Evening star., 1926-04-08

In the Fall Of that year ! managed
to retain another title. held over IRON
! 19l6-the Professional Golfers Asso.
citation championship. The tournament
was PLAYED at the Engineers Country
club on Long Island and in the final
! won from Freddy Mcleod by and
). The selection of the Engineers
course for this championship was a
bit unusual in that the course was
practically a new one, having been
built only two years before. year
| later the amateur championship was
lplayed over 1t, thereby giving it a dis
tinction which. 40 far rs ! know, is
unrivaled by any other course in the
country, that of having been the
scene OF two national championships
within three years after it was opened.
Causes Much discussion.
Incidentally. our championship
served to call attention to the short
fourteenth hole, which has since come
to he 40 widely cussed and discussed.
II was i'm this championship that some
OF the newspaper men referred to it as
the "two-or twenty" hole. 1t certain
ly proved a terror to some or the
bows who got legweary climbing up
and down the steep side OF the narrow
green chasing the bah from one sand
trap to another The hole didn't cause
me any serious annoyance, but II GER
tainly invited trouble IL YOU didn't
make your tee shot hold the green.
Also in 1919 for the first time since
1912. had another try at the Cana
dian championship, and. strangely
enough just as in the first case. | nm
ished second, though this time ! tied
for the place with Bobby Jones. Doug
las Edgar, who was later mysteriously
killed in an automobile accident in At.
lanta. was the winner after one of the
most brilliant exhibitions Of golf ever
seen. His four rounds totaled 21S, an
average of 90 - per round. Bobby and
| tied at 2Sl.
Another Great Tussie.
Then along in the Fan | went down
10 play in the Southern open cham
pionShip at the East Lake course in
Atlanta--Bobby's home course. Bobby
and | had another nip-and.tuck bat
tie. but I managed to beat him out
by a single stroke. In 1A holes of
play in the two championships. only
a single stroke separated US. These
two championships were my first real
chance to study his play, and [ re-
call being impressed then by the alb
solute ease with which he played
making alone was concerned, was
quite as good then as now, except
that he was not SO steady and con
sistent putter as he now Is. And,
of course. he also lacked experience
and control over himself.
But even in the days when lots
was being written and spoken about
his. failure to curb his temper. l saw
little to criticize In what he did In
fact. to me his temper was good
sign. He never showed the slightest
tendency to fight with his opponent;
ii was always case of fighting with
himself. IL YOU could call 1t fighting
because he knew he could and should
play better. and his outbursts simply
meant that 80 long as he was not
satisfied with his game, he would go
on improving.
| knew that, naturally enough, when
he got little more experience and
poise, he would learn how to hold
himself in check all right. This. of
course, is just what has happened.
and those early experiences are one
of the reasons why he Is the great
golfer he is today.
That same Fan ! won an open