Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-09-13

attention of the young fellows. People them
selves want 10 play rather than watch others
play. And you can't blame them. I'd rather
play q round Of golf than watch a ball game"
There are other reasons for this change-over
Of the American sporting viewpoint. First and
foremost Of the latter is the Jones influence.
Last year was q high point in golhng history
and golhng interest, and all because Bobby
Jones pulled the impossible feat of winning
the amateur and the open championships of the
United States and of Great Britain. Jones,
more than any other individual inspired
the United States to play golf And he's stin
doing it, through the very effective and univer-
sally popular medium of the talking screen.
Then. too. there was the miniature golf course.
No matter how many silly barrels one had to
put through, regardless of the weird hazards
that their constructors erected those miniature
links converted a countless horde of people to
the game of golf. And goodly percentage Of
those converts who were perfectly content to
play the understood variety a year ago will not
now be satisfied with anything less than
he-man's golf course, a 6,50o-yarder filled with
sand traps and golf bugs whose every bite is a
thrill.
The big reason for the change in national
viewpoint though. was noted by Johnny Killing.
At the same time one should be careful to
avoid the implication that base ball is on the
way to almost complete pasSout Such an
eventuation may come to pass but it's to be
doubted. even though minor league failures
have been appallingly numerous in the last year
two.
Why even one of COLTS stanchest adherents,
uho on
not foresee any such disastrous wind-up for base
ball Far from 1t. That man is none other than
Alex Duncan, + esent professional of golf
at the Philadelphia Cricket Club and brother to
Britain's great George Duncan, who says:
II believe base ball is too integral part Of
the country's athletic life for this sport even to
fade from its position of prominence. Golf Is
undoubtedly the most popular sport to play,
but base ball still Is the most popular sport to
watch
Connie Mack, you know" Duncan con-
tinued never permits his world-champion Ath-
letics to play golf on the days when they're
playing base ball in the regular American
League season. Do you know the reason for
that? No? Well I do. It's this: Mr.. Mack
wants his base ball boys to concentrate on base
ball and on base ball alone. He's afraid Of the
distractions that might occur if they played golf.
And he's right Wouldn't it be pretty how
d'ye-do If Joe Boley, while in the act of throw
ing to Max Bishop at the start of double
play were to say: You should have seen the
pinch shot made at the fourteenth hole this
morning'?"
CORNELIUS McGLLICUDDY h i'm elf,
- otherwise the one and only Connie Mack
whose Philadelphia Athletics have won the last
two World Series, virtually verified Duncan's
impression. Eyes do place restrictions on
golfng among my players once the season opens,
and for several reasons. For one thing it would
not be fair for a player to go out in the hot
morning and use up the strength he should save
for the afternoon ball game Playing golf after
the game might be all right save for the fact
that, instead Of talking base ball and COM
menting on how the days contest was won or
lost the players would have their minds diverted