Evening star., 1941-03-09
Small Tax Finances
Plants at Columbia
And Chevy Chase
Poy-us-You-PIuy Bosis
Suggested as Simple
Way to Ruise Coin
BY WALTER McCALLUM.

At least three local country clubs
may take measures toward watering
the fairWays of their golf courses
during 1941. In line with attempts
to lick the heat of midsummer, when
fairWays around the Capital take on
all the consistency and most of the
toughness of chunk of seasoned
concrete, the men in charge of the
courses at Burning Tree, Congress
sional and Washington are consid-
ering moves to artificially irrigate
the fairways of those good layouts.
Two local courseS-Chevy Chase
and Columbia-now have fairWay
irrigation, method of spraying the
fairways by huge geysers of water.
When the fairWays at other courses
are burned up, those at Columbia
and Chevy Chase are green and
fair.
But it costs money, and lots of it,
10 artificially water several score
acres of land every day. In the
first instance. you must have water
pressure. That means a storage
dam, if local water is used, together
with pump. Or you must pay for
municipality furnished water, which
runs into money.
Debate Financing Methods.
Cost of installing a fairway water
ing system at Congressional is fig
ured at around Sl6,6OO by Witty
Cox, club professional. The fairway
watering item at Washington would
run about $4,000, according to Dave
Thomson, the club pro and green
keeper This would include some
course improvements and construc-
ton of storage dam. Cost of the
Burning Tree installation would be
around S25 1000.
Country clubs generally have no
money to toss around. Their exist
ence depends on the dues paid by
the membership and little is left
over for expensive items such as
fairWay watering.
Washington proposes to finance
its fairWay watering scheme by an
increase in dues, which also would
include other club facilities for
which charge now is made. Burn
ing Tree, it is understood, would
raise the money by assessment.
Congressional has not announced
measures it would use.
Chevy Chase financed its fairway
watering operation, begun in 1884,
by a small annual charge against the
golfng membership. Columbia men,
bers paid small additional fee for
the privilege of playing over a
course with Watered fairWayS.
The whole thing ties in with the
well understood aversion of the
United States Golf Association for
a championship course which lacks
watered fairways. No local country
club at present has ideas for a
national championship.
Opens Way for Title Event.
Confessional had such ideas in
1899, and actually submitted bid
for a future year for the United
States open title tourney. But that
club, going through reorganiza-
ton process, hardly is in condition
now to start the administrative
wheels moving toward a national
championship event.
Chevy Chase and Columbia are
not actively seeking national events,
but undoubtedly would take one of
them if the U. S. G. A. asked them
to do so. Columbia held the national
open championship Of 1921. Chevy
Chase held the Curtis Cup matches
of 1884. and Congressional staged
the national intercollegiate title
tournament of 1885.
AS far as a national championship
tourney is concerned, Washington
at present is out of the picture, al
though Mrs. Walter L. Weible, preSl-
dent of the Women's District Golf
Association. says her major objective
while in office will be to secure the
vomen's title affair for the Capital.
This would, she explained, be move
sponsored by the association, and
she did not specify the club over
which such a tourney would be
played.
One Way to Raise Money.
The average country club golf
member probably plays around Is
rounds of golf a year. The average
country club has about $50 of these
average members. In the case OF
Columbia. Washington or Chevy
Chase the playing membership Is
higher. Suppose each golfer, as he
stepped on the first tee, dropped
quarter in a box, or authorized the
caddie master to charge that amount
to his account?
In the case of the average mem
Der. playing IS rounds a year. 1T
would amount to $1875, paid out as
he plaved. But the figures for $50
golfers paying two bits a round, are
more impressive.
Anv country club could amortlze
q fairwav watering system on this
basis, with an assured income from
the average golfer of nearly $4,000
a year, on the pay-aS-you-play
basis. That, of course, would be
trivial stuff to each man, but to the
club it would be big business. IL
could be done that way.