USGA JOURNAL:August, 1948 1 THROUGH THE, GREEN Nelson 'Yhitney :Memorial Unsung Record.Breakers A Nelson Whitney Memorial Trophy is At least three golfers now share the to be placed in annual competition to com- unusual distinction of having set new scor- memorate the well-known New Orleans ing records in the Open Championship golfer who passed away this year. without ever having won the title. Through special tournaments held at In 1936 at Baltusrol, Harry Cooper New Orleans clubs, funds are being raised finished four rounds in 284, breaking by for purchase of the trophy by the Associa- two strokes the previous record made by tion of Commerce Sports Committee, Chick Evans in 1916 and equalled by Gene headed by Joseph Gumbel, who is Presi- Sarazen in 1932. The honor was brief, for dent of the Louisiana State Golf Associa- half an hour later Tony Manero finished tion and a member of the USGA Sectional with 282 to win the Championship. Affairs Committee. In 1948 at Riviera, the situation was re- Mr. Whitney, a member of the USGA peated. Jim Turnesa finished early with Executive Committee in 1920-21, was a score of 280, breaking by one stroke Southern Amateur Champion 1907-08-13- the record made by Ralph Guldahl in 1937. 14-19, Trans-Mississippi Champion 1919, Then Jimmy Demaret scored 278. Finally, and Louisiana Amateur Champion 1923. Ben Hogan came in with his winning 276. Golf in Japan Almost three years after the end of the war, the Japanese have restored golf to x the point where it was possible to conduct a professional tournament recently at the Tokyo Golf Club. The winner was Yoshiro The Busy Juniors Hayashi, ,27, who scored 72-74-146. Thirty-six players participated, and the Few if any associations have adopted a purse was 30,000 yen (the American mil- junior golf program as enthusiastically as itary rate is 270 yen to the dollar). has the District of Columbia Gol f Associa- Prior to the war there were 62 golf tion. The DCGA this season set up a pro- courses in Japan, and the game was rivaling gram of 16 events entirely for juniors and baseball in popularity. Most courses were has a Junior Golf Sponsoring Group to devoted to crops during the war, and only raise money to sponsor the program. 18 remain. A golf course contractor is Some of the more promising juniors will now engaged in constructing two more 18- compete in the USGA Junior Amateur hole courses. Championship and other tournaments away from home, but players of less ability may 'Yisconsin Caddies for 'Yisconsin participate in the program. On five oc- casions, junior field days are being held at The Wisconsin State Golf. Association District clubs and the players receive and the University of Wisconsin are co- group lessons from the club professionals. operating in selecting deserving caddies to The pros cooperating are: Fred McLeod of attend the University under Allis Caddie Columbia, George Diffenbaugh of Ken- Scholarships, starting in the fall. wood, Clagett Stevens of Manor, Al The Allis Caddie Scholarship Fund of Houghton of Prince George's, Wiffy Cox the Evans Scholars Foundation receives of Congressional. its financial support from interested per- 2 USGA JOURNAL:August, 1948 sons who donate $5 annually. All dues from teur, Trans-Mississippi Amateur and the Wisconsin are credited to the Allis Fund Midwest PGA Match Play Tournament. and are used exclusively for Wisconsin boys attending colleges in Wisconsin. Can- To the Ladies! didates must be good caddies, in need of financial assistance and rank in the upper A group of ladies were having a forum quarter of their high school class. on the 1948 Rules of Golf. Eventually, dis- cussion got around to new Rule 7 (5) hav- ing to do with ground under repair. (This These Authors! is a section which, although new to the There is a popular suspicion that an Rules book, comprises elements of various author will go to almost any length to pro- USGA interpretations over many years.) mote the sale of his book, but Ben Hogan's Part of the conversation went this way: victories in the PGA and the Open Cham- THE EXCITABLEONE-"Why, I just think pionships are above suspicion in this re- that's a terrible rule. The players will just spect. Nevertheless, Hogan seems on the be moving balls all the time. Might just as way to becoming a best-selling author. well do away with the stymie rule." Byron Nelson's Winllillg Golf, published THE CALMONE-"I don't think so. After all, the opponent is there to make claim a year ago last spring, is believed to have if the ball is moved without reason." had the largest sale of any golf book ever ANOTHERVOICE-"I have an old USGA de- published. Almost 70,000 copies have been cision on file which says that ground under sold. repair should be so marked but need not be. Early last spring, Hogan's Power Golf I suppose the revised rules make that decision obsolete, though." appeared and had sold some 30,000 copies even before Hogan scored his "double." STILLANOTHERVDICE-"It seems to me that ground under repair is a question of The publisher believes the Hogan book fact. Distinction must be made, however, now has a chance to surpass the Nelson between ground in need of repair and ground book. actually being repaired." OTHERVOICEs-"Does it mean we can move Kansas City uOsears" away from divots on the green?" ... "Heav- ens, no! That would be ground in 1zeed of The Kansas City Golf Association re- repair but not actually being repaired." cently established five Gof-fer Awards to EXCITABLEONE-"Well, if my ball ever be presented at the end of the season, in landed in some such place and it wasn't the manner of Oscars, to the outstanding marked, I'd play it as it lay rather than take players, male and female. In order to de- a chance." termine the players to be honored, a point CALMONE-"Even if it lay on newly seeded system has been set up for performance in and sprinkled ground where your own com- mon sense told you the greenkeeper wouldn't all major tournaments in the area. want you even to walk?" Twenty-five points will be awarded to We report the foregoing to exhibit and winners of medal play events, twenty to to commend the keen interest of ladies in runners-up, fifteen for those finishing third, the Rules of Golf. It is through such dis- and ten for those finishing fourth. A cussions that the truth in the Rules is medalist or co-medalist in a match-play brought out. tournament will earn ten points. Five points will be awarded for qualifying in a cham- To the ladies! pionship flight, for winning each match and for each round of par or better in a Fishing Pole Club stroke play event other than a quali fying At the recent Open Championship, Chick round. Evans used a 48-inch driver, not unlike These points will be applied to the USGA the "fishing pole" clubs of earlier vintage. Open, USGA Amateur, Missouri State After outdriving George Von Elm and Championship, the KCGA City Champion- Olin Dutra off the first tee in the second ships at match and stroke play, the Heart round, Chick was elated over the long club: of America Tournament, \Vestern Ama- "It's fine for old men like me." USGA JOURNAL: August, 1948 3 Kebo Valley's 60 Years SPORTSMAN'S CORNER When the directors of the Kebo Valley Club in Bar Harbor, Maine, closed their season last Autumn, they were most op­ timistic. The Club, one of the oldest in the country, had enrolled 30 new members, raising the total to 90, and appeared to be in excellent condition for the celebra­ tion of its 60th anniversary this summer. Then came the Bar Harbor fire which destroyed 300 homes and burned the club­ house to the ground. A club which has survived for 60- years can almost invariably survive a fire, how­ ever, and Kebo Valley is no exception. It came through another fire in 1899, and its new Tabloid History, prepared by John J. O'Brien, now Club President, furnishes ample testimony that it will survive with the rest of the famous resort town. Very few clubs in the United States can boast 60 years of continuous existence. Kebo Valley was incorporated on April 27, 1888, by a group of hunt men from eastern cities. They did not have golf in mind at the time, but did build a half-mile race track, a baseball diamond and tennis courts at a time when the town was emerg­ William C. Campbell ing into a period of clubs and summer It was a first-round match in the 1947 Ama­ homes. teur Championship at Pebble Beach. William C. Campbell, of Huntington, W. Va., pushed The "golf ground," consisting of a few his drive toward the boundary in the elbow of holes, was laid out in 1891, and by 1892 the first hole. His opponent hit one down the there were six holes within and around middle. Campbell played a provisional ball, which also went toward the boundary. the race track. A nine-hole course was completed in 1896, measuring 2,500 yards; After much searching, Campbell walked the it was later extended to 18 holes. In 1903 long walk back to the tee. "My first ball was out of bounds," he said, "and my second is the Club applied for membership in the lost." USGA.