Evening star., 1943-11-29
Former U. 5. Golf Pro,
Now With Red Cross,
Misses Clubs in Desert
BY GAULT Mcgowan.


BENGASI, Nov. II (By Mall :,
N.AN.A0.-Ihis Is the eighth hol'
Of the cross-desert mechanizes
course-E Alamein. Ell Daba. Mer
sab Matruh, Sidi Barrani, Salum
Tobruk, Derna, Bengasi. El Aghails
Is the ninth hole, another hundred
miles or so away. Fred F. Moore
who used to be the professional a
the Dunwoodie Golf Club in Yon.
kers, N. Y, agrees with this view O,
the great battle of North Africa.
Fred is now here with the Amer.
1can Red Cross, and, says he: "It's
. pity didn't bring my clubs.
should have liked to have laid oui
q miniature course for the boys
But they're playing softball ano
ping pong instead"
There Is another reason why Fred
regrets the absences Of = driver o,
cleek.
Legend Recalled.
IT should have liked to have
driven ball from the top of the
Great Pyramid" he told me. There
was legend that no one has ever
been able to do that and clear the
base"
That legend, however, was crack
ed wide open last August.
Today, firmly cemented into the
top of the Great Pyramid of Cheops
there is a can OF G. I. SPAN bearing
the following inscription: From
this spot on August %, ls43, S/Sgt
Ted E. Bodle, jr., of the United
States Army drove four golf balls
clear into the realm of the second
Pyramid.
This hurdle having been accom-
plished, the task before future golf
ing visitors to the Pyramids is to
beat this performance by hitting a
ball against the sunbaked sides OF
the second Pyramid from a tee on
top of the first. Sergt. Bodies long
est drive landed 240 yards from the
base Of the Great Pyramid and
rolled An additional Is yards-as is
testified by 1t. Peter Hesmer, Louis
vile, KY; two privates and the
oficial reporter from the Stars and
Stripes, Middle East edition.
Many Failures Reported.
Many failures lent support to the
legend of the impossibility of the
golf ball trick. The most notable
were reported made by the Duke
of Windsor. then Prince Of Wales,
and Bob Ripley of Believe 1t or
Not" fame, whose drives dribbled
down the sides of the rock pile into
the limestone gulch. Among the
forces supposed to make the feat
impossible were the attraction Of a
large body for small travelling
object, up drafts, down currents, the
eclipse of 1866 and the curse of Apis
the Bull. Sergt. Bodle, who beat
the bull, was caddymaster at the
Granville golf course for two years
and did we'll in an amateur tourna-
ment at Dayton in 1899.
Meanwhile, Fred Moore in his
eontemplative moments-very few,
as you may well guess If you know
the way these American Red Cross
men work in field service for the
troops-gazes out from his double
rooted, bamboo -poled Indian-mad
tent over the Alamein-T -Tunis fair
way.
From my tent" he told me, IT
can see camels, donkeys and carts
going past in endless professions.
No golfers! They belong to Arabs
and Italians trickling back to pas
ture and farm. The rainy season
brings carpet of green in the
coastal regions. ----~~--
Arabs Sight to See.
1.-The Arabs on the move are a
sight to see. They bring their fam
lilies and all their goods and chat
tells with them. You can see an
Arab on a donkey with sheep tied
In front of him, or on camel with
the chickens tied by the legs and
slung around the huge leather sad
die on which the Arab rides with
his wife behind him. Arab agri-
culture is most primitive and cons
trasts with the modern methods Of
the Italians. The Arabs plow con-
sists of two pieces of wood nailed
together and it only scratches the
ground. Deep plowing is unheard of.
The Italians have re-created bits
OF italy in the dessert. They have
built model villages on every hill
top as if it were an Italian town
there are numbers Of identical farm
houses with covered ways between
houses and outbuildings to give
shade when there are no trees. The
villages are complete with lamp
posts, sentry boxes and campaniles
-streamlined bits of Italy. Each
farm has it's own we'll and wind
driven pump"
Born in London, Mr.. Moore began
playing golf at the age of under
the tutelage of his father who was
also a pro. He comes Of golfing
family; his brother is a pro in Eng
land and several cousins are pros
in South Africa. He was in the last
war with the British artillery and
served in France, Gallipoli, Irak and
the northwest frontier of India.
Because he is 46, over age for the
Army, Mr.. Moore Joined the Red
Cross as q field director on Febru-
ary /, last, and left for overseas
during the first week in May.
(Released by North American
Newspaper Alliance.)
Loye-Mukino Halted