Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-08-26
COOMBS AND PLANK FORM MOST
REMARKABLE PITCHING PAIR.
TWO GOLF CHAMPS LEAD WEST
Nv GRANTLAND RICE
But a Westerner Has MOT
Won a Title on Eastern
Links in Twelve
Years

HoLF at its best or at It's wor., !.
VI game of freak possibilities and Co..,
tangles.
Consider for example the two riv,,
tions of this golf empire-the Eas, ava
west Wv
The West today claims the oman o,
pion. The West today claims the on..-l'
champion. Naturally you might figure -.
West supreme in golf. But consIdsr us
main details practically as follows:
The East vs. the West
In % years only two western golfers ava.
have won the amateur championship. Ths,
are Chandler Egan and Robert Gardn,.
both Chicago entries AS Byers and Fo,rr.,
attach themselves to eastern plev ali a..
others have come from locations pearsr ~.
Atlantic coast line.
Here Is another detail-some en,r...
statistician has figured IL out that In .ss
last five years the West has only mn, ,.ss
men as far as the semifinals, aRainst "a
Cor the East +"
And semifnal list is a pretty fair "a,
Yet the West has undoubtedly, as the nsss
ent shows, produced some of the ereats.,
golfers of the land. 'a'e''
The Western Hoodoo
Coming now on to the possibilities ga
probabilities at Merton within the next fo,,.
night. we run upon this interesting fact.
that not since Chandler Egan won AT Raj.
tusrol, IL years ago, has q western rnlfsr
ever triumphed over an eastern course IN
championship play
Gardner won his two titles at Chicaea
~ l,a, 4,
the East and so have the best Of the wast.
ern entries, as the facts in the case prove
Six years ago, at Brookline, Warren X
Wood went to the final round against plll
Fownes. That was the closest advance tha
West has been able to make since Chandler
Egan's day. -lf
The Long Lane
Even the longest lane, according to an ala
maxim, must some day come upon a turn.
ing. 1t may be that this is the year whers.
in the West is to shake loose the eastern
and ancient hoodoo and carry its prestige
into hostile bunkers. But in considering
the dope one must work largely upon what
has gone before over considerable stretch
of time.
And these records show that western stars
have always found hard and rocky travel
ing upon eastern courses-possiby from
the fact that the bunkerlng calls for bet.
ter direction and from the fact that the
green's are a trifle more bewildering In
their average speed and undulatlons
Its Leading Assault
AS conditions stand today, the west with
an invasion headed by Chick Evans Bob
Gardner and Ned Sawyer, will make ID
hardest assault upon an eastern stronghold
Evans comes with the title of open chan.
pon. Gardner comes to defend his tut
playing the best golf he has ever plaTd
before a championship. This pair stands
position to lead a brilliant charge and ons
that will be hard to overthrow. But the
odds still are against them.
Where the Handicap Is
The handicap is something more than
matter of course architecture and different
greens.
The handicap largely Is in the quantity
of high-class players. You might mention
four entries from the West with a chance
Evans. Gardner, Sawyer and Standlsh.
But against these note what opposition
the East has to offer-Travers Klrkby.
Guilford, Carter, Anderson, Top
ping, Byers, Fownes, Dyer Heron, Kerr,
White and others, any one of whom Is
likely to be any one opponent upon given
day.
The West therefore, while finely supplied
with quality, hasn't quantity sufficient 70
yet go upon even terms against the East
1t is our belief that Gardner Evans
Sawyer and Wood could beat any four
golfers from the East, but four men are
very small part OF the 32 entries who are
to qualify. And this comes all the harder
when two western stars are drawn To-
gether, as Evans and Sawyer were last
year. where one is to go out quickly