Evening star., 1947-07-15
Record Field Of lis
Begins Play in 18th
Maryland Open Golf
By MerreII Whithesey
Stav SfaH cerrsspendsnf


BALTIMORE, July 15.-The &C
cent was on the amateurs In the
26th Maryland Open golf champion
ship here today at Rolling Road,
with the 10-time host club cham
. pion, Spencer Overton, and the
present Maryland amateur titlest,
Bobby Brownell, each conceded an
excellent chance to break the pro
monopoly on the Old Line crown.
A record field of us teed OF
with the pros scrapping for 81 1000
over the 36-hole route and the
consensus was that Brownell's rec
ord score OF 1876, made in 1941, would
be beaten before nightfall.
Overton gained . lot Of backing
after he ran away with top honors
in 4 Middle Atlantic PGA pro-
amateur tournament here yester-
day with 3-under par Ct, over his
home course, which was too shots
better than anybody in the field.
The 43 pros who competed in the
pro sweeps comprised record entry
for that type tournament.
DEVWuGA 1VS1 "nhCIs
Brownell won the State Open IN
1941 at Elkridge with q 1856 total,
. score unmatched by . lot OF fine
golfers in this tournament for more
than quarter OF century, and
one of the few amateur triumphs,
but if the record is to be broken
it will be over this birdie-susceptible
layout. Charley Bassler, the big hit
ter from Chevy Chase, won the
Maryland servicemen's tournament
here last year with 1873 for SO holes
and this used to be BaSsler's home
course before he turned pro.
It's the type of course that is good
to know. Incidentally, those were
not flying discs seen here yesterday.
They were Bassler's clubs flying
through the air after he took nine
strokes on the 18th hole to ruin
par round up to that point. The
Chevy Chase assistant pro got be-
hind a tree and took four whacks
to get out.
OF the 43 Maryland, Virginia and
District pros who turned out yes
terday, East Potomac's Cliff Spen-
Ger, Ralph Beach Of Suburban and
two members of the Virginia dele
CATION, Harold Oatman and ex-
champion John O'Donnell, broke
par with 69's to chase Overton by
two strokes.
Four Deadlock at IL.
Another former champion, Andy
Gibson. Kenwood's George Diffen-
baugh, National Open and PGA
qualifier Walter Romans and Bob
Grove Of Frederick, deadlocked at
II each in the pro sweeps.
Grove, the Frederick, Md, pro
who has been a steady contributor
to the one-day tournament over
several years, got some of his money
back when he paired with a G. C.
Of Maryland amateur, Ed Sterner,
to post handicap best ball 81 and
tie Beach and Fred Nassauer in the
pro-am.
Other pro-am winners were Beach
and Nate Kaufman, jr., and David
Halle with 62s, Romans and S. C..
Hustled. Ward Burgess and Harvey
Hall, Glenn Spencer and Overton,
Diffenbaugh and Don Miller with
63s and Grove and II. M. Brown
and Charles Betschler and G.. E.
Miles, .jr., with Gas. p, T..
Johnston Shoots ". 7''-.
The best scorer among the anna |
teurs was Eddie Johnston, with II,
while Ralph Bogart, Miller and Herb
Wagned had TBS. Amateur handi-
cap winners were Sterner with 78-
lift and Carter Grimm Of Win
chester with 75-8-67.
Brownel had a rs, one of his
highest scores Of the year, but his
round included five brides and he
practiced more than three hours
after his round and declared he
had found his stroke and was aim
ing for the double of the State
amateur and Open crown in the
same year.
The pros were thankful that Lew
Worsham won the National Open,
for If he were not the Open cham
pion he probably would be here.
Another logical favorite, Otto Grein-
er, decided to try his luck in the
Canadian Open, starting tomorrow,
and passed up the event. First prize
Is $3.50 with other money prizes
scattered throlIph 10Th place of SOS