The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-07-27

CHICAGO, July 26.-H. R. John ston of St. Paul. today won the western amateur golf championship at Hins- dale by defeating Albert Seckel of Chi cago, 1 up in 36 holes.
 Johnston, after being down most of the day, largely because he could not hole any long butts, came with a rush in the last nine and could not be denied. The Minnesota champion had his worst sinking spell in the middle of the aft ernoon round, Seckel becoming up at the end of the 24th hole and again being 4 up at the 31st.
 Whereupon Johnston unleased a brand of golf that probably no one could beat and won all five holes, three of them with birdies and the other two possible birdies as Seckel conceded the holes.
 JoIlnston's Golf Brilliant
 So scintillating and exact was John ston's golf on these last five holes that the large gallery, which had been sym pathetic to Seckel as a fellow-towns- man, gradually went wild in their en- thusiasm over the St. Paul star and when he finally sank a 35-foot putt on the home green for birdie three and the title, the crowd burst into cheers and acclaimed the hero of one of the tishest golf struggles ever staged.
 Johnston and Seckel of Chicago, were all square at the end of the first Is holes of the final round,
 It was a contest between fighting golfers from start to finish and never during the struggle did either one break badly for more than a hole at a time. Seckel had to to fight harder than John ston most of the day, although he was up a great deal of the time, but he usually had the harder task to get home. His tenaciousness was shown on the last hole where, after Johnston had driven 270 yards down the fairway, he outstripped him by five yards and again when Johnston had pitched to the green. Sackel, although in the rough, plunked his ball on the carpet also and from 45 feet placed his ball in the hole. This fighting spirit of the Chicago play CT promised to send the match into ex- tra holes but Johnston planted his feet firmly, scorned the worn casts that inn peded his way over the undulating green and snapped the ball so exactly to the center of the cup that it went down without waver.
 One Over Par
 During the 36 holes Johnston got 20
 
 round in 35-36-71, one under par and the afternoon round in 39-35-74, for a total of 145 strokes. Seckel scored 24 pars and five birdies, scoring 34-3S-72 5 in the forenoon and 35-40-75 for the second round, totalling 147. Each one went two over par on hole during the day, Johnston taking six on the 510- yard third hole in the afternoon when he got into a patch of pine shrubs, and Seekel taking on the 55S-yard seventh hole when he got tangled up in such deep rough that he took two shots to get out and then landed in trap where he expended two more blows.
 Finishing the first IS holes all square, they started what amounted to an 1S-hole. match, except that both players were not quite so brilliant part of the time as in the morning. They halved the first hole in par, although Johnston's drive fodnd the rough and the second in perfect figures, although Seckel pulled to tall grass, but the for Tner champion became one up with a par 4 on the third when Johnston got off the course and took six.
 Seckel Opens Dash
 In fact Seckel hit q fast stride at this point that might have disheartened less valiant player for he holed long putt for birdie on the shorth fourth and got a par for a win on the fifth after running his approach over into a deep trap, by exploding his ball to with in five feet of the cup and sinking a putt. He then pitched to with eight feet of the flag on the short sixth and with par 5 was 4 up when Johnston's butter continued its refusal to work. 7 Seckel dropped the next hole when he took his seven and Johnston finally got down his first long putt of the day for a birdie 3 on the eighth, being only ? down. Seckel played terrorizing golf again by pitching within six feet of tlie flag on the 365-yard ninth and hole ing the putt for a birdie 8, turning into the home stretch up. Johnston got back a hole at the tenth with a par when Seckel sliced his drive and was short with his approach but quickly dropped it at long eleventh where Seckel after slicing to deep grass and barely getting out in two, barely short of Johnston's long drive, whaled a brassie to the green and won with a par five when Johnston pulled his second to bad lie.
 After halying the 45S-yard twelfth in birdie 4, Johnston threw away the short thirteenth by missing a three-foot putt for par 3 and was 4 down with only five to go.
 . Johnston
 With his butter working poorly and his other game not so exact as it had