Evening star., 1940-10-27
Cox in No Easy Spot
Despite Playing on
Home Course
Women to Hold Field
Day Tournament at
Kenwood Tuesday
By WALTER McCALLUM.

DS WAL EN- NlCShLL OIu.
Pro golf around Washington has
not been brimming over with en-
thusiasm this year. The pros have
had few events locally in which to
play, and the purses haven't been
obese. But one of the better affairs
Congressional when small field of
pros play in the District of Columbia
open championship.
The tourney will be 36-hole
affair over one of Washington's
longest courses. Witty Cox, the
home pro at Congressional. and the
present holder of the title. will be
the gent to lick. Wiffv has had
stranCle hold on tie District open
title since the little show started
back in 1887, winning the first event
st Indian Spring with a card of
%, and repeating the following year
at Washington with 2SS The tour
NV was not played last year.
Over his home course Witty should
be standout, but il won't be that
way Hot on the heels OF the champ
will be flock Of mer who may out
strip the big Cox mall over the &C.
hole route Lew WorSham. the
young Burning Tree pro: Al Hough-
ton. top money! winner locally of the
year; Cliff Spencer Bob Barnett,
George Diffenbaugh and one or two
others may find he. putting streak
and grab most of the marbles.
Overlooked Opportunity.
OF coH"ae, the prts should have
started t2eir SInoav exhibition
mctcl'es 'ast summer and might
b." Pvt aWav a neat little chunk
of chan~e from these affairs to ap-
ply to the District open tourney.
But they didn't DO that and now the
District open will be played for what
amounts to peanuts II the monetary
sense This wear, Ecwever. they
have the backing Of the District of
Columbia Golf AssC2 cation. The
District association las no money
to dump into the pot but in future
years with that backing, the pros
may get a purse which really will
give them something substantial at
which to shoot
The District open cha ampionship is
more or less synthetic tourney, but
1t could be built up into a real af-
fair. designed to replace the National
Capital open tournaments staged by
Kenwood some yeas back. Wash
ing,on should nave { big profess
slon1l tournament every year. Those
Ke-i -ccd affairs gave gclf a big up
7-1rd surge which hs" been missing
nee icy We're abanooned by that
clu2. 1t might be a good idea to
hold TIC District oren every year
around this time TO catch some of
the top pros on tl1eIl way south
toward Pinehurst. o. course, until
the tourney gets some respectable
money it wouldn't have the sanction
OF the P. G. A. Tournament Bureau,
which demands minimum purses far
in excess of that now offered for the
tournament, but it could be worked
into good one
Women Turn to Bowling.
Tuesday at kenwood the feminine
golfers of the town will hold one of
their final events of the year-a
field day tourney sponsored by the
Club WCmon'S Cimmittee. They'll
start their bowling matches week
from Tuesday. Inauguration of the
tc"1in2 contests marks the end of
the vo"cns lins3 S.ason. This
yeer Trey haven't announced any
extensive series of golf affairs for
No IN ,er. but more may come along.
CliT Spencer. 1889 Middle Atlantic
P. G. A. champ, was playing badly.
Eut he knew hot round was COM
ing up, Cliff happens to be a good
golfer, VINO doesn't have many bad
rounds. Cliff and Alex Taylor, the
Rolling Road mentor, had identical
IT'S in the first round of the P. G. A.
championship at Terra Mariae.
Tell you what I'll do. Alex" said
Cliff. I'll give you 2 up and play
you for five"
Alex is a Scotsman. He debated,
and said, Think that's enough,
Clif?"
III give you 3 up" said Cliff.
"Ti,2c's MY final Offer"
81 AleX took it. And all he did
vc- shoot a 70 Cliff was II. And
tt" boys laughed and laughed, Cliff
a 'olg as any of them.
red 1ccLeod, former senior champ.
e"f Alex Taylor will represent this
SC 0r in the P. G. A. senior title
tourney at Sarasota, Fla. in Janu-
ary They'll do all right, too
Big Jim Ferrier, the Australian
amateur and open champion, is due
in town. and will play golf for
couple of days around the Capital.
Jim may be the best amateur golfer
in the United States at present.
That couldn't be known, for he
didn't play in the national cham
pionship. He finished second anna
teur in the open championship, be-
hind Wilford Werhle.
Pros Plan PinehurSt Trip.
Half dozen local links pros are
planning trip to Pinehurst to play
in the mid-South professional tour
ney. a four-day affair, starting No
vembcr IL. Lew Worsham. George
Diffenbaugh. Med Shorey, Cliff
Spencer, Al Jamison and Al Hough-
ton all are talking about making
the trip. 1t will be a pro-pro best
ball event for two days and an in
dividual tourney for the next two
days. Tommy Armour holds the
individual title, and Armour and
Bobby, Cruickshank hold the pro-
pro crown Cruickshank did not
play in the Middle Atlantic P. G. A.
championship because of a strained
back.
Femiine golfers around town
should have more scratch events
such as the Payne trophy tourney
held at Congressional last week. The
only way fine players can be de-
veloped is by scratch events played
from long tees. The low handicap
women seldom win net prizes, and
scratch tournaments bring out the
best golf.
yrv;G,,