Evening star., 1938-04-24
WALPER|SPAC|NG
M.A.PR0GOLFERS
Card Of 146 at Half Puts
Champ Stroke Up-Lovinq
in Second Place.
BY w. r.. McCALLUM,
Stan CorreSpou dent Of T'hs stap

OLD POINT COMFORT. Va. April
23.-Out Of whirl Of screwy golf and
lot Of fine shotmaking came Leo
Walper, the defending champion. to
lead field Of II entrants at the half
way mark In the Middle Atlantic Pro-
fessional Golfers' Association cham
pionship over the Chamberlin Country
Club course today.
In his usual nonchalant manner.
tho Bethesda, Nd, professional tied
together . rs and . II for q 36-hole
total OF 146 to make q one-shok lead
over the flrst 36 holes in the chase
for the title he won on the same course
last year.
One shot behind him was BENNY
Loving, assistant pro at Congressional,
with . consistent card OF 74-73-147.
BODY Cruickshank, the little guy
with the big swing from Richmond,
who once tied for the national open
championship, and Erie Ball, Q blond
English boy now playing from Char
lottesvllle. Va, were tied for third
place with 148. Back of the leading
quartet were . lot of our better par
busters, scrapping for the lower cash
prizes.
The final So holes will be PLAYED
tomorrow. Walper will play with
Cruickshank and Loving will match
snots with Ball over the last span.
Second Round Is Weird.
More weird incidents marked the
second round Of the tournament than
any major, affair this territory has
seen in years. Bobby Cruickshank, for
example, took an 8 on q not too hard
par hole and incurred . 2-stroke
penalty when his ball, hit from q rut
In road. struck him on the chin.
Benny Loving. in an unmarked
ditch from the tee. hit the ball out
OF the hazard and out OF bounds. Mel
Shorey played the first nine under par,
then played the last nine in A. Cliff
Spencer, the long hitting Beaver Dam
pro, was out in IS and back In %3 for
78.
Only Erie Ball, whose SO this after
noon tossed him up with the leaders,
shattered par on day when q high
wind played tricks with the ball and
blew it as much as 25 yards of line.
Had Cruickshank not called the
penalty on himself when his ball
struck from = road, bounced up and
hit him, he would be tied with Walper
for the lead. But Bobby. always the
fine golfer. invoked the 2-stroke pen
atty himself. No one else knew the
ball had struck him. 1t came from
q pin-splitting iron shot that barely
rolled over the back OF the sixth green
at this -bordered course, where
bitches and hazards abound.
Loving Loses Tieinx Chance.
And had Loving not pushed his tee
shot into that unmarked ditch at the
fifteenth he also would have tied
Walper. They debated for . long
time whether Benny could lift the
bali. but finally he played 1t and
knocked it out OF bounds.
Only Walper, among the leaders,
went along without any untoward
incidents. The phlegmatc driving
range pro, and . surprise winner of
the tournament last year, who was
quoted At 10 to in the betting odds
as the tournament opened, shot q
mediocre IS to start the defense OF
his title but he went out for bear this
afternoon.
Playing the out nine in q level par
IS with the aid Of birdie on the ninth
hole, he shattered par BY a stroke on
the back nine with . 36, aided by
. l5-foot putt for q bird at the
eleventh hole. He played the balances
Of the nine in level par. putting for
brides at every hole. The guy IS
surprisingly good golfer for one who
couldn't break 90 few years back.
Cruickshank, probably the finest
golfer in the tournament, finished
with q brace OF birdie IS when it
looked - If he had blown himself
out Of q chance to win. He still
ranks as the man to lick. He has
won the Virginia State title six times
and is the kingpin Of golf in the
State.
Al Houehton, the host club pro, vas
. disappointment He customarily
gets around the course In u or better
but 76-S0-ls6 was the best he could
do today.
Here's the way they finished the
first 50 holes: