Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-08
GATE IS HARD HIT
WITH BOBBY GONE
Biggest Man in .GoIfdom, His
Absence From Play at
Inverness Proves.
BY WALTER r. McCALLUM.

inverness dlSpelleQ LnaC OOuDC
Bobby Jones is the biggest draw
ing card in the game, and now
that he has vanished from his
wonted scene Of activity and Is
enjoying the life of golf writer
and broadcaster, the take" at
the gate of the open champion
ship, as shown at Toledo, has
dropped almost to the vanishing
point, as compared with that
when Jones was out there fight-
ing for his place in the sun.
They did things in q queer way at
Toledo. In the first place, instead Of
the usual 50 gate fee for the regular
days of championship play, they shot
the ante up to SO for a single days
ticket and charged $3.50 for a three
day ticket. Then they socked the Gus
toners 81 70 see the practice rounds and
% for the days of the twin play offs.
They relented on the final afternoon
Of the play-off Monday and let the
customers In for single buck. And
Toledo must be q dollar town If you
could Judge by the size Of the crowd
that saw Billy Burke and George Won
Elm charge through that last Is holes.
The crowd at 81 per copy was the
largest Of the week and ran to be-
tween 5000 and 1000 folks.
The total intake at the gate for the
six days of scheduled three -dav
championship was about S25 900, which
gave the Inverness club a great break.
But had Jones been in there the re-
infc hav TO
fact Is that the crowds at Toledo were
the smallest I ever have seen at a ma
tional, and my guess is that 1t was be-
cause Jones was out.
All Sorts Of Rackets.
They had all sorts of rackets out
there In the first place the city au-
thorities became worried about the
water supply on the course and shut
off the pumps. There was no water
for drinking purposes on the golf
course. except at each tee. where cad
dies dispensed water TO the contestants
and the public went thirsty.
Some folks-the old meanies-were
brutal enough to say the ginger ale and
soft drink concessionnaires had en-
sineered the deal. but that hardly seems
probable. On the two-oay play-oH
caddies were walking around the course
WIFI Vi WhGgI IL CT III
cents q drink. and doing land ONCE
business. With q temperature that
lowered a-ound the l00-degree mark
and little shade, those parched thou
sands needed water and were willing to
pay for it.
Then there were lots of folks who
wanted scorecards to keep track OF the
fluctuations in the score as Burke and
Won Elm tossed the championship
around. They could get them-at a
price-for the going price for these bits
Of pasteboard was cents That's a
new one for these championships.
Bob Jones remained around the club
until Saturday night, when he had to
60 toaCincinnati to play in an exhibit
ton match, and he did not return. But
wherever Bob went during the cham
pionship proper-and he was on the
course all the tiHe-you could see folks
nudge each other and say in a whisper
of awe: There is Bobby Jones. Don't
he look thin?" In many ways Jones
was the biggest attraction of the tourna-
ment. and there was no doubling the
fact that he still is the largest figure
in the game.
Deceives Its Looks.
The Inverness course is a fairly easy
looking one as you view 1t the first time.
But they had let the rough grow up tall
and thick. and had narrowed it d7wn
at about 225 yards. and when a ball
went we'll into that deep rough it was
simply impossible to play the green. A
blast out was the only feasible thing
In the final round OF the final play-off
Won Elm pushed his tee shot at the
fourteenth hole. He went in and looked
1T 1t, and finally and wisely took q big
niblick and knocked 1t out to the fair
way. He couldn't hope to play for the
green, and the green was only 100 yards
away.
Time after time I saw fine golfers
rather than risk losing still another
shot by taking q long club. The rough
was timothy hay. and 1t wrapped itself
around the clubhead until all the force
Of the blow was lost
In many ways Inverness was the
most spectacular championship that
ever has been played. Over the last
nine Saturday afternoon Won Elm had
the title all lsid away, then blew it and
then came back with that long putt on
the eighteenth to tie Then in the
first play-on Burke had it all won
when Won Elm shot four brides in a
row at him and a four-stroke lead by
Burke had been conveyed into a two
stroke lead for Won Elm. Then came
the putt by the blonde from California
to tie again. That was really a long
putt, somewhere around IL feet His
putt on the previous day was a little
more than two long PAGES from the pin.
which made 1t about feet. but the
putt he had Sunday afternoon was a
big one.
Burke Gains Control.
The final play-off Monday was an
anti-climax. Burke was plainly tired
and showed it for the first time in the
morning round, where he had three
eixes-hiS first skies OF the champion
ship. He scored This worst round in
Is in Ohio. But he grabbed those tired
nerves in some way and shot the finest
round of the tournament. under the
conditions, Monday Afternoon with a
par II to beat Won Elm by q single
shot.
At the last hole Billy had a two
stroke lead and he three-putted the last
green for a against Won Elms 4.
But there isn't any doubt that If Burke
had been pushed he could have gotten
down in two puts. To show how he
had Gained those jumping nerves he
actually invited the movie men to grind
their cameras rs he stroked the S0-foot
approach putt that left him S feet
past the hole. And he let them keep
on grinding as he knocked the ball
up alongside the hole and tapped 1t
in for the winning s. Won Elm had
asked them to keep quiet.
Along about $3.50 Monday evening
the small crowd that had gathered
around at the eighteenth green to see
Burke and Won Elm receive their prizes
got their final kick of the tournament
After Herbert H. Ramsay president Of
the United States Golf Asso citation, had
lauded both the men and proclaimed
the tournament as the most unusual
championship ever played, Burke was
called on for q little talk.
He did not speak long, but ne gave
the crowd big laugh when he said, Il