New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1908-09-19
TRAVIS BEATEN ON
THE HOME GREEN
LOST IN SAND PIT HE
DUG FOR OTHERS.
Trauers and Behr WM Not Fight
1t Out for amateur Golf
Cham pionship.

Finishing with a sequence OF par holes when all
seemed lost. Jerome y. Travers the national title
holder pulled his match of the fire and de-
feated Walter J. Travis by up in the semi final
round Of the amateur golf championship tourna-
Garden City yesterday. The other winner.
Max Behr. secured the verdict Fred Here
shofr by ! Up after an extra hole had been
necessary. Travcrs and Behr viii meet in the
thrty-six hole final round to-day, with Travers a
strong favorite
20 down In golf history of the greatest con-
tests ever played between amateurs, and Incl
dentally the meeting marks the tearing down Of
Travis from his throne the thirty-siX hole king
after unbroken reign OF nine years. Throughout
the day the rivals We're never more than two holes
apart and on numerous occasions they were all
square The finish. if trife unexpected, only
served as another illustration of the champion =
class and it is doubtful If any other living anna
teur could have accomplished what Travers did
under similar conditions
The turning point the match at the short
twelfth hole in the afternoon When they started
10 play this hole Travis stood ! up. and. al
though HIS tee shot went wild. the Garden City
man recovered beautifully. pitching over one of
The brlowy formations within yard of the cup
II then Up TO Travers. whose tee shot, al
though on the green. left MIN partially behind one
OF the n1ounGs that he could not get an open
shot TO the hole.
After long elaboration the Montciair player took
his aluminium putter. whereupon his opponent was
seen shake his head. implying that in his iudg-
r7ent Travers was taking the wrong club. 1t might
hsve been possible pitch the ball dead with A
bsshie. but the risk would have been great. As il
was Travers, who had put the hill probably
got close possible under the circumstances
for the hall. gathering momentum on the downward
slope rolled fully ten feet beyond the hole.
II q critical moment for the younger PLAYER
II seemed alnaosi any odds that Travis would
hole his short put With consumnate GOODNESS the
champion ran his ball down for a s. while few
seconds later Travis, TO every ones amazen1ent.
missed the wee That meant a vast difference.
for II brought the pair level once more when few
moments before it had locked like I'D for Travis
The latter tried the Put twice afterward. and
missed both times
a half-topped drive to the long thirteenth gave
7ravers difficult second shot TO negotiate and al
though he carried the road the ball pulled trife
70 the left at the end and stopped on the edge of
p trap From there he reached another pitfan
close 10 the green. so that Travis, who had made
no mistakes, the hole in 3 to S Again at the
fourteenth Travers pulled his drive a trap and,
taking two shots to get out lost with another g.
Here was the champion down with only four
holes 90 play, a apparently hopeless situation
against man like Travis To the fifteen neither
got good seconds, Travis pulling his TO tran
and Travers slicing a trife so that the ban came
TO rest the thirteenth. which joins the fifteenth
From the trap the veteran got TO within fifteen
feet Of the pin. while Travers the like overran
fully twenty feet.
This another critical moment for the title
holder. for halve would still leave him 2 down
and the end in sight. The hole was considerably
lower than the ball. yet Travers made the stroke
boldly and brought 1t off for a 4 Travis trimmed
the cup the like. but the miss was as good as
a mile
Now only down. Travers proceeded 10 give him
self difficult second by driving TO the edge of the
road, but he got home beautifully On his next.
Travis the other hand. sliced his second to the
rough. the bali just touching spectator on the
leg it sped into trouble From there Travis was
unable TO get better than a o, while the other
making mistakes, in par 4. thereby sQuar-
ing the match
A pulled drive the parallel trap at the seven
teenth Travis a stroke. and. after playing out
short. the veteran again sliced his third. 1t was
the same driving iron which had failed him several
times during the day In the mean time Travers
''stung" beautiful second shot fully 80 yards
the green. The other mans ball was in the long
grass, under the trees, and it seemed a forlorn
hope even for half As he about to make
the shot The bell in the tower of the St. Paul's
School hard by. tolled out in doeful notes The
hall fell short OF the flag some twenty feet. and
when he missed the put the hole lost 6 to T.
Now dorme one. Travers took chances OF going
into one Of the yawning traps by playing well over
TO the Of the green. about thirty feet from
the flag. 1t die with Travis. who in his
efforts lay his shot dead pulled il into
trouble AS the ball disappeared in the grayelike
depression unfeeIng bystander remarked: He's
buried in the PHI he dug for others
Travis tried TO get with his niblicl but the
ball only struck the side and rolled back once more
he tried. and the ball again fell back Travis
half aloud. said 'Goodby." There was touch
Of sadness in this brief observation on the part OF
the veteran, who had prepared so long and care
fully for this tournament. After his second in
enectual try TO get out he picked up, and the
match was over
Probably never again will Travis have better
chance 10 regain the national title he lost s.. 1904
Taking II all in all the match replete with in
teresting situations. First and then the other
would bring off a brilliant shot Travers generally
had the longer hall and his recoveries were fire.
quently worthy of a Vardon
In the morning he laid 10o-yard third shot 10 the
thirteenth stone dead. It VAS one OF those shove
shots played successfully by few amateurs Had
Travers not missed short put on the sixteenth
green they would have ended the morning round
All even The scoring brilliant. each man get
ting IS while in the afternoon Travers got around
In -. 70 81 for Travis The grand totals read 12 70
57 in favor OF the champion. as follows: