Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-11-11
Lays Current Great
Success 10 Loss Of
Worry
Wins 81 500 This Year;
Pinehurst Tournament
Drows Capital Stors
BY WALTER McCALLUM.

e. Dy WAL ASAS
II consistency is the jewel the
poets would have us believe it is Al
Houghton, the chubby, gray-haired
fellow who holds down the pro golf
berth at Beaver Dam, should sparkle
whenever he goes on golf course.
That, usually, is exactly what Al
does.
Not many people realize that this
same Houghton, since he turned
from the amateur ranks in 1880 to
the more or less lucrative job of
chunking divots for pay, has held a
title every one of these years. That
happens to be a job for the con-
sistency ratings. Put that with the
fact that Houghton's record this
year has been the best any local pro
ever has rolled up, and you'll realize
the reasons why Houghton, at the
advanced age of 81, advanced in
the competitive golf Sense) is rated
the top scoring-and winning-links
mentor in this section for 1910.
Houghton holds the District Open
championship and the Bedford
Springs (PaO title. He finished
second in the Middle Atlantic P.
G. A. championship and tied for
the Maryland Open. These are all
the big pro tournaments which have
been played in this links sector this
year. Yet Houghton himself. al
though proud of that winning record,
rates as better his achievement in
finishing first or second in almost
all the little Monday tournaments
held by the pros in the Washington
Baltimore area.
Proud of Minor Victories.
"The opposition is the same every
week. It's just as tough to win one
of the little ones as to win big
one. I'm prouder," he says, "of hav-
ing won most of them than of WIN
ming a big sectional tournament"
Getting down to basic facts you
couldn't call pro golf circles in this
sector the toughest of any neighbor-
hood in the country in which to
shine. If you dropped Sam Snead
or Ralph Guldahl or Byron Nelson
or Ben Hogan in Washington or
Baltimore the big shot would win
pretty much as he pleased But we
doubt if he'd win any more impress
sively than Houghton has won this
year. The mans record is amaz
ingly consistent.
Of course for uniform accuracy
and straightness from the tee and
with the big shots no man in the
country outranks Al Houghton. I've
played with him a good deal and
about once a month he hits a really
bad shot. Otherwise you could draw
a ruled line between tee and pin
and he'd be Thereon Whereabouts.
If he had the range from the tee Of
Sneed or Hagen he'd be winning ma
tiOnal championships.
For a stretch of three or four
years things were not going well for
Houghton. After leaving KenWood
in 1885 he went for a while without
a pro job. He also went to the
hinterland, which in this case meant
Underwater Virginia. He did all right
there, but he didn't have the in
centiVe or the competition to get
going again. Last winter Al took
over the job at Beaver Dam, which
gave him satisfactory financial set
up, and one he never had before.
He also took himself a wife
Equanimity Great Help.
How do you account for this squirt
you've had?" we asked Houston
You aren't as young as you used
to be, and here you've been winning
everything in sight this year, with
the best record any pro has had"
Il guess you can lay it to the fact
that I'm not worried nowadays about
lot of things" said Houghton.
Il don't have to worry about where
my caddie fees are coming from.
And some other worries have gone,
too. I've felt like playing golf this
year. I guess that's the answer"
Houghton, by his own figures, has
picked up around $500 in prize
money this year. Many a top
ranked pro would like to do as we'll
He hasn't taken the expensive trips
to the major championships, and
all in all he has had successful
years as a links campaigner. But
he will go to Miami for a whirl at
the Miami Open title and the $10,-
900 in cash that affair carries.
Houghton also has had a job open
for him around the Miami area
during the winter, but he is re-
luctant to leave Beaver Dam and the
possibility that an open winter will
permit golf to be played right on
through the cold months here. So
he is passing up the Miami job, he
says, and will stay around Washing
ton. 1t has been Houghton year,
all the way.
d. c. Pros Prospects Good.