The Washington times., 1931-06-29
COLTS ARMY.
At SITE FOR
j. s. OPEN
By JAMES L. KILGALLEN

~ ~
By JAMES L. KILGALLEN
TOLEDO, Ohio, June %.
Americas greatest golfers, and
some of England's too, flocked
into Toledo today. They came
in quest of the glory that will
90 with the winning of the 1881
National open Championship
which will be played over the
Inverness Country Club course
on Thursday, Friday and Sat-
urday.
They were more confident than
in previous years because, for
the first time in more than q
decade, this is an open golf
championship that will not be
dominated by Bobby Jones.
Jones will be here, but merely
as a spectator He is due in
town tomorrow. The very fact
he is not competing has made
this an "open" championship in
the strictest sense of the word.
No Outstanding FavOrite
For once there is no favorite.
Any one of a dozen of the most
famous golfing stars may win
and then again the honor may
60 to what may be termed a
rank outsider" The scoring.
too, is expected to be better than
in the tournaments in which
Jones participated because Bob
by's very presence used to add
few strokes to the games OF
his competitor.
"This is going to be a real
national Open," said Bobby
Cruickshank. Nobody has any
idea who is going to win. 1t
will be that kind of & tOurna-
ment."
Every train today brought golf
ers of note into Toledo. They
checked in at their hotels and
then made for the Inverness Club
to get in some practice. Most OF
the stars battled the tricky course
with two or more balls while
considerable putting was done
on the greens.
Inverness is in splendid shape.
The fairways have been carefully
trimmed and the greens are like
velvet. Preparations have been
made for the handling OF large
galleries. Officials, however, are
wondering what effect absence OF
Jones in competition will have
upon the crowd.
Many Pick Armour
With Jones on the sidelines,
Tommy Armour comes as close
as anyone to being the favorite.
This is because of his victories in
the Canadian and P. G. A. cham
pionships last year and his more
recent victory in the British
Open.
"The Experts" in trying to
pick the winner, include the fol-
lowing in their form sheet.
l. Tommy Armour, who won so
dramatically at Oakmont in 1921
the one year in the last decade
that Jones failed to figure.
2. Gene SaraZen, who was VIC
torious at Skokie II years ago
and who is now playing hot" golt
8. Macdonald Smith, the vet
eran Scott. a great fighter who
has come close several times.
4. Johnny Farrell, whose putter
put the quietus on Jones in the
sensational play-off at Olympia
Field in 1928.
5. Walter Hagen, who seems to
be staging a Comeback"
6. Horton Smith, long overdue.
Z. Harry Cooper, who is ION"
his game.
Cox Is Dark Horse
8. w. H. c'Whiffy'D Cox. who
has been playing in spectacular
form.
9. AL Espinosa, who led the
country in the recently played
qualifying rounds.
10. George Won Elm, the BUSi-
ness Man Golfer" veteran OF
competitive play.
In addition there are a score
or more top-notch competitors
and a small army of dark
horses" They all figure they
have a chance, now that they
do not have to hurdle the psy-
Geological factor of contendjng
with the great Bobby Jones.
International Flavor
An international flavor, such
as the open" has not mad in
four years, will be given to the
championship because of the pres
ence Of the British Ryder Cup
team, including Abe Mitchell, the
Whitcombes, George Duncan and
Arthur Havers.
One hundred and fifty players
will tee off Thursday, inaSmuch
as the climax of the event will
come on the Fourth of July It is
almost inconceivable that any
body but an American will win
the tournament.
Champ Soccer Team
Appears in Baltimore