Evening star., 1935-09-08
Magazine Section


the match.
Usually Little lays his approaches
near the hole, after an amazingly long
survey Oi each shot before he takes
club in hand When he won the Ma
tional Amateur last September at
Brookline. a friend was Congratulating
him on his drives and second shots.
1T isn't my long game that count
on 50 much" he said. IT'S getting the
ball into the cup that counts"
Little's golf is made up of shots that
have been heard around the world. He
was born at Fort Adams, Newport,
r. l., on January %, 1910 His father.
Colonel William Lawson Little, is a
surgeon in the United States Army.
When the lad was ten years old, the
two began TO play on what they called
a golf course - the parade ground of
Fort Slocum. near San Antonio, Texas
- the Colonel hoping, like all fathers,
that he was training champion.
The father. few years later, was
stationed at Tientsin. where the boy
took his first lessons from pro. The
course was laid out through an ancient
Chinese graveyard, where Lawson
learned to lay them dead. as my
friend Mccarthy says.
From Tientsin the Colonel returned
to America and Lawson played on the
baseball, football and hockey teams of
his schools There his knees were
bumped so hard and so often that his
father persuaded him to devote all his
spare time to golf He liked the game
SO we'll that this was easy.
Colonel Little's next move was to
the Preside. the Army post near San
Francisco. and there Lawson began to
earn fame with his long shots with
wood. Too much fame. From the
practice tee one day he sent off a drive
that carried three hundred yards,
scared over canyon and after few
hops hit Major General John L.
Hines. commanding the Ninth Corps
Area. The General rubbed his leg,
said few earnest words and had the
practice tee moved to a safer place.
Lawson first caught the public eye
by beating his friend. Johnny Good
man. who had just put Bobby Jones
out in the first round of the National
Amateur at Pebble Beach, California,
in 1929. His fearless long shots over
chasms eaten out of the course by the
Pacific Ocean had already caught the
fancy of the experts; and when they
heard that he had said. Johnny.
save Jones for me this afternoon"
they knew that he had the assurance
that goes long way in golf
His seasoning was slow and marked
by many disappointments. He was
good enough to beat famous DR..
Willing in the National Amateur at
Merton in 1890. but in the next
round Gene Homans promptly put
him out. ard 2. In 1881 he failed in
the qualifying round, and realized the
truth of Lows maxim, Govt is a
humblin' game" Undaunted, he
tackled the championship the next
year. only to fall before Johnny
Fischer at Five Farms, by 4 and 2. At
Kenwood in 1888. he beat the de-
Tending champion, c. Ross Somerville,
in the quarter final. but was beaten
by George Dunlap in the next round.
Little's persistence was rewarded
when he won the British Amateur on
May 26. 1884. at Prestwick, where he
played like a perfect machine, sud-
denly inspired. On the final day he
swamped James Wallace, ship
carpenter of Troon, who could not
win hole from him. He shot the
eighteen holes in the morning in IS,
thereby shattering the amateur record
for the course. Il, and Macdonald
Smiths professional record, SO. After
luncheon Little kept on scoring pars
and brides. and ended the match IA
up and Is to play.