Evening star., 1941-01-03
Cox 10-Under-Par &
Over Congressional
Coli Feat Of Year
Pros Hot Putter Gets
Record; Houehton Most
Consistent in 1910
BY WALTER McCALLUM.

BY WALLER McCALLUM.
Outstanding links feat Of 1910
around Washington was the 81
scored over the Congressional Coun-
try Club course by Witty Cox, Con-
gressional pro Over a layout longer
than all but one around the Capital,
with an honest par Of 70, Cox
knocked the ball around in 62 strokes,
10 under better than par, holing out
all puts for a record that, though
unofficial, will stand up as the course
record.
The official competitive. record is
the 65 made by Sam Snead in May,
1889, during the qualifying rounds
for the national open.
Witty Cox used to be one Of the
top tournament golfers of the land.
If he went into the tournament game
again, he probably would be among
the big winners. But Witty doesn't
play the tournament circuit any
more. He is a club pro, and works
at it.
On the August day he scored the
81, Witty had no idea fireworks were
to Sprout from his putter. He had
been playing the first nine in "a or
35 every time he started, SO when he
played that stretch in 81 it was
routine stuff. Par for the first nine
is 81, and only one hole-the eighth
rates as an easy affair.
Great on Back Nine.
But on the back nine Cox started
knocking puts in from all distances,
starting the nine with a brace Of IS.
Coming to the uphill 18th he was
sure to tie Snead's record. But here
he holed a pitch shot for a deuce.
That assured a new record. He
played the last nine holes in %
strokes, which is under par. The
whole round was one of those rare
combinations Of lengthy, accurate
hitting, and deadly putting. Witty
didn't blow any putt he should have
holed, and he holed some he didn't
expect to get.
That round surpassed the 63 made
by Tommy Armour at Congressional
in 1927, but Tommys score included
a seven on the present 18th hole,
then the l4th, played Just as it IS
today. Tommy, however, played the
faster, smaller ball. He did some
amazing stunts with it over that
course, once scoring three eagles in
a row.
1t happened in the middle of a
round which started out tamely
enough. Tommy drove the 18th
/ green-385 yards from the tee-and
holed a deuce. He drove the 18th
| green-300 yards away-and holed q
deuce. Both were eagles. Finishing
/ the last nine (he had started on the
10TH he went over to the first hole,
and banged two wooden shots to the
edge of the green on this par 5
affair, and Clipped in for a three
and his straight eagle.
Once Hit Round of 81.
The 81 made by Cox is not his
lowest round. When Witty was at
| the municipal course at Dyker
Beach, Brooklyn, he scored a ST.
But it was made on a course much
shorter than the Congressional lay
out. That 62 by Cox was by long
odds the outstanding local golf
stunt of the year.
But in any links compilation Of
1910, Al Houghton's feat of finishing
one, two in all but a brace of the
local pro tournaments during the
| year stands out. A reiuvenated
Houghton, playing better golf than
he played in 1884 and 1885, when
Al was bidding for national recog-
milton, set up the finest competitive
record ever made by a local pro.
Houghton won more than $500,
two titles, and had a stretch of l8
straight rounds during which he
bettered par on every course he
played. He won the District Open,
tied for the Maryland Open and lost
the playoff, and finished second by
stroke in the Middle Atlantic
P. G. A. championship. For con-
sistency Houghton's 1910 record tops
that of any pro golfer ever to play
in this neighborhood.
Strangely enough, in the sectional
rounds for the National Open and
the National Pro match play cham
pionship (both of which were outside
the local schedules Houghton
missed qualifying. Probably he
would have won a place in the
National Open, but he jumped the
starting gun and was disqualified.
Houghton now is at Miami Beach,
and will be back at his Beaver Dam
post in the spring, prepared to take
up his winning campaign where he
left off in November.