Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-29

Met Successfully the Severest
Test Ever Imposed Upon
an American Golfer.

PHILADELPHIA, July 2S-Golf experts
say that Mr.. E. NJ. Byers may lay to his
soul the fiattering JUNCTION that the trophy
of the American golf championship. which
he carried off at Englewood recently, is
the fruit of a victory that put his prowess
to the severest test ever imposed upon an
American golfer To come out at the top
against such field was indeed a victory
worth winning. and one that conferred
distinction. This years championship
test of amateur skill at golf in more than
one way marks advance that puts the
American game fully abreast of old coun-
try golf a fact which Travis winning of
the British trophy in 1904 sufficiently
foreshadowed. 1t is not only in proficiency
at the game and in respect to the number
of really strong players the country has
developed, but in respect also to the
quality of our links, that we have finally
come up to British standards.
There were 1876 entries for the Englewood
championship contest against 166 for the
British open championship prize at Muir
field last month, for which both amateurs
and professionals conJended. When we
consider that golf became a popular game
in this country only bare ten years ago,
while it is 80 years old In the British
islands, this is doing pretty We'll More
over, Travis score of n and 20 IN the
qualifying test two rounds of IS holes each,
making total of 1872, suffers little by COM
parison with James Braid's score OF 800
for four rounds for the Muirfield links, and
Braid professional, won the British open
championship. The Muirfield links, too,
have a playing length of only 1,t3T feet,
against 62O3 at Englewood. Thirty-two
players qualified, at 1863 or under for Two
rounds. Travis winning the gold medal for
low score at 152. followed by Trayers at
155, Bankard at 15S. Egan, 159, and Lyon,
161 Having reached the point where she
f-txr t.rra egalf at-= ply
doing this difficult links in 100 or better,
America may set up justifiable pretensions
to be in the game with the Englishmen ana
Scotchmen
Conclusive evidence of the advance in
American golf skill may be had by COM
pairing Travis low score OF 152 in this con-
test with Macdonald's 10 in the champion
ship match of 1897, Choate's 1Io in 1899,
Reds ITO in 1900, Travis lG6 at Garden
city in 1901 and Frederick's l55 last year
at Wheaton, when Egan won the cham
pionShip.
In the last three years American links
have been made progressively more DIM
cult To begin with, our best links aver
age fully 900 yards greater playing length
as compared with the links in use PRIOR TO
1900. This increase has been made neces-
sary by the rubber-cored ball, which has
enormously increased the power of driver
and brassie to give length of stroke. Just
as in billiards the balk-iine game was de-
vised to battle the wonderfully skilled
players who have made the game too easy,
so In golf it was found necessary to add
some other difficulty than mere length or
cross bunkers. The need has been met
by side hazards, which compel the player
to play straight under pain of continually
getting into trouble. This has mad the
effect of making the long drivers much
more careful, since on course hhed with
side hazards a long driver who slices or
nuIls Encounters intolerable punishment,
and the longer his drive the worse his
trouble.