New-York tribune., 1901-10-08
GOLF.
PRELIMINARY ROUND FOR WOAfFN,s ".
T1ONAL CHAMPIONSHIP To
START TO-DAY

MISS Beatrix Hoyt of the Shinnecock Hills Col,
Club. Long Island. announced yesterday thar a.
would not take part in this years wom.n's cham
pionship golf contest. which will begin TODAY a,
BaltusroL Miss Eoyt has the championship
three times. and for six years she has won ths
gold medal for the best score in the Championship
qualifying round Poor health interfered with
Miss Hoyts aspirations for a renewal of cham
pionship honors. She said yesterday: MY reason
for Withdrawing from this contest is easily ex
planned l am not up to my game During the
summer have not been able tc pay the attention
to golf which would warrant my participating n
as strenuous a tournament this will undoubt-
edly be-
Most OF the women who entered for the na
tionai golf championship were on the course
at Baltusrol yesterday preparing for to-days
preliminary round 1t not scoring gath
ering, however, as. while there many in
formal rounds. there general tendency to
relax from hard practice. in order be in the pink
OF trim for the early morning matches
As only sixteen will be allowed to qualify hard
fought matches may be expected in every round.
Though few scores were completed in full, il was
evident from the general quality of the PLAY that
great Improvement has taken place since the last
championship at Shinnecock Hills. Aside from
those who are considered of places in the
sem-hnais, there are apparently a dozen women
who can give the leaders close game notably
Mrs. w. VI. Gorham. of Philadelphia; Miss Euuica
Terry. of Ardsley Mrs. Caleb w. Fox. of Phila-
delpha Miss j. Anna Carpenter of Chicago: Mrs
T.. A. Manice, of Lenox and Mrs n PendIeton
Rogers. OF Plainfeld.
Among those who were out were Miss Hecker
Mrs. w. Feowes Morgan Miss Marion Oliver
Miss Georgianna Bishop, Miss Emily Lockwood
Miss Gertrude Fiske. Miss Pitcher. Miss Knox
Mrs. N T. Rogers and Miss Marie Charles
going near the to-day" was the cham
plon's explanation. when seen later at the
country place which the GTiscOms have taken for
the tournament IL was. In her opinion better to
nd h. rirF1l. in
by several other of the prominent players
Miss Margaret Curtis. of the Essex County Coun-
try Club. of Manchester. Mass was another ab-
sentee. Miss curtis is staying at the Griscom
house, where she confined with a headache
She hopes 10 be able 10 appear to-day however
A careful study of the course yesterday failed N
disclose any giarng errors, and it enthusiast
caIly commented upon by all IL should furnish a
thorough test of the abilities of the competitors
Tor II has been carefully worked up for the tourna
ment, and never looked better. Thirty wards have
been cut from the first hole instead of twenty as
irst arransed. which will make the total playing
than n the course at shinneeock Hills year ago.
Al that time Miss Beatrix Hoyt led The field in the
preliminary round with 81. Miss Griscom being sec
ond at go. In spite of the added length at BaIus-
yesterdays matches is that the scores will erage
slightly better This is partly because the form Of
tne majority Of contestants has improved but
chiefly because about 50 per cent of them will use
the new rubber covered ball. which first into
PIs PioIiehce at Ihe mems championship at Atlantic
city. and which is known a 'bOunder" The
SSoAS 10 Qudi4IS at SnlnnecOck was Ill.,
which figure four were tied for the sixteenth place
Tomorrow il is hardly likely that anything worse
than los will get a place in the chanpionsbip di-
vision while il is barely possible that two rounds
OF s2 may win the gold medal for the lowest score
Among the competitors themselves the greatest
variety of opinion prevails ultimate win
ner but on the whole. Miss Griscom. Miss HeCker
Miss Hoyt and Miss Margaret Curtis seem to be
the most popular for the four positions in the semi
finals. provided the luck OF the draw favOrs such
an outcome Miss H.cker. champion Of the
metropolitan district, has strong following among
the New-York players. chiefly because of her rec
ord this season. but the Philadelphia contingent
is equally confident of Miss GriScom's success
Most of the out of town players being enter
tanned for the week at Short Hills Morristown.
Summit and the surrounding country places, though
a number have been provided with quarters the
clubhouse. where they will be able 10 make
early start
The first pair is scheduled leave the tee at ss1
o'clock this morning and succeeding pairs WI
follow at short intervals until the entire field is