The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-09-13
CRACK AMATEURS AT GOLF.
FIRST DAP OF THE NATIONAL CHAM
PTONsHIP At MORRIST0WN.

Cbonte, Jr., of the Harvard Team Wins
the Medal for the Best Score-Collego
Players Gain = Full Share OF the Honors.
The defeat Of the champion and a gold medal
for a player Of horne-bred skill Ia the story OF
the fret days play In the national amateur golf
championship at Morristown yesterday. II. j..
whlgham. who for two successive seasons
has held the championship cur. failed to
qualify among those who are to DO
eligible for this years trophy. His defeat
was not entirely unexpected. for the fever
contracted while In Cuba has left him In
impaired health. and II was directly con-
trary to his physicians advice that he
played at all. Conflicting rumors were
current all the morning as to his appearance
in the tournament. and whenh he finally stepped
upon the tee q ripple Of excitement passed over
the crowd. Though somewhat thinner than
when he took part in the Lakewood tournament
last spring. his frame seemed as 1.-the and full
OF energy as ever.
Whigham was paired with Foxhall P. Keeno
and the two got away shortly after IL O'Clock.
They were accompanied by William Ship
pin Of the Morris County Club as scorer.
WhiRhnm's play on the first few holes.
though not f~aultless. was full OF prom
Using merit. and not q few Of his
admirers warmly supported his chances
for the cur. But his physical endurance was
scarcely equal to the rigorous thirty-six-hole
round. and. after making the first eighteen
holes In e5. he lost ground perceptibly and
finished with q total Of 1914. This excluded
him from the qualified division and drops him
from the tournament altogether.
Joseph n. Choate, Jr.. Of Stockbridge. o men,
Der OF the Harvard golf team. won the medal
for the best score with q total OF 175. In fact.
college players secured q full share Of
the honors. W. B. Smith OF Onwentsia
and q well-known Yale player followed
Choate with q card OF 17S. which
tied him with Macdonald Of Chicago and Gro
we'll Of Cleveland for second place. W. Bayard
Cutting. Jr.. G. G. Hubbard. and James +.
Curtis, Jr.. all Hazard men. got places among
the first thirty-two. while James I. Blair and
Louis P. Bayard Of Princeton and John Reid.
Jr.. OF Yale gained a similar honor.
Too much cannot be said in praise OF the ar
ranRements which had been made for both
competitors and guests. The Norris County
Club. with its corps Of committees and
aids. attended to the details Of manage
ment with f~aultless care. The officers
Of the United States Association. with the ex-
ception Of Laurence Curtis. its President. were
on hand to give advice and aid in case Of diff
Guilty. and every provision that could add
success and interest to the play had
been made. Two large tents decorated with
uuhJluB SSSupiON ~ w hSSh ~ SiupN
house, where luncheon was served throughout
the day. and an orchestra added It's share to
the gayety OF the scene.
Promptly at 1880 o'clock in the morning the
first pair was started from the opening tee.
They were Maturin Ballou Of the Apawamis
Club and Frank /. Woodwood OF Denver. Sec
rotary Kerr was on hand to attend to the early
starters. and with him were several members
OF the Morris County Greens Committee.
including Ransom H. Thomas and George G.
Kip. Almost before the dew had left the grass
many golfers were on the course. TIL four
minute Roadway proved somewhat too
close a calculation Of time. and it
was noon before the last OF the
morning starters had left the clubhouse. This
was thirty minutes behind time, and the delay
and congestion at the greens consequent
upon this fact resulted in still further
delays in the afternoon. The committee
was compelled to take n portion OF the field and
start the players from the fourth and sixteenth
tees in order to relieve the press at other
points. Even then it was almost dark before
the last of the championship aspirants rounded
the home green.
OF the leading men in the play Robert Crowell
showed himself an able golfer. In his college
days he had the reputation OF a long driver.
and with the superior finish that later practice
Douglas home yesterday by a stroke.
while Tying. the record holder OF the course.
was distanced by a dozen others. As a whole
the scores were not as brilliant as the char:
aeter OF the field promised to bring out. OF
the many theories and explanations advanced
TO account for this. the most rational seems to
be that the competitors toward whom the
crowd was looking forrecords were wisely con-
tent to gain places in the qualified division
and to leave the medal race for the
younger and more ardent rivals. The match
rest OF the week will doubtless tell a different
story as to where the real championship quail
tiles lie. Those who withdrew yesterday were:
". P. Thompson of Newport. W. Y. Marsh of Nor
ra County. Jarvis Hunt OF Chicago. +. NJ. Bacon, Jr..
Chase, b. s. Horne of PittsburR, Clarence Moore of
Chevy Chase. Winthrop Rutherfurd of Newport. and
J. +. Palmer of Riverside.
Those who entered. but did not play. were:
W. r. Belts Of shinnecock, John Morehead, Jr.. of
Riverside, 4. NJ. Robbins of st. Andrews. T.. H.
Powers FAIR of Essex County. D. 1. Forgaw Of Chi
cage NJ: 6; BaTGer Of NeSP0rt' a: l.: Norris Of PyaeF
minRs OF Chicago, W.. l.. Gunther of Westbrook, and
r. ". walthew of Lakewood.
The drawings for the first round at match
play to-day were made at q late hour last even
Ing. and resulted as follows:
Travis vs.. Blair. Thorp VS.. Wright, Menzies vs.
Tying. Keene Va. Griscom. winner Of Vanderpool-
Morten match ys. Cutting. stillman Va. Rushmore.
Curtis vs.. Douglas, Crowell VS.. A. Il. Smith. Bohlen
Jr., Hubbard rs. Macdonald. ". b. Smith vs.. Choatc.
9Gyard vs.. Billings, Fowle vs.. II. P. Toler. and Linea-
weaver We. Lynch.
The tie which occurred for last place in the
Qualified division between W. p, Vanderpool
Of Morris County and Alexander Morten Of the
Country Club Of West Chester will be played of
this morning. and the winner will meet Cut
ting. The scores yesterday follow:
QUALIFYING ROUNDS