New-York tribune., 1911-07-20
PROBLEMS FOR GOLFERS
Two More Plans Suggested for
Handling Big Tourney.
CALKINS TO THE FRONT
Man Who Devised the Present
Method Gives His Views
on the Question.

Leighton Calkins. who devised the plan
OF conducting the amateur golf Champion
ship tournament which has been in force
since 1907. is not in sympathy with the new
plan. as told In The Tribune on Wednes-
day. lie has two plans. however TO put
forward II golfers demand change lie
goes into the subject I'm his usual careful
and comprehensive way in the following
statement made yesterday:
At the amateur championship at Cleve.
land In 1907 Chandler Egan asked me TX
something could not be done To obslin
thirty-siX match play rounds for the anna
| teur, assuring me that the leading players
| In this country. almost TO man, would DO
| found I'm favor OF such "A system. The point
! Is that after the qualifying round thcre aro
| only thlrty-two players LETT Tor the mdtcn
play rounds, and they all are in theory ana
! in fact. picked players with little or no
difference between them Any one or them
. is good q player, or nearly go AS any
other. This was not true ten years ago,
when you could count the best players ilI
! the country on the fingers OF one hano.
| But to-day one could name fifty men, any
one Of whom is capable Of winning the
| anna taur
| II is therefore beyond dispute that each
| of the match play rounds is as Important
| as any other. Egan and Evans, or Iravls
| and townes may be drawn against eacn s,a
other in the first round. 1t is incontestapie
| that the blue ribbon event OF the year
ought 10 be made test OF merit so tar
| as possible. and It is admitted that luck
has less chance To upset skill in douple
lound than in one OF eighteen holes: That
| is the chief reason for playing thlrty-slx
! holes i'm the final and as the early ROUNDS
| may bring the favortes together, ~ IoiloWs
| that the championship Is just as likely 10
be won and lost in tho first round as IN the
/ last
AS have written Mr.. strawn. I should
| bc sorry to see the association revert TO
| the short match play rounds | can see no
reason for having the semi finals played az
| thirty-sx holes If the early rounds are 20
| reason for thirty-siX-hole final round en-
! cept from the viewpoint OF the gallery. bus
| the gallery would no more relish an elsn-
| teen hole round between Travers and Evans
| on Thursday than on Saturday When TWO
! cracks come together i'm the amateur cham
| pionship Of the United States, the great
| golfing event Of the year. everybody wants
! to see them fight Ii out at thirty-slx holes:
| But who can guarantee that they VIII Wset
/ on Saturday? The chances are, as the nis'
| tory Of championships Will snow, that mo
| favorites will clash earlier
! However it is for the players 10 decide;
/ Four years ago they voted with pracucal
! unanlmty for the long matches. II, with
/ equal emphasis. they now vote 70 retur.
/ TO the short matches. new system snouln
/ be devised. But | do not Ike the plan
which has been proposed II mas ceItaln
| serious defects irst OF these is limiting
! the field to players having clUo handicaps
| OF six or less Many fairly good players
Nj -
clubs handicap on very strict par ana ~
( a stiff system. would be ineligible, and
many players from associations ana clups
where they handicap on the scrat,cn, pIaser;;
/ or on bogie or by scores Of differing ana
/ more or less loose systems, would Get III.
! There would always be the lndIcetnenr
for player TO get ms cinp gsma'UdPped bs ,yisPbed
I 10 enter To limit the field by such rule
would open the door to the grossest untar
ness that could possibly be devised 10
tptr "A
system Of handcappng for the entire
country It might be possible 10 CONSIDER
some such plan. but not otherwise,
! Secondly qualifying rounds are neces-
sarv. but medal play is not popular. We
tried a fifty-four-hoie qualifying round az
Baltusrol in 1904 / have always supposed
that it got its death M blow dtSinc ,here, more I'M
| nonuIar than TO permit only sixteen 10
| qualify for the championship matches.
is cutting it down pretty me 10 luI,it
dozen PLAYERS the rest are bunched very
close together. sometimes only rev
strokes separating the tenth place ana the
iaJe suggested the following plan TO
the executive committee If II ls reaaat
necessary To shorten the tournament huL
| a premium on prompt entries Dy settlng
down the first i2s players who enter Tor
the is hole qualifying round on WEDNESDAY.
| All who enter later must play an ~ nole
preliminary round on Tuesday. thirty-tWo
70 nueiifv. 1hev shall then he added 10 the
i2s. making a total OF lsO players who piay
in the real qualifying round on Weonesd,sE
AZ Is holes The thirty-two players with
tho best scores I'm the Wednesday round
begin al match play on THURSDAY mornins,,
lar Is holes The second match play rounh
would be played Thursday afternoon, me
third Friday morning; tho fourth Frlday,
afternoon. and the finals at 36 holes woulh
I've nIayed on SATURDAY. That would give us
short, snappy tournament; u,.,a,a .,
Rv beginning on Monday unstean o,
Tuesday, with the preliminary medal round
for Tho entrants. we could play the reaI
omaljfying round at IS holes on ruesday
| instead OF Wednesday, and could quarry
sixI,,-foir pavers for the match play
rounds which would begin Wednesday
morniny Onstead OF Thursday. AS In tho
other pian, all the rounds except the final
would beat 1S holes
I regard either Of these plans as better
than the one which has been proposed. lt
would he possible TO accommodate held
NJ 2SS payers because lSO could play IN
tho preliminary round. p 10 survive ana
he added to the l2s set down for the real
louaIlfving round. Furthermore, there would
not be an excess Of medal play.
|