Imperial Valley press., 1933-01-24
COMMENT ON
SPORT WORLD
BY HENRY McLEMORE
United Press Staff Correspondent


United Press Staff Correspondent
NEW YORK, Jan. 24.-It will be
played over Cincinnati's Kenwood
country club course. The dates,
Sept. 11-16 inclusive. G. Ross SOM
erville. Canada. will be defending
champion. The weather will be hot,
the beer good.
And that, mon constituents. Just
about eXhausts the known facts
on the 1888 amateur. Please don't
ask who will win it. Nor even the
name of one man who'll reach the
semi-finals For since Squire Bob
Jones ceased firing, the amateur
has been the big of sports; the
one event wide open as Joe Beck
ett's guard, unfathomable as the
way of a snake on a rock. With
the good squire on the Sidelines the
odds against any starter, be he
Walker cup ace or public links
champion of What Cheer, Iowa,
are in the neighborhood of 10 TO
l. And even at that figure the
bookies have all the best of it.
If, however, some stern citizen
poked a Roscoe in our ribs and in
sisted we do a little winter book
betting on The amateur, our money
would ride with G. Ross Somerville.
or Silent Sandy as the boys call
him. Our choice would be influ-
enced by several items. In the first
place, Silent Sandy is the cham
pion and it pays to ride with the
head man until he falls. When
you bet on a champion you're bet
ting on form, and form will beat
lunches six days out of seven.
Sandy's got the strokes too Not
the strokes of a Jones or a Sara
zen, no. but then who has? But
he has what it takes to get from
the tee to the green in respect
able numbers. He proved that by
taking the event last year. You
don't go through a field of Good
mans, Morelands, Seavers, McCar-
thys, Fischers, Yates and OuimetS
with a putter and a prayer. Lady
Luck may save you for a day or
two, but not for week. The lady
isn't that companionable.
Has Proper Temperament
The fact that Somerville has the
sort of personality to earn him the
sobriquet of Silent Sandy must be
listed under the head of adyan-
tages. For golf, more than any
other sport you can name, requires
a temperament. that refuses to be-
come upset, no matter how rough
the going. Somerville has that sort
of temperament. Nothing matters
to him but the next stroke. The
ones that have gone before and the
others that are coming up just
don't exist for him. Coupled with
this fine disregard for the breaks
of the game, is stout fighting
spirit. In the final match with
Goodman last year, Somerville was
behind from the start, and went to
the 29th tee 2 down. The advan-
tage was all with Goodman, yet it
was the Omaha boy, and not the
Canadian, who wilted under the
pressure in the drive down the
stretch.
We Ike Somerville best Of all,
however, for the swell way he car
ries his honors. This is best Illus
trated by a re-telling of his re-
turn to Canada from Baltimore last
year. Being as he was the first
Canadian ever to win the American
amateur, his home town of Lon
don, Ont, planned a huge receipt
ion. The mayor wired Somerville
half a dozen times asking the hour
of his arrival. He never got an an
swer. Sandy arrived on milk
train, took a side street home, Slip
ped in the back door, said Hello,
Mamma" and went up TO his
room.
Mr.. Sharkey meet Mr.. Somer-
vile.