Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-22
BETTERS EMPEROR
IN PRACTICE MATCH
Shoots SO Against Jones' SO.
STEVENSON Is Confident
He Will Qualify.
BY w. r. McCALLUM.


fanfare which surround.
the national amateur golf cham.
pionship came to dead end il
the road today as 1877 Simon pures
not tinged with the stain of pro-
fessionalism, set out on per.
sonally conducted tour which they
all hope will bring Bob Jones his
fourth major championship of the
year. The practice rounds are be-
hind them. Before them TO-DAY
and tomorrow lie the grim spectel
Of the pencil and scorecard ano
those rugged bunkerS of the
equally rugged Merton course
layout not much changed from
that over which Jones won in
1e24-but one that has been
trapped much more heavily than
IT was then.
York club, but still the same indi-
vidual who learned his golf down at
East Potomac Park, has installed him.
self as one of the prime favorites to
win the tournament chiefly by reason
Of the 68 he made yesterday, just by
way Of showing Jones that the Voigt
person is considerably golfer. The
So came in four-ball match, in which
Voigt and Watts Gum lost on the
seventeenth hole to Bob Jones and Dick
Jones. Bob Jones himself shot a SO,
but Voigt birdied the final hole for
bis SO.
AS the field of 1853 starters went out
to match their shots against the wiles
of the tricky Merton layout mystery
surrouned the reasons for George Won
Elm's announcement that this is his
last fling at the amateur championship.
The fourth ranking player in the
United States disposed of questions re-
garding his reasons for the announce
ment he made last night with the sim
pie statement, I'D rather not answer
you now"
George Is Mysterious.
Late yesterday the blond from De-
troit, who won this championship in
1926 at Baltusrol, handed to newspaper
men the following statement:
IT desire to announce that I am
competing in my final amateur cham
pionship. Regardless of the outcome
nitely, finally and absolutely retiring
from competition in this greatest of
amateur tournaments. However. ex-
pect to make every effort to play up
to the highest standard it has ever
been my good fortune to reach. =.
81 want above all things to have 1t
understood that under no conditions,
now or hereafter, will I make golf my
profession. After my play at Merton
! shall announce my future plans"
Persistent efforts to induce Won Elm
to relate what was behind his statement
brought forth no response. Whether
he feels that he has been sighted by
being placed below Voigt in the ranking
list could not be learned.
Another mystery of the current cham
pionship is what shall be done with the
so-called sand scoop, an aluminium club
with two ridges across the back, first
brought out by Horton Smith and used
by him successfully and now in the
bags of many of the competitors here.
The men who use it say it is the finest
thing that has ever been invented for
getting out of soft sand, and saw them
repeatedly fling shots out of the sand
stone dead to the hole. The U. S. G. A.
may bar the club, according to rumors
prevalent today. Be that as it may, the
CLUB is quite handy weapon.
STEVENSON Confident.
Miller B. STEVENSON of Columbia,
Washingtons lone entry in the cham
pionship, started playing in the two
day qualifying round today at 1920
Playing with Ellis Knowles of Apawamis,
one-tine Southern amateur champion
and a big hitter, STEVENSON said he felt
certain he will qualify in the two-day
test and be among those who come up
Tor match play wednesday morning. He
plays again with Knowles tomorrow at
2:05 in the afternoon.
Roland Mackenzie of Columbia, who
Is entered from the Wilmington Coun-
try Club, has not been seen much around
Merton, but he has been out there
just the same, practicing his shots.
Roland is said by Bob Jones to be
playing the best golf the title holder
ever has seen the Columbia youth play
and Roland himself modestly admits he
is hitting his shots well He hopes"
to qualify tomorrow, and it is almost
q certainty that he will, for he likes
Merton, you know. It was over this
course, in 1924, that Roland qualified
in his first amateur championship, and
here at the same time that he made
his first real bid for fame, taking
Won Elm to the thirty-seventh hole
after the Detroit man had him 8
down. Roland has had three Ills and
a 20 in practice here.
The only Withdrawals of any conse-
quence in the starting list announced
today are George Dawson, Rudy Knep-
per and Tommy Taller. Dawson and
Knepper Withdrew for business rea-
sons and Taller, son of the late New
port sportsman, Is matriculating at
Princeton.
Set 156 as Limit.
All the entrants have set 1856 as the
maximum figure they may shoot and
yet have a chance to qualify. They
figure that brace of 78s will make the
grade. But against this figure stands
the somber fac that on Is of the Ia
holes an "out of bounds" penalty faces
a wild shot, while on more water
bitches must be negotiated. Oh, yes
there are plenty of chances for trouble
here, and furthermore the course is not
the shortest in the world. 1t measures
$3.50 yards. The fairWays are well
watered and how wonderful they look
to one who has seen nothing but those
brown parched fairways around Wash
ington for three months. But the put
ting greens have been getting a few
loose goats in the practice rounds, fol
they are slow to pitch to and very fast
to putt on. The ball slips past the hole
without hitch and a three-foot put
tomorrow and Tuesday viii cost many
a lad his chance to qualify.
Jones likes the course. He has saiC
so repeatedly, and has said he likes thu
few changes that have been made il
the layout since he won the champion
ship here in 1924 1t looks like anothel
personally conducted tour for the Jone
family hope. They will be saying i
with Kissed puts out there today, al
hoping to get crack at him in tn
match play rounds. Some one may pul
a Goodman, but probably not.
ROCHESTER WINS EASILY