Evening star., 1935-09-01


- national amateur golf cham
pionship two weeks hence at
i \ Cleveland.
It sounds unreasonable, like a
poppy sniffer's rosy-hued dream, out
it isn't impossible. In a year of up
sets, when champions are being
showed around, it may come about
that the home town pride-the kid
who shoots 62s over tough golf
course, will find himself so much on
his stick that he will have hot
week of club-slinging and win the
national championship.
The cold facts relate that Roger
isn't going to first base in that Ia
tional starting on September 9; that
he will win a match or two and then
will fall before the stroking of some
one of the big names in the game
But the cold facts don't reckon
with the new Roger Peacock the
24-year-old man who is as good
golfer as there is in this Nation when
he is right. You could search up and
down the land and find no better
hitter of the ball than is the Roger
Peacock of today, brimming with con-
fldence, hitting the ball mile from
the tee and putting better than he
ever has putted before.
Now Near Ideal Game.
IT WOULDN'T take any great stretch
of the imagination to see Peacock
go to the final in that coming ANA
teur joust. Other and worse golfers
than he have done it before, and
have gone farther, even to the throne
itself.
For there's a new Roger Peacock
going to Cleveland next week, man
who has tossed over all the expert
menting and the tomfoolery of his
earlier years Roger is an idealist in
golf, always striving for the perfect
shot. After three years of first class
golf he has finally arrived at some
thing near his ideal
He is like Bob Jones used to oe.
back in the days when Bob was the
uncrowned king of the amateurs. But
like Bob he has gotten over the hump
of the perfect" shot phobia and is
satisfied now to hit the ball as well
as he can hit it and let the results
speak for themselves.
A week of golf like Roger has had.
at Indian Spring would win the
championship for him. It isn't likely
to happen. In fact it probably is
something like 200-to-l shot against
him, but the boy friend from Indian
Spring is good enough to win any
tournament in which he starts, even
the big one with Lawson Little in it.
Roger has had five consecutive
rounds of golf over his home course
for an average of 684 against par
II. If that isn't stroking the ball as
a champion should stroke it, We don't
know a sliced brassie shot when we
see one.
Dark Horse, but Able Player.
60 THE Peacock man will leave
- Washington about the middle of
next week for the national tourna-
ment, strictly a dark horse. But he
is a dark horse who has plenty back
ing, confidence, shotmaking ability
and tournament experience. Don't be
surprised to see Roger get along pretty
well in the amateur title joust. He
has the stuff
Roger finally has learned that all
winning shots are not perfect golf
shots: that every champion misses
a few now and then. With that
knowledge has come something new
to the Peacock lad, the main idea
being that If he misses fewer SHOTS
than the other fellow and doesn't |
worry about them at all, he can 60 !
places.
He still strives for that ideal of all ,
golfers-18 holes of golf in which .
every shot is hit as it should be hit
but he isn't worried any more about
the shots that don't come off as he
wants them.
By Thursday most of the local en-
trants either will be on their way to
Cleveland for the big show or will
be there practicing over the Cleveland
Country Club course. The others are
Harvey G. Pitt Of Manor, Hickman
Green of Manor, Craig Mckee, Levi
Yoder and Volney Burnett of Indian
Spring: Maury Nee Of Manor and
Page Hufty of Chevy Chase.
Some Of them may go farther than
the Peacock boy, but at long range
and week before the championship
opens he is the one playing the best
golf.