Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-07-13
70 Within ; Strokes
OF Two Leaders 6os
In Maryland Open
By MerreII WhittIesey

Open golf championship was
anybody's tournament going into
the final SO holes today at Manor
Club. You'd have to, say the
first round belonged to the golf
course.
For the benefit of anybody who
is not familiar with the $685.
yard layout (short as tournament
courses go), the front nine is
known as the woods nine, and
not without reason. On /. 2, 4, 6,
Z and 9 deep woods line both
sides of the fairways. The other
three holes are par-3S.
The back nine is longer, more
open, and made up of better golf
holes. Manor has dozens of
short, straight hitters who often
shoot par or near-par rounds on
the woods nine (from the front
tees) but can't break 40 on the
back. But among the better
players it's a different story when
the card and pencil is on them.
Woods Nine Takes Toll.
Among the % leaders. only five
players had par or better on the
woods nine yesterday. On the
back nine, Is shot par or better
among those same %. They re-
Taxed on the more open holes.
On the woods nine, with the
State Open title at stake, they
were tight. trying to squeeze the
ball down the middle.
At this point nothing is con-
elusive except that Charley Bass
Ter has regained his desire and
wants that fourth title, and that
Clarence Doser. the Woodmont
pro and favorite among those
who we're wagering, practically
is out of it.
Bassler, ailing and uninterested
in his golf game most of the
season. was trying hard yester-
day and with John O'Donnell,
the Virginia Open champion and
1899 Maryland Open titlist, led
the field with the only subpar
rounds, Cos.
The weather was absolutely
perfect. Most of the tee mark
ers were closer to the front than
they will be today. And the cups
were in the most favorable posi-
tions. Yet only two players broke
par. 1t was that Tightening on
the first six holes that sent most
of the scores up. even among
players you'd think were too sea-
soned to tighten.
Fans Look for Surprise.
Some of the onlookerS are
looking for a dark-horse cham
pion and they have good reason
after the first round. The par
shooters at 10 all were surprises,
John Eisinger, the June gradu-
ate of Duke; Bill Bassler, Char
ley's kid brother, and Keith Kali
lilo, the public links player who's
either very good or very bad.
Bill Downing of Bethesda
Naval and Severn White, the
Newport News pro VINO, let the
best round of the day get away,
had II along with Jack Isaacs,
like Bassler a three-time cham
pion: Spencer Overton, the So
year-old Maryland Amateur
champion, and Andy Gibson of
Baltimore, whose golf game is
made for Manor. White went
3 over on the last three for his
II.
NOTES-OVerton made the
best shot of the day, an 8-iron
smack into the cup for an eagle
two on the 384-yard 18th.
Dan Herring of Petersburg, run
nerup last year. had the best
out nine of the day, 33, but null
lifted that right away by driv-
ing out of bounds on the 10th,
-. The 70 by Bill McFerren, jr.,
the o. Of Maryland golf team
member, included an eight on
the ninth hole. but also included
only IL puts on the back nine
of 80.
The out-of-bounds stakes on
the first hole at Manor are lust
outside the righthand side of the
1alfWay but the only players who
drove out were Tim Cragg. run
nerup in the Middle Atlantic
Amateur and first player off the
tee, and Ben Hartig, his con-
queror in the Mid-Atlantic final
Hartig picked up at nine and
Cragg had IT,.
Twenty-Five amateurs were
among the low SIS and ties who
qualified for today's final, but
one OF the surprises was Ralph
Bogart, who made it with a 76
but is out of the running for
the title. Bill Crabbe, Charley
Muck and Joe Reposkey. playing
together, all had birdie Is on
the third hole, toughest par 3
on the course. OF the play
ers who know Manor best, only
Bobby Brownell, the District
Amateur champion, who grew up
at Manor, and Dewey Ricketts,
the former assistant and now
Brooke Manor Farms pro, were
among the leaders. Both had
72s. Young McFerren is from
Manor. but has been a member
only a few months.
Doser now has played SO holes
without a birdie. the pro-am at
Columbia last Friday and the
first round yesterday. Jay
Randolph had a par-35 on the
back nine with one par. He had
four brides and four bogeys.
Ralph Beach, the 1881 champion
: leads the senior pro division will,
a 70.