The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1922-07-09
GOLF STARS FACE
SUN BAKED cOURSE
IN NATIONAL OPEN
Long Drives Throw Bunk
ers Out of Alignment
And Upsets Are Feared.

sKoKIE COUNTRY CLUB. GLEN
coE. H.. July s-The endless Sc
ries Of cioudbursts and torrenfiaI
downpours that soaked the East
ern range for so many weeks failed
to. swing ~ far West a. skokie
Valley. For forty days not . drop
OF water from the blue summer
heavens above has fallen upon
Cook County terrain and a. q re-
suit OF this long drouth skokie to-
day Is baked as hard as . prstseI.
where drives ranging from $50 to
400 yards are as common a. ,alibis
in the buffers bitter wake.
The fsirway 10 a golden orange
tint, hard fast and full of immense
whirls merrily along its way to
bunkers intended for second shots.
As the greens are fairly soft. well
watered, true and slow. this puts
the course upon the easy side
where only series Of heavy rains
will bring II back to normal be-
fore the big 72-hoie test that be7
gins next Thursday morning with
the qualifying survivors.
Talent on Hand.
In the workout this afternoon the
course was fairly Uttered with
talent. where most of the 327 en-
tries were attempting to get in at
least one preliminary round. This
entry list has smashed all past
records by more than fifty starters.
There has been nothing like It in
the history OF golf. even in the
British classics, where a Scotland
and England sends their armies of
experts to the chase. 1t will take
three full days from 8 o'clock in
the morning to the rim of twilight
to get this big division around the
36-hole qualifying tests and even
then they must keep moving on
with few delays.
The forty-day drouth has put the
bunkers far out OF alignment.
Hagen and Barnes this afternoon
were playing 430-yard holes with
drives and chip shots. Mike Brady
and Abe Mitchell have already
reached one 4So-yard green from
the tee. But for all that things
will be a tribe different when they
move to the back limits of the back
tees and the old pencil comes out
to ofhcially record every stroke
that Is made.
Hagen IL Upset.
This afternoon a brisk wind
rambled around the course and
while this improved many holes II
rendered others a trihe easier.
Here Is one sample Of what the
summer run of forty days has
done. The eighteenth hole IL 40
yards uphill. This afternoon a
brisk wind was blowing directly
into the face of the players. Yet
uphill and against the wind Hagen
was past the pin. 40 yards away,
with drive and an iron.
Hagen and Barnes, playing to-
gether, took their Afternoon jaun,
In leisure style without trying to
XIII the ball or run up a record
score. At the twelfth hole we
asked Hagen what his score was: Il
haven't any Idea" he replied, "as ]
never keep a score or even think
about my figures until the cham
pionship starts"
As a matter of record he was
around In ~, SO either way, hitting
long. low tee shots straight down
the course and pitching effectively
to the pin.
I haven't gotten going as well
as i played in England" he re-
marked. but he Is playing with Car
greater Confidence and hitting his
shots with far better effect than a
year ago before the last open at
Columbia. This applies especially
TO his putting which was then weak
and erratic but which today is con-
sistently true.
Barnes Jaunts Along.
Jim Barnes. the present oman
champion, was placing well, con-
sidering the fact that he was on the
nrst Tee only an hour or two after
ne stepped from the Twentieth Gen.
curry. He was making no particu-
lar enort to score, being conten,
10 feel out the course and get his
bearings.
The first nine here is longer and
more open. The second nine. while
shorter, Is built through a wood
land OF maple and oak where stray
drives may bould to disaster. but
where good direction is rewarded by
simple pitch or short chip 70 the
greens are true and In no sense
tion which Chick" Evans usually
keeps and his firm control over the
snort pitch, he will be more than
normally dangerous here where he
Is regarded as one of the top fac
tors OF the classic field. AS the
course Is now this is anybodys
championship for putting will be a
bigger factor than ever as the