Ancient & Honorable

An old man of 94 stood on the first tee of New York's Apawamis Club. Nathaniel Vickers cleared his throat, bowed his shaggy white head and socked a golf ball --klonk. Far and true down the fairway flew the ball. "You're not going to play 18 holes, are you?" a bystander asked. "I came here," snapped Oldster Vickers, snipping each word as though he had scissors in his teeth, "with that i-dea."

Golfer Vickers--a British-born architect now living at Forest Hills, L.I.--was understating the case: he intended to play 36. He was one of the 321 veterans competing in the U.S. Senior golf championship (for players over 55), and he expected to last the two rounds. Seniors play only two rounds instead of four, compete in classes, from E (55 to 60), to A (75 and up). Last week Oldster Vickers had 21 golfers to beat. Largest gallery followed frisky Mr. Vickers and his partner, 86-year-old Rev. William W. Leete.

Every golfing oldster has heard about the fabulous legend of Canadian George Lyon, who scored a 70 on his 70th birthday, continued to "shoot his age" when he was 71, 72, 73, 74, 75. Last week there were no Lyons in the pack. Best Class A score for 36 holes was 180 (88-92), chalked up by C. T. Jaffray, 75, of Minneapolis.

But Venerables Vickers & Leete stole the show. Playing in a blustering wind the first day, Mr. Vickers turned in 119, the Rev. Mr. Leete 113. The second day, Mr. Vickers got 111, the Rev. Mr. Leete 103.

"Drat that pesky wind," muttered Mr. Vickers, when Sportswriter George Trevor of the New York Sun cornered him for a locker-room interview. "I haven't been that high in 30 years. The wind knocked me off balance." Then he reminisced:

"I didn't take up golf until 1902--when I was 55 years old--so you see I've been a senior right from the start. . . . Lessons?

No, I never paid for golf instruction in my life. . . . My best score? Well, I fancy that was the 76 I made at Belmont Manor, Bermuda, when I was 82. Came home in 36, if my memory serves. I used to shoot my age frequently in those days. ..."

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