Evening star., 1934-01-21

4Ac oil4J mail WHO ever LelO the american
and British amateur and open golf
championships in one year
A TLANTA, January 20.-Five
II years ago, it was thought
1 \ not unlikely that the rul-
ing body of golr in Great
Britain eventually would see the
error of its ways and reform the
manner of playing its amateur
championship to conform more
closely with our own. The issue
was, of course, l8-hole rounds.
which the Briton has contended
were sufficiently testing, and
which we refused to recognize as
proper in championship play.
If any one had predicted. five years
ago, that we would ever in this coun-
Try adopt a method Of playing our ANA.
tuer championship, which was substan-
italy in agreement with the British
system, he would have been laughed
out Of the room
PROBABLY the strangest part of the
whole thing is that We have been
brought around to it so gradually and
reasonably that the evolution, revo-
luton, lnvolution. or whatever one
chooses to call it, does not seem in the
least disagreeable I admit that I
might hold a contrary view if I had
to play at Brookline next September,
but from safe location in a sideline
armenian, 1t seems about as reasonable
solution as could be found of a prob
lem, which really needed a solution
1t should be said that the United
States Golf Associs ton has made a
determined effort to keep the amatuer
championship real championship in
| the face Of conditions, which have
made this very difficult. Some will say
that they have succeeded even now.
But my own opinion is most emphati-
cally that the competition under the
new arrangement is championship in
name only, 1t will make an interest
ing tournament Tor the spectators, to
/ pc sure, and an exciting week for any
player who is lucky enough to survive
until Friday, but it will be a tourna-
ment which inevitably will be won by
some bad golf and lost by men who
have played we'll but not at the right
time
Short Match Questionable.
NF COURSE, your rating Of the
value OF such tournament as a
means OF determining the best
golfers Will depend upon your valua-
ton OF an l8-hole match as a test Of
goli. 1t has been argued that l8 holes
constitute round of golf, and there
fore match. Also. it has been point
ed out that in most matches of Sc holes
tne ultimate winner has been up at
luncheon adjournment. But these ar
guementS fail TO take account of the
vast uncertainties of the game of golf
and of the greater PSYCHOLOGICAL bur-
den which the favored competitor must
bear. And apart from any argument
upon theory. one has only to look to
, the actual results to see where the most
surprising upsetS have occurred.
| However. even If one admits that the
new method of play leaves much to be
I desired as basis for awarding an i'm
portant championship. it is hardly
possible to suggest a better method of
compromise with the various trouble
some circumstances facing the associa-
ton. do not believe that the officials
themselves regard the new arrange
ments as ideal, nor that the recent de-
cision indicates that the British con-
ceptlon has been embraced whole
heartedly. For number of reasons it
has seemed desirable to complete the
tournament in week. from Monday to
| Saturday. This. and the number of
entries. has made some l8-hole matches
unavoidable. and the recent arrival of
so many capable young players has
| converted the usual formality of quail
! Tying into a test as terrifying as the
sudden-death rounds themselves.
| Strain on Contestant.
! ONCE match play is regarded as the
/ y traditional method of competition
among amateurs. and since to re-
/ tam this in tourna ment. which will
offer a reasonably fair test. seems i'm
possible, 1t may be best simply to ad-
NIT that the championship is a sort OF
glorlfled dice game in which everybody
is supposed to have a lot of fun. If
player becomes fired with the ambition
! to prove his outstanding worth as a
golfer in a tournament which is regard
ed as true test of ability. he has still
the opportunity of playing in the open
championship His peace OF mind
should certainly be less disturbed when
| he loses in a tournament which is not
even supposed to be a test, than in one
which Is supposed to be but is not.
| Even at that, the man who wins his
| way through a tournament of this kind
| while he cannot regale himself with the
thought that he is necessarily the best
| golfer, may still have the satisfaction
Of knowing that he has done a man.
sized job. I have always considered
that the British amateur was the most
difficult OF all championships to win.
Now our own amateur competition must
take its place alongside. There is rare
ly any rest for any one in a succession
Of 18-hole matches. A slow start or
short lapse anywhere in the round may
be the end. and when you keep on
knowing this all day every day for the
better part of week. it is not a busi-
ness to take lightly.
|