The New York herald., 1921-07-24
LESSON TAUGHTBY
OPEN GOLF TITLE
ACCESSIBILITY Of Fitting Suit
able Dates to Selected
Courses.
By JOHN G. ANDERSON.


standpoint as regards the selection Of
the course. 1t Is the custom nowadays
for the professionals to have a say in
the selection of the links by naming a
few choices. When the voting for
these courses takes place. however.
there is no attention paid to the pref
erences as given in order because one
links is considered as championship IN
calibre as another. Sectional rivalry
| Is the test.
No blame for the Unexpectedly poor
conditions of the greens at Columbia
can attach to any one but Dame Nature.
but would 1t not be wiser for the Pro-
fessional Golfers Association to stipu-
late after the names of selected clubs
the time of the year when such selec-
tions would be agreeable to them? In
the case Of the Columbia course 1t might
well have been said that this links would
be most acceptable IL the championship
dates were placed in early spring or late
! September. In the case or western
! links dates preferably In the earlier
! spring or late fall would find the most
| favor. while with Eastern and coast
| points the months of September or June.
There was someadissatisfaction with
the method of scoring place winners TOT
the 70 holes medal golf. 1t was pointed
out that a score of 7S on one day and
| different figure on the second might
work to the hardship OF some golfers.
| Weather conditions being equal there
Is something to be said for these argu-
ments. for the result OF the qualifying
rounds would then rest primarily, or TO
n large extent, upon those who selected
| the players for the different days. 1t Is
| impossible to get two squads or even
strength, hence the inequality.
In this connection q very plausible
scheme was adopted by George Duncan,
former open champion of Great Britain.
| His idea is that the executive committee
| officials could go over the course and
! determine upon a certain figure whlch
| should approximate eligibility to enter
upon the last ~ holes for the title. At
Columbia the figure might have been
set at rs, and then every one who
started from the tee would know just
what he had to do. II weather condl-
tions made the 7S seem too low or high
+ then a readjustment might be made at
the start. The thought has some good
sense back of II, and deserves considera-
ton in time when the entrants for the
open championship are increasing so
rapidly.
The open championship has become
more and more of a spectacle, attracting
/ the public in greater numbers than ever
before. and 1t is indeed unfortunate that
several hundreds, perhaps a thousand or
more, of the spectators are people who
know very little about golf other than
| what they read I'm the headlines. The
Washington Club officials had a HARD
time on the first day handling the people
who swarmed over the links with little
or no knowledge as to how to behave
Stringent measures were taken after
Tuesday and gallery managing was ex'
celent
Some day we shall find a champion
ship committee which will see to 1t thai
gallery instructions are given to the
press and that the gallery are supplied
with a printed copy Of instructions or
how to act Otherwise we feel that
links which are far removed from the
maddening throng ought to receive the
preference for championships.
There Is no doubt that Duncan
and Mitchell will be very popular witt
the rank and file of American golfers
At the dinner given to the winning team
Duncan dwelt upon the friendly spirf
OF rivalry OF >an international nature
which Is growing stronger each year. oi
the earnest endeavors OF the American
team to make good abroad and how
they did make good In almost every
particular. At the conclusion he was
given a round OF the most generous ap'
plause, followed by three cheers for both
Mitchell and Duncan. Kirkwood and
East, led by the reelected president oi
the Professional Golfers Association
George Sargent
Much comment has been made con-
cerning the differences in the rules ir
the various sections of the country Tha'
there is n crying need for uniformity
was seen in the caase of Mr.. Jesse Gull
ford. who has been playing the out oi
bounds rule according to the Massachu
setts system OF loss of distance only. HI
hooked a ball out OF bounds on the fifth
hole, teed another and counted ont
stroke loss only when tho total of The
hole was set down on the card. Th'
professional who was his partner brought
this to the attention Of Gullford when the
round was finished and n decision wal
asked for Naturally the score OF n a'
given was n stroke too few. for thu
stroke penalty plus loss of distance had
been decided upon by the committee
The officials did not disdualify because
| nothing had been put up on the scort
card as TO the penalty for an out OF
bounds and there was as much confusion
| among dozens Of others coming from al
1 sections OF tine land. 1t is TO be hoped
that something OF n constructive nature
will come out of all these samples o'
contrasting rules In the near future.
We never yet have understood whether
scorers In the big matches were choser
because they asked weeks In advance
for the fob or whether they knew some.
thing about the task.
In about every championship in the
last twenty years some incident has oc
CURED where scorer showed inability
! TO do such simple thing as count tn,
strokes made by the two players unde'
his wing and put them down correctly
Why not have n little pamphlet printed
with instructions 20 scorers. II seem
10 us that every precaution should b.
taken for the protection OF the players
After Jim Barnes finished his secont
round his score was posted on the bulle
tin board ne one less than he had taken
IL wasn't Jim's fault and the error wa
soon corrected. but before this was dom
rumors or all sorts went floating throug,
the locker room. IT'S no easy matter {,
,ecure n half hundred capable scorers
but for the big contests the best should
be chosen. Attention TO these detail
Will ever be important.