Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-06-08
MISS CAVERLY VICTOR
IN BEST PLAYED FINAL
MATCH EVER STAGED HEN
Poor Judgment OH Sixteenth and Seventeenth by NH
Barlow Contributing Factors in Remarkable AZ
Struggle for Women's Championship
By WILLIAM II. A

ANl that 1t is not an impossible feat to
defeat Mrs. Ronald II. Barlow in the
final of IN important match by beating
the six times champion of Philadelphia
AT Huntington Valley yesterday. Mrs.
Barlow has been a sort of mental haZ-
ard to the great majority OF women who
nave played her in matches. Most OF
them have been beaten before they leave
the first tee and that fine game that
is characteristic Of her play did the rest.
She Is the Walter !. Travis of the fem
mime golfinr world. for he. while he
never beat a we'll man. had most of his
opponents well licked before they teed
their first hall.
Splendidly.Played Final
There may have been a better ina
match for the local championship thar
the one at Noble. but few can recall one
Either woman would have made the best
men players In the city work hard for
victory under the conditions which
marked Yesterdays fine battle of the
inks. Everything was against good
golf. II was raining steadily as the
women drove from the first tee. There
was very little roll to the bail because
Of the wet grass. The heavy air seemed
10 beat the ball down as it strove TO
retain its flight. The players used the
heavy weight balls and these gave them
close lies in fairways n rough and
it required skillful play to get the the
ball up quickly and cleanly.
There is only one creek that flows
through the Huntingdon Valley links
and the green committee has done
everything with il but dam it,. Visitors
have attended to that by adding a con-
sonant TO the verb. II works In and out
around the course. guarding a green
here and a drive there and catching a
hooked ball and trapping a sliced shot.
And no less than fifteen times does it
serve as a hazard When you combine
this perambulsting. ever-present brook
that lie In wait for poor and indifferent
shots and add TO II rough, rain-soaked
grass that wraps itself around the face
Of wood and iron clubs and then re-
member continuously dripping skies
and wet grips you have some sort of
an idea what the two women were up
against. n yet Miss Caverly had an
81 and Mrs. Barlow an IS
Mrs. Barlow Can Be Beaten
But. to get back to the subject matter
Of the first paragraph, Miss Caverly
proved to her own satisfaction and to
those Of the small but appreciative gal
lery hat followed the match that Mrs.
Barlow can he beaten. Yet in nine
final matches for the championship of
the city Mrs. Barlow has won six of
them. lost two to Mrs. Caleb F. Fox and
one 10 Miss Caverly. So II is nc wonder
that the task of beating the Merton
pla yer Is not, inc has not been, an easy
one.
Last year, for instance. Mrs. @. Henry
Stetson. one Of the very best of a small
group Of four or Ave Philadelphia
women who stand out as first-ciass
players. Dol Mrs. Barlow to the
twentieth hole at Whitemarsh In the
final Of the Bumm Cup tourney only
to lose. Five times she has wbn the
women's tournament at Shaw vince and
five times she has captured the Geist
Cup. She has been a national hnalist
twice and twice she has won the eastern
women's championship. And there are
other important tournaments which she
has won. not overlooking the North and
South championship. Eliminating the
national championship. which she has
never won, she has to her credit more
medal and match play victories than
any other of her sex in this country.
Nivtor's Championship Golf
So the victory of Miss Cavsrly yes
;erday is one that h may well be
proud of, and 10 beat the Merton star
the Cricket Club representative a to
play championship golf. But she was
equal to il. And from start TO finish
neither player had more than a hole
lead on her opponent. Twice Miss
Caverly won two holes in a row
and once a double victory belonged to
Mrs. Barlow. 1t was a battle Of cham
pions, and the moment one slipped the
other Immediately took advantage of
It. A missed shot meant trouble.
! have followed a final matches,
and three of the struggles for the local
championship come to my mind. One
recollection is the lead that Horace
Francine had at the end of the morning
round Of nine holes on Hugh Willough-
by, only to have Wilioughby carry the
match to a decision on the thirty-sixth
green. Another was the one-sided match
between Cameron B. Buxton and, Wal
ter Reynolds, when Buck played rings
around the Aronimink player, and a
third was last years Anal at White
marsh W Buxton and Fred knight,
when knight, with a IL. was up on Bux-
ton with a 20 only TO go to pieces in the
afternoon and get soundly thrashed.
Rare Battle Of the Links .
Yet. blowing through the rain yes
ter0ay, the 1aNOTcu lew saw u rear pdi-
lie that was worthy Of one of the largest
galleries that ever witnessed a match
here. and II was worth the wet feet and
the long trudge over the rain-soaked
course TO watch the wonderful fight both
women made. 1t will be a long time
before we see a iner-played final.
Twice Mrs. Barlow drove into a brook,
and beth times she lost the hole, but
on both of these holes. the eighth and
tenth, Miss Caverly had par figures. On
the second Mrs. Barlow had far the bet
ter drive. as Miss Caverly was In the
rough and short. yet when both played
for the green on their third Il was Miss
Caverly who was inside, and she won 1t
with a s~ix-foot putt for a par. On the
next hole both were OF the green. n
Miss Caverly. who Is an exceptionally
fine putter, sank a thirty-hve-foot putt
for win, while Mrs. Barlow failed TO hole
out one-half that distance. A little luck,
perhaps, but. nevertheless. 1t was a fine
putt and ran true the entire distance.
Mrs. Barlow at Her Best
Mrs. Barlow pia2s.& the long fourth
well. although hS2second jumped a
bunker. But she was on the 516-yard
hole In three shots, and that Is fine golf.
Mrs. Barlow showed the quality of her
golf by halving the next hole in spite