Championship Golf

In the past, the national amateur golf championship, a match-play tournament, has opened with 36 holes of qualifying medal play among contestants selected by the executive committee of the U. S. Golf Association. This arrangement had two disadvantages: 1) The committee was accused of favoritism. 2) The elimination of able players in the qualifying medal rounds sometimes robbed the ensuing match play of excitement. Three years ago the U. S. G. A. removed the first objection by inaugurating sectional qualifying rounds from which 160 players became eligible for the big tournament. However, since only 20% of the field ever reached match play, the second objection remained until last week when the U. S. G. A., meeting in Manhattan, radically simplified the championship plan to six straight days of match play, similar to the British method.

According to the new scheme, 180 players will graduate from the sectional qualifying rounds next August directly into the tournament match-play at Brookline, Mass. in September. Former champions will be exempt from qualifying. With the enlarged quota of eligibles (180 instead of 160) there is less chance of able players being eliminated in qualifying play.

Also U. S. G. A. named the Walker Cup team to play against Great Britain at St. Andrews in May: Francis Ouimet, captain; George T. Dunlap Jr., Harry Chandler Egan, Johnny Fischer, Johnny Goodman, W. Lawson Little Jr., Max Marston, Gus Moreland, Jack Westland. Notable was the dropping of McCarthy, Seaver, Johnston and Voigt. More notable was the selection of Chandler Egan, 50-year-old Oregon fruit grower who won his first national amateur championship 30 years ago, dropped out of national play for 20 years, came back strong in 1929. In last year's national amateur he defeated Johnny Goodman, open champion, in the first round of match play. Golf enthusiasts happily anticipated a colorful match between Egan and the British amateur champion, 55-year-old Michael Scott.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.