Evening star., 1918-06-14
DR.. Harlan at Columbia Club
Has Produced Excellent
Conditions for Golf.
GAVE UP HIS OWN GAME

tho devotion, skill and scientific
knowledge Of DR.. Harlan, who IL vice
president of the United States Golf As
ISOLATION. Not only that, but he has
practically given up his own excellent
game to build and superintend course
for others. and this sacrifice he has made
with willing cheerfulness. Now the
chance has come to state few Of the
facts which have resulted in DR.. Harlan
| becoming one of the leading authori-
ties on golf on the United States. and
they must be stated, whether the
| modest little man likes it or not.
DIR. Harlan started playing golf
about twenty years ago, or a year or
two after his brother. DR.. L. Lee Har-
ban, one Of the finest players in the
District of Columbia, entered the
game. "Dr. Walter" as he is univer-
sally called, belied the tradition that
| a man near the forties cannot become
| a real golfer. He acquired a wholly
creditable game, and consorted on the
links with men like his younger
brother. Edward B. Eynon, jr.. Dis
| trict champion: jain c. Davidson.
Arthur S. Mattingly and local stars
| of that magnitude He has played at
| Apawamis, where in the famous an
uud1 loQEHdHcHt, uOHC uuoeT MY
fve years Of age may tee up, and oc-
| casionally in the winter he betakes
| himself to Florida. where he relaxes.
But-and this IL one of the solemn
parts OF the story-not one man In a
hundred ever has seen him with a
Removal to Chevy Chase.
DR.: Harlan played regularly on thu
al A1, L
1t was not until the club removed to
Chevy Chase. half dozen years ago.
that he ever had given thought to
golf architecture. He was made a
| member and a little later chairman
struck his stride. The course % was
! laid out by H. H. Barker, an English
man. who Is now making airplanes
for the allies, but had built the Roe
buck course at Birmingham. Ala, and
! later became q predecessor Of Walter
J. Travis at Garden City.
The scheme devised by Mr.. Barker
has stood. in the main, but the SUBJ
| sequent elaborate lengthening, bun
kering and trapping has been the
work of DR.. Harlan, assisted materi-
ally by the kindly advice of his
friend Travis. The doctor meantime
had retired from practice and soon
found himself giving his whole time
to the Columbia course-a free service
which the club could hardly purchase
for $4,000 a year. He became a master
! thanks to the generous cooperation
of the Department Of Agriculture. He
Travelled all over the country and abb
| sorbed scientific knowledge of golf
distances. He imported seeds and
grasses and even loan to make his
putting greens SO rich and firm that,
| as this year, they could be played on
throughout the winter.
The new putting green Of the fifth
hole is a marvel Of scientific con-
times. as on the second. sixth, four
| teenth and seventeenth holes, they
can be transferred bodily from one
| place to another and be playable
| again before a majority of the men,
At All Hours Of Day.
DR.. Harban's little electric car
Of the day like a pony. and golf
over the country to learn how a real
| golf course should be designed and
nerve n to make - some me- of the improve we.
ments on which DR.. Harlan has in
! sisted. for each has made the course
harder, and he has boldly put his
ideas into execution first and debated
with the members over them aft
any other method might have proved
fatal to the development OF truly
scientific course. His critics now
| are very few, and those who came
course of this type must be
Judged from the professional point Of
| view rather than that Of the average
club member, for 1t may frankly be
admitted at the outset that Columbia
is too difficult for all except the ex-
the course never has been done in
par (70) during Q tournament, anna
teur or open. and should any of the
artists run down a par tomorrow he
amateur record CID is held Jointly
by John c. Davidson and Cameron
Buxton. and Fred Mcleod. the club
professional. who will figure in to-
morrow's great foursome: has gone
viduai match play. This is incon-
ceivabIe golf when 1t 10 considered
that NO other Of the great players
that have figured in the many club
tournaments has touched par.
Have Tested Their Skill.
This is really an impressive state
ment, bearing in mind that no player
of standing ever has charged that CO.
iumbia presents an illesitimate stroke.
much less an unfair hole. Profess
sionals like Gil Nichols. Ben Nichols,
Aleck Smith. Jim Barnes, Walter C.
Hagen, Eddie Loos. Jock Hutchinson.
Wilfred Reid. "Nipper" Campbell,
Mike Brady. Tommy Kerrisan, Jimmy
West. George Mclean. Jack and Dave
Burgess. Jimmy Spencer. Jimmy Fer
guson, Charlie Rowe. Bob Mcdonald
these are some of the artists that
have demonstrated on the Columbia
links. Wonderful amateurs like Je-
rome d. Travers, Walter ]. Travis
(when he first played the course),
Frank Dyer. Warren Corkran and C.
B. Buxton have tested their skill at
Columbia, and not a man Of either
class but has praised the course for
its scientific layout. Some have