New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-09-11
After Seven Years He Be-
comes Amateur and
Open Champion.
FINE PUTTING BIG
FACTOR IN VICTORY
Double Title Holder Final
" Wins with Club That
Used TO Beat Him.
By CRANTLAND RICE.

By CRANTLAND RICE.
He doth bestride this narrow world
like a colossus" remarked an ancient
Roman statesman when the name of I.
j. Cesar came up for discussion.
This phrase aptly describes the pres
ent position of Chick Evans in Amer
can golf. After seven years of famine,
seven years of vain dreams and bitter
heartaches, Chicks feet to-day are
planted upon the twin peaks of golf as
he looks down upon the beaten field IN
both medal and match play.
By a freak of fate, Evans, after hay'
ing been denied leading honors for so
long, was suddenly showered in one
season with all the laurel ne had missed
in the past. And by an equally curious
freak of fate the one club that had
beaten him so often before was the
main instrument in arranging ms
double triumph. Fine putting az Mini
kahda in medal play and fine putting
at Merton i'm match play pulled MN
safely through, for IN other respects
his game was certainly no better than
it had been before.
For Chick to take three puts on
but one green in the final round OF
hard fought championship doesn't read
much like tradition, but the vital stats
tics show this miracle in its reality:
Despite all the popularity of Bob
Gardner-and no better, finer sports /
man ever played any game-there was
a general desire on the part OF the !,
golfng public to see Evans win.
Evans Comes to His Own.
For two reasons-frst. those who |
know anything about golf have long
understood that Chick was the best
shot maker in the land. His game has 1
justified more than one championship, /
but weakness on the greens had always I
been a fatal defect in his play. For
golfer with the variety of shots pos
sessed by Chick Evans TO go through F,
his career without winning an amateur
championship would have been an un-
deserved jolt on the part OF fate
Travis. Travers. Ouimet and Gardner, /
our leading amateurs for the last ten
or twelve years. had all achieved their
triumphant destinies. They had
reached the heights and had known the
glory their fine games deserved. Evans
alone of the country's great golfers
was still upon the outside. He, too, be-
longed in the charmed circle, and when
he finally broke through Saturday he
had merely gotten his just due, delayed
for many seasons.
Chicks golf at Merton was not spec
tacular. but il was steady, and in his /
hardest matches he was able 20 putt. /
His two main rivals before meeting
Gardner were Nelson Whitney and
John G.. Anderson. In each Of these
contests Evans putted with surprising
steadiness. In his match against An
derson, who had beaten him at their
last meeting. Chick used his putter
with telling effect.
His play here was quite contrast 10
his putting at Garden City in 1913.
whore in his battle against Anderson
he lost through wretched work upon
the greens. In this 1913 match Chick
carried and used four putters, and /
missed the short ones with all four.
But 1916 was another matter. He not
only wasted no puts. but frequently
saved bad shots by going down IN l.
Putting Is Defective.
Despite his big improvement upon .
the green's Chicks putting style is not
the soundest in the world. as he has .
tendency TO push or iab the bail. But
If one has increased confidence IN his .
ability to putt he can very frequently D
tap the ball in with the handle of "a
broom. Chick was far more confident /
upon the greens than we have ever i
seen him before. Here are three sam
pie holes in the afternoon:
At the second. where he was | UP.
Chick ran a fifty-foot approach putt
over a curling green 10 within five feet
of the cup. He then sank the five
footor for half At the seventh, where
he was but up. Chick ran down seven
foot putt on fast slanting green. Al
the tenth. where he was but up, he I
sunk "A thirty iive-footer for half. In
other seasons he would probably have
missed all three, so that in place OF be-
ing UP going 10 the twenty-ninth hole,
he would have been down, which is
quite different thing.
We have seen Chick lose matches
where he was better off the tee and
through the green. but where missed
puts brought about his downfall.
"A championship" remarked Walter
i. Travis. sis generally won upon the
greens. Who is the better Dutter,
Gardner or Evans?"
Gardner had been up to this match.
for Bob's work within forty feet OF the
cup had been phenomenal. But in tho
final match the Hinsdale player was
badly outputted. and this tells the
story of his defeat Gardner's achieve
ment in entering the tournament with
an infected hand after ten-day lay-of
and then reaching the final round was
only shade below Eyans's perform
nncc.