Evening star., 1954-12-08
By GrontIond Rice.

A mans true colorS will surface
quicker in a So Nassau" than
in any other form Of peacetime
diversion that I can name.
Golf lends itself nicely to the
10th hole, a. period of refresh.
ment, happy talk and COM
miseration. I've got a host of
stories there, not only from and
about golfers, but with head
liners of every sport and busi-
ness. Peeled down to his shorts,
a highball in one hand, an at
tested score card in the other,
it's hard for a man to be any
thing but himself.
Three amateurs, from 1907
through 1916, played leading
roles in the golf destiny Of this
country-Jerry Tfavers. Chick
Evans and Francis Ouimet. They
won both our Amateur and Open
titles.
Travers was the first on the
scene. Not physically equipped
to reach and hold any sustained
height, he nevertheless won our
Amateur crown four times-in
190N 1908 and in 1912. 1913
and the Open in 1918. New
York born, Travers rates as one
of the half-dozen greatest COM
petitors who ever played any
game. He had Ben Hogan's con-
centration. He couldn't use a
driver, so he used a No. l iron
off the tee. Never long but
straight as a string, he crushed
opponents with his approaching
and putting.
Evans Still Going Strong.
Chick Evans, the Chicago mar
vel, was playing title golf in 1906
and still plays superb golf today
--48 years later, the length of
our friendship. Chick. with his
extra long hickory shafts, won
the Open in 1916. the Amateur
that same year and again in
1920. A truly fine iron player.
Chick had the sweetest foot ac-
ton I've ever studied. Had he
been able to putt with the killing
GOODNESS of Travers, there would
have been no stopping him for
at least 10 years.
Our third great amateur be-
fore the age Of Jones was Fran
els Ouimet of Boston. AS a young
ex-caddie, Ouimet was most re-
sponsible for COLTS sudden boom
in America.
BY 1918 the United States had
outgrown it's knee britches in
practically all sports except golf.
The Scotch and British domi-
mated golf, with Harry Vardon
and Ted Ray. two of John Bulls
finest. Vardon had won the Brit
ish Open five times and was to
win it again in 1918. Ray took it
in 1912.
Backed by the London Times,
this pair came to America dur
ing the summer of 1918 and
toured the country, giving exhi-
bitions before record crowds at
record fees. Vardon, a we'll
built fellow with his publicized
overlapping grip, was the COM
plete stylist. Ray. however, was
a ponderous, stoop-shouldered
bear of a man who affected
walrus mustache, a Sherlock
Holmes pipe and the ability to
lunge into the ball with more
brute strength than anybody this
side of "Brisbane's gorilla"
Neither man was a talker but
Verdon, possessed of biting in
telligence. could be civil. AS for
Ray, he was usually as dour as
an elephant with sore foot.
Ouimet Enters Picture.
That 1913 Open, played at the
Country Club of Brookline. a
Boston suburb, was, nevertheless,
considered a shoo-in for Vardon
or Ray. Into this picture walked
unassuming Francis Ouimet, a
20-year-old local, as Boston as
the cod and just as cool. At the
end of u holes of medal play
over the rough par II layout.
it was Vardon, Ray and Ouimet
all tied.
More than 5000 braved a
steady drizzle for the. playoffs.
The smart money expected Oui-
L. - II