Evening star., 1941-08-24
Would Revive Choice
OF Work vs.. Play
For Regulars
Mediocre Crop Of Stors
Here Blamed on Too
Little Competition
BY WALTER McCALLUM.

long cool one at Congressional
fighting the links battle over again;
Charley Malone, the former Texan
who is getting along all right as a
businessman and a golfer in
Washington; Parker Nolan and AL
Houghton, along with several
others.
why don't we have more anna
teur tournaments and more spirit in
them?" asked Charley. why down
in Texas. around Dallas and Hous-
ton. every club held an invitation
affair. Every one played in them
and they were big affairs. I re-
member one year they held a CAL
cutta pool the night before the
tournament started, and Gus More
land sold for SAC, ,OO0'
Some of the amateur golfers
around town are wondering the
same thing nowadays, putting the
question to themselves and their
pals: why aren't there more big
amateur tournaments" This year
the only invitation affairs around
town have been held at Chevy Chase
and Bannockburn. There have been
a string of one-day Journeys staged
by the Middle Atlantic P. G. A., and
the Maryland State Golf Associa-
ton, but the invitation tournaments
have been lacking.
Don't Want a Parade.
Frankly we do not believe the
boys would be too happy about re-
viving the old-time string of con-
secutive invitation events. Back in
the so-called golden" years the
Washington Golf and Country Club
event starting either the last week
in April or the first week in May.
The big schedule wound up around
the first week in July The tourna-
ments followed each other week by
week, just as a flock of sheep.
Washington, then Chevy Chase,
then Columbia, Indian Spring,
Woodmont, Manor, and OCCASION
ally Army-Navy, Belle Haven and
Beaver Dam held invitation af-
fairs. with Bannockburn nudging
into the picture once in a while.
The fellow who wanted to play
In all of them land the clubs ex-
pected all the top-notchers to play)
either had to give up business or
give up golf And since golf is no
cheap game. the expense of playing
in them all ran into considerable
cash. In between the invitation
affairs. of course, there were the
championships, such as the Middle
Atlantic, the Maryland and the
National Open.
But nowadays there is a new
crop of amateurs around. Not one
of the winners of today was a
winner in the days of the constant
round of tournaments, when George
Voigt. Roland Mackenzie. Harry
Pitt and Miller STEVENSON were the
big shots of the amateur game
around the Capital.
They Were the Golfing Days.
Remember when Harry Pitt won
three Chevy Chase invitation affairs
In a row. and when Stevinson was
runner-up in two of them? And
when these two were the main rivals
In every affair? And when the
golfers of the Capital were divided
as to who was the better amateur
Roland Mackenzie or George Voigt?
AL Houghton remembers. Al was
an amateur then and played in all
the tournaments. He was a member
of that select group which produced
more fine simon pure links talent
than ever has been Forthcoming
since. The tournaments did it, of
course. For there's nothing surer
to turn out good golfers than steady
tournament play. There's some
thing about down to bedrock COM
petition that either steels man
and makes him good, or convinces
him that he isn't winner. It's
make or break proposition, in which
only the best survive.
But we doubt If the boys would 90
for the steady stream of tourna-
ments nowadays as they did IS years
ago. They do-'t have time, for one
thing. But the main angle is that
the clubs are not willing to give up
their courses for a week of play in
an invitation affair. Most of the
golf clubs around town have full
membership lists Those that do
not have waiting lists soon will have
them. Washington, already over
crowded, is growing bigger and more
people want to play golf. The fel-
low who wants to slip out on a
weekday afternoon and finds his
course crowded with tournament
golfers isn't happy about it, and
complains to some one That is the
main reason the steady string of in
vitation affairs isn't held nowadays.
Good Golfers Now Scarce.
From the competitive side, of
course. the good golfers are not being
turned out around town as they were
a few years ago. It'll be stepping
on some ones toes, but there aren't
so many of them around now. When
you name Bobby Brownell, Ralph
Bogart. Parker Nolan, Earle Skinker
and Volney Burnett you have named
the crop of possible tournament
victors, now that Roger Peacock has
dropped out. Fifteen years back
there were dozen or more, any one
of whom could win. And the scoring
was just as good.
Columbia may come back into the
tournament idea, if we aren't in a
shooting war in the spring of 1912.
So may Washington. But we have
an idea that four big invitation
affairs, well spaced, would be enough,
with. the championship affairs that
come along in between. Besides
that constant round of tournaments
didn't give the newspapermen time
to get acquainted with the home
folks.