Evening star., 1952-06-03
Once an IS Shooter,
BassIer Has Big Ideas
For His Fourth Open
By MerrelI WhittIesey

By Merrell WhittIesey
In 1947 Charley Bass!er was an
assistant pro at Chevy Chase and
he qualified for his first National
Open golf championship. He shot
IS In the first round at st. Louis
and was Inundated. He thought
it was the worst thing that had
ever happened to him.
The next day he shot 70 and
failed to qualify for the last SO
holes. Of course, but even by break
ing 80 he thought he had some
what redeemed himself. "But I'll
be back" he said at the time. "and
make 'em forget that 85."
Now 80 years old and pro at
the Rolling Road Club. the strong.
handsome Baltimorean qualified
for his fourth National Open in
the sectional tests yesterday at
Mount Pleasant. winning q silver
medal for low scorer with 68-72-
140.
Improves in Open Play.
Charley has improved in his
Open showings each year. I'M
1850 In his second Open appear
ance. he shot 74-77-151 atMerion
in Philadelphia and just missed
qualifying for the final SO. Last
year at Detroit he tied for 21st and
missed being an automatic quail
fer this year by a single shot.
Charley started with q 70 over
the monstrous Oakland Hille
course last year, but had I'll
the second day. He shot 75-74l
for the final SO for 299 and would
have been a contender except for
the par-5 eighth hole. He had
two Is and two IS there.
BaSsler plans to leave Sunday |
afternoon for the Open champion
ship that starts a week from
Thursday over the Northwood
Club in Dallas. Each year Charley
has shown improvement in faster
company. with his semifinal ap-
pearance In the National PGA last
year his top performance.
II he can hit the ball as well
In the tournament at Dallas as
he did yesterday in making II
brides over the championship
Mount Pleasant course, this might
be the Open where he'll make 'em
forget the IS.
Harper Runs Second.
Second low qualifier yesterday
was veteran of more Open cham
pionships than he can remember,
Chandler Harper. of Portsmouth,
Va. the 1850 PGA champion. Har-
per took look at the eye-catching |
blue-studded silver medal on the
first tee and said he'd like to win
1t. Pros always have a tender
spot for q prize they can keep, as
most Of their awards are in cold
cash.
Chandler set out to win it with
q birdie-studded morning round
OF 70 and 3-under-par golf for
the first II holes Of the second
round. But he three-putted the
18th green, missing a 2-footer,
and blamed it on the type of
grass. He still was mad on the
18th and after his horrible tee
shot on the magnificent par 8
hole he was lucky to make 4. He
finished with 70-71-141, one
stroke back. .-
Bassler and Harper. both auto
matte qualiflers for the National
PGA, never showed their superior
1ty over the others in this sec
ton more than yesterday. It was
q tWo-man show all the way.
Bass Is Surprising Third.
Harper. who says he plays his
best golf. over tough courses,
couldn't remember ever having
finished better than 18th in the
Open. That was in 1916 in |
Cleveland, when he came to the
last hole at Canterbury needing
40-footer for a IS, which would
have broken the Open scoring
record. He three-putted for a 81
and shot POI, seven shots behind
winner Lloyd Mangrum.
The third spot yesterday was
won by a surprise performance by
Johnny Bass, pro at the Clifton
Park Club in Baltimore. Bass has
been shooting IT'S and 78s in tour
naments and he suddenly said to
himself that he couldn't be that
bad.
So he shot 73 and II for par
golf at Mount Pleasant, his best
performance in three years. He
said he didn't do anything diff
ferent except that he has been
playing more Of late. He has the
type Of swing that requires con-
stant play. Bass has been to the
Open three times and shot a II
In the first round at Los Angeles
In 1948.
NOTES-John ODonnell was
first alternate for the second
straight year. Last year he lost
q playoff for the last spot and
yesterday had 74-76-150. #
Washington. which hasn't housed
an Open qualifier in 10 years,
came closest with Frank Tenney,
the White Flint pro, and Bill
Markham. teaching pro at Wood
mont. both with ISIS. Anna
teurs Claude Wild and Keith
Kallio Of the District both were
1-over-par for IA holes Of their
first round and both finished with
79s. which is typical Of tourna-
ment golf at Mount Pleasant, one
Of the Nations best public layouts.
It was brought out that Bobby
Brownell called a stroke on him
self for touching his ball on the
eighth hole at Hillendale in losing