The Washington herald., 1915-05-30

What should you do when the rain your glasses
Prevents you from seeing the ball you ht'
Should ycu keep and play Though wet grasses.
Or pick up your ball and say that you quit!
This question took precedence over any
other at the close Of the final In the
championship division in the annual tour
nament of the Garden City Golf Club re-
Gently. for Walter ]. Travis. the former
British and American national champion.
was so disguised with the downpour OF
rain that after fioundering through the
flooded fairways for several holes he de-
faulted the match to his opponent, Max
r. Marston of Baltusroi, the former
Eastern scholastic champion and runner
I'D the week before to Philip Carter IN
the Oakland tournament. At the time
Travis told his caddy to go and pick up
his ball he was down at the end OF the
twelfth hole.
The match had proceeded in dingdong
fashion till the ninth hole had been
PLAYED, which Travis won. for lead OF
| up at the turn. Then rain came down
in sheets and soon the course was Hood
ed. The competitors and gallery rushed
for the little shelter at the tenth tee.
which was soon overcrowded. There en-
sued a wait of half an hour till the rain
ca sed down to driZZle.
played the twelfth when the clouds let
loose again. From the ninth it had been
a case of continually lifting and dropping
on account of casual water, and Travis
was much handicapped by the rain
clouding his glasses so that he mad 10
stop often and wipe them before being
able TO see the ball.
Marston won the tenth. eleventh and
twelfth holes in this kind OF swimming
match. and then Travis decided to quit
as the rain gave no indication of stop
ping. However. half an hour after the
match ended thus abruptly the rain had
virtually ended.
The csIestion that was discussed was
whether Travis should not have con-
tinued and given to Marston the credit OF
winning the match outright rather than
have him win on a default. Travis, when
sitting in the shelter at the ninth. sug-
gested playing of the match the next
day. but as Marston has an engagement
to play Jerome ID. Travers at Baltusrol,
he could not agree to this suggestion
He wanted Travis to play some other
week day, but the latter's engagements
prevented, and so the match was re-
sumed.
Some players with long memories re-
called the qualifying round of a tourna-
ment at Garden City half a dozen years
ago, when it rained steadily all day and
though all the entrants wanted to post
pone the round for a day, Travis insisted
upon playing. Historians of the game
said that the present incident was the
first time Travis had ever defaulted q
game on account Of weather conditions.
Washington golfers had a taste OF
rainy golf in the rectn Chevy Chase
and no doubt many Of them
will sympathize with Travers.
President Wilson and a party visited
at Cabin John last Tuesday
and played two rounds Of the course.
DIR. William Hall. a new Jersey golfer,
as a guest of Dayton 8. Ward, at Ban
nockburn's new course, holds the record
for hole No. 2. which Is i33 yards. DR..
Hall made 1t in ;. holing out with long
mashie shot
Bannockburn. with rolling fair green's,
Ia confronted with the same problems Of
par distances that the Washington
Country Club and others Of similar
have to contend with. No
player can make 4 I par on 100 yards II
here is a long up grade confronting him.
The former club has two holes tenn
porarily indicated at par and yet the
par distance II for only L The latter
club also has two holes. numbers u and
e that are extremely difficult to make