Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-11-08
Shoots IS IS, Deuce,
Three As and Sin
FIashy Round
Three-Putts From Nine
. Feet on One Green,
Trying for Birdie
BY WALTER McCALLUM.

an 18-hole course?
Right away you'll think it was the
81 made by Al Houghton at Wash
ington back in 1884, or the 81 made
by Witty Cox at Congressional a few
months ago, or the twin 62s made by
Roger Peacock on the old Indian
Spring course four and five years
ago. Roger made one each year.
You'll be wrong by a long way
The lowest round of golf ever scored
on an 18-hole course around Wash
ington was a 10-under-par So. 1t
was made at Rock Creek Park by
Claude Rippy the man who now
plays at Washington and Indian
Spring and who dominated the pub
lie links for a stretch Of three or
four years as completely as George
Voigt used to dominate the tourna-
ments around the Capital IA years
ago, in the days when a Voigt entry
in a local affair was equivalent to a
Voigt triumph.
Yes, Claude Rippy played Rock
Greek (the present course in So
strokes. The queer part is that
the boys must have been tied up in
censorship agreement, for the
round, even though it would have
been seven-day marvel, got not
q single line in the papers. B. c.
Brown was playing with Rippy at
the time. Claude had thirteen SIS,
a deuce, three As and ) in that
round Of 29-29-58. The 5 came
when, in an attempt to ram in a
birdie 3, on the seventh hole he
ee-putted from about feet. But
the rest Of the round was a breeze.
Has Damaged Back.
Perhaps you didn't know, either,
that Rippy, who may be the best
amateur golfer in this territory,
is handicapped by a bad back and
a condition which may be progress
sive, and could result in forcing
him to quit competitive golf. In
deed, Rippy has been asked by his
physician to stop playing golf for
the rest Of this year.
But it hasn't impaired his effec-
tiveneSs. Dave Thomson, the Wash
lngton Country Club pro, was talk
ing about him. Claude hasn't
( played lot of golf, but the golf
: he has played has been very hot"
said Davie. I've kept track of his
. scores and as far as I can learn
he hasn't been over 70 in a single
: round on this course in four months.
. And he has been down in the high
I Cos many times. He looks to me to
{ be the best amateur We have around
this town"
Which makes you wonder why
! Rlppy hasn't won a flock of tourna-
: ments. The answer, Of course, is
/ that Rippy hasn't played in them.
> The only big amateur AFFAIR in
which he competed this year was
the Chevy Chase invitation tourney.
and that was one of those should-be
things. Rippy won it in 1885 and
1889 and tradition forces the champ
to keep on trying. He was licked
in the second round.
Rippy was talking with Al Hough-
ton about record scores. What's
your lowest score, Alp" he asked
Why, that 81 I shot at Washington,
I guess" said Al.
Il gotcha by three strokes" said
Rippy L had a So at Rock Creek
Park" That was the signal for some
ear raising. WAS it a secret?" we
asked. "Or didn't you want the
boss to know you were playing golf"
No" said Rippy, II didn't mind.
But I didn't rush to the papers,
and I thought word would get
around and that some one at Rock
Creek would talk about it. But they
4 never did, and it didn't get any no
tees in the papers. Not that cared.
but it was quite a round. Seemed
as If everything I did was right
that day. I couldn't make a bad
shot, and those didn't lit quite
right went just where they should
have gone. Thirteen IS is a lot of IS
Cor any one, no matter how he hap
pens to be putting"
How about that back of yours?"
l asked Rippy.
Licked Bud Ward.
"Oh. 1t may be all right" said the
27-year-old from Shelby, N. C. The
doctors tell me it's one of those
what-you-call-it, sacra- lilac affairs.
] don't know much about it, but I
know where I got it."
S. I was playing Marvin BUD Ward
5 at Garden City in the first round of
the amateur championship of 1896.
had Ward 2 down with to play and
wanted to put him away on the
sixteenth hole with a birdie. I really
went all out on that tee shot. try
Ing for big carry that would give
me just little shot home. The ball
went into a bunker. 1t lay up on
the bank and in hitting it I twisted
: my back and fell back in the bunker.
Hurt like the dickens. Ward won
the hole and squared the match
on the eighteenth. licked him on
. the twenty-frst. But that back
catches me nowadays and hurts
like everything"
Ward, in case you don't remem-
Der, was the amateur kingpin of
1899, and is rated today as pos
sibly Americas finest simon pure.
. Rippy licked him in 1896, which
Is the tipoff
Claude hasn't had any extended
experience as a seasoned performer
in the big amateur Journeys, but
he doesn't think the top amateurs
Of today can be so hot. I'D guess
the top pros are lot better than
the amateurs, looking at the scores
they shoot" he said. Il never saw
Jones play, but he must have been
wonderful"
Might Be Top Amateur.
And at guess we'd say Claude
Rippy would come pretty close to
being a ball of fire in the amateurs
II they'd turn him loose for a few
years with enough money to play
the big time amateur circuit. "And
8 he's so thin it seems if you hit
him a good wallop in the bread
basket he'd fell in half" said Frank