The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-16
~ JOHN O..


Detroit ths next stop! Less than a
fortnight now n the officials In the
big committee tent will be handing out
score cards. pencils and, mayhap. a rule
BOOK as well to the entrants In the
t~wenty-third annual championship for
the. title OF national amateur golf king.
Strictly Fspeaking this 10 the twenty
hrst annual under the auspices OF the
United States Golf Association, for in
1895 the association first took over the
running OF the event. Since hat time
the title has been, won nine times by
players representing Western clubs. ten
times by Fasteners and once by an
Englishman, Harold H.. Hilton. Eight
inailst runners up ave come from tho
West, eleven from the East. while Can
ada in the person of George s. Lyon
was represented another time.
II Will be setrn,. therefore. that the
East. while II has had representatives
which have won the title i've out OF the
last eight years to twice for the West
erners, has only a little to spare In the
longer stretch Of years. A win by a
Westerner will close up the gap consid-
erably. II may be interesting to note
for a moment the chances OF the lead
Ing Westerners, in light OF their pres
ent form, evening up the score n
making the wins ten all.
Charles (Chick) Evans naturally
seems In a class by himself when II
comes to ranking the Western players.
! When matched up against his fellow
golfers, .men who have had many rounds
with Evans and not only have seen him
accomplish What seemed the impossi-
Bile, but have been at times beaten by
such play. II often happens that these
golfers think too much OF his ability
and too little of thsir W and thus fail
TO concentrate as they should to gain a
victory. Seldom indeed would Evans
be beaten By any player in the West.
but many a lime he has snatched VIC
imagined that he was about to perform
the miraculous. and as a consequence
their own game suffered.
Several Western golfers have told me
that the many brilliant rounds accred-
tied to the Western amateur champion
and the knowledge that he Is capable
OF man others OF the same stamp put
them under a handicap before they
start and no matter what game they
may have on tap or what start they
may get, the winning hole for them al
ways seems a long ways on. An In
stance OF this might be cited IN the
case OF Ned Sawyer. who held a long
lead over Evans In the Western ANA
teur event. Until the last nine holes
Evan was trailing and then he came
with an oldtlme rush and won.
A few weeks ago Sawyer and Evans
played at a Western club, and this time
found the Western champion no less
than s down the krst round. He later
became . holes behind. but starting a
brilliant streak he reduced the lea
until he was beaten by only 2 and I.
! Sawyer failed to make par on half a
dozen holes (which were OF the simplest
nature 50 far as par was concerned, and
waited until Evans had played all the
good golf out of his system instead of
going right after him and using up
extra energy, II necessary, to gain the
victory.
But what will Evans do at Detroit?
The first sure bet OF course Is that he
WI qualify. The statement seems sim
pie enough, but how few OF the other
$50 or so who will play could have
that said about them? | would not be
surprised at all to see Evans lead the
field. for he will undoubtedly feel like
extending himself TO gain the honors,
| especially when the championship Is
| played in the West. The fact that all
the matches are to be at thiriy-six holes
this year appeals to me TO greatly
favor the chances of this well known
golfer. In the past Evans has been
defeated through carclessucss, Ofttimes
holding an opponent too cheaply. Every
round he plays finds him letting up Just
a trifie on two or three holes or starting
while not primed up mentally for the
fray. The result has been a sudden
awakening. a serious shock and then
down TO the golf Of which he is capable,
But al times he gets caught, as
happened last year at Ekwarok, for a
golfer who is "A good fighter though
not so good a player will win as often
as not.
The thirty-six hole route. therefore,
will give him more time to get started
and more opportunities for brilliant re-
| covery and play. II the draw favors
Evans, in that he is drawn and plays
In more than two rounds against West
ern golfers, | believe that he will be a
player who is to be feared this year as
never before.
There are others to be dreaded by
the Eastern golfers who will assail the
Detroit course. Ned Sawyer has come
into old time form which made him at
one time one OF the most talked OF play
ers in the land. In 1905 Sawyer be-
came a finalist at Wheaton. being
beaten by IL. Chandler Egan when the
latter was at his best, but since that
year Sawyer gained steadiness to add
to his fine temperament for match play
| His game, IL he had sufficient amount
of practice, would warrant his having
a very low mark on the United States
Golf Association handicap sheet. Then
there In ]. II. Standish, Jr, OF the De-
troit Club. fasteners would be prone
to claim him as their own, for he spent
four years at Williams College and
three more al Harvard University, but
since Detroit is his home the privilege
will have to be denied. Match play Is
where he shines and a tough contest
hnds him willing and game. on his
| home course, where he has made many
excellent scores, he may he dangerous
for a time. His name Is mentioned be-
cause | believe he is a steady player
who has reserve power.
The list OF Westerners who nave a
chance at the title IL not short. There
are others quite capable OF putting any
body out of tn running provided they
have a monetary confidence in their
own golfing ability, However, most Of
them have shown In the past only the
brilliant medal play rounds which have
made their names illustrious for the
tim. being and have not demonstrated
a lasting ability at severe match play.
This is no Indictment at all OF the
Westerners. but is due to the fact that
there are fewer tournaments where
many good players attend In a body than
are held In the East. am speaking
not OF the Chicago district particularly,
but OF all the middle West and South.
This is the plant which we hear when
Texans and G~eorglans and many others
! congrepate and discuss the question of