Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-31
:: COLUMBIA PLAYER
!. RIGHT FOR TOURNEY
*
Bones and Shorey Also Show
Well in PraCtiCe-AceS
Singing the Blues.

)H1CAGO, august 3l.-Fred
McLeod's prediction that
~ score of 1872 will qualify
} in the thirty-fifth renewal
of the national amateur cham
pionShip, which began today over
the course of the Beverly Country
Club here, is not as far at sea as
some OF the club house sharpS be-
lieve.
Most of the 142 entrants in the
flrSt national amateur champion
ship to be held about the Middle
West metropolis in eight years
were singing the blues about the
course today as they struggled
with Beverly's 6,700 yards of
watered fairways and the keen
putting green's that SO far in the
early stages of the Joneless title
chase have defeated the best eff
forts of all the amateur sharp
F.. shooters gathered here to pick up
> the crown of the emperor relin-
pushed without a struggle.
- In solid week of practice over the
. Beverly layout only one contestant in
the championship has been able to ap-
proach the par of the course, and that
came yesterday afternoon when Frank
Dolp OF Portland, Ore. knocked the
ball around in level par of II. But
yesterday was a MINDLESS day. by COM
parison with the days that have gone
- before. converting the keen Beverly
green's into miniature skating Kinks on
which the boys have putted themselves
into scores even caddie would be
ashamed Of.
GO far Roland r. Mackenzie of Co.
- lumbia has shown the best golf of
the three local entries and has been
down with the leaders in scoring each
Of the six days he has been here. Il
only hope I can do as we'll today as
have been doing in practice" Roland
said as he started the first half of the
36-hole qualification round The Co.
lumbia lad, who has been in Holly
wood for several months, had not been
playing much golf before he came to
Chicago. but by slight change in his
stance and a minor change in his swing
he has been hitting the ball in old
time form-the form of 1927, when
he went to the semi-final in the
championship before Chick Evans holed
a 20-footer on the thirty seventh green
to beat him. Roland had 70 yeSter-
day in practice and is hitting the ball
so well and SO far from the tee that
he is good bet to qualify at any
figure.
But Roland stands alone. Where his
optimism Is outspoken, most of the other
stars were looking for the worst today
Beverly has its secrets and they are
hard to uncover. Mss of the aspirants
to Bob Jones crown have been over 80
in practice more often than they have
shattered that figure. Even such play
ers as Harrison r. Johnston, the 1929
champion; George Voigt, Phillip Per-
kins. Charlie Seaver and Eugene Ho-
mans, runner-up last year. have found
the course anything but easy. Voigts
best score to date is IA, mace in prac-
tice five days ago. Romans has rot
been able to get his shots going and
Perkins has been having trouble with
his putting.
IF McLeod's prediction about 1852 max
i ing the championship is true, Mac
Kenzie, Tommy Bones and John Z.
Shorey all should be in a good spot at
the close OF play today. judged on their
final practice rounds yesterday Bones
came home over the last nine yesterday
with big burst of speed to score a So
for 70, while Shorey had an 80 on
MS last circuit OF the course before the
big show opened. Billy Howell of Rich
1non1, the Middle Atlantic champion,
has been over Beverly in rs, but did net
play there yesterday. He is playing we'll
enough to qualify in any mans tourna-
mert and may make the grade in this
enc. If he does 1t will be enc of the
rare occasions when boy wonder has
qualified in his first attempt at the
national championship.
Just what makes the Beverly course
so hard to score on is hard to put
your finger on. To be sure, there are
those four par holes, none of which
can be reached in two shots by any
man, no matter how big a hitter he
may be. But then there are five 1-shot
holes to make up for the par affairs.
Yet these par 3 affairs are no set-upS,
by any means One of them, the twelfth,
is only ITO yards long, but I predict
that that tiny hole, played over a mini
allure lake to green ringed about with
traps, Is going to be some ones Water
loo before the qualifying round ends
tomorrow night. You can take 6
here and not miss many strokes. The
first nine is fairly open, but it plays
nearly $500 yards in length, and the
last nine is not by any means on the
short side.
NN that back nine there is one whop-
~ per Of a hole-590 yards in length.
Bones yesterday hit two of his very
best wooden club shots and then had
to play a spade mashie to the green.
The seventeenth is a one-shotter of 200
yards, but the boys all used brassies
to get home. Watered fairways make
a big difference in the roll of the ball,
and where they could play the pitch
and-run game on another course, the
ball must carry most of the way here.
Eleven Withdrawals yesterday brought
the starting field today down to l42. The
Withdrawals included Jess Guilford, the
1921 champion; Dexter Cummings of
Chicago, Woodie Plat CT Phila delphia
and few more not among the possible
winners. The foreign delegation con-
sists Of the picturesque Cyril Tolley,
John De Forest, runner-up in the re-
cent British amateur championship,
from that quarter should not be too
strong for the Americans to bring home
the bacon.
Bobby Jones. the resigning emperor,
who year ago sealed his supremacy
by winning the fourth of the series of
the crowns he relinquished this wear.
is here in his role of spectator end golf
writer. Just as at Toledo for the ma
tional open, Bobby is glad to be out Ct
the competitive game.
MACKENZIE. judged on the game he
1V1 has shown since coming to Chi
cago is the surest bet of the
Washington entrants to qualify. Ro-
land is keen to play in this tournament,
as he has not played enough golf this
year to 60 stale, but he has queer
slant on the qualifying round. Doubt
less remembering his failure to qualify
last year at Merton, Roland confessed
to nervousness today as he started out.
IF can keep my knees from knocking
together" he said, "Ill be all right. I
may have played in eight champion
ships before this one, but every one Is
another test"
Bones and ShoreY both are grizzly