USGA JOURNAL AND TURF MANAGEMENT: NOVEMBER, 1952 1

THROUGH XHE GREEN

The Senior Partner Delivers Jewish, during at least part of the time Being a conscientious Green Committee during delivery. Chairman, Philip Brown was deeply con­ "Again, we are happy over your satis­ cerned when the course became parched faction and assure you that we stand and began to go bad last July at the ready to serve your needs at any time." Maidstone Club, East Hampton, N. Y. Golfers in Politics In the locker room one Saturday after­ noon he spied some one who, he thought, , of Everett, Wash., the Amateur Champion, Prescott S. Bush, might be the very person to help him. of Greenwich, Conn., a former President He asked him if he could arrange for of the USGA, and Barry M. Goldwater, of some rain. Phoenix, Ariz., a four-handicap entrant "Well," said the other man, "I'll speak in the Amateur last August, all have been to The Boss. When would you like it?" elected to Congress, and it would seem "How about tonight, and tomorrow possible that they might be able to settle night?" some of their legislative questions in a "That's pretty short notice, but I'll try. four-ball with President Eisenhower. Better give me some alternative dates." Eisenhower is, of course, an enthusiastic Mr. Brown suggested the following member of the Augusta National Wednesday or Thursday. Club, where he spends vacations, and plays in the 80s. Nothing happened over the week-end Westland will represent the Second in the way of water. Nothing happened Washington District in the House of Wednesday. But at about noon on Thurs­ Representatives for the next two years. day there was a wonderful deluge. Bush will* represent Connecticut in the Mr. Brown promptly sent a telegram Senate for the next four years, having of thanks to his friend, who was then in been elected to fill the unexpired term of Pittsburgh. In a day or two he received the late Senator Brien McMahon. Gold- the following letter in reply from the Rt. water, a brother of Bob, will represent Rev. Austin Pardue, Protestant Episcopal Arizona in the Senate for the next six Bishop of Pittsburgh: years, having defeated the incumbent, "We are pleased to know of your satis­ Senator McFarland. AH three are Re­ faction concerning the delivery of rain publicans and will be serving for the first which was promised you this week on be­ time. half of my Senior Partner and myself. Eisenhower will be our first golfing We assure you that there will be no de­ President since Harding, who died in livery charge, although we would have 1923. When in Washington in the past, you bear in mind that in this life nothing he has played at the Burning Tree Club. is free — not even salvation. "Should you like further delivery, we Bob Jones' Portrait would be pleased to give consideration The painting of Bob Jones, which is to an abundance of the desired commodity being given to "Golf House" bv some on each Sunday morning between the members of the Augusta National Golf hours of 8 A. M. and 1 P. M. Club, will, we expect, be formally pre­ "Naturally we would expect the Com­ sented on the afternoon of the Associ­ mittee to report at one of our various ation's annual meeting, January 31, and branch offices, Protestant, Catholic or will fill an obvious void here. 2 USGA JOURNAL AND TURF MANAGEMENT: NOVEMBER, 1952

Thomas E. Stephens, of New York, an Who Has an Old Vise? artist who painted many of the nation's This note is addressed to old-time pro- leading citizens, has been working on fessionals. the porl:rait for some time, and it is now Weare most anxious to find one of nearly completed. The gift is the sug- the old-fashioned, spring-jaw vises used gestion of Clifford Roberts, but several by club-makers in the era which ended other members of the Augusta National in the early 1900s, and would appreciate share in the contribution. any information any of our readers may Stephens also has been commissioned have on where such a vise might be pro- to do a portrait of , in his cured. red coat as Captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews. Scot- land. This portrait, too will hang in Foxburg's Sixty-fifth '"Golf House" as a contribution from The Foxburg Country Club in Foxburg, William H. Danforth and Edward E. Pa., calmly celebrated the sixty-fifth an- Lowery. niversary of its founding, in 1887, with a tea and buffet supper on September 27. Coun:ry Club of Detroit and Merion will re- A Ma"er of Opinion turn to the Country Club of Detroit, in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., in 1954, after One of the most common questions, in a lapse of thirty-nine years. sports discussions, concerns the relative The Country Club of Detroit last en- abilities of players of different genera- tertained the Championship in 1915, when tions. There is, of course, no absolute Robert A. Gardner won for the second answer, which may explain why the ques- time by defeating the late John G. Ander- tion has persisted. son in the final. It happens to be the home The PGA and the WASHINGTONPOST club of James D. Standish, Jr., President recently undertook to determine a con. of the USGA in 1950 and 1951, and sensus on the question for golf by ask- Mr. Standish was a quarter-i}nalist in that ing its 3,032 member professionals and 1915 Championship. 900 newspaper and radio men to submit The 1954 Curtis Cup Match will be on ballots their choices as the ten lead- played at the Merion Golf Club, in Ard. ing native or naturalized United States more, Pa., scene of nine previous USGA amateurs and professionals of the last competitions. fifty years. More than 500 responded, The dates of both will be fixed later. and the results were: PROFESSIONALS AMATEURS Mawhinney and Hunter Turn Pro 522 Bob Jones 515 519 447 Bill Mawhinney, of Vancouver, Canada, 504 Francis Ouimet' 446 who lost in the semi-final round of the Sam Snead 499 389 Amateur Championship at Seattle last 491 Frank Stranahan 365 351 331 August, has announced his intention of 304 Johnny Goodman 307 competing on the United States winter Macdonald Smith 172 Jerry Travers 269 tour as a professional. 145 211 Macgregor Hunter, former California Jimmy Demaret 117 203 Amateur Champion, also has given up We.have no quarrel with the consensus his amateur status to accept a position on a. matter such as this, but we note as playing professional at the Riviera with surprise that, among others, Walter Country Club, n~ar Los Angeles, where Travis and were not rated his father, Willie Hunter, is head profes- among the ten greatest amateurs and sional. Johnny McDermott and BQth have great golf games, and we were not placed among the ten greatest wish them every success. professionals. USGA. JOURNAL KSD Irnr MANAGEMENT: NOVEMBER, 1952 3

Golf of Our Fathers SPORTSMAN'S CORNER W. K. Montague, of Duluth, Minn,, has written a golf book bised on a really sound premise, "Like most of my golfing friends and. probably, like most American golfers,'"1 lie writes. 4T started playing golf with little appreciation of its spirit and no knowledge of its traditions. The other Jay 1 met a man who had caught brook trout for years without ever easting a fly or hearing of Izaak Walton. Our golf courses are crowded with eluh wielders who have as little conception of the na­ ture of the game they are trying to play. And not all of these are in the dub class. In the hop»* that some of them ran he led to a different outlook on the game, this hook is written. The book is entitled "The Golf of Our Fathers"* and is being privately printed and distributed hy Air. Montague. We can only say thai recipients are fortunate Dave Stanley individuals, Courage has many facets, but under­ lying all of them are persistence and hope. Jynior Sectional Qualifying Often these qualities are rewarded. In order to give qualifiers for the 1953 There is, for example, the case of the Junior Amateur Championship more lime son of the coal miner in Piiision, Pa„ to reach the Championship proper at the whosa right hip had been gradually rav­ Southern Hills Country Club, in Tulsa, aged by osteomyelitis for eleven years and who had suffered three attacks of Okla., the date for sectional qualifying rheumatic fever. He walked in pain, has been changed from Tuesday, July 21, and he was permitted to place no strain to Monday, July 20, on his heart. Hardly a promising start for a golfer. At the age of 15, an operation on the Fifty Years of Westerns hip was successful beyond highest hopes, The Women's Western Golf Associa­ but the boy still was debarred from tion has started its fiftieth year and Mrs. athletic activity and moved to Los An­ geles, so that the sunshine might further John Eliot Warner, of the Cleri View his recovery. Club, Coif, 111., has become the new In his quest for extra money, he began President. This marked the second time to and work part-time at the tin; Association has had a golden celebra­ Montebello municipal course. At first, he didn't even dare to avail himself of tion. In 1950 the Golden Championship his opportunity to play with the other of the WWGA was played at the Exmoor on Mondays, but eventually the Counlry Club. After two tournaments had contagious enthusiasm of the many good been conducted by the Western Golf As­ golfers there reached him, and he began to risk some practice strokes on the driv­ sociation, a men's group, the women in ing range. Then he risked a few tenia- and around Chicago decided in 1903 to tive_ starts in competitions. inaugurate their own association and to Five years later his courage was re­ conduct the already well known Cham­ warded. A healthy young man, Dave Stanley won the Amateur Public Links pionship for Women of the WGA. On a Championship, at the Brown Deer Park 'Continued on Pagr 4) Golf Course in Milwaukee in 1951. USGA JOURNAL AND TLRF MANAGEMENT: NOVEMBER, 1952

Fifty Years of Westerns operations of 56 public courses in 1951. (Continued from Page 3) The meat of the summary, of course, is hot day in July, 1903, delegates from contained in a lengthy and detailed tabu- twenty-one clubs assembled in Chicago lation, but the summary also produced the and formed the WWGA. following conclusions of general interest: It now has 308 member clubs, and last "I. Of the 56 cities reporting, 33 season conducted three championships. operated their golf courses on a self- Meanwhile, the WGA also has con- supporting basis; 23 did not. In some ducted its fiftieth Amateur Championship, cases the profits from concessions at the Exmoor Country Club, and Frank and refectories are included in the Stranahan reversed the result of the Brit- course income; in others it is not. ish Amateur final by defeating Harvie "2. The cost of operation per Ward, Jr., 3 and 2. It was Stranahan's player varies from 31 cents to $1.81, fourth victory in the event. the average being around 65 cents. Many factors must be considered, In a Fog mainly the type of maintenance and condition of the course. A properly Francis Ouimet tells the story of a maintained course will attract all golf game he had with John Beck, once Cap- enthusiasts. tain of the British Team, on a Scottish morning so foggy that the "3. Season-ticket pol icy and players could scarcely see each other and charges vary quite a bit, with several the finding of a ball became as important attractive reductions for women and as the execution of a stroke. juniors. The cost of daily tickets for Beck prowled along one fairway for 9 or 18 holes also varies. The average some 300 yards in search of his ball and green fee for 18 holes is $1.00 and finally, by rare good fortune, came upon for 9 holes, 60 cents. Many courses his caddie. ~ have discontinued a 9-hole ticket, but others have substituted a twilight, re- "Where's my ball," he asked. duced rate after 5 P.M. About half "Mr. Beck," the caddie responded, the courses increase the daily ticket "You haven't hit your drive yet." rate on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. Mr. Grace's Aces "4. Where concessions or refec- At the age of 74, Eugene Grace has tories are in operation, 31 are let out made his fourth hole-in-one. He holed on contract; 16 are operated by the a No. 4 iron tee shot on the 159-yard city itself; eight are run by the pro, eleventh hole at the Saucon Valley Coun- usually as a part of his compensa- try Club, Bethlehem, Pa. tion; one by a caretaker, and one by a steward. Seventeen serve complete That is where Mr. Grace and his fellow- meals; twenty serve beer, and only members were such wonderful hosts to three serve liquor. The income to the the contestants in the 1951 Amateur city from this source varies greatly. Championship. Mr. Grace is Chairman of the Board of Bethlehem Steel Co. "5. Most of the cities listed are in the northern half of the United States, but even in this territory, Public Course Operation weather conditions vary quite a bit. RECREATION, the official publication of Of the 56 cities, 21 keep their courses the National Recreation Association, car- open during the winter, although a ried in a recent issue a summary of a few make no charge during this survey made by Bridgeport, Conn.,. of the period."