Evening star., 1932-09-18
CANADIAN DEFEATS
GOODMAN, Z AND |
Comes From Behind on Last
g of SO Holes to Win
Amateur Crown.
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Continued From First Page.)
for the last time in 1880, but he dis
played none of the man-killing golf
the Georgian displayed In winning five
amateur titles in seven years.
Champ Is Fine Iron Player.
Somerville proved as cool as an ice
berg Matched in the shadow of the
North Pole, and he has the supreme
ability to hold his game together when
the going gets toughest. Probably he
is the finest iron player among Amer
lean amateurs today. His GOODNESS is
amazing, quite as marked as the mask
ne wears while playing golf, and his
unusual taciturnity.
Somerville's victory leaves Johnny
Goodman the outstanding amateur
golfer of the United States. The
Omaha lad was first amateur in the
1882 national open and runner-up for
the amateur championship. Those two
stunts place the little Nebraskan as
States entrant can be in this year when
the championship goes 10 Canada for
the first time
The new title holder learned the game
when he was barely old enough to
wrap his fingers around a shaft
Somerville has been playing golf for
% years. Twenty-nine now, he started
playing in Canada at the age of z.
Almost every Winter he plays golf In
the South and stops off in Washington
on the way home for a few rounds.
I have seen him play Washington,
Chevy Chase and Columbia Goodman,
who will be % in December, started
playing golf eight years ago.
The final round was the closest and
in many ways the best since the 1926
final at Baltusrol, where Won Elm beat
Jones by and /. That was made Ger
tain when Somerville and Goodman
entered the final. While Jones was in
there every one became used to him
crushing the opposition by some colos-
sal margin. But these two scrappers
who fought down the stretch today were
sure to put on a fine contest. They
did just that.
Never was there more than a two
hole margin between them and the lead
vacillated with such astonishing sud-
denness that neither could be called
a winner until the final putt was sunk.
Over flve-hole stretch in the morn
ing round OF the 36-hole final they
bagged SIX brides between them. all
by rifle-like iron shots and accurate
puts. Goodman got four and Somer-
vile bagged two. They halved the
short ninth in birds. They went to
lunch with Somerville / up. because
he holed a 25-footer for bird 8 on
the eighteenth for II, against Good
mans 72.
Real Battle in Afternoon.
The real battle came in the after
noon and particularly over the last
eight holes of the match. Somerville
went two up by winning the twentieth,
dropped the twenty-first and then per-
mitted Goodman to square by playing
a miserable chip shot to the sixth
green, after a great recovery from
bunker.
The Canadian was trapped at the
seventh and made such poor shot
to the ninth that he barely carried
the bunker. $50 yards from the tee.
Here Goodman was coming strong and
appeared a winner for he bagged
another birdie deuce, his second OF
the day on this hole.
Into those next four holes, start
ing at the tenth. is compressed the
reason why Ross Somerville is the
amateur champion of the United
States and Johnny Goodman is runner
up Four bad iron shots lost the title
for Johnny and four relentlessly ac-
curate iron shots won the title for
Somerville.
Johnny over-pitched the tenth green
to lose a par 4. He was bunkered at
the eleventh to lose to another par
4, and he was trapped again at the
twelfth to lose to still another par 4.
At all of these holes Somerville had
puts of not over Is feet for brides
and at none of them did Goodman
reach the green in orthodox fashion.
Goodman blasted out of the bunker
at the twelfth to within feet and
missed the putt around half stynie
for a half. He pulled his iron shot
into bunker at the short thirteenth
and only got a half when Somerville
three-putted. After that burst of
down where four holes back he had
been 2 up and apparently amateur
champion-elect. They halved the next
two in orthodox pars without any
particular incident and then came the
shot that finally clinched the cham
pionship for Somerville. One up
going to the sixteenth and the Ca
madam slipped a pitch shot II feet
from the pin. Goodman, playing safe
to the fast green, left himself yards
short of the green and Clipped up 2
feet away. Then Somerville holed the
12-fcoter to become dormie 2. That
putt clinched the title for him,
but there still was a possibility of
drama.
Equals DiegePs Famous Putt.
The 155-yard seventeenth Is the same
hole where Diegel deposed Hagen as
professional champion four years back
by holing a 50footer for a deuce.
There, on that high green tucked away
In the woods, Ross Somerville made
just as great a putt as Diegel His
iron shot left him far to the left and
fully As feet away with curling down.
hill putt to get stone dead Good
mans ball, even though it curled of
the edge OF the green into short rough,
was in better position.
Johnny Clipped up within 2 feet
A little harder and it might have gone
in. Then Somerville settled himself to
that most difficult of shots-the lengthy
approach putt under pressure. So truly
did this smooth-stroking Canadian hit
that ball that until the last few inches
Of its roll it looked In the hole Then
at the end 1t broke away and rested
8 inches from the cup.
That was all there was to it. Good
man took little more than hasty look
and picked up Somerville's ball.
Congratulations" said Johnny, as he
shook Somerville's hand.
Thank you," said Somerville.
That must haze been ~ longest
sentence he spoke all day. Four new
amateur golf champion Of the Cs::sed
States is not much of a talker. he
says 1t with golf shots
To win the title Somerville went
Through the easiest half of the draw
He beat John Brawner of Columbia
In the first round, Jack Westland Of
Chicago in the sAcond, Bill Blaney of
Boston in :he third and Jesse Gull
ford of Re4son in the fourth. The final
round s.rday was his closest match.
He spoke of that when they presented
him with the $1,000 gold trophy.
Johnny is great golfer and 1 am