Evening star., 1961-09-12
Beman Meets
Tough Patton
AfterSqueaker
EARLY Lead Saves
Amateur Champion
In First Round
By LEWIS F. ATCHISON
Star Staff Writer

round of the 61st National
Amateur championship.
In his own words Beman
played IA holes as we'll as they
can be played" yesterday in
squeezing past 21-year-old
Hank Alters, a transplanted
Baltimorean who now lives in
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 1 up.
Deane had a medal score of 76,
including a 42 on the back nine,
over the par 36-36-72, STAT
yard course.
Patton, the happy-go-lucky
star from Morganton, N. c..
playing in his 18th National
Amateur, drew a bye through
the first round.
Led on Front Nine
II played the first 10 like a
machine" Beman said, "but I
played the next three like a 95
golfer"
Fortunately. the young in
sWance executive accumulated
a four-up lead on the first nine
with a sparkling two-under-
par "a. It cushioned the shock
of his collapse early on the back
nine where a double bogey and
three bogeyS helped Alters pick
up three consecutive holes and
force the champion to go all
the way to the last putt of the
18-hole match.
Beman needed 33 puts on
the not-So-tough Pebble Beach
course, but the long ones didn't
drop for him. A 7-footer on the
18th trimmed the cup, made a
U-turn and rolled back at him.
The Is and 20 footerS that he
usually tucks away like shoot
ing marbles missed by inches.
But it was Deane's approach
shots, not his putting, that
brought him to the brink OF
elimination by a youngSter
making his tournament debut
Missed on 11th
AS it turned out, Alters. a
Houston University student but
not a member of it's golf team
blew his chance to send the
match into overtime on the
18th hole where he missed an
18-inch putt as the gallery OF
some 200 groaned. 1t was here,
too, that Beman missed a
| 7-footer.
| Beman's game lost its punch
on the par-3 18th, where he
was down in 5 after being
trapped and then over the
green. Alters won that one and
the next two to slice the cham
pion's lead to l up to set the
stage for a pressurized, If not
brilliant, finish.
Alters missed a long putt by
inches and Deane was only a
fraction off with a 24-footer
on the 18TH. Alters had a
chance on the 218-yard 18th,
where he was hole high on a
ridge of sand while Deane was
trapped in front Of the green,
Beman just barely got out of
the trap with his second shot,
while Alters hit his second too
hard, and both were down in 4.
BOgart, WestIand Win
IT was horrible" Alters said,
"but I hung in there and tried
all the way. I was surprised I
lasted until the 18th. Deane's
better than that and he'd bet
ter play better tomorrow or
he'll get bumped"
Other survivors from the
Washington area were Ralph
Bogart and Representative Jack
Westland.
Bogart defeated Jim Tingley
of Douglaston, N. Y, 2 and /,
with the help of one birdie.
Tingley 1-putted IL green's but
had trouble reaching them.
Westland had it easy against
R. Keith Alexander, Canadian
Amateur champion, 5 and 4.
John Keger of Bethesda
bowed to Don Voth of Akron,
Ohio, 4 and 3, and Bill Buppert,
Beman's partner in the in
surance business. was elimi-
mated by Mark Stuart. jr., of
Larchmont, N. Y, and 4.
Seventy-two first-round win
ners joined 56 who had byes to
make up today's second round
of 1873.
Hyndman Beaten
Failing to reach it were John
Farquhar of Amarillo. Tex;
and Charles Lewis of Little
Rock, both semifinalists last
year; Bill Hyndman, the
Walker Cup player from Phila-
delphia, and Bill Campbell of
Huntington, w. Va, three
times a Walker Cup competitor.
Farquhar fell before 18-
year-old Dick Lotz of San
Lorenzo. Calf, 3 and l. while
Campbell was eliminated by
Andy Gard of Wellesley Hills,
Mass, l up. Hyndman lost, l
up. to Dick Davies of Pasadena,
Calf.
Ex-champions Jack Nicklaus,
the Ohio State husky who won
the 1859 title as a 19-year-old,
and two-time winner Charlie
Coe, 1949 and SO, of Oklahoma
City see their first action today.
! EX-champS advancing via