Golf: Bogeys haunt Charles

By WYNNE GRAY

Sir Bob Charles will need a hot round today otherwise he will miss the rest of the tournament celebrating his first New Zealand Open victory 50 years ago.

After a disappointing four-over yesterday at The Grange, Charles described his play in vocabulary more familiar to the weekend golfer.

He started with a tidy birdie before his form lapsed. He made a series of poor swings when he nearly shanked a nine-iron, hit a fat long-iron, snap-hooked one drive, came off a number of others, and hit bad chips and putts.

"It's one of the reasons why I am stopping, cutting back or semi-retiring. Too many bad swings, too many bogeys, too many putts."

The day before, in practice, he had five birdies in eight holes before relaxing with four hours' fishing.

But in relatively calm conditions yesterday, the 1963 British Open winner had two birdies and six bogeys, and will struggle to make the cut today.

"It was what I kind of expect these days," Charles said. "I used to be far more consistent, but I struggled with a number of bad swings and had a multitude of errors."

A sizeable gallery followed Charles around the 5974m course, a tribute the 67-year-old appreciated.

He said that these days on the Champions Tour, he was more used to the sparse company of his playing partners, caddies and tour officials.

"It was nice to see people out there watching us old fogeys and has-beens."

He played with Champions Tour buddies Jay Sigel and Dave Stockton and said their scores reflected their ascending ages. Sigel shot a 68, Stockton matched the par of 70 and the eldest of the trio, Charles, had his 74.