Evening star., 1934-06-28

A MOTHER one of the great
~ golfers of the world is
~ coming to Washington
within a fortnight to play
a round or two of the courses
scattered about the CAPITAL.
Macdonald Smith, the 44-year-old
Carnoustge man, who has won most
of the minor titles the world over and
none of the major crowns, has prom
ised Fred Mcleod he will come to
Washington on his return from the
British open title chase. in which he
is one of the favorites to win. The
tourney now is in progress at Deal. IN
Britain.
Smith has appeared here several
times, the last time in an exhibition
match in 1890 when he played with
Fred Mcleod against Bob Jones and
Roland Mackenzie at Columbia. He
will probably arrive in Washington
about July 7.
Mac" Smith is one of the great
stylists of the game. the one competi-
tor who has suffered more cruel buff
fets from fate, more persistent shut
fling of the cards against him IN
major tournaments than any other
man. A dozen times he has had a
major title tucked away, apparently
won. only to see it vanish, as some
other competitor came charging over
the home stretch 10 nose him out
of the coveted bauble.
Many times in the United States
open he has gone into the final day
and even the final round in a spot
where a fine round would win for
him. The same thing has happened
in the British open. Each time some
thing has come along to ruin the
smoothness of the Scotsm9ns stroke
and rob him of the title he richly de-
serves A few years back he had the
British open championship Sewed up
A great throng of native sons gathered
to see him win the title so delayed
his progress along the course, and
interfered with his shots. that they
blew him cut Of the tourney and an
other American slipped in to win.
Has Many Bad Breaks.
n FAC" SMITH has had more than
wi his share of the bad breaks
of the game even in the days
when he was a fresh-faced youngster
yet to make his mark in golf. Back
in 1910, the first year he came to this
country. he tied for the title with John
McDermott and his uncle Alex Smith.
The uncle won on the play-off. That's
a stretch of "a years, and here is Mac"
Smith again. at the age of "A. still a
favored competitor in any tournament
he enters.
He remains at the top in one of the
more highly competitive sports because
of the soundness of his swing and
style. Mac" Smith today at an age
when muscles are apt to stiffen and
nerves to fray. stands as one of the
finest hitters of a golf ball in the
world. He Is strictly sWinger, as op-
posed to the hitters of the Lawson
Little type; and an exponent of the
older methods of stroking a golf ball
His swing is one of the finest examples
of rhythm to be found anywhere along
the bunkered path.
Smith also is one of the few leading
pros in this country who sticks to
wooden shafts in all his clubs He
never has gone for the steel shafts
that you find today in the bags of 95
per cent of the golfing gents in the
headlines. He still believes that hickory
is the finest material for golf clubs. In
this he has an able ally in Fred
Mcleod, for the little Columbia
mentor. after experimenting with steel,
turned back to wood. Today Freddie
is using set of wooden-shafted clubs
which Mac" Smith made for him.