Evening star., 1932-09-29

~ I'VE years ago, an amateur. strug-
~ Cling to win an occasional in
vitation tournament. Just an.
other of a group Of amateur
golfers, and certainly not the outstand-
ing one Of the group.
Today, the premier professional golfer
OF Maryland, king Of all the paid play
ers in the Old Line State, winner OF
the Maryland Open Championship and
top-line professional in the entire Mid
die Atlantic territory.
That's the way Al Houghton stands
following his hairline victory in the
Maryland Open Championship yester-
day at Columbia. He gathered tin
rounds of II and 70 to nose out little
George Diffenbaugh of Indian Spring
His victory places the Kenwood pro
definitely at the top Of the professionals
Of this neck of the bunker-bordered
woods. He has led his professional
brethren in the sectional qualification
rounds for the national open and the
P. G. A., and today he holds the Mary
land State Open title, won after as fine
an uphill fight as you will see in many
day of links combat.
CEoRGE DIFFENBAUGH stepped
" out so far in front Of the other
pros over the first round in the
36-hoie tourney yesterday you could
hardly see the little fellow with spy
glass. Playing with Houghton, the
diminutive Indian Spring pro burned
up the Columbia layout with 81. three
under par. shattering by two strokes
the official course record Of SO, first
set by Jim Barnes in the second round
of the 1921 open championship.
In this round, George picked up six
brides. and used only IS puts. He
was holing 'em from any and all angles.
AG an example of the magic that dwelt
in the Diffenbaugh putter, he hooked
a tee shot at the fourteenth hole, and
with his club head resting in clump
of leaves far at the left Of the fairway.
knocked the ball onto the green and
sank the putt for g. He finished the
round with bird on the eighteenth.
Houghton and Fred Mcleod scored
lis over the first round, Gene Larkin
was IS and Glenn Spencer was "a. The
others trailed far out down to 88.
So Houghton and Diffenbaugh started
out in what was regarded by mos. folks
as futile chase after the flying Diffen-
baugh. But Houghton didn't regard
it So. He scored a 80 over the first
nina in the high wind that swept the
course. and picked up three strokes on
Diffenbaugh. who was unable to hole
the puts that were so easy in the
morning.
They were square at the tenth. where
Houghton holed q to Diffenbaugh's S
And they were square going to the
thirteenth, which is really where
~ IN, hn ntS ,ct1 IN
Diffenbaugh lost it. Here Houghtor
pushed his tee shot to the right and
Diffenbaugh laid his shot within 10 feet
of the hole. Houghton holed cut in 4
and Diffenbaugh. making too bold a bic
for the deuce, which would have given
him a two-stroke lead, took three puts
for 4.
Still square, playing the sixteenth
Houghton went into the one-stroke lead
that he retained when he got q pal
to Diffenhaugh's after the latter
overplayed the sixteenth green from the
tee. George mad another great chance
to tie on the seventeenth, where he
missed a 10-footer for q 3 and Hough.
ton holed an 8-footer for 4, but
Houghton kept that precious one-stroke
fenbaugh nearly holing a 49-footer fol
at the eighteenth.
MEANWHILE Frod Mcleod was Out
lVl there battlir,, the wind with 9
chance to win. But the little Co
lumbia masters bunker shots and putt
ing failed him and he pulled in with
a II for third place with lz8. Glenn
Spencer added Q rs to his 74 Of the
morning round to win fourth place
with 149.