Evening star., 1939-10-05
BY WALTER McCALLUM.

The big show is on today at Co.
lumbia. as IS assorted professional
and amateur golfers, some good,
and some Indifferent, seek a foot
hold on a final drive which will
knock the Middle Atlantic P. G. A.
crown from the black thatch of
Leo Walper, the gent who has won
1T for the last two years.
Tossing aside the biggest item in
Walper's defensive armor, which
happens to be his temperament and
his fighting heart, the exhibition
match this afternoon starring Byron
Nelson, National Open champion,
and Henry G. Picard, national P. G.
A. champ, brings to mind another
thought to wit: Why does not this
Middle Atlantic sector, home of so
many good golfers, or golfers who
think they are good, produce a real
contestant for national title?"
Going back into the record you
can't find one except Bobby Cruick-
shank and Witty Cox who has
made real bid for a national cham
pionship over the last dozen years.
Walper Has Great Heart.
Five years back Leo Walper wasn't
much Of a golf player. remember
when Al Houghton used to give
Leo two holes a side and be
ashamed to take his money. Yet
Leo today is the defending cham
pion. And that same Walper,
whether or not he wins in the tour
nament which started today and
will wind up tomorrow, must be
given an assist for his great heart
and his utter refusal to quit under
fire.
Leo, on his 1899 record, is the top
pro golfer around town this year.
He finished first among the local
entries in the National Open cham
pionship. That. in case you don't
know, happens to be the hallmark
of excellence among the pros. He
did all right along the winter cir
cult, and all in all, the guy has done
a pretty good job of pulling him.
self up by his bootstraps from COM
parative mediocrity to a spot where
Walper is the man to whip today
and tomorrow
And If Leo happens to finish to-
days 36 holes five strokes back of
the front runner, don't count him
out. I also recall that last year he
sat on the porch of the Chamberlain
Hntnl O n1l pnipt
bet even money land not in nickels)
that he'd win the tournament. At
that point Cthe 36-hole mark he
was four shots behind the leader.
No one needs to be reminded that
Leo came into the last holes needing
only two pars to win by two strokes.
He made them-easily.
No Champion Around.
But Leo's success land he is good)
doesn't cloud the general statement
that here in this territory we don't
have a pro visible to the naked
eye) with more than an outside
chance to win a national cham
pionship. There are only two of
them for men pros-the National
Open and the National P. G. A
and both champions showed at Co.
lumbia today. 1t tempts a fellow
to ask an embarrassing question:
What have Byron Nelson and
Henry Picard got that dozen gents
in this territory lack?"
The answer is obvious. It's either
that we don't give sufficient en-
couragement to our budding young
pro golfers; that we don't help them
over the rough spots with a pat on
the back and a word of good cheer,
or that they aren't sufficiently in
terested in their own careers and
their own future to sacrifice the
time and the money to make cham
pionship golfers Of themselves.
It is shame in a territory so rich
in links talent that We haven't a
youngster who has the stuff of which
champions are made Or have we?
I don't know 1 wish I did know.
But can't see any around yet.
Can't Match Picards Shots.
I doubt if there's a man around
who can make some of the shots
Henry Picard makes. Shots like
his second to the sixth at Columbia
yesterday, where he had to play
faded spoon to the green. Or like
the shots Nelson makes. Those