Evening star., 1940-12-08
Nations Links Stars
Shoot for 100000
On Tourney Trek
Sneod Fovorite Of Array
Which Storts Thursday
In Florida Event
By WALTER McCALLUM.

Will lace tTe starter uexU 1HuI SQdy,
when the luscious Miami open
championship starts over the re-
juvenated Miami Springs course,
near Hialeah Park. The tourney will
mark the official opening Of the big
time winter golf season, Tor which
purses totaling nearly 100000 have
been put up.
Leo Walper, driving range pro OF
Bethesda. Md, who won 1925 at
Pinehurst last month; Bob Barnett
of Chevy Chase, Al Houghton of
Beaver Dam, Lewis Worsham of
Burning Tree and AL Jamison, unat-
rached Washington mentor all will
start in the $4,000 tourney, which
leads the way to one Of the top
seasons Of all time for the touring
seekers of gold on the fairways.
The local entrants will be sub
merged in a major list of big-name
professionals. but one or two of
them may work into money spot.
Big Money on West Coast.
There will be 40 money prizes for
the pros and 10 amateur prizes. The
tourney will run for four days,
starting December IL and ending
December Is. Next event on the
winter schedule after the Miami af-
fair will be the Los Angeles open
championship, also for 10 grand,
slated for January 3-6, inclusive.
The California schedule alone car
ries s25550 in prize dough
Sam Snead, winner of the 1899
Miami open tourney and last month
victor in the pro end of the Pine
hurst MidSouth. where he tied with
Amateur Champ Dick Chapman, is
on the warpath again, seeking more
of the kind of heavy sugar he
won in 1878, when Slamming
Samuel put away nearly $4,000 in
golf purses.
Sammy will be the favorite when
the torney opens Thursday, but
he'll have considerable opposition
Ben Hogan, Ed Oliver, Jimmy DEM
aret Craig Wood, Paul Runyan,
Harold McSpaden. John Revolta,
Tony Manero and Tony Penna are
not exactly pushovers in any high
class links company. They'll all play,
along with Ralph Guldahl and
probably P G. A Champ Byron Nell
son and National Open Champ
Lawson Little.
Vardon Trophy at Stake.
The Miami open will be enlivened
by little battle among Hogan,
Demaret and Snead for the Var
don Trophy put up by the P. G. A
Hogan leads in point averages by
such a wide margin that if he places
fifth or better he'll win the Vardon
Trophy and the thousand bucks
that go with it, even if Demaret.
currently in second place, wins the
Miami open. Hogan shouldn't place
lower than fifth.
Mrs. Myron Davy, one of Wash
ingtons top feminine golfers. is
writing a book 1t will be the his
tory of her family and will be called,
she thinks. The Walls Speak" Her
friends are very interested in her
latest venture. and when she gets
on paper what she deems a good
passage. she reads 1t over the phone
to her pals.
BY the way, the Payne Cup tour
hey. to be played in Baltimore next
year, will be Widened to two classes
The affair for the trophy itself will
remain closed to women with handi-
caps between scratch and TO- but
another class-betWeen 10 and l8-
will be open to prospective entrants.
The late meeting of the Women's
District Golf Association was the
10Th. The association is growing up.
Junior Hagen to Go on Air.
The former Mrs. James w. Beller
of Chevy Chase, one of Washing
tons prominent feminine golfers,
now is Mrs. L. j. Noah of Green
wich, Conn. The couple was mar
ried about 10 days ago. Mr.. Noah
Is retired businessman.
Lew Worsham, Burning Tree pro,
has winter job at the Chevy Chase
Ice Palace. Lew will leave for
Miami tomorrow.
Walter Hagen, jr., son of the Old
Duke of golf. plans to be radio
announcer. Young Walter got him.
self behind the eight ball last year
when he said something over the
air to the general effect that foot
ball players were dumb" At a
football school such as Notre Dame
you can imagine the effect of that
one For a while Walter wasn't the
most popular campus figure.
British golf never may recover
from the effect of the present war
according to Horton Smith, who de-
clared at Pinehurst that such
shrines as st. Andrews, PreStwick,
Sandwich and Deal might lose the
prestige and standing built up
through years of service to the
game. Smith said in the future it
may be up to Pinehurst and other
centers of golf in the United States
to maintain the traditions of the
game.
Home Golf Appears Best.
After watching Washington women
lose to Philadelphia by lop-sided
score in the intercity team series,
the local women might better stick
to more or less local competition
until they get together stronger
team. They will resume their team
series with Richmond in 1941. But
that Philadelphia outfit is too strong
right now.
The score shows that, even though
. couple of Washington's best links
women were not in the fray. But
the score was top-heavy enough to
indicate that had they been in there
it wouldn't have made a decisive
difference.
Next year the Women's District
Golf Association will have a pros
pective starting field of nearly 400
in their Journeys, based on cleared
handicaps and those which will be