Evening star., 1930-06-03
new RULE STOPS
open" T|TLEPLAY
MaryIanders, VirginianS and
Washingtonians Separated
in Stars Tournament.

ARLE A. CRANE, one of
- Washington's top notch
horseshoe pitchers, is the
owner of title that will be
his for keeps. The title is open"
champion of Montgomery Coun-
ty. Ma.
Crane precipitated verbal war
in the winning of it last year in
The Washington Stars first an
nual metropolitan district tour
nament, which embraced the Ma
tional Capital and nearby coun-
ties of Maryland and Virginia.
It is Cranes title permanently for
the simple reason that 1t won't be COM
peted for again. A rule has been made
for the tournament that will prevent
any need for an open" championship.
The new rule restricts pitchers to
competition in their own territory,
which is to say, Washingtonians TO
Washington, Marylanders to Maryland
and Virginians to Virginia.
How 1t Came About.
Last year every preliminary was open
to any barnyard golfer residing within
the metropolitan area and Crane chose
the Silver Spring event. He won this
and went on into the Montgomery
County finals, which he also won.
Then came the verbal combat over
whether it was mete that Washington
man should bear a Montgomery County
title. Montgomery County pitchers
wanted a champion all their own. They
got one, too. The county bona fde"
crown was placed on the head OF MIL
lard e. Peake, the other finalist in the
Montgomery play-off, and Crane was
declared the "open" champion.
They carried on together, however,
into the higher stages of the metropon-
tan competition and Peake obv1ated
further complications by eliminating
Maryland championship, upon which
State Chairman Roger Shaw breatneo
a sigh of relief.
Tourney Dates Changed.
A change has been made in the dates
for this Summers tournament. En-
tries will be held open until July 8 and
play will start on Wednesday, July 10.
The change was made to permit the
use Of more Fairgrounds for Washing
ton preliminaries. A NUMBER OF
grounds won't be opened until July l
and the previous date set for the clos
ing entries was June %.
Playground directors will have charge
of the neighborhood championships,
and In Maryland and Virginia town
chairmen will be appointed. 1t was due
much to the enterprise of these chair
men and the playground directors that
last years tournament was surprisingly
successful, about 5000 men and women
taking part.
There will be a number of special
preliminaries in Washington this SUM
Iner, closed TO specified groups OF
pitchers. For instance, the Little Con-
gress" as the Capitol, made up OF Con-
cressmen's secretaries and clerks, Will
have a tournament of their own, and
several branches of the city and Fed
eral Government plan events. The
specials" of last year viii be renewed;
be awarded the same as IN the other
prelininaries and their champions and
runners-up will move on into the upper
grades Of play.
Special Groups Invited.
Groups of pitchers desiring to have
their own preliminarieS are asked to
communicate with the horseshoe editor,
r. D. Thomas, phone National 50oO.
Branch 1856. Mail should be addressed
to him, Sports Department, Wasnlng-
ton Star.
In the meantime, the Fairgrounds are
equipped with regulation pitching shoes
and Mrs. Susie Root Rhodes, supertn-
tendent, has issued cordial invitation
to the public to use them. The Plaza
Playground, near Union Station, has be-
come a hotbed of horseshoe pitching.
Three courts are available there, all
equipped with the regulation six-foot
square boxes. The latter will have
been installed on all the Fairgrounds
before the tournament opens.
Entry blanks will be ready for dis
tribution next week.