A Women's Championship-International Style o THE GALLERIES at the Allegheny T. Country Club, in Sewickley, Pa., it appeared to take quite a long time to de- USGA CHAMPIONS OF 1954 termine the 1954 Women's Amateur Champion, because 29 hours and 15 min- OPEN utes, including a full night of darkness, ED FURGOL elapsed between the first tee shot and the last putt of the final. Westwood Country Club Clayton, Mo. For Miss Barbara Romack, however, it took considerably longer than that. Her AMATEUR victory over Miss Mickey Wright in the final culminated years of analysis, practice, ARNOLD D. PALMER . testing and the heart-break which goes Pine Rid~e Country Club with hard work not quickly rewarded. Wickliffe, Ohio This intelligent perseverance, which Miss Romack has in abundance, probably WOMEN'S AMATEUR has been underestimated. She lends a charm- MISS BARBARA ROMACK ful touch to a tournament, and galleries Del Paso Country Club find it difficult to associate the two quali- Sacramento, Cal. ties in a 22-year-old girl. The fact that it was also the longest WOMEN'S OPEN final in point of time in the history of MRS. GEORGE ZAHARIAS USGA Championships was, therefore, of Tam O'Shanter Country Club only secondary insignificance. Niles, Ill. The two girls from sunny California were scheduled to start at 9:30 A.M. on AMATEUR PUBLIC LINKS Saturday but a thunder and lightning GENE ANDREWS storm, with heavy rain, delayed them. As Rancho Golf Course soon as the storm let up, the girls played Los An~eles, Cal. away, but as they were walking after their drives on the second hole the storm came JUNIOR AMATEUR on again in all its fury and they marked their balls and retired to the clubhouse. FOSTER BRADLEY. JR. They returned to finish the first eighteen Griffith Park Golf Course holes Saturday afternoon, and the second Los An~eles, Cat round had to be played Sunday afternoon. In 1925~the whole final of the Women's GIRLS' JUNIOR Amateur Championship at the St. Louis MISS MARGARET SMITH Country Club had to be delayed a day Guadalajara Country Club because of heavy rain, and in 1901 the Guadalajara, Mexico whole final of the Amateur Championship was delayed a week because of the death of President McKinley. Teams plus the Champions of Belgiu~, The split final climaxed the most inter- Canada, Cuba, and Mexico, and a former national event in the history of this par- Champion of The Argentine. ticular championship. The starting field of While this added great flavor and ex- 144 players included all the members of citement to the Championship, only one the British and United States Curtis Cup foreign Champion, Miss Wiffi Smith, of USGA JOURNAL AND TURF MANAGEMENT: NOVEMBER, 1954 15 American Beauties at Allegheny Isaac B. Grainger concedes thai one of his more enjoyable duties as President of the USGA came when he fell among these American Beauties while presenting the prizes after the Women's Amateur Championship. They are, of course, the roses, Miss Barbara Romack, of Sacramento, Cal., and Miss Mickey Wright, of San Diego, Cal., in that order. Miss Wright had been runner-up to Miss Romack. Mexico, had the good fortune to reach not only stole everyone's heart but also the quarter-finals, and she came to the proved to be an extremely promising play­ end of her trait there in a match with er even though she could not get past Miss Romack. Miss Polly Riley, of Fort Worth, Texas, The British Champion, Miss Frances in the fifth round. Miss Garvey lost to Stephens of England, bowed to Miss Vir­ Miss Mary Lena Faulk, of Thomasville, ginia Dennehy, of Lake Forest, 111., by one Ga., in the same round. hole—in fact, by one putt—in the second The Championship again was conducted round, and so it went for all the other entirely at match play, with the draw foreign stars, sooner or later. The Canadian being made after registration at the site Champion, Miss Marlene Stewart, fell vic­ of the Championship. Those who emerged tim to Mrs. Maxon Berger, of Buffalo, N.Y., from five rounds of eighteen-hole match also by one hole, in the fifth round. play to the quarter-finals were Mrs. Ber­ The last survivors of the British Curtis ger; Miss Faulk; Miss Wright; Miss Riley; Cup Team were Miss Janette Robertson, a Miss Smith; Miss Romack, Mrs. Marjorie 19 year old from Scotland, and Miss Philo- Linsay McMillen, of Decatur, III.; and Miss mena Garvey, of Ireland. Miss Robertson Barbara Bruning, of White Plains, N. Y. 16 USGA JOURNAl AND TURF MANAGEMENT. NOVEMBER, 1«4 Miss Faulk's attempt to defend her title The' Curtis Cup Match was particularly stirring because she took It is likely that the good time everyone it all the way 'to the semi-finals, where had together at the Allegheny Country MissWright, who is only 19 years old, final- Club traced in part to the excellent ex- ly stopped her with one-over-par golf. It ample of friendly rivalry furnished by the has been fourteen years since Miss Betty two Curtis Cup Teams. And their exam- Jameson provided a precedent for such a ple 'was a natural by-product of their fine performance by winning two successive match at the Merion Golf Club, in Ard- Championships. Miss Faulk couldn't quite more, Pa., a week before the Champion- do that, but she came powerfully close. ship. Miss Romack defeated Mrs. McMillen The United States Team, captained by in the other semi-final by playing twelve Mrs. Harrison F. Flippin, a member of the holes in one under par, which approximated Merion club, regained the Cup and did it the medicine Mrs. McMillen had been giv- convincingly. It won all three foursomes ing her opponents up to that time. by safe margins on the first day, which It will b~ difficult for Clubs entertaining . placed an almost insuperable load on the this Championship in the future to match British Isles Team in singles play. the standard of thoughtful hospitality es- Then the British started to play. Miss tablished by the Semple brothers, their Stephens, the British Champion, and Miss committee and the enthusiastic members Faulk, then the United States Champion, of Allegheny. It was just about impos- came together in the No. 1 match, and sible to distinguish the winners from the it went to Miss Stephens by a hole after losers, everyone was having such a good a birdie-birdie finish. Miss Faulk squared time all through the week. ita t the seventeenth in the afternoon The Championship was the first at Al- with a birdie 2. Miss Stephens holed a legheny, and the flying of the USGA flag difficult putt for a birdie 4 on the last on its flagpole was clearly overdue. Al- hole, to win after Miss Faulk missed a some- legheny contributed the 1906 Amateur what shorter one. Champion, Eben M. Byers, and the 1922- That match seemed to inspire an even 23 USGA President, J. Frederic Byers, divisicn of the singles points, three to each whose son is now a member of the Execu- side, so that the United States won by a tive Committee. score of 6 to 3. EIGHTH INTERNATIONAL M~ATCH FOR THE CURTIS CUP FOURSOMES British Isles United States Points Points Miss Frances stephens and Miss Mary Lena Faulk and Miss Elizabeth Price o Miss Polly Riley (6 and 4) 1 Mrs. George Valentine and Miss Claire Doran and Miss Philomena Garvey _ o Miss PatrIcia Lesser (6 and 5) _ Mrs. R. T. Peel and MIss Dorothy KIrby and Miss Janette Robertson _ o MIss Barbara Romack (6 and 5) 1 Total o 3 SINGLES Miss Frances Stephens (1 Up) 1 Miss Mary Lena Faulk 0 Miss Jeanne M. Bisgood , _ o Miss Claire Doran (4 and 3) 1 Miss Elizabeth Price _ o Miss Polly Riley (9 and 8) 1 Miss Philomena Garvey (3 and 1) 1 Miss Dorothy Kirby 0 Mrs. George Valentine _ o Mrs. Howard K. Smith (4 and 3) 1 Miss Janette Robertson (3 and 1) _ 1 MIss Joyce Ziske 0 Total 3 3 Grand Total . _ 3 6 Captain-Mrs. John B. Beck Captain-Mrs. Harrison P. Plippin USGA JOURNAL AND TURF MANAGEMENT. NOVEMBER, 1954 17.