Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-01

course will not open before March Is.
even though good weather puts the
layout In exceptional condition, accord
ing to an announcement by the man
agement.
Much repair and maintenance work
remains to be done at East Potomac
Park, and the course is too soft to
permit heavy play.
Meanwhile the management of the
public courses believes that with the
Rock Creek Park and West Potomac
Park courses open for play, there is not
a need for East Potomac Park to open
until early Spring.
The course in West Potomac Park
| is being heavily atroniZed, and prob-
ably VIII employ two professionals this
year.
Horton Smith, the Missouri pro, who
was the sensation of the Winter season
last year, is chipping and putting like
a man inspired, according to Fred Me-
| Leod, the Columbia pro, who accom-
panied the touring professionals on
their trek through the West and South
west. Smith has not so far been the
lmpeccable scoring machine he was last
| year, but his uncanny ability around
the putting green's has kept him well up
IN the money during the Winter events.
AS an instance of what Smith Is ac-
complishing around the putting greens,
MCLEOD tells of the Catalina Island
open, where Smiths second shot to the
nrSt green was not on the green on a
drive and pitch hole, and he holed a
chlp shot for a birdie g. His tee shot
10 the next hole was in a bunker near
the green and he holed his bunker shot
Tor an eagle 2, scoring another birdie
on the next hole by the same chipping
| and putting skill.
Densmore Shute has been the real
sensation of the Winter season, accord
ing to Mcleod, who looks for the taci-
turn Ohio lad to win the national open
IN the near future. Shute is the cool
est youngster Mcleod ever has seen, the
Columbla mentor says, and is certain
to improve in skill as his experience in
creases. Shute already has won two Of
the biggest tournaments of the Winter
season, and is not wearing himself out
by too much competition, Mcleod says.
Shute did not play in the Savannah
open.
Mcleod never was able to hit his
stride during his travels with the tour
ing pros, and altogether was quite dis
guSted with his game. Freddy saws the
scoring pace has become SO swift that
II 29O Is not broken in 72-hole event,
IL Is almost impossible to get in the
money.
Only a few of the touring pros will
break even from financial standpoint,
over the Winter season, he adds, these
being the lads who have copied the big
purses.
Shute and Sarazen, winners of the
Los angeles and Aqua Caliente open
championships, will be among the big
winners, while Horton Smith also will
have balance on the right side of the
ledger, for even though the Joplin lad
has not won one of the big money af-
fairs, he has been consistently in the
pay roll at most of the tournaments.
The proposal to eliminate the lengthy
tenth hole at Congressional and the
short sixteenth and divide the tenth
into two holes by construction of one
new green and two new tees; now Is be-
fore the finance committee of the club.
Sandy Armour and Peter jackson, who
drew up the estimates for the work,
believe it will cost about 81 500 to make
the changes. A new hole will be built
for the tenth, while the present tenth
green will be used for the eleventh and
the sixteenth viii be abandoned entire
ly, with the present sixteenth green
used for the new seventeenth tee.