Evening star., 1942-12-26

button to the
Henry McLemore. winning of the
war, and I think something should
be written about it.
On the chance that you don't
regularly read the sports pages, per-
haps a word or two Of explanation
of the Augusta National is in order.
1t was founded by group headed
by Robert Tyre Jones and the idea
was to build the finest golf course
in the United States, If not In the
world, and to hold each year the
finest tournament in the world, the
Masters.
They succeeded on both counts.
They wound up with the best course
and the best tournament. Only the
real masters of the game played in
the Augusta tournament. To play
it you had to be able to beat 10
without cheating. This is no small
feat and you can take it from man
who has never been able to break
80 even with a cheat in a sand trap
here and cheat In the deep rough
there
And the course-well, 1t was
something that wouldn't look bad
in Heaven. Every day every blade
Of grass had its nails manicured.
The green's got marcel as regu-
larly as a dowager, and the rough
was so nice that quail put aside
money each year in order to return
to 1t in their old age.
Scent of Jasmine Helped.
No matter where you were on the
course the scent of dogwood and
jasmine and wisteria helped you on
your backswing, and the little club
house was bit of Colonial architec-
ture that Thomas Jefferson would
not have been ashamed to have
designed
Now, with the war on, and half its
members wearing khaki and brogans
instead Of slacks and spiked shoes.
the Augusta National has been
turned over to the cows.
A letter that came only this
morning informed me that the club
has been closed to golf for the dura-
ton and that so head Of cattle are
(or 'is') grazing serenely over the
$50 acres of the course, and that by
next spring, If all goes we'll and
none Of the COWS get lost in the
water hazards, 200 head will be
pastured there.
My guess is that the Augusta
National may never again be opened
for golf. The members are likely to
grow so interested in the breeding
and raising Of blooded cattle that
they will throw away their mashies
and No. irons in favor OF lariats
and branding irons.
Certainly the tending of cattle is
more fun than playing golf. Golf Is
a game that trays the nerves,
sharpens the temper, and brings on
galloping Illustration. Tending cows
is a paceful pastime. No wife could
possibly object to having a husband
tell her that he was late to dinner
because he had been at the club
milking prize winning Jersey.
No one can ever tell me that
walking through the rough In
search Of stray calf would not be
more fun than looking for a lost
ball, which. if not found, would cost
you the first side Of IS Nassau.
Sees Clubs Holding Round-ups.
II other clubs follow the Ma
tional's suit, and turn their fertile
acres over to cattle, 1t is easy to
see what will happen. Instead Of
tournaments, clubs will hold round
ups. Instead OF the National Open
We will have a national roundup,
with golfers like Lawson Little,
Byron Nelson, Craig Wood, Jimmy
Thomson, Ben Hogan, Sammy
5nead and jug McSpaden swing
ing sombreros instead of sand
wedges, and yelling "Hi-ho, su-
yer" and "Yippee," instead of
Come on, honey, drop just this
one time"
There will be milking contests.
and the man who extracts the most
butter fat content will be carried
away on the shoulders Of his ad-
mirers just as the men who used
to shoot In the low Cos were hoisted
on the shoulders Of friends. There
Will be just as much glory for the
man who saves a Guernsey from a
water hole as there used to be for a
man who holed out for a birdie from
bad lie in a creek.
Throwing and branding contests
Will replace driving and putting ex-
hibitions. The chairman of the
House Committee will brag of the
beef that was sold and not Of tho
dues collected from new members.
In short, we are likely to find that
golf courses are more fun when they
are not golf courses. The. Augusta
National plan was the brain child
OF Robert Tyre Jones, now . cap
tain in the United States Army,
Quite q man, Bobby. Several gen.
erations will have come and gone