The Game Of Golf In Fiji

(Contributed)

THE chief golf course in Fiji is the Fiji Golf Club, situated about two miles from Suva.

The course is at present only 9 holes but shortly it will be extended to 18, with a yard age of 5,662. The course has a most attractive setting.

The standard scratch is 72 and it takes really first-class golf to secure this figure, as the fairways are narrow and the rough is really rough. A ball driven from the straight and narrow exacts a severe penalty, a chip onto the fairway being the only safe recovery method.

The chief handicap to progress of golf in Suva is the rain, and 13 inches of rain in a week is a modest fall. When a ball lands in water, and a splash goes up, it is referred to as Fijian dust, the only type ever seen here.

The greens are moderate and are of couch, the climate being much too severe for any thing else. The surface is fair, but, of course, the ball does not run smoothly, as on turf.

Caddies are nearly all Indian, and there is never a shortage—in fact, there appears to be an army of the little dark chaps in waiting as one approaches the club-house. Caddy fees are moderate, 1/- a round, and one usually also employs a fore caddy. Although the fees are low, the standard of efficiency of these lads is not over-high. It is most interesting

to hear them laying bets in their native tongue, on the respective estimated scores of their employers.

On the island of Kandavu, in the Fiji Group, there is a club composed wholly of Fijians, who are exceptionally keen on the game. This club, a few years ago, presented a silver mounted whale’s tooth to the Fiji Golf Club. It is custom that a gift of a whale’s tooth shall never be parted from the recipient, and if he parts with the gift this is looked upon as an

insult.

The best players at present in Suva are:— R. J. Woodman, late of Inverell Club (NSW), who plays from a handicap of 4. Mr. Woodman is on the staff of the Bank of NSW.

J. Falvey, handicap 5, is a late Bal

macewen member (Otago, NZ), and is in the Colonial Secretary's office.

Mr. J. Hudson, who for a number of years has been in charge of the Suva branch of the Liverpool & London & Globe Insurance Co., is at present on furlough in Australia. He will not be returning to Fiji, but instead will take up duties, at the Sydney office.

Mr. C. Willington, manager of Mt.

Kasi Mines, Ltd., on Vanua Levu, Fiji, has been in Australia spending holidays with Mrs. and Miss Willington, during the past month or so.

The Fiji Golf Club’s golf-house, with groups of players and caddies; and (lower) R. J. Woodman in action.