Evening star., 1939-11-01
Card Of ; Above Par
Made Hard Way on
Columbia Links
Beover Dam Pro. Long
Indifferent Putter.
Becomes Wizard
BY WALTER McCALLUM.


Outstanding scoring feat of 4
competitive golf season that is fast
passing into history was the 3-over-
par 283 scored by long g-smiting Clin
Spencer, Beaver Dam professional,
to win the Middle Atlantic p. G. A.
championship few weeks back. In
addition to the altogether major
league brand of golf shot by the
dark-haired Spencer the final round
OF that tourney carried a slice of
COLTS most potent drama when
Witty Cox, his back to the wall,
locked horns with Spencer in a
chase to the wire that ended only
when Cliff raped in a 50-foot putt
for birdie on the last hole of the
72-hole title affair.
Eighteen years ago, over the same
course, Long Jim Barnes, chewing
a piece of hay from the rough on
the second hole. won the National
Open championship with a 72-hole
score of 289. Golf has gone a long
way since the giant Cornishman
spread-eagled his field to win the
National by nine strokes. with Fred
Mcleod and Walter Hagen tied for
second at 298. The game has sped
up and tournaments usually are
being won with subpar scores. But
not usually on good golf courses.
Most of those under-par scores you
read about are being made on
courses not quite of championship
caliber.
Spencer Best by Any Yardstick.
Fred McLoed-who ought to know
believes that If national cham
pionship were held at Columbia to-
day under the same conditions as
those which prevailed during the
playing of the Mid-Atlantic P. G. A.
championship the winner would
break par, which happens to be $50
for four rounds. That, Of course,
cannot be proven. Columbia won't
hold a national championship and
it's doubtful if it could be held under
the same conditions anyway.
But by any yardstick of compari-
son Spencer's feat of scoring IL
67-72-73-283 stands far above
any scoring stunt done in this sector
this year. And probably above any
scoring done over a similar stretch
by any competitor in many years.
The smooth-swinging tall man
from Beaver Dam really was in the
~ IA f,eo
part of his final round surge, where
he fought of stiff challenge by
Witty Cox, was his putting, 'Clin
has been known for years as an in
different putter. Not a bad putter,
only an Indifferent one. To win in
the big leagues of golf nowadays
you have to be far-better- than
average putter. No matter how good
you may hit the ball to the green,
you have to be able to get it in the
cup. Somewhere during that tour
nament Chn found a priceless putt
ing touch. It carried him through
to the title.
Cliff Wins Great Stretch Duel.
Going to the fourteenth hole in
the final round. Witty was hot on
his heels. A single stroke separated
the two men. It was a spot where
anything could happen. Spencer
banged in q 20-footer for a bird on
the fourteenth to pick up a stroke.
He raped in 45-footer for a bird
on the fifteenth, which Cox matched
with 15-footer. Then Spencer de-
livered the knockout punch. or so
it seemed. He rolled in 1O-footer
for his third straight bird on the
sixteenth, while Cox was getting q
fighting par.
But golf isn't over until the last
putt is canned. Cliff underplayed
a pitch shot to the hilltop 17th,
went into a bunker and took a S.
Witty, playing every shot carefully,
knocked a wedge second up against
the pin and picked up two strokes
with bird 3. That left them sepa-
rated by single stroke with a hole
to play.
Both were in putting position
after the second shot, Witty of to
the left edge and Spencer on the
carpet so feet from the hole. Cox
rolled his ball down feet below the
cup. In that spot Cliff might have
3-putted with the pressure on. But
his answer was a smooth stroke that
spun the ball into the cup so feet
away. To have gotten it close would
have been excellent. To hole it was
miraculous. I could think only of
one shot like it, a shot that hap
pened under identical circum-
stances.
Done Like an Emperor.
At Minneapolis in 1880, when Bob
Jones was completing the third Sec