The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-24
SWEETSER LEADS FIELD M WESTERN OPEN GOLF MEET
Dan Jarvis And l. ]. 0sbun, Birmingham Golfers, Score
 85 And 86

CLEV BLAND, O., July 23.-Over the difficult and beautiful links of the Mayfield Country club fast golf was played today in the first qualifying round of the western amateur cham pionship and it fell to Jess Sweetser of New York, national amateur cham pion, not only to lead the field by three strokes, but to establish of ficially his course record of 6S, first scored Sunday in practice.
 Chick Evans, defending champion for the seve lth time. was seven strokes behind Sweetser, who de- feated him at Boston last year in the national event The Chicagoan went out in fine 35, one under par. de- spite the fact that three butts jumped out of the cup ofter being in, and he played raggediy on the second nine, taking 40 for a 75 although he had two birdie two holes.
 The nearest competitor Sweetser had in his better than par run was Capt. E. F. Carter of Chicago. who established the previous record of 69 for Mayfield six years ago and who won the western title here in 1906, playing with Carter, took 76 today
 There were 34 scores of 7s. or better today. indicating that 1t would require 156 to qualify for match play if the scoring should continue as low tomorrow in the second IS holes of qua tiGation play. Eleven golfers had 79 today making 45 who shot better than so over the CATO yard links made fast by dry weather, but created exceedingly difficult by ma ture and man. Scarcely fairway without it's woods, dales and side slopes and only a few greens with out tantalizing undulations for the golfer to solve.
 Direction makes the course fairly easy if shots are well played, and direction was personified in Sweetser today.
 He was straight as an arrow from the tee in almost every instance, getting good distance and placing his shots with acumen. He did not cut his irons as crispy as possible, but they always held the carpet and he putted steadily. Once, in accumulat- ing four birdies and an eagle, he slipped on direA ion, getting into the stony bedded creek on the fourteenth and breaking his niblick in getting out, but he proved his power of re- coveTy, for he not only got out but scored q par four on the 400-yard hole.
 The national champion took one more than part on the twelfth and | thirteenth holes, 230 and 200 yards through trying to play safe in the maze of traps, but his eagle three | on the 455-yard tenth balanced these slips with par.
 Three 73's were scattered among i Eddie Teld of St, Louis. trans Missis- sippi champion; J. M Wells of East Liverpool, Ohio, and W. H. Gardiner of Buffalo. Ira Couch of Chicago was the only contestant to score "A, but six players tied Evans 75, including James Kennedy of Tulsa, the Okla homa champion, who played with the western champion and outscored him three strokes on the second nine. :,
 The other 75 players were well scattered, geographically comprlslIA Frank GodchauN of New Orleans, D Shute of Huntington, W. Va, A. D. Anderson of St. Louis, Dave OCon- nor of Chicago and T. F. Lamprecht of Cleveland.
 At the end of t< first half of the team play for the Olympic cup the United States Golf association team composed of Sweetser. Anderson n, Sawyer and James Standish with 30l was tied for the lead hth the S.' Louis district team composed of Held, Anderson, Clarence Wolff and James Manion. The Western Golf associa- ton team including Carter, Evans Ward and E. H. Bankard with So4 was tied for third place with the Onion state team made up of Wells Harold Weber, A. E. shannon ana C' W. Diebel.
 The 32 having the lowest scores at the end of tomorrows IS holes O. medal play will enter match play on Wednesday.
 Other scores included Dexter cum mings, Chicago, IS; Dan Jarvis, Blr- mingham, S5; I. J. Ospun,. Blrmlng- ham, S6; A. D. Behm. Cleveland, S6.