The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1921-12-27
CENTRE OUTCLASSES ARIZONA, $50


In golf.
one was Jock Hutchison. In
america the other Abe Mitchell IN
England and Scotland.
Tive Lea4ing FIgures.
Hutebison. you may remember,
won one tournament after. another
between Florida and Virginia. I.
He was lik1 a machine, SturninE
In 20 or II at almost every start.
Jock was almost unbeatable at this
time
Hagen, playing very fine golf up
to, the green, had in some way lost
his confidence and bis putting touch
around the pin. He had started
missing short pitts, and worry over
this didn't help the rest of his
game.
At the same time Abe Mitchell
was winning most of the importani
spring tournaments in England and
Scotland. 81
It so happened that Jock, had
reached the top oil. his form when
the British open got under way.
Mitchell, overplayed even then, had
begun to slip just a little, Neither
Hagen nor myself had quite settled
down to a winning pace.
Hutchinson, having won the Brit.
ish open, Was due to start slipping
months Of brilliant play. l1Is was
about due to reach my beet game at
Columbia with Hagen still coming
on. but. not quite recovered from
his putting trouble.
larA \ -
the United. States open got under
way. had confidence then In
every club, and felt that / couldn',
miss. With Hutchison and Mitchell
overgolfed, and with Hagen still
trying ito get back his putting
touch, had the best of three syron.
opponents from the start, and Sc
came. through.
Hages's Tune. ,,
Hutchison had had his Ming up
through the British open In late
June. / had had mine up through
the United states. open in late July
We were both about due to fall
back, and Hagen was about ready
to come forward. -
He finally overcame his putting
troubles, and from that moment
was ready to so out and win. He
started his rush by winning the
western open from a very strone
held. ano :hen followed this b,
winning the professional cha mpion
ship at Inwood.
Hutchinson, by this time wa.
nothing like the Hutchison at ST
Andrews. Hagen had gone from one
extreme to another. After an early
season OF poor putting he seemed
TO be able to hole anything in sight
OF the cup. l have rarely seen finer
putting than the brand he used
against me in the "final p. G. A.
round at Inwood. where he opened
up by holeing two in succession
around twenty-five or thirty feet
MY best game seemed to slide
away from August / through tht
last of September. In October. <af,
ter rest, could feel the ole
keenness. for play. with the result,
that against Miss Leitch l was able
TO turn In a IS at Pelham, where
my timing had improved to such
an extent that I was able to out.
drive her by nifty or sixty yard.
Yet when Hutchison and l hac
met f1ve weeks earlier on Labo,
Day at the Sound View Club. w,
had both grown so stale that Meth.
err could do better than a rs.
For when one is stale or over.
golfed, the harder one tries. thu
worse he usually plays.
o.. splitting Up Season. 49,.
You will notice from the season.
records that the three Of us, Hutch.
ison, myself and Hagen in turn
each had our periods of top form
where we were able to go out and
win, to mention also our run OF
trouble, where we couldn't get go.
ing.
Throughout May and early june
in both England and Scotland
Mitchell and Kirkwood were al.
ways at or around the top.
BY late July in our open cham.
pionship they did not look to be
the same golfers.
They had grown too stale to have
any keenness left for the game
with the old result that neither
could hold to the touch that i;
needed for successful play.
Case Of Miss Leiteh.
- 1 believe the same thing applied
to Miss ,Leitch. She, was playing
J wonderful golf through May ant
June, when she won the British ana
French championships. She wa
almost as good in the Canadial
title matches, but by the time sh,
reached the United States her gam,
was slipping. She had "a in. he
hnal round at. Fontainebleu III
France. She was beaten by 90 a
Hollywood. Weather and cours,
conditions could hardly account fol
/ this difference Of eighteen or nine
teen strokes
The winning golfer needs a GER
tain amount of competition ant
practice to. keep, his game up to 1
certain standard. But most Of vi
all play too much to. keep thi
standard fixed at. or near any on,
place. The better we play, the NOR
We want to play, until suddenly ;
day comes when the club feels lik'
a stick of wood. when Judgment o.
distance is poor and when there II
no timing left ~
| Guilford, starting slow at Hoy
lake, where he was beaten in hi
hrst match, picked up his pac'
gradually. until he was right at 81
Louis. where the finish found hin
unbeatable. The golfer who is q
top form in the spring will rarel.
be found there In the fall. 1t seem
one can only hold that sure, conn