Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1941-05-27
BY WALTER McCALLUM.

Open championships within a few
days. That is, four of them will go i
Fred Mcleod, former national oper
champ, breathes deeply enough o.
the championship smoke and decide:
the aging fire horse should have
another whirl at the big title. The
other three local men who qualified
for the championship in torrid Sec
tional test over the Columbia Coun-
try Club course yesterday are: Cliff
Spencer. East Potomac Park pro
who led the field and Nation with
$3.50 1877; Leo Walper, Bethesda
driving range pro, and former Mid
ole Atlantic P. G. A, champ, who
fought back from the murk of non
qualification with record equallng
81 in the final round and won spot
in the national with 74-67-l4l;
Lewis WorSham, 23-year-Old Burn
ing Tree pro. with 72-70-142; and
from out-of- town Rut Coffey, like
able, long hitting youngster from
Hagerstown, Md, holder of the Mid
Atlantic P. G.. A, title, with 72-69-
al. The last four filled the qualify
ing quota, for this sector.
Mcleod MarveIs at Score.
Where Mcleod, marveling at the
low scores shot over his beloved Co.
iumbia course on a perfect day for
low scoring, automatically got in
without lifting a club, these four
stalWarts, plus Andy Gibson OF
Baltimore, also an automatic quail
fer, won spots in the big show. So
the mid-Atlantic sector, if all the
eligible representatives go to Fort
Worth, will have six men in there
scrapping. Mcleod hasn't made up
his mind.
Walper was to leave today by air.
plane. heading for Montgomery, Ala,
for a few days of golf with National
Amateur Champion Dick Chapman,
before going on to Fort Worth.
Spencer and Worsham will leave
next Sunday, as will Coffey. And if
the lanky Spencer guy ever uncovers
in the National Open the red-hot
putter than enabled him to toast par
to a we'll turned brown yesterday
he'll turn the championship into a
one man show.
Here was a fellow who has played
perhaps six rounds in a month; who
plainly was out of practice, and who
had entered the tourney to do the
best he could" Spencer picked up
nine brides as he blazed his way
around that tough Columbia course,
which for some reason played eX-
ceptionally easy. There was little
wind, the pins were in the middle of
the greens, and all in all conditions
were perfect for good scoring. But
Spencer was better than good.
Used Only IS Puts.
In looping three strokes off par
in SO holes he used only SIS puts,
% in the forenoon session and 81
in the matinee. His final effort,
after a badly topped second shot,
was a 20-footer for a par on the
36th hole that ratified into the tin
as If a giant magnet had pulled the
ball. You almost expected his putter
to burst into flames, so hot was 1t.
That score included a double DOGGY,
as golfers call those cute numbers
two over par on single hole. Yes, |
Cliff hit the ball all right up to the |
green, but a hot putter was the |.
answer to his low score.
Cold figures tell the story even |
better. He used 1877 strokes in SO |
holes. Fifty-five of those strokes
we're puts, when putting par calls
for 70 puts at two to each hole.
We leave to you the problem of |
figuring how many one putt greens |
he had, even with the single three
putter he accumulated in the first |
round. In that scoring streak Cliff
had five straight IS, starting at the
18th hole in the forenoon round.
Two of them, of course, were parS.
The other three were brides.
Walper's 81 Was Masterpiece.
Leo Walper's course-record tieing |
81 in the afternoon was master
piece. The driving range pro, play
ing indifferently, had scored IA in |
the morning. Then he bagged his |
second straight bird 3 at the ninth
for an out nine of a. That set him |
off. Starting at the 18th, he went |
2. 3, 3, and came home in 33 to tie
the record set in 1882 by Amateur |
Ernie Caldwell. later tied by Pro
George Diffenbaugh. Leo's lone
DOGGY came on the 18th, where he
missed a four footer to set new
competitive record, as the ball spun
around the rim of the cup.
Nor was stocky little Rut Coffey .
less than ball of fire. The chunky
Virginia boy, an moderated golfer
In this sector, who deserves a gen.
uine break in a game in which he
could be top star, opened with
u, and then blazed around in the
afternoon in SO, also missing a wee
one at the 18th.
Houghton Tragedy Victim.
The real tragedy came to Al
Houghton, District open champ from
Beaver Dam and leading money
winner in this sector. Al missed
qualifying by a stroke, with 70-73-
no IL IlllSScu ny ~ SJlOhco
wouldn't feel so badly" said Al.
But one stroke. I can think of a
dozen places where I could have
picked that up" Bobby Cruick-
shank, twice runnerup for the open
title, came to the sectional rounds
With a don't care if I make it,
and played that way. Bobby
was well down with 76-73-149.
From time to time you'll hear
of the marvellous" stunt Gene Sara
zen pulled in 1882, when he played
" holes at Fresh Meadow-a tough
,ourse-in 100 strokes. Well Cliff
Spencer played q holes of Columbia
(Just as tough in 101 strokes. Figure
hat out and don't let us hear
any one say he hasn't a chance
10 win If that putter stays hot.
Cliff used a spoon from the tee at
he 18th to keep the ball straight.
Which wasn't dumb piece of work.
Eddie Stevens, Manor assistant was
but had to keep up with
lis chemical warfare studies of
MT ANY Dr nAnU