Evening star., 1935-12-20
AGAIN IS BIDDER
FOR CONCESSION
Man Who Has Given Capital
Such Fine Muny Golf Is.
Likely to Carry On.
BY w. r. McCALLUM.

w YAsHNGToN's "little Ma
M poleon" Of public links
Wv golf will be one Of the
bidders again tomorrow
for the public links golf contract for
a three-year term when bids are
opened in the Office of National Park
Director A. 3. Cammerer.
s. G. Leoffler, the rotund gent from
Northeast Washington, who never has
swung at golf bail in peace or anger
in his life, will be the foremost bidder,
and probably will again be awarded
the contract to operate the fo2r pub
lie courses now under his jurisdiction.
He probably couldn't hit the ball If
he tried, but if he did he couldn't
make as good a job of it as he has
made of running the public courses
here for some IA years.
You will hear occasional Squawks
around Rock Creek Park or East Po-
tomac Park about some matters con-
nected with the operation of those
two courses, but the plain fact of the
matter is that the public links golfers
of the Capital have better golf and
cheaper golf under the present set-up
than those of like persuasion in any
other city along the Atlantic seaboard.
Kept in Good Condition.
THE credit is not altogether due
= Leoffler, for he operate his courses
on a scale of prices fixed by the Park
Board, but the credit for maintenance
and good operation is his.
He's been called Santa Claus
leoffler" and other names, but the
chubby-faced fellow who started his
business career in Washington selling
box lunches around the Veterans
Bureau and other Government build
ings, has gone a long way to keep
Washington in the forefront of ma
tional public links golf.
Each years Leoff1er digs down in his
well-lined jeans and forks out con-
siderable piece of change to send a
team to the national championship,
be it in New York or Chicago.
Each year he promotes and puts on
h District public links championship
for the Leofher Trophy and each year
the managers at the two big courses
at Rock Greek and East Potomac Park
stage a series of tournaments that,
more than anything else, have made
public links golf fairly good and
fairly skillful sample of the game.
Since 1921, when Col. w. w. Harris
presided as officer in charge of public
buildings and parks and imported
Walter J. Travis to lay out the first
nine-hole course in East Potomac
Park, Leoff1er has presided as the gen.
tie autocrat of the municipal game.
His contract has been renewed from
time to time and he has seen the pub
lie links system here expand from a
nine hole course in East Potomac
Park and another nine-hole layout in
West Potomac Park to nearly 100
holes Of golf.
One Course Independent.
THE only public course which doesn't
- come under the Leoffier jurisdic-
tfon is the Fairlawn course at Ana
costa, operated by the Welfare Board.
Leoff1er has not had little gold mine,
but he has made a comfortable in
come from the nickels and dimes of
the players who play his courses.
In return he has given them some
darned good golf. On the face of it
you cannot keep heavily played pub
lie course, where the players have lit
tie regard for the course, in the shape
of private layout, where each men,
Der feels pride in his course and
takes care of it. But Leoffler has done
well to keep the courses as good as
they are.