Evening star., 1939-08-13
Current Simon Pures
Lack Glass Of LOT
OF Jones Era
BrowneII, Peacock Held
Good Enough to Make
Fine Fight for Crown
BY WALTER McCALLUM.

big amateur golf show of the year
will get under way at the North
Shore Club of Glenview, Ill, not far
from Chicago. For solid year. the
aspiring simon-pures. literally hum
dreds of them, have been waiting
for whack at the big title-and a
shot at Willie Turnesa, the roman
nosed New York boy who holds the
crown. And the suspicion is getting
around that Pacific Coast amateur
Marvin Wards about the best
Of a poor crop of amateurs-andw will
come fairly close to winning the
diadem.
Picking the winner in the amateur
championship is far worse than the
task of the gent who finally found
the needle in the haystack last VIM
ter. That much publicized job was
a cinCh, for he had no time limit,
and he made the headlines every
day.
But there can be only one VIM
ner of the amateur title and he'll
come from nearly a thousand boys
who enter the sectional trials this
week. And the victor must earn his
way. He must first qualify section
ally; then qualify at the scene of
the championship, and then win six
matches, against pretty good oppo-
kition.
Group Today Lacks Class.
Amateur golf in the United States
tpIav ic rnt tl,o HnnS fjHo nf tho
Jones era; or the earlier days when
Chick Evans, Bob Gardner, Jerry
Travers and Francis Ouimet ruled
the show. The class isn't as classy
today as it was then. But still there
remain few good shotmakers, like
Johnny Goodman, the 1887 champ;
John Fischer, who won in 1896;
Dick Chapman, who gets scared
when he reaches the semifinal, and
Defending Champion Willie Tur-
mesa. They probably aren't as good
as the best men of 20odd years back,
but they are the best in sight, bar
ring Marvin Ward.
The scrappy Olympia, Wash, lad
had the 1889 open championship in
the bag until he ran into score
Urecking on the 18th hole of the
final round where his tee shot
bounced off spectator into a
bunker
AS it was. he finished with 285,
one shot too high for the tie which
eventually produced Byron Nelson as
the new champion. Ward seems to
be the top amateur of the year SO
far, and he can win the amateur
championship.
Here is the way the top crop of
amateurs looks:
Marvin Ward. Willie Turnesa,
Dick Chapman, John Fischer, John
Goodman and Charley Yates, with
Fred Haas pretty close.
Peacock, Br0wnell Rate High.
But if Roger Peacock and Bobby
Brownell both qualify for the cham
pionship they won't be far off the
pace. Put these two local boys in
first-class competition, such as 1t is
among the amateur crop today, and
they aren't by any means near the
tail end.
Brownell is b vastly improved
golfers over the short-hitting kid
who was licked by Chick Harbert at
Oakmont last year. Peacock, who
hasn't played much golf since he
won the Middle Atlantic champion
ship in June, needs only return of
the pin-seeking iron shots that won
him that title and he can win the
national Both of them are good
enough to win.
You may have thought Roger and
Bobby are merely local stars. 1t
isn't so. These lads are good enough
to win any championship; even the
national. They have the game and
the experience. But picking a VIM
ner still remains even a tougher job
than winning the championship.
Entries for the national will close
tomorrow with the United States
Golf Association. The sectional quail
flying rounds will be played at Bal
timore August 20. BY tomorrow night
the U. S. G. A. probably will have
In its hands entries from a 1000
simon pures. For Chicago, the scene
Of the championship, is in the middle
of the country where it can be
reached by a greater number than
can tournament on either coast.
Meet Is Walker Cup Test.
This years amateur championship
carries more than the usual weight
Of authority. For next year is a
Walker Cup year, with the British
holders of the mug due to defend it
In the United States.
The members of the 1910 United
States Walker Cup team will be
chosen largely on their records in
the 1899 amateur championship.
And it would be no great surprise to
see one of the top amateurs Of WASH
ington go far enough to win spot
on that 1910 international outfit.
Certainly Peacock and Brownell
are as good as many members of
previous Walker Cup teams. Incl
dentally the Walker Cup matches
may come TO Baltimore, for Five
Farms is being touted as the spot for
the international classic
At long range and before the sec
tional rounds, the Pacific Coast
seems to have good chance to carry
the amateur championship toward
the setting sun this year. You can
60 long way without finding two
more stalWart standard-bearers than
Marvin Ward of Olympia, Wash,
and Roger Kelly of Los Angeles.
At that it would be all right. Not
since George Won Elm won in 1926,
beating the peerless Bob Jones, has
the West Coast had an amateur title.