Golf for Fun

Billy Joe Patton is the spectacled, spectacular amateur golfer who finished the recent Masters Golf tournament just a stroke behind golfdom's two top pros, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead. After the Masters-where he sprayed his tee shots into the woods, then scrambled to some remarkable recoveries-grinning Billy Joe announced: "I hope I can come back next year. If I can nudge it up a little higher, we'll really have ourselves a roaring good time."

Last week the Morganton (N.C.) lumber salesman was having a roaring good time in the North & South Amateur at Pinehurst, a match-play event where one badly bungled hole is not so costly as in medal play. In the second round, Billy Joe put out Defending Champion Bill Campbell, a U.S. Walker Cup player; later, Alex Welsh, a lawyer from Rockford, 111., upset the former U.S. and British amateur champion, Dick Chapman. Welsh and Billy Joe met in the final, scheduled for 36 holes.

One down on the 35th hole, Billy Joe Patton plunked his tee shot into a trap, but staved off defeat by blasting out and sinking a ten-foot putt while Welsh was getting his par in a more conventional manner. Despite a tee shot deep into the woods, Patton won No. 36, to even matters with another scrambling par. "I never let well enough alone," observed Billy Joe with a grin as he watched his tee shot dribble into the rough beside a bush in the extra-hole playoff, where one miscue meant the match. "Here I go putting the ball back into the woods; I have to play trick shots all afternoon."

Billy Joe played his trick shot, lacing a No. 6 iron through a narrow opening, up and over a yawning trap, and landing the ball about 45 feet from the pin. After his approach putt, Billy Joe was still five feet away, while Welsh had a mere two-footer. Patton confidently plunked his five-footer into the cup. Welsh, finally unnerved by Billy Joe's breezy confidence, missed the two-footer and lost the match.

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