Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-31
END OF VETERANS
TITLE REIGN SEEN
Championship Tourney viii
Be Held This Week at
Burning Tree.
BY WALTER r. McCALLUM.

week at the Burning
Tree Club, the bunch seems to be
spreading that something in the
Way of an upset is due to be un-
covered during the coming Dis
trict championship and that one
of the Youngsters who have been
making such bold bids for tourna-
ment supremacy about Washing
ton during the last two years, will
suuplant the veterans of the game
WIZ have won the District title
for w season.
Tina . ,nch is bolstered up by the
knowleo.~ that the veterans who have
beer in the tournament spotlight for a
half dozen years and more are not
playing as we'll in these pre-champlon-
ship DAYS as the youngsters, which may
or NAV not be true when the pencil
comes out, practice rounds end, ana
when 3-foot puts have to be knocked
In the hole and are not to be conceded
Just at present there are a half dozen
young men around Washington who are
playing golf quite good enough TO win
any local championship. The only rea-
son they have not won in the past
has been that consistency was lacking
in the youngsters, while the veterans
plouphed along with that unfaltering
RHYTHM that brooks no disturbance OF
the mental or physical side OF golf.
One of the factors that may play big
part. in the coming championship, to
be decided next Thursday and Friday
at the Burning Tree Club, is the heat
and drought which Washington has
suffered for many weeks. The heat
has not appeared to affect the young
sters to any considerable extent. They
al olv nd q
kept in practice. But it is not so with
the veterans. The older a man be-
comes the more he learns to take care
of himself, and the less able he is to
undergo extremes of heat and cold.
But the youngsters, as "Cy' Cummings
would say, "revel in the going" be it
hot or cold, and they have kept on
playing golf through the hot weather
and over the superheated courses OF
July and August.
Pitt Plays Little.
Harry Pitt, one of the veterans of
whom we speak, and usually regarded
as the second ranking amateur about
Washington, told me the other day that
he had played but three rounds of golf
since early July. Miller B. STEVENSON,
the reigning District title holder, has
played little since the hot spell struck
the Capital, and the other veterans
have done little club swinging during
the heat. Not so with the youngsters,
however. Such lads as Tommy Bones,
j. Monro Hunter, Roger Peacock, John
Shorey, John Tierney, Everett Eynon,
Jimmie Drain and a few others have
played right through the heat, and the
result has been that they are in prac-
tice and do not need to get their swings
grooyed for the title event. 7
This year the District championship
Is being held much earlier than usual,
which gives the youngsters, who go
away to school, a chance to play in the
title chase. But the early date for the
championship also will probably bring
with it the handicap of heat. And
with such lengthy period of drought
behind us, it Is not likely that the
drought will be broken before the
championship starts, which means that
the course at Burning Tree will be fast
and hard, conditions the youngsters
like, and which they have become used
to over the last two months.
Veterans Keen to Win.
But men like Miller STEVENSON and
Harry Pitt--to cite the two top notchers
among the veterans-will not give up
their championship chance without a
bigger and better struggle. Both are
keen to win, STEVENSON to annex his
third title in a row, and Pitt to break
through and win the District title for
the first time Both know Burning
Tree like a book, and both have shown
on many occasions that they like the
course and play 1t well. One OF the real
dark horses In the coming tournament
may be the veteran Clyde B. Asher. a
veteran in point OF years. but golIer
with comparatively little tournament
background. Asher's game has shown
remarkable improvement this year, and
80 he gets his putting stroke going, ne
may be the center of a big upset, for the
Columbia Country Club vice president Is
PLAYING well enough to set pace too
hot for any man to follow at Burning
Tree. And he knows the course so well
that he has the advantage OF knowing
the exact distances, roll OF the greens
and other factors that may save strokes
where stroke saving counts.
Young Monro Hunter is playing
Splendid golf So is Roger Peacock and
90 Is Tommy Bones. Everett Eynon
has been cracking par at Columbia SO
often that it no longer is q novelty Tor
him. These youngsters, together with
John c. Shorey, make up the group OF
younger players who will make the big
Test bid for the championship. They
have been playing a good deal OF golf
this Summer and are at the crest. The
bunch is that one of them may win.
Much Depends on Rain.
what will be the winning score OF
the championship? Only once during
tine long history of the District title
chase has 300 been well broken. That
was back in 1927 when George J. Voigi
got his shots working so well that he
PLAYED four rounds of the Indian Spring
course in 291 strokes. Our private
opinion is that any score under 300 VIII
win the championship and that 3oo-ol
an average Of 75's-may win. Fol-
burning Tree is a course that does moi
lend itself to extreme low scoring, from
the championship tees There may be
a II or r. but such scores will be few
Burning Tree does not give up its
secrets easily, and medal play golf is q
far different matter from friendly
match play. The scoring depends or
whether it rains before the champion
ship. If the fairways remain hard anc
dry. some one may get hot" and shoo
a So ard bust up a perfectly gooe
championship. But If it rains. 300 vii
win. You will remember that the Off
ciaI course record at Burning Tree Il
~. made by Leo Diegel in the mid
Atlantic open four years ago, when thu
course was slow and the wind blew. /
conditions such as these exist one o
the veterans may win. But IL tn
course remains dry and hard, there i
very likely to be surprise at BurninI
Tree.