the course.
It looked, in spite of the stroke they were
giving as if the holders would secure at least
a half, but a sad tale of bunker shots altered
matters and Butt and Ernest Carr won the
hole easily.
At the 14th Ernest Carr indulged in the
luxury of an air shot, but in spite of that the
challengers got a fine half in 5 by laying
their opponents a stymie.
The 15th was halved in 4 but the holders
won the 16th in 3 to become dormy two.
