Evening star., 1936-02-09
NO CROWD PU[[ER
AS AMATEUR KING
Golf Champ Lacks Glamour
of Jones-Meet Receipts
DWindIe Sadly.
BY w. r. McCALLUM.

boeie man of amateur golf, but
he hasn't by any means at
A tanned the drawing power OF
Bobby Jones at the gate. and the
United States Golf Association still
would like to see the days of the great
one back again, so far as gate receipts
at the major championships are con-
cerned.
Back in 1884 when Lawson began
galloping through the amateurs like
q hot knife through drawn butter a
lot of folks saw in him q lever by
which the parent golf body would draw
in scads of money at the gate of any
championship in which he plays, like
the days when Jones was packing EN-
in to the tune of scores of thousands
of dollars and the U. S. G. A. salted
awey the dollars in gilt-edge 2la per
cent stuff.
But the facts of the case do not bear
out those rosy predictions and Law
son, good as he is, hasn't the gallery
appeal that the great Jones had in his
winning days. Or maybe it's the de-
preston.
Receipts FAN OFF.
put whatever the facts are, what
ever the cause, the public has
failed to respond to the glamour of the
Little name by clicking the gates to
the tune of thousands of simoleons.
The late amateur fracas at Cleve-
land, which Lawson won quite handily
crossed less than $4,000 for a six-day
tournament, while the open champion
ship at Oakmont, where Lawson was
not contestant, crossed nearly IL
grand.
OF course the figures are misleading,
for the pros usually pull more at the
gate than the amateurs and the fact
that the open, with session half as
long as the amateur crossed twice as
much. simply means that the average
golf nut would rather see the pros in
action than the simon pures
Probably it has nothing to do with
the prowess Of brother Little, who was
IN England when Sam Parks won the
open. But the facts are plain enough.
Either golf has lost its public ap-
peal, the public hasn't the price to
take the rap for S2.20 a day at major
tournaments, or the game, If the gate
receipts are to come anywhere near
what they were when Jones was play
ing, needs another glamorous figure
like the one time emperor.
Wanted to See Grand Slam.
THE amateur championship at
Cleveland last year drew exactly
s5,T38.63 at the gate. The open cham
pionship drew $l1,9S6 at Oakmont.
Take the figures for 1890. the last
year Jones played in both these tour
namentS. The open championship at
Minneapolis q comparatively small
city. drew $23, ,382.75 at the gate, with
Jones winning the. tournament. The
amateur championship at Merton,
near Philadelphia, set an all time high
in 1880 with s27,65s.5o taken in at
the gate.
Mr.. American and his wife wanted
TO see Bob put over that grand slam
in 1890 and they paid through the
nose to see him do it.
Now the United States Golf Asso-
citation isn't going out of business be-
cause gate receipts have dwindled, nor
win its functions and activities be
lessened to any appreciable extent be-
cause 1t hasn't yet turned up another
Jones to pull 'em in at the gate. But
there isn't any question that it would
like to see the old time gates of the
old days and it probably is unfair to
Lawson Little, good as he is, to COM
pare him as public attraction with
Jones.
A figure like Jones comes along only
once in generation, and even though
Lawson is a grand SHOEMAKER and
truly great champion, he hasn't the
popular appeal of the Albanian.
Pros Yet to Test Little.
EOR one thing Lawson is in there
to win, and he concentrates so
much and appears so grim about the
business that he seems like a golf1ng
machine instead of man with human
foibles and faults. And then Bob had
all the advance publicity that any one
could want.
He was the uncrowned king for
years and years, and then when he
finally did break through and began
licking the pros at their own game
John @. Public stormed out in great
droves to see the guy who topped the
world at his sport.
That's one thing Lawson hasn't done
yet. He hasn't gone into the back
yard of the pros and whipped them
to win the open championship. He
probably won't do it, for some years
to come at any rate, and that's what
Johnny Public likes-to see an anna
teur take the pros for fast ride.
But that total Of $17,724 at the gate
for the amateur and open champion
ships of 1885 doesn't loom very big
alongside the gate receipts of $51, ,042
In 1930-the year Of the grand slam.