The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-11-24
Washington. d. c.. Nov. 2s.-Is
there danger that the game Of golf

there danger that the game OF golf
will be commercialized?
The United States Golf associa-
ton seems to think that there is.
and through its executive commit
tee has issued a warning to that
effect The men who rule affairs
in this. great outdoor sport want a
halt called on the practice OF put
ting up unduly large purses for
professionals to contend in tourna-
ments and in special matches. In
less this is done the committeeman
fear that the money interest soon
win pYedoElinate the game. with
altogether unwholesome and de-
moralizing results
/ In a formal statement issued as
a bulletin from the association the
committee predicts that il golf like
other sports is allowed to be COM
mercialized by the professionals,
popular interest in the pastime,
which has attained phenomenal
proportions, will be nullitied to a
great extent.
Those who have followed golf de-
velopments in the United States
within the last two or three sea-
sons have seen the game blossom
into a garden of rare pickings for
the men who make business of it.
Salaries have doubled, trebled and
quadrupled, and the money re-
wards of the winners of the big
championships have increased IN
even greater proportion.
Gene j6arazen, who won this
years national open championship,
is said to be taking the money in
with BOTH hands! Wealthy clubs
are bidding for his services as a
professional until he can almost
name his own figure, while he can
pick up a thousand dollars or so
for an exhibition match any time
he wants it. Not so bad for ayouth
who was a caddy boy but few
seasons back!
Walter Hagen, Jim Barnes. Jock
Hutchinson. Joe kirkwood and
others of the top-notchers are find
ing golf veritable money tree and
the large earnings of these lead
ers have a decided tendency to in
crease the emoluments of all pro-
fessionals. A craze for special
matches in which at least one of
the stars will display his skill and
prowess to the wonder and awe OF
the average club members has
spread all over the country, and as
the demand for this sort of thing
has grown naturally the cash
prizes that must be offered to at
tract the best of the talent have
skyrocketed.
Started by English Invasion.
An English invasion is held
/ largely responsible for this craze
for exhibition contests. All the
English professionals are not
Scotch, but they are all cahny and
when they saw the chance for rich
pickings in the United States they
were not slow to take advantage
of it. Harry Vardon and Ted Ray
were about. the first, il not the
first, team to come over from Eng
land to play series OF matches
throughout the United States. These
eminent opponents of the ancient
and honorable game were managed
and routed like vaudeville stars and
in all played some so or 80 match
es. They received not less than
$500 or $500 for each of these ex-
hibitions, il is understood, and the
bank roll they took back TO the
cid country with them was some
/ thing to make professional there
decide that he would come over
here to get bit of the easy money
if he had to swim the bloomin' Al
| lantic.
Duncan and Mitchell and others
soon followed and then the profes-
SIGNALS here found that they, too
| could cut in on the exhibition game
and the process of concentrating
golf was well under way. Wealthy
men intent on getting the best OF
, the talent entered in tournaments
that were little more than exhibit
ton affairs began offering larger
and still larger purses, until the
climax was reached recently in a
tentative proposal to put up $1,000
for such an affair near Washing
ton.
That is something different frosr1
the days, not SO long ago. wher
$500 was all that the man got wkG
won the open championship of the
United States and the reward for
| carrying off the English open was