Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-09-03
"CH|CK" EVANS FAvOR|TE
Picked to Win Annual Amateur
Golf Championship Starting at
Merton Tomorrow.

When the curtain rises on the red let
ter day tomorrow which ushers in the
twenty-fourth annual amateur champion
ship Of the United States Golf Associa-
ton certain men are bound to stand out
from the rest OF the field as prime favor
ties. Who these favorites are and what
their chances are to cop the banner OF
American golf for the ensuing year Is the
engrossing topic of all golfers from the
sloping highlands of the Appalachians to
the serried pine-clad slopes Of the Sierra
Nevadas. 1t is understood that the Merton
course is fully on a par with any OF the
other courses on which the championship
has been played heretofore. and if man
can assist Old Dame Nature in building
up a course of sufficient caliber to be a
pressing test of the game that has been
DONE 1t is a course which requires
very straight shots with the lumber
and true iron play. OF course, il one
man happens to hit a putting streak
such as Chick" Evans uncovered at
the national open he will be hard to
beat, provided the rest of his game is
on a par with the shots of his oppo-
nents,
Chick Evans, thrice semi-finalist,
of numberless titles, present proud
wearer of the national open champion
ship crown, is picked by many as the
logical candidate to blaze his way
across the sky of the championship
and win the coveted title. But Chick,
although he is the greatest shot maker
of them all, needs something else than
the ability to shine brilliantly for q
round or two. 1t takes man OF great
consistency TO win championship, ana
4
frenzied scramble is sure to be. Chick 8
confidence will indubttably be bolstered
by the fact that he has walked away
with one of the main crowns or the
year. but then. again. he Will De on ms
toes fervently trying to do what no
other man has succeeded in doing
gain possession of both the big titles
of the year. If Chick has entirely
given up the habit Of being soft-heart-
ed and allowing his opponent oII . a n.ste
the field. for there is no gainsaying the
fact that he has the stuff"
If Chick gets little confidence, such
as he was inbued with on the putting
green's at Minikahda, watch him to force
the rest to take his wake.
Jerome Dunstan Travers; the name
alone conjures up the thought OF
matchless championship contestant one
who literally forces his way through
obstacles and wends his way to the
final round through sheer force OF VIII
mower. combined with an uncanny habit
of sticking up unbeatable iron SHOTS I'M
mediately adjacent to the pin or there
abouts. Not much is known of the in
imitable Jerry's game this year except
that he is hitting them very nearly as
we'll as ever and the old punch still IS
there And what more Is needed? the
mere fact that he is Travers. the old
master of the game. is enough to make
him a feared opponent. For a man to
cop the gonfalon of amateur golf in
this country the popular idea is that he
has to go through pretty successtul
summer season. But steel-forged de-
he possesses, undoubtedly makes up for
many weaknesses. Jerry's ability to
punch long iron shot up to the pin
and his well known deadly work with
that fiat-headed Schenectady viii not
keep him far back in the ruck when the
bell rings at Merton. His game will be
an interesting study of the effect OF
business career on golf
Oswald kirkby. New Jersey and
metropolitan champion, has conquered
the best two amateur fields assembled
in the east this year, and has proven he
still is the old Kirkby, the mighty swat
ter and master of the iron. He has failed
to qualify in his last two starts in the
amateur, but this is no true criterion of
his game. Didn't Bod Gardner do the
ship In the forty-hole final Of the New
Jersey state championship Kirby showed
his ability to forge along under the strain
and come through at the critical mo-
ment with the shot that wins champion
ships.
There are few players in the land
with the control of a long iron shot of
the kind which will be needed at
Merton who can Guido Kirkby, and this
invites no insidious comparison with
the eminent Mr.. Evans. Both play the
same sort of game, and they resemble
each other in certain aspects also.
Kirkby has for some seasons been one
of the most consistent Of the eastern
players who has never attained his
true bracket as has Evans, although
the latter has perhaps been more in
the public eye than the Englewood
pionship of New Jersey has not played
much golf. and his game now is some
what of n problem on which to base
the grand old dope. but any man who
has will not falter in the final test.
Then. too, the Merton course is very
we'll suited to his game. Control of
long iron shots with the ability to
slap drive straight down the alley
will be one of the needed things at
Merton, and all these qualities are
perennial attributes of the Jersey play
er. Jesse Guilford. the human seige
gun. possesses the ideal match play
for 4 Soul-stirring game
such as golf, and this combined with
his matches smuggling ability should
push him well along the champion
ship path at Merton. He is without a
doubt one of the longest drivers in the
amateur ranks. and this does not mean
that he is always off the course. On
the contrary the gallery which fol-
lows the New Hampshire wonder will
be surprised at his knack of keeping
within the boundaries of the fair green.
His best golf always has been played
under pressure. and little of the err
raticness which in former years has
made him fall victim to- the steady |
men has fallen away. leaving Guilford
the core and substance of champion |
ship game He has the heart: he has