Evening star., 1915-12-19
BY JEROME D. TRAvERs.

care to call her-play in golf?
According to Walter ]. Travis and
other experts, luck is only a small part
of the game. They point to the fact
that varilon, Braid and Taylor are the
three greatest golfers in the world.
and that among them they have won
sixteen British open championships
showing that merit succeeds above any
other factor.
Merit. or ability. undoubtedly suc-
ceeds above any other factor. But this
doesn't mean that blind luck plays no
important part in individual matches.
Good luck has won-and hard luck has
lost-more than one well played, hard
fought match over the sweep OF the
ancient green. In the long run luck
may even up, but in an eighteen-hole
or a thirty-six- x-hole match luck may
be all on one side. or largely enough
on one side to decide the issue.
Tough Break in Luck.
Those who refuse to credit this
should ask John G. Anderson.
Some years ago Anderson met Chick
Evans in the final round for the anna
teur championship of France. For
thirty-seven holes these two fought out
brilliant duel of wood and iron with
out advantage. The second extra hole
was a par 4. Evans tee shot was well
below his average. and Anderson had
visions of victory at last.
Teeing the ball up. he took his
stance Just as he reached the top of
his swing, and the club head started
for the ball, large touring car swept
around the road curve and emitted a
series of loud and raucous honks just
a few yards behind the player. Under
the high, nervous tension Anderson
naturally SHE'D, swung wildly, struck
the ball high up in the heel ef the
club and dispatched 1t to an unplay-
able lie back of a tree 60 the left of
the course, where he required three
shots to play out. He was on the
green in and went down in one putt,
getting 6. Evans finally had to hole
a ten-foot putt for a win In S.
Fortune favored Evans that day, but
the tickle goddess hasn't always been
with the Chicago star. In fact, he has
breaks.
At Ekwanok. in 1914. the western
star drew Eben NJ. Byers, one of the
| hardest fighters of the game. in his
came to the last hole all square. Byers
got away a short tee shot that barely
cleared the rough. Evans half topped
his drive into the long grass in front
of the tee. One hundred and fifty yards
beyond this long grass there was
deep ditch to catch a poorly played
second shot. Recent rains had left the
fairway soft where the ball generally
struck with but little run. frequently
not travelling over yard or two. even
after drive. Playing from the heavy
grass, Evans used light mashie and,
attempting to play safely this side of
the pitch, pitched at least twenty-five
yards short. To the amazement of
himself and the big gallery, the ball
struck and bounded forward as if
landing on stone, winding up in the
ditch.
This shot put Evans out of the cham
pionship, and to this day no one has
been able to account for the terrific
run OF the ball, except that IT struck
upon a hard plot where 99-100 of the
rema inint, area was soft and SUFFICIENT
ly soggy to have left an easy poke
for the green and the certainty of a
halv.ed hole.
Ouimet's Perfect Lie.
In the same tournament at Ekwanok
Francis Ouimet had hard match with
young Max Marston, who was moving
at top speed. They came to the four
teenth tee all even. Just in front OF
this tee there is veritable chasm to
carry, thirty or forty feet deep, and at
| least $50 feet wide. A topped shot
almost surely means disaster here. for
at the bottom there is flooring OF
| rock and underbrush. leaving an un-
playable lie nine times out of ten.
Ouimet's shot, badly topped. spun into
| this cavernous depth. No one figured
| that he had a chance to even get
! half, as Marston's long drive sailed
within short pitching distance Of the
,, green But when Ouimet descended
| and found his ball, 1t was resting nice
| ly in an open spot, and from here he
proceeded to play out in one shot, land
| on the green. go down in one put, ana
| win with against Marston's par 4.
This put him l up, and IT was py tnat
narrow margin that he won the match.
1 Granted that the amateur champion
| made brilliant, courageous shot; but
| how often does a golfer find perfect
lie in cavern replete with rocks and
/ huge boulders and heavy under
growth?
Two golfers will top their seconds
| into a bunker One will lie nicely.
| awaiting an easy pitch out to the
/ green. The other will be jam up
| against the bank or In a heel print in
| the sand, where there will be at least
the difference of a stroke. Breaks in
luck of this type occur frequently
There are also breaks where one mans
| topped shot win stop just short OF
a trap, where another's runs deeply In.
| making the difference OF stroke or
/ more.
Ted Ray. for example, will never for
get the sixteenth hole at sandwich.
The par here is 3, and . would have