Evening star., 1924-03-11
THE MAKING OF 4 GOLF CHAMPION
CHAPTER @I Get a Pro
Base Ball Offer.

THEY say some men are born with
feel for the QUITO doors in
their blood. l guess ! was one of
them. The idea of one day giving
up MY sports--my golf or base ball
and settling down, as most men
must do sooner or, later, to 'stuffy
office job, was about as popular with
me as the measles. At this particular
period i'll my career had been al
tcrnahng between golf and base ball.
Every other Saturday and Sunday
and had acquired no small reputa-
tion as n twirler, due, no doubt,
70 the fact that l was able to throw
asball with either arm. Often in the
midst OF 4 game / used to alternate
my delivery. which WAS very con-
fusing TO opposing batters.
One Saturday after the game a
stranger approached me, asked my
age-l was just eighteen at the
time-how long j had been playing
ball and several other questions. ]
had no idea what he was getting at
was .Noran--later manager OF the
Philadelphia National League Club.
but then acting as a scout for his
team--that he was looking for
promising material for his organiza.
the consider an offer to join them.
Needless TO say ] was greatly as
toniShed and fattered by the proposal
and promised to give 1t careful con-
sideration. ] stayed awake all mat
night. going back and forth over
every argument and angle of the
situation finally got 1t down TO
this: ] might do well as a profession: !:
al ball player. but at best the pan
players life is a short one. a gofer
is often at the height OF his career
forgotten.
Golf Wins and Friends Gib~.
Furthermore. had TO admit that
was not exactly q brilliant batter
and probably never would be. In my
anxiety to knock the cover OF the
ball ] usually struck out. Al goif II
was different The little golf ball al
while a fellow swung at 1t. and there
was no such thing as constantly ran
ming the air
So, after considerable debate with
myself-and somewhat to the disgust
of my friends, who felt sure | was
making big mistake decided to
stick to golf. / must say | have never
had cause to regret my choice. Tor
my path has since led to the greatest
honors the game affords.
Once my decision WAS made IL oc-
CURED to me that riding two horses
at once was rather short-sighted
policy, so l determined to drop my
base ball entirely, much as / loved IT,
and devote all my energies to golf.
Ny chance came shortly after that.
as was made assistant pro at the
club, and this gave me more op-
portunity to play. After work there
was always q round; il we did not
have time for eighteen holes. nine
would do. | began to see that there
was just one right way to play golf,
and a good many wrong ways. and
made up my mind to learn the right
one.
My game improved rapidly and I
played with the boss A great deal.
He taught me a lot about golf. but
one day when | was feeling pretty
cocky I said to him: We'll, it's get
ting near quitting time. l feel like
giving you a trimming tonight"
He turned toward me with wry
smile.
Hagen" he said, there are a lot
of things about golf you don't know.
and. no matter how good you get,
there will always be things you
don't know. It's that kind of game.
1t happens that | can beat you any
time l want to. because | know two