Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-04-19
BALA TO VEGETATE
NEW GOLF GREENS
Latest Method Of "PIanting" to
Be Tried on All Eighteen
PUTTING Foundations
MRS. VANDERBECK
BY SANDY McNTBLLCK


THE Bala Golf Club will plant all Of
i its eighteen green's BY the vegetative
system, the first club in the country, It
ia believed, to use this system for all Of
its green's.
Ordinarily green's are planted with
seed. BY the vcgetative system grass
Ia chopped up, spread over the putting
soil. and allowed to ",vegctate.. Tho
varieties OF grass called bent" are
generally used, being Of the creeping
genus.
Bala will propably use the kind OF
gross called Creeping bent Tho
green foundations will shortly be started
and completed this spring. The soil
will be allowed to settle all summer and
in the fall the planting will be done.
From bed of pure strain Of the grass
the "plants" are taken and chopped up
into tendrils some three or four Inches
long. This material is spread on the
soil with a rake, light dressing Of top
soil is spread thereon and the hopeful
agrostologists then 60 into a solemn
session OF prayer through the winter,
hoping for good breaks in the weather:
In May the golfers then step out and
play on as fine a putting surface as mas
ever been raised. That is, II they are
as lucky as the clubs that have so far
tried the stunt.
Pine Valley Has Two
The ninth green mt Columbia, down In
Washington, was planned BY this system
and It was the only green, VIRTUALLY,
that held up during the trying conditions
that set in down there just before the
national open. That putting space Is a
bluish, grayish green OF beautiful tex.
ture. The turf is absolutely regular
and smooth ms a carpet all over.
Two green's at Pine Valley were
PLANTED by the vegetative method last
fall. The system is still perhaps in the
experimental stage but results have beeI
Bala's experiment will be watched BY
every club in Philadelphia If tho
green's are a success it is likely to revo'
iutionize all the greens planting yet to
be done in this section.
Mrs, Clarence II. Vanderbeck. It Is
said, will not play In the team matches
this year for the Cricket Club because
of serious illness. This also may oblise
her to default her Philadelphia cham /,
pionship honors and indeed 1t Is feared
that she won't be able to play much
golf at all this year.
viii Mean Much
Her friends are much cast down over
the report. Her absence from the links
will mean much. The Cricket Club
first team won the championship OF the
Philadelphia Cup League last year and
without Mrs. Vanderbeck will have a
hard time repeating as was demon
strated yesterday when the st. Martins
team lost to Huntington Valley BY one
match.
missed by the Griscom Cup team OF
Philadelphia If she is not able to play
by that time. Here, too. Mrs. Wander
beck will be unable to defend title for
she won the Eastern championship last
year, She also went to the semi finals
Of the national making the best showing
Of course, OF any of the local entries In
that event when she reached that round
The usual order of things was quite
unset Yesterday in the first round ol
team matches for the Philadelphia Cup
Ordinarily this race is between Meriol
and the Cricket Club first tenn, Will
Huntington Valley always dangerous
The latter team, however, was more
often than not n loser to either MeriO'
or the Cricket Club in close match.
| Cricket Second Strong
But yesterday the Country Club team
| came through with q win over Merton
four to three, and Huntington Vale.
heat Cricket Club nrst, by the sam
count. Both these results were a sur
prise.
The other winner in this division wa
the Cricket Club second which ben
Riverton in clean sweep, sevel
ma tches to none.
| The Cricket scrubs are group o
young stars who have been sweeping al
before them in the team matches in tn
other leagues for the past two years.
They have piled up an cnormou
number of individual wins and ycster
days match, when most Of the tilts wer
won BY wide margins makes 1t look as /
this team might actually press for tn
highest honOrs.
Mrs. Caleb Fox, leading for Hunting
don Valley, played one Of the fines
rounds OF the day, going out in forty
three over the difficult Noble course an
coming in victor over Miss Mildre
CaverIy, leader Of the Cricket first an
one Of the very best players IN tn
city.