Evening star., 1934-10-31
STRAlG1HT OEE TME TEE
by w. R. Ne CALluM

- HE'D tear today for AL Hough-
ton. The poor Maryland open
- champion is all broken down,
afflicted with a touch of ton
silitis, facing an operation to have
his tonsils yanked, unable to talk
much above a whisper, and generally
a guy who cannot hit lick. The
poor fellow is going to the dogs.
That is, you would think so until you
see him smack a golf ball and hear
the tale of how he rescued a match
and pot of dough late in the shades
of yester-eve by ramming home a
40-foot putt across the home green
at Burning Tree. Yep, the Houghton
lad is a sorry sight these days. The
best he can do at Burning Tree, play
Ing from the back tees, is II, which
is only one below par. If Al had his
health and his voice he might knock
out IS, but without either of these
the best the poor chap can do is a
sub-par II. 1t really Is a shame, the
way the Houghton game has fallen
right into rack and ruin, on the heels
Of this tonsilitis affair.
Houghton and AL Treder, the dapper
little pro from Manor, got themselves
a challenge from "Poppa" Walter
Cunningham, the girthy redhead from
Burning Tree, and Leo Walper, the
long hitter from Bethesda. RED" and
Leo thought they were the better pair
over any course but Kenwood, so
Houghton and Treder, always willing
to pull the beard of any lion in his
own cave, moved over to Cunning
hams own course to have try at
them. Well, at the seventeenth the
challenges were 2 up on the chal-
fingers, when Houghton blew 2-footer
to end the match. At the eighteenth,
where none Of 'em reached the green.
Houghton knocked his third shot far
from the pin, 40 feet away. Both Cum
ningham and Walper were lying 8
feet from the cup on three strokes. So
what does this poor old broken-down
Houghton do, out there in the gather
ing shades of dusk, but take his putter
in his one good hand, settle his aging
limbs into comfortable position,
shake the arthritis out Of his senile
joints and can that putt to win the
golf match. You really should feel
sorry for AL. He hasn't got shot left
in his bag. Tonsilitis has crept up on
him and ruined him. He's a sorry
sight nowadays. He simply finds it
impossible to bust par by more than
a shot or two.
1T knew one of those birds would
hole his putt, and had to hole NINE"
he said. Next time you feel a touch
of tonsilitis coming on and your throat
feels scratchy and rough, 60 out and
play golf. Houghton recommends 1t
for an ailing pocketbook. He gets 1t
from Olin Dutra, who won the ma
tional open with a stomachache.
THAT Washington Golf and Coun-
try Club course is going to be
all cluttered up with tourna-
ment golfers today and tomorrow. With
the District Engineer Department
tourney starting today. to run through
tomorrow, some 40 golfing members OF
the Rotary Club are to invade the
Washington course tomorrow to play
in the final tourney of the season for
Rotarians. Twill be the last chance
to gain leg on the low net average
trophy, and only w. B. Putnam knows
the answer as to who is in front. CAL
vert Dickey, who wields potent
mashie at Washington, might come
in for a share of the prize awards.
The engineer tourney started today
and will wind up tomorrow.
Woman golfers of the city can hit
their iron shots all right, but they
cannot get 'em very close to the pin,
if what they did yesterday in the
hole-in-one tourney at Chevy Chase
is a fair sample. But at least one
of 'em proved that you don't have to
hit the ball up against the wicket to
score well, as Mrs. Leo Walper, Ken
wood champion, grabbed OF the gross
honors in the 18-hole tourney which
followed the ace contest, with a card
of 81, three strokes above the course
record held jointly by Mrs. Emory
Smith and Mrs. L. o. Cameron. Louise
Claytor of Chevy Chase, who ought
TO be a city champion, won the hole
in-one contest on the thirteenth hole,
leading the 1-to-10 handicap players
by knocking her shot at the 163-yard
thirteenth about 27 feet from the cup.
OLDSMORILE