USGA JOURNAL AND TURF MANAGEMENT SERVING THE USGA IN 1950 New officers elected at the annual meeting are: Richard S. Tufts, of Pinehurst, N. C., Secretary; Isaac B. Grainger, of New York, Vice- President; James D. Standish, Jr., Detroit, President; Totton P. Heffelfinger, of Minneapolis, Vice-President; John D. Ames, of Chicago, Treasurer. Wide World Photo WINTER ISSUE February, 1950 USGA JOURNAL AND TURF MANAGEMENT PUBLISHED BY THE UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION Permission to reprint articles herein is freely granted (unless specifically noted otherwise) provided credit is given to the USGA Journal. Vol. II, No. 7 WINTER ISSUE February, 1950 Through the Green..... ................ ........... ........................................... ....... 1 “Golf House”......................... ....... ..................... .......Joseph C. Dey, Jr. 5 Mr. McLemore’s Museum .................... ......... ........... Henry McLemore 8 A Club and Its Caddie Camp______________ __ _ John P. English 9 Why Championships?__ __________________ ____Richard S. Tufts 12 A Golfer’s Greatest Responsibility ........... . Thomas G. McMahon 14 Peace on the First Tee___________ ____ __________C. P. Burgess 15 “Only Way of Playing at the Golfe”___________________________ 18 The Referee: Decisions by the Rules of Golf Committee______ 19 Turf Management: USGA Green Section The Turf Program at Penn State___ _____ ____H. B. Musser 23 Subscribers to Green Section Service_______ __ ____________ 28 Contributions Received from Organizations in 1949...... 29 Contributions to State Experiment Stations 1945-1949 ____ 30 Annual Index to USGA Journal, Volume II___________________ 31 It’s Your Honor: Letters ____ __________ ________ _____ ________ 33 Published seven times a year in February, April, June, July, August, September and November by the UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 73 East 57th Street, New York 22, N. Y. Subscriptions: $2 a year. Single copies: 30c. Subscriptions, articles, photographs, and correspondence, except pertaining to Green Section matters, should be sent to the above addTess. Correspondence pertaining to Green Section matters should be addressed to USGA Green Section, Boom 307, South Building, Plant Industry Station, Beltsville, Md. Application for entry as second-class matter is pending. Edited by Joseph C. Dey. Jr. and John P. English. Advisory Committee—John D. Ames, Chairman: Isacc B. Grainger, Totton P. Heffelfinger, Curtis W. McGraw. All articles voluntarily contributed. printed in u. s. a. USGA COMPETITIONS FOR 1950 Curtis Cup Match: Sept. 4 and 5 at Country Club of Buffalo, Williamsville, N.Y. Women’s amateur teams, British Isles vs. United States. (Dates entries close mean last dates for applications to reach USGA office, except in the case of the Amateur Public Links Championship. For possible exceptions in dates of Sectional Qualifying Rounds, see entry forms.) Championship Open Rntries Close May 15 Sectional Qualifying Rounds May 29 Cham pionship Dates June 8-9-10 Amat. Public Links *May 26 Junior Amateur June 26 Amateur July 24 **June 11 Team: July 1 Seneca G. C. to 17 July 11 Indiv.: July 3-8 Louisville. Ky. July 19-22 Denver C. C. August 8 August 21-26 Minneapolis G. C. Girls’ Junior Women’s Amateur August 11 — Aug. 28—Sept. 1 Wanakah C. C. August 10 Aug. 24-25 September 11-16 Atlanta A. C. (E. Lake) Venue Merion G. C. (East) Ardmore, Pa. Denver, Colo. Minneapolis, Minn. Hamburg. N.Y. Atlanta, Ga. •Entries close with Sectional Qualifying Chairmen. **Exact date in each Section to be fixed by Sectional Chairmen. USGA Journal: February, 1950 1 THROUGH THE GREEN Perfectly Natural A fellow in Brisbane, Australia, caused quite a commotion. Drove a ball and then jumped, fully clothed, into the creek in front of the tee. It turned out to be a perfectly natural thing to do. Investigating members ar­ rived to see him emerging with his highly prized driver. It had simply slipped out of his hands and gone into the water as he drove. Two Putters and a Ball The USGA Golf Museum’s collection of historical clubs has been twice aug­ mented. Walter E. Egan, of Carmel, Cal., run­ ner-up in the 1901 Amateur Champion­ ship and winner of the 1903 Western Amateur, has kindly given the aluminum Braid-Mills putter he used then. Mrs. Macdonald Smith, of Glendale, Cal., graciously donated a similar put­ ter used first by the late Alex Smith in winning the 1910 Open Championship and later by his younger brother, the late Macdonald Smith, when he almost blocked Bob Jones’ Grand Slam in the 1930 Open Championship. Mr. Egan wrote of his contribution: “I recall two matches in which the putter figured vividly. Both were in the West­ ern Amateur in 1903 at the Euclid Club in Cleveland. “In the semi-final I played a local man named Brown. John D. Rockefeller for the first time, I believe, followed a golf match. On the 36th green, with the match even, I had a putt of some 25 feet to win. The Braid-Mills did the trick. “The next day, on the 37th hole against my cousin, Chandler, we were on the green alike, each about two and a half feet from the cup, so even in distance that a measurement had to be made. Chandler was away. He putted and the ball rimmed the cup. I realized that this probably would be the only time I might win the Western, and somehow the Braid- Mills again served.” The Museum already has a driver used by Chandler Egan, Amateur Champion in 1904 and 1905 and a member of the 1934 Walker Cup Team. The Smith putter, which has an un­ usual degree of loft, was received through the good offices of D. Scott Chis­ holm, of Ocean Park, Cal., a member of the USGA Museum Committee. “It is the wish of Mrs. Smith that the famous alum­ inum putter be given to the USGA and find a resting place for all time,” Mr. Chisholm wrote. “Mac used it in his last game at Bel-Air Country Club when he shot a great 70.” Through the kindness of Sam Snead, Mr. Chisholm also was able to donate the ball Snead used in making birdies on the last two holes to tie Ben Hogan at 280 in the 1950 Los Angeles Open at the Riviera Country Club. Snead won the play-off, 72 to 76. Salutes 1. To Ben Hogan, whose great faith and courage helped him return from the valley of the shadow to an incredible tie with Sam Snead in the Los Angeles Open, his first tournament in almost a year after his near-fatal automobile ac­ cident. 2. To Bob Jones, selected as the greatest golfer of the first half of the century in an Associated Press poll. Many people don’t confine that “greatest” superlative to any particular century as far as Mr. Jones is concerned. Walker Cup Ties Among the Christmas presents received by members of the USGA Walker Cup Team were special Walker Cup neck­ ties, gifts from the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, Scotland. 2 USGA Journal: February, 1950 35 Years A Champion Back in 1914, when W. Hamilton Gardner was just a young fellow, his golf was good enough to win him the Championship of the Country Club of Buffalo. Thirty-five years later (which makes it last fall) they entered Ham Gardner’s name again on the board as Club Cham­ pion. Is there anything to beat this in Amer­ ican golf? If there is, we’d like to know about it, and so would Henry Comstock and Ham Gardner’s other friends, be­ cause they gave him a dinner after his 1949 victory. But the tribute was not only for his golf record but for his rec­ ord as “a swell guy,” as the dinner invi­ tation phrased it. Ham Gardner has won the Club Cham­ pionship twelve times all told. And this in a Club where Paul Hyde took it ten THE GOLFER'S VOW The melancholy days have come. The fairways now are drear. The traps are filled with withered leaves, And greens are brown and sere. The locker room has lost the charm It held when skies were clear, And the echoes of "Sweet Adeline" No longer smite the ear. Confusion reigns within the club Where clothes and bags piled high Await the gang's departure 'Neath bleak and wintery sky, And in the gathering gloom of eve 'Mid winds and icy snow Dejected figures slink away To the place where the golfers go. Now the playing season's over And there's no place left to roam, So with hunted look he takes the trail Back to the wife and home. His mind is filled with haunting fear, Are the kids and wife still there? Will he be welcomed as of yore To his seat in the empty chair That has stood at the head of the table, Vacant since earliest spring? Will the baby recognize him, He who was once the king? Now his heart is filled with anguish And remorse with him abides, So he vows by the gods that never again Will he leave his fireside. But the golfer's vows are all the bunk, For he knows with the breath of spring He will leave the wife and kids again And do the same darn thing. -JUDGE EARLE F. TILLEY times between 1916 and 1946, and Parke Wright, a nephew of Walter J. Travis, won seven times. This is quite a semi- monopolistic state for an event that started in 1897. Doubt as to Amateur Status It is not customary for the USGA to originate announcements about amateur status investigations or personalities un­ less direct questions arise from an entry for a competition or unless it is neces­ sary to correct previous action. On the other hand, the Amateur Status and Conduct Committee is constantly ac­ tive investigating cases and reviewing ap­ plications for reinstatement. The USGA is naturally desirous that other associa­ tions and clubs be informed of and sup­ port its decisions. The policy of avoiding undue public embarrassment of individuals tends to make it difficult to keep golf officials in­ formed about rulings in which individ­ uals forfeit amateur status. To resolve this dilemma, the USGA henceforth will directly notify appropri­ ate sectional associations of pertinent ac­ tions on amateur status matters. Any club or other organization in doubt about the status of an entrant should feel free to write to its sectional association or to the USGA for up-to-date information. On the Bookshelf The Garden City Golf Club, on Long Island, has entertained five USGA Cham­ pionships and a Walker Cup Match. Three of its members—R. H. Robertson, Daniel Chauncey and Robert C. Watson— served as USGA Presidents. Four others —Charles Blair Macdonald, H. J. Whig­ ham, H. M. Harriman and Walter J. Travis—won the Amateur Championship. Having contributed so richly to the development of golf, the Club thrived with the game and reached its 50th an­ niversary last year. To mark the occa­ sion, it has published a handsome club history, written by H. B. Martin under the direction of C. Waller Barrett, Chair­ man of the Committee for the Book. There is much about Travis and his USGA Journal: February, 1950 3 Schenectady putter, which rests in a glass case in the clubhouse. The Schenectady was so called because it was made by a resident of Schenectady, Arthur T. Knight. Knight gave it to Edward Phil­ lips, who went abroad with Travis for the 1904 British Amateur, Martin relates. When Travis lost his putting touch just before the Championship, he tried the Schenectady in desperation. After his vic­ tory, he used it until his last champion­ ship, the 1915 Metropolitan Amateur, which he won at the age of 54. # « * The Women’s Metropolitan Golf Asso­ ciation also celebrated its 50th anniver­ sary last year and has published an au­ tobiography. This one is a monumental achievement in research for facts and photographs by the editor, Mrs. Edith Heal Berrien. Since the WMGA is one of the oldest women’s associations in the land, the volume is, in a way, a history of women’s golf. The WMGA is becoming quite literary. It also has inaugurated a chatty, illus­ trated quarterly entitled “Tee Talk” to carry tournament and handicap news and notes to its members. The humorous literature of golf has been run through a sieve by Dave Stan­ ley, and some fine particles have been placed in a Lantern Press volume entitled “A Treasury of Golf Humor”. These books are USGA Museum and Library gifts of real value. Profit Returned to Golf Although the USGA Amateur Public Links Championship has fewer money aspects than almost any major event you could name, the 1949 tournament pro­ duced a net profit of $2,537.35, accord­ ing to the Los Angeles sponsors. The excess all went back into golf. Maurie Luxford, General Chairman, reports that it was disposed of as follows: $1,014.94 to the Southern California Public Links Golf Association. $1,014.94 to the Municipal Sports Fund for the furtherance of golf activities. $507.47 to the USGA Green Section. SPORTSMAN’S CORNER Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Miss Betty Knoedler Her desire for victory was strong, but Betty Knoedler's belief in adherence to the Rules of Golf was overwhelming and it in part cost her the Western Pennsyl­ vania championship at the Allegheny Country Club last August. The 21-year-old South Hills Country Club champion had made successively better showings in each of the previous three years. At 18 she had qualified but lost by missing a short putt on the 18th hole of the first match. In 1947 she was medalist with an 80 at Oakmont and went to the second round. In 1948 she was runner-up at Edgewood. So Miss Knoedler hoped to win in 1949. She tied for the medal with a 78 and won her first two matches against formier champions. Then came the semi-final. Betty had Jane Martin, also a past winner, 1 down at the 17th tee. While addressing her ball for the second shot, Betty moved it slightly with her spoon. Although no one else had seen it, she declared a one-stroke penalty on herself. Miss Martin's second shot went into a trap near the green. Betty flubbed her third and reached the green in 4. Jane, on in 3, two-putted to win with a par 5 and square the match. Miss Martin also won the home hole and the match, 1 up, when Betty took 3 to reach the green and two-putted for a 5. Jane went on to win the title in 23 holes in the final. Betty Knoedler lost, but she earned a sportsmanship award. -PHIL GUNDELFINGER 4 USGA Journal: February, 1950 Western Golf Association Changes Officers The retiring President of the WGA, Maynard G. Fessenden (right), supervised increase in assets of the Evans Scholars’ Foundation to $115,000. He and Cameron Eddy, Treasurer (second from left), are showing the report to two incoming officers, Jerome P. Bowes, Jr., President, and Bob Hope, Director. During the1 WGA annual meeting, the resignation of John C. Kennan, Executive Vice- President, was accepted and he was named a Director by acclaim. Other new Directors are Hiram Lewis, Roy Moore, Hord Hardin, Harry Schall, Robert Walker and V. A. LeVoir. The new Executive Secretary is Joseph C. Hogan. Inspiration The Oakland Hills Country Club, Bir­ mingham, Mich., provided the USGA Journal editors with unparalleled inspir­ ation when it forwarded 432 subscrip­ tions representing the entire membership of the Club. Fielding Wallace, before retiring as USGA President, said it all when he wrote C. M. Houff. President of Oakland Hills: “While we have received a very fine response from our Member Clubs, I am frank to say that yours tops the list. I wish I could convey to you how much this means to us and how deeply grateful we are. Your wonderful support will act as an inspiration to spur us on. Obvious­ ly, the more subscribers we have, the more interesting and helpful our USGA Journal will be.” Alice in Blunderland A line of type was lost in the process of printing the Women’s Committee re­ port which formed a part of the Annual Report of the USGA Executive Commit­ tee. The statement that the first Girls’ Junior Championship “was won by Miss Barbara Bruning, of Chappaqua, N. Y., 2 up in the final” should have read “was won by Miss Marlene Bauer, of Los An­ geles, who defeated Miss Barbara Brun­ ing, of Chappaqua, N. Y., 2 up in the final.” USGA Journal: February, 1950 5 “Golf House” By JOSEPH C. DEY, JR. USGA Executive Secretary When the good members of the Golf Club in Savannah, Ga., held a New Year’s Eve Ball in 1811, they unwitting­ ly set in motion an odd series of events. The second stage in the sequence did not occur for well over a century. In April, 1935, George W. Blossom, Jr., was on a holiday at the Biltmore Forest Coun­ try Club, near Asheville, N. C. While writing letters he noticed above the desk an original invitation to the Golf Club Ball in Savannah in 1811. That crystallized an idea that had been nebulous in his mind for some time. He became convinced that the United States Gc If Association should establish a col­ lection center to preserve and exhibit golf items of historical value, such as the invitation to the ball, famous clubs, old golf balls, books, photographs, paintings, medals. Mr. Blossom, a Chi­ cagoan, was then a member of the USGA Executive Committee. He immediately wrote the USGA Pres­ ident, Prescott S. Bush, proposing the matter. Less than a year later, in Janu­ ary, 1936, the USGA announced a plan to establish a Golf Museum and Library, and three months thereafter it moved its little office in New York to slightly larger quarters. First Chairman of the Museum Committee was Mr. Blossom, who, inci­ dentally, later was USGA President, in 1942-43. Since then hundreds of worth-while items have been contributed to the USGA Golf Museum and Library — such irre­ placeable things as Bob Jones’ putter “Calamity Jane” . . . Mrs. Glenna Collett Vare’s famous spoon . . . several old feather golf balls of the early 1800s ... a track iron used for playing out of wagon ruts in Scotland in 1815 . . . clubs used by scores of American champions. Concurrent with growth of the Museum and Library, there has been marked in­ crease in volume of USGA general work, and the size of the New York office staff has grown proportionately. Thus, in re­ cent years the USGA has found itself in serious need of larger quarters, both for its regular work and to house properly the Museum and Library. Many items and books cannot be exhibited but must be stored; the entire collection cannot be cared for as it deserves. It is in the best interests of the game that there be a permanent exhibit, under USGA auspices, of items of historical value. It is equally desirable that the USGA’s fine library, including the green­ keeping lore of the Green Section, be available for easy reference by golfers generally. “Golf House” To meet all the needs, the Associa­ tion plans to obtain a modest building in midtown New York City, to be known as “Golf House”. It will be a place which individual golfers and USGA member clubs can feel is truly their own national golf headquarters. It is hoped that “Golf House” will be bought and equipped with donated funds; the USGA’s normal resources are not adequate for the purpose. Consequently, Golf-lovers and clubs and associations are cordially invited to become Founders of “Golf House”. Con­ tributions of any amount will be very acceptable. All contributions will be de­ voted exclusively to purchasing, equip­ ping and maintaining “Golf House”. The names of all donors will be recorded on a permanent roll. A nation-wide committee has been formed to invite golfers to become Foun­ ders, the Chairman being Daniel A. Free­ man, Jr., of New York. First contribu­ tion was received from Lincoln A. Werden, Golf Editor of the New York Times. It is hoped to establish “Golf House” before autumn, and, if possible, within a few months. Thus progresses the odd series of events. The old invitation to the Golf Club Ball in Savannah in 1811 carried a more lasting inspiration than was in­ tended for it. Perhaps those who respond 6 USGA Journal: February, 1950 to this invitation to help found “Golf House’’ will establish something even more inspiring. State of the USGA Decision to establish “Golf House” was announced by the Executive Commit­ tee at the Association’s 56th Annual Meeting in New York late in January. The Annual Meeting is a time for stock­ taking, as seen in the Executive Com­ mittee’s report for 1949. Following are some of the report’s main points, com­ bined with new decisions: The Rules of Golf Committee further clarified the Rules and issued a record number of 262 decisions. The Chairman, Isaac B. Grainger, noted adoption of a completely revised code by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, Scot­ land, for a two-year trial in 1950-51 and commented in part: “General liberal­ ization of penalties, although doubtless a popular step in the eyes of many players, is not possible without serious complications and inequities.” USGA representatives hope to confer with the R. and A. in 1951 on the possibility of a uniform code. 1950 Executive Committee The following officers and Execu­ tive Committee were elected at the 56th Annual Meeting to serve the USGA in 1950: President James D. Standish, Jr., Detroit Vice-Presidents Isaac B. Grainger, New York Totton P. Heffelfinger, Minneapolis Secretary Richard S. Tufts, Pinehurst, N.C. Treasurer John D. Ames, Chicago Executive Committee The above officers and J. Frederic Byers, Jr., Pittsburgh Frederick L. Dold, Wichita, Kans. T. R. Garlington, Atlanta, Ga. Charles B. Grace, Philadelphia Lewis A. Lapham, San Francisco Charles L. Peirson, Boston Corydon Wagner, Tacoma, Wash. James W. Walker, New York General Counsel Fraser M. Horn, New York The Championship Committee’s Chair­ man, Richard S. Tufts, pointed to golf’s expansion in smaller cities and towns, especially in the South, and noted that in 1949 “every winner and every runner- up in our male championships except the Public Links came from southern territory, and usually from a small town (the same was true of the PGA Cham­ pionship).” Regarding slow play, Mr. Tufts commented: “Careful play is com­ mendable, but nothing is gained from the pernicious habit of dallying over a shot before its execution. A quick, firm de­ cision and decisive action are aways to the advantage of the player. As the num­ ber of capable golfers is constantly in­ creasing, many a potential champion will never reach the site of the championship if players continue to limit the size of the field by unnecessary slow play.” The first Walker Cup Match here since 1936 was a feature of 1949. Entry fee for the Junior Amateur Championship has been reduced to $2 for 1950. There seems to be growing under­ standing of the rules governing clubs; the Implements and Ball Committee re­ ceived fewer inquiries than in many years, reported its Chairman, John D. Ames. One brand of golf ball was found to be consistently overweight, but the manu­ facturer made prompt correction. The Committee has considered recommending addition of a compression factor to rules governing the ball; no action has yet been taken. The cause of amateurism was strength­ ened when several border-line cases were cleared up and by a new rule providing forfeiture of amateur status by one who takes “any action which clearly indicates the intention of becoming a professional golfer.” A statement of policy was adopted regarding golf gambling: or­ ganized gambling is disapproved, but no attempt was made to pass judgment on friendly wagers or informal sweepstakes. A Girls’ Junior Championship made its first appearance on the USGA schedule in 1949, and sectional qualifying was instituted for the Women’s Amateur Championship, with the tournament proper entirely at match play. These two innovations were considered successful USGA Journal: February, 1950 7 New Members of the Executive Committee J. F. Byers, Jr. F. L. Dold T. R. Garlington L. A. Lapham to the point of warranting repetition this year, according to Miss Frances E. Steb­ bins, Chairman of the Women’s Commit­ tee. For 1950, entry fees have been re­ duced to $5 for the Women’s and $2 for the Girls’ Championship. The USGA Green Section further de­ veloped its regional cooperative work. The constant campaign to provide “better turf for better golf” will have fresh im­ petus with the publication this year of the Green Section’s new book “Turf Man­ agement,” edited by Prof. H. B. Musser. USGA membership reached a new high of 1,395 clubs and courses at the end of the 1949 fiscal year. This is a net increase of 644 in the four post-war years. USGA Journal circulation grew during the year from 4,294 to 7,472 sub­ scriptions of which 5,332 were paid. USGA operations produced an excess of income over expenses for the first time in three years. For 1947 and 1948 the Association sustained an aggregate net loss of $24,095, caused mainly by financ­ ing trips abroad for the 1947 Walker Cup and the 1948 Curtis Cup Teams. This loss has now been balanced by excess income of $24,155 in 1949. These marked fluc­ tuations in expenses caused by inter­ national matches abroad have led the Executive Committee to create a reserve fund for such matches. Annual appro­ priations will be made to it, so that the impact of a team’s foreign travel will not be felt entirely in one year. Thus the Annual Report successfully closed the stewardship as USGA Presi­ dent of a Georgia gentleman, Mr. Field­ ing Wallace. As one delegate remarked, “He left it even better than he found it.” 1950 Committee Chairman The following Chairmen of USGA committees for 1950 have been ap­ pointed by James D. Standish, Jr., President: Rules of Golf: Isaac B. Grainger, New York Championship: John D. Ames, Chicago Junior Championship: Richard S. Tufts, Pinehurst, N.C. Implements and Ball: Charles B. Grace, Philadelphia Amateur Status and Conduct: James W. Walker, New York Membership: Green Section: Women’s: Lewis A. Lapham, San Francisco Richard S. Tufts, Pinehurst, N.C. Miss Frances E. Stebbins, Boston Girls’ Junior Championship: Mrs. Charles Dennehy, Chicago. Public Links: Totton P. Heffelfinger, Min­ neapolis Sectional Affairs: Charles L. Peirson, Boston Handicap: William O. Blaney, Boston International Relations: Charles W. Littlefield, New York Museum: James W. Walker, New York Public Relations: John D. Ames, Chicago 8 USGA Journal: February, 1950 Mr. McLemore’s Museum By HENRY McLEMORE The United States Golf Association is going to purchase a building for its Museum in New York City, and I’ll bet my best repainted ball that it is the intention of the Association to fill it with sticks, balls, bags and score cards of the great players of the game. I can see the place now, even though the building has yet to be purchased. Bobby Jones’ famous putter “Calamity Jane” will be in a glass case, along with the Atlantan’s famed tournament con­ centration. There’ll be Harry Vardon’s cap and mustache cup, Francis Ouimet’s spec­ tacles and Boston accent, the shoes Sam Snead wore when he broke away from the hills of West Virginia, Lawson Little’s napkin ring and the knickers Gene Sarazen was wearing when he scored his famed double-eagle at Augusta. Far be it from me (well, not too far) to disagree with the USGA, but things like those mentioned above are not what should be placed in the Museum. The mighty players are not the ones who made golf the great sport it is or who keep it flourishing today. The back­ bone of golf is the celebrated duffer— the fellow who prays at night that some­ day he will break 100 or 90 and whose form is a cross between an epileptic fit and chopping wood. I wish the USGA would let me select the things to go into the Musum. My first choice would be a picture, life size, of Westbrook Pegler in ac­ tion on a golf course. Just where on a golf course wouldn’t matter; it could be on a tee, on a fairway or in a trap. I haven’t seen Mr. Pegler play for quite a few years, but the memory of his technique is as vivid as if it had been etched on my mind with a crowbar. The picture of him hard at work in a trap will remain with me long after the picture of all the great golfers I have seen has faded away. Mr. Pegler, as you know, is the only golfer who never had to pay a caddie. The National Geographic Society always provided him with an archaeologist to carry his bag, because it was a rare round on which Mr. Pegler didn’t unearth bowls, skulls, pottery and the like of a lost civilization. Another item I would like to see in the Museum is the golfing vocabulary of Adolphe Menjou. Brilliant as his clothes are, they are drab things com­ pared to his language when one of his drives carries but 135 yards instead of the intended 136. Oliver Hardy’s putting stance should hang somewhere in the Museum. All 400 pounds of it. So should George Murphy’s look when he is about to make a brassie shot. I saw Mr. Murphy in “Battleground” the other night, and he was not nearly so grim as when faced with a close lie on the fairway. I could name a hundred items which should occupy prominent places in the Museum: Pete Jones’ smile when he sinks a long, three-inch, curling putt; Fontaine Fox’s whinny, which he uses only at the top of an opponent’s back- swing; and Frank Willard’s sea chest of excuses when he shoots a 78 after get­ ting a 15-stroke handicap. I trust the USGA won’t go ahead with­ out something of the duffer in that museum. Reprinted by courtesy of McNaught Syndicate. Inc. Permission for further reprinting must be obtained from McNaught Syndicate, Inc. GOLF Golf is a science, the study of a lifetime, in which you may exhaust yourself but never your subject. It is a contest, a duel or a melee, calling for courage, skill, strategy and self-control. It is a test of temper, a trial of honor, a re­ vealer of character. It affords a chance to play the man, and act the gentleman. It means going into God's out-of-doors, getting close to nature, fresh air, exercise, a sweeping away of mental cobwebs, genuine recreation of tired tissues. It is a cure for care, an antidote for worry. It includes companionship with friends, social intercourse, opportunities for courtesy, kindli­ ness and generosity to an opponent. It promotes not only physical health but moral force. D. R. FORGAN USGA Journal: February, 1950 9 A Club and Its Caddie Camp By JOHN P. ENGLISH USGA Assistant Executive Secretary Buddy Nauffts is only 15 but his future is bright. He has learned already that one gets out of life about what one puts into it. Two summers ago Buddy wanted to go to camp. A private camp was out of the question, so he applied through the Cambridge, Mass., YMCA for the privilege of earning his own way in the caddie camp at the Oyster Harbors Club on Cape Cod. As a polite, adaptable and athletic youngster who had caddied occasionally at a municipal course, he was accepted. He devoted himself so thoroughly to absorbing instruction in the true art of caddying that his efforts soon drew the attention of Club members, in­ cluding James B. Hollis, once the New England Senior Champion. They estab­ lished a friendly relationship that con­ tinues through the winters by corre­ spondence. Buddy learned to play so quickly that he earned a place in the final of the caddie-camp championship that first summer. Hollis loaned him his personal clubs for the match, and he and Joseph P. Kennedy forewent their usual game to follow Buddy in the final, although they did not bring him victory. Club’s Problem Solved The caddie fees Buddy earned paid for his summers in camp. They also enabled him to sharpen his basketball eye in evening team competition, gave him spending money and made it pos­ sible for him to buy a new set of matched irons last year. He returned to Cambridge High and Latin School each fall with a healthy tan and dollars in his pocket. At the Climax Night dinner last Labor Day, Buddy was selected the Best All-Around Camper. The prize, a matched set of woods to go with the irons Buddy had purchased, was presented by Hollis. The benefits of the summer and the foundations for a future did not accrue exclusively to Buddy, however. He was only one of 100 Greater Boston boys who, in earning their own vacations on Cape Cod, gave the Oyster Harbors Club an outstanding caddie service and solved a problem that once seemed in­ soluble because of the Club’s remote location. Oyster Harbors does not claim to have pioneered caddie camps. Similar camps are operated by the Coonamesset Cliff), the Eastward Ho! Golf Links, the Hyan- nisport Club, the Wianno Club and the Woods Hole Golf Club on Cape Cod, the Poland Springs Golf Club in Maine and at Bretton Woods and Wentworth-by- the-Sea in New Hampshire. The Oyster Harbors camp is the re­ sult of long and thoughful experience and provides an exemplary case history. After nearly two decades of experi­ mentation with various methods of op­ eration, the Club in 1947 invited the Cambridge, Mass., YMCA, which pio­ neered the caddie camp at Eastward Ho! 20 years before, to operate the Oyster Harbors caddie camp on a non-profit basis. The partnership is entering its fourth year with mutual satisfaction. The Club has neither the staff nor the qualifications to operate a boys’ camp. The alternative of contracting with a private individual to operate one for a percentage of earnings is less likely to produce the best in recruiting, supervision and care of the boys. The basis of the partnership is a contract: the Club provides the physical facilities and pays the YMCA $1,000; the YMCA provides the caddies and their supervision and maintenance. Facilities furnished by the Club in­ clude a large dining-recreation hall, three bunkhouses, a washing and shower house and a cottage for the camp direct­ or and his wife and two children. These quarters are stocked with the neces­ 10 USGA Journal: February, 1950 sary utensils, and the Club also provides a truck for transportation. The camp site is half a mile from the Club on a private beach facing Nantucket Sound. During the last three years the YMCA has purchased a sailboat and a rowboat and improved the area for base­ ball, basketball, touch football, volley­ ball and track meets. The YMCA, through its camp director and his staff, is responsible for ful­ filling the club’s needs for courteous and well-trained caddies. Thus it must re­ cruit and train as well as supervise. Caddies Share the Cost Its budget provides for the salaries of the director and staff, food, medical sup­ plies, recreation, general maintenance, telephone, fuel and laundry as well as clerical supplies, salaries and promotion at the Cambridge office. The caddies contribute a part of the cost of operating the camp. They are paid directly, at the rate of $1.50 per bag and tip for a round, and they usual­ ly carry two bags. At the end of each day, they turn in their money and it is credited on their “joy slips”. The bed- and-board charge of $13, a compulsory- insurance premium of 50^ and the bill for personal laundry are deducted auto­ matically each week. A boy may with­ draw from the balance at any time or let it accumulate. Warren S. Berg, an alumnus of the caddie camp at Eastward Ho! and now basketball coach at Massachusetts In­ stitute of Technology, is employed by the YMCA as camp director. His staff includes an assistant director, a caddie­ master, a clerk who doubles in first aid, a driver who is also in charge of athletics and a chef. Camp promotion starts each Feb­ ruary with a reunion banquet at the Cambridge YMCA. Francis Ouimet has been a popular speaker at these affairs. During the evening plans are described to past and prospective campers. Applications are invited from lads of 13 to 16 years. Approximately 200 applications are received, and from them 100 boys are selected by means of per­ sonal interviews. Size and aptitude for sports and camp life are the dominant factors in the selection. The camp is not run solely for boys who could not otherwise afford to attend a summer camp. Camp opens in late June and contin­ ues through Labor Day. The season is divided into two terms, the dividing line falling August 1. A boy can apply for either term or for both. Eighty-five per cent stay the full 10 weeks. No experience as a caddie is re­ quired. Preliminary training is given through lectures and movies in the Cam­ bridge YMCA during the spring. As soon as the campers arrive at Oyster Harbors, Gene Andersen, the profes­ sional, takes them around the course in groups, each boy having a turn at carrying his clubs. Courtesy is stressed, and the few boys who have been sent home have gone as a result of violation of this principle. Caddying is the basis of the camper’s life, of course, but it is by no means his entire life nor does he caddie every day. When the boys arrive at Oyster Har­ bors, they are divided into five teams of about 18 boys each. Since they come from the seat of Harvard University, it is no surprise that the teams are des­ ignated Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Sigma. Each team has its counselor and competes not only in intracamp sports but also in camp-maintenance chores. Work and Play Combined On a typical day the boys, who woik harder and so sleep later than in most camps, rise at 7:30 o’clock, attend the flag-raising and then breakfast. Two teams, according to a rotating schedule, then board the truck and re­ port to the Club for early caddie duty. Two other teams clean up the grounds and buildings. Their work is inspected and marked. When it is satisfactory, they take a quick swim and then sup­ plement the first two teams at the club. The fifth team, except on week ends, has the day off and leaves with its counselor for a trip, a fishing party or golf at another course. USGA Journal: February, 1950 11 Well-Fed Caddies Make Happy Caddies These youngsters obviously approve the fare in their caddie camp at the Oyster Harbors Club, and they are good caddies. The Club believes there is a definite relationship between these two factors and strives to maintain both at a high level. All boys return for dinner, which, like breakfast, is served family style. Lunch is cafeteria style because it cannot be held at a fixed hour. The standard of meals is high and a morale-builder. Following colors and dinner, one team handles the chores and the other four engage in intracamp sports. The boys also use free intervals to publish a camp paper, “The Hacker.’’ The evening ends with a swim, camp movies or stunts. A scoreboard is set up in the dining hall, showing the cumulative points won by each team in sports and chores. Points are awarded for round-robin series in 14 team sports, a golf championship, a swimming meet (held off the Club beach in Cotuit Bay for the entertain­ ment of the members) and a track meet, as well as for the work details. Teamwork and Competition “Teamwork and competition are the factors which make our camp operate as we want it to operate,” Berg says. On Sundays, Catholic boys attend an early service and Protestant boys take part in a special service at the town church in the evening. The parish also gives a lawn party for the boys. The season ends with the musical show and banquet on Labor Day night. Last year 400 parents, friends and Club members watched the boys perform and win prizes donated by Club members. The boys are not promised that they will show a profit at the end of the sum­ mer. On the contrary, the YMCA en­ courages them to spend a portion of their earnings on their weekly days-off and town-nights and on organized trips. The average camper, however, has taken home about $30 and some have saved as much as $150. The YMCA, of course, has carried out one of its traditional functions without cost, and the Club has had the benefit of a caddie service on which it receives countless compliments. 12 USGA Journal: February, 1950 Why Championships? By RICHARD S. TUFTS Secretary, United States Golf Association The casual spectator at a USGA Championship naturally assumes that the pitch-and-putt contingent holds a monopoly on all the nervous tension suffered. Little does he realize the strain under which the brass-hat brigade op­ erates. Even with the benefit of long expe­ rience and after months of careful plan­ ning and preparation, any official knows that any Championship can “lay an egg” at any moment. The constant vigilance against the unexpected and the concern that the wrong thing may be done at the right time, or vice versa, keeps every official on edge until the last putt has rattled into the cup. Handshakes with Meaning Maybe you thought the USGA officials you saw shaking hands after the pres­ entation ceremonies were merely saying good-by to each other! The answer to this might be, why wor­ ry? Most folks enjoy a good, hot con­ troversy, a sour decision or a well-vocal­ ized gripe. There can be only one defense for jitters on the part of the humble badge-wearer, and that is his earnestness to have things go just right. He is not satisfied to conduct the competition for the sole purpose of determining a new Champion; he expects the event to exert a wider, constructive influence on the game he loves. He feels that this cannot be accomplished unless everything does go just right. This naturally brings up the question of what we are trying to accomplish. The USGA offers a well-rounded pro­ gram in the competitive field. Probably the best answer is obtained by giving a brief description of the fundamental purposes for which each competition is conducted. There is the matter of select­ ing a Champion, but who wants to go to all that trouble for the benefit of one individual? More must be accom­ plished than just selecting a Champion. Naturally the Open comes first, and naturally the Open is the top quality competition. It is the glamor event, the ultimate test of skill and a gathering of the foremost experts of the game. It is a serious, intensive, commercial com­ petition, but with all its popular appeal, its influence on the game is more re­ mote than that of any other USGA com­ petition. It is essentially a spectacle which, like the races at Indianapolis, is wonderful to watch but in which the cars and their drivers enjoy only a distant relationship with the family in its pre­ war jalopy, en route to the beach for a pleasant week end. Just as the Open is commercial, so is the Amateur non-commercial. The pace is more leisurely. It is designed for friendly combat, and there is the feel­ ing that here are gathered those who play the game for pleasure and for sport. The influence of the Amateur on the game is far more general and more in­ timate than can ever be true of the Open. Competitors at the Amateur come from every golfing district and they are men who come in close, every-day con­ tact with the golfers of their commun­ ities. As the leading players, they are respected and followed. To this extent, the thoughts and attitudes they may bring back with them from the Amateur must exert a considerable influence on Amer­ ican golf. The Amateur must, therefore, be conducted in a manner in keeping with the true spirit and the best traditions of the game. The No. 1 Competition The Junior is exactly what the name implies, a Junior Amateur. The same feeling of friendly rivalry prevails, with an added sense of fresh youthfulness, impressionable inexperience and the de­ sire to learn. Because of the age limita­ tion, this is a competition in which there will always be many new faces each year. Thus the competition reaches a larger number of players, all in their formative years. In the extent of its USGA Journal: February, 1950 13 It’s All in Fun in the Amateur A storm delayed play in the first round of the last Amateur Championship at the Oak Hill Country Club, and the late starters could not finish that day. Tom Whiteway, of Cleveland, and Ernest Pieper, Jr., of San Jose, Cal., were among those stopped by the USGA Committee just before darkness cloaked the course. But John P. Rooney, enterprising Associated Press photographer, is not a man to let a good picture be spoiled by the facts; he equipped the players with lantern and flashlight, persuaded them to stay out on the course until night fell, and then snapped this “picture of the year.” Wide World Photo possible influence on the game, the Junior is certainly the USGA’s number one competition. With no thought of brushing any others lightly aside, all that has been said with respect to the Amateur and the Junior can be repeated for the Ama­ teur Public Links, the Women’s and the Girls’ Junior Championships. The Cup Matches Whereas the Walker Cup and the Curtis Cup Matches may not be so balanced as we could wish, they serve two purposes exceedingly well. They of­ fer an opportunity of recognizing players with outstanding competitive records, and they provide a valuable common meeting ground with our fellow golfers from across the water. The influence of the matches in these two respects is far deep­ er and more significant than might be suspected. In conclusion, it is well to remember that the exertion of a favorable influence through the manner in which its com­ petitions are conducted is only one of the USGA’s numerous programs, car­ ried on for the benefit of the game and directed at maintaining the highest standards and traditions for golf. 14 USGA Journal: February, 1950 A Golfer’s Greatest Responsibility By THOMAS G. McMAHON Former President. Chicago District Golf Association; Member, USGA Sectional Affairs Committee We hear much about training caddies, and little about training golfers. It would be well if golfers developed a greater consciousness of a rtesponsi- bility that is more important than their scores, bigger than the game itself—that is, a responsibility to help their cad­ dies in character growth. The Western Golf Association is doing a creditable job through its Evans Schol­ ars’ Foundation, which merits every golf­ er’s support, but their noble work and similar projects on the part of other golf associations only scratch the surface. The fact that two million golfers come into frequent contact with one million caddies, mostly young boys, for long and repeated intervals produces an op­ portunity. This contact can be used to help mold character. It could be the means of creating a balance of power to control the destiny of our country. My attendance at the last Ryder Cup Match in England and my trips to Ire­ land and France gave me an opportunity to talk with persons from various coun­ tries of Europe and to sense the dam­ age done by neglecting proper guidance of young minds. The effect of anti-God, lust for power, distrust and hatred is still a problem among boys who were subjected to these sinister influences. Now the Soviet Union, China and many other countries—a high percentage of all the peoples of the world—are dom­ inated by hostile ideologies. They seem determined to destroy our free way of life. We have great cause for concern. The average caddie respects and ad­ mires his employer. At least, he should be given every reason to do so. No one need preach to his caddie. But a golfer is in a position to set a good example, a fair one. He can help in a small way to keep our heritage of freedom alive. He can teach respect for duly constituted authority. Thomas G. McMahon No man, no group of men has the right to take the law into their own hands. Mob rule is the first step toward loss of freedom. The sanctity of the ballot box must be preserved. I am sorry if this does not sound too golfy. But every day we read of people being persecuted for liberties and rights that are ours by birth, that our fore­ fathers fought and died for. Should we fall asleep and lose them or ask our caddies to help us preserve them for themselves and their children as well as ours? We can see widespread infiltration by propaganda to promote philosophies of hate between our country and others, between employers and labor. If we can read, we should know what is going on. Every golfer should spread the gospel. This is not intended to be spectacular. Rather, it is a warning against the sort of disinterest or smug complacency that permitted a mentally unbalanced paperhanger almost to destroy the world. USGA Journal: February, 1950 15 Peace on the First Tee By C. P. BURGESS Chairman, Golf Committee Baltusrol Golf Club, Springfield, N. J. Baltusrol, now in its 54th year, has survived the temptation to adopt a “cur- rent”-type handicap system. It adhered to the Calkins system from the day it was conceived. Prior to that, the Club suf­ fered from the arbitrary dictatorship of the Chairman of the Handicap Com­ mittee. If a member won a handicap event, it was a foregone conclusion that his handicap would be cut so dras­ tically he could never win again—unless he could persuade the chairman to raise it eventually. Over the years we found the Hve: score Calkins system realistic for our club of about 500 male golfers (175 women run their own department). So, when the USGA published recommenda­ tions for rating courses and applying the 10 best of 50 scores, we considered it an amplified and improved version of the Calkins system and proceeded to follow the suggestions of our national Association. We have two 18-hole courses. Each has a par of 72, and they are equally difficult. Our Golf Committee, augmented by Johnny Farrell, our professional, rated these courses at 73.4 and 73 and received confirmation of 73 for each course from the Metropolitan Golf As­ sociation. Members Circularized In proceeding to set up the new system entailing collection of 50 scores from each golfer, we realized the neces­ sity of overcoming the reluctance or carelessness on the part of some of our golfers to turn in scores. To encourage their cooperation, we circularized the membership, explain­ ing in detail the new system. We then designed a new score card with four coupons which would be easy to tear off. This coupon score card, in­ cidentally, is not original with us. The scorekeeper of any four-ball can in a moment’s time enter the date, name, gross score and handicap of each play­ er and drop the coupons into a box conveniently located in the locker room. It is important to include handicap as it saves time in locating the handicap card for posting purposes; at Baltusrol, players’ handicap cards are filed in the rack according to handicap, rather than alphabetically. The score card proper can then be used for the tournament record or any other purpose. We also required every player to en­ ter his name on an entry sheet on an easel at the first tee for every competition. When we found a member played in competitions and did not turn in coupons, we requested his cooperation and usually he complied. Incidentally, thanks to the coupons and the entry sheet, we had a good check on who played and accordingly got a much better return of scores. Our next step was to design a new handicap card. On the face of this card there is space for the player’s name, individual spaces for 10 scores, their total and his handicap. On the back there are spaces for 50 scores. We faced a problem in attempting to discard the old handicap system, install the new and carry on our tournament schedule with temporary, equitable handicaps, all at the same time. Baltusrol holds an individual medal sweepstakes and an additional competition each Sat­ urday, Sunday and holiday from May 1 to November 1, and this made matters no simpler. We had to improvise until the 50-score system was sufficiently in play to call it a fixture. The answer we worked out caused a minimum of con­ fusion and dissatisfaction, and we think perhaps our experience would be help­ ful to other clubs. [Editor’s Note: This method of changing to the USGA handi­ cap system is not necessarily the method 16 USGA Journal: February, 1950 recommended by the USGA; it is pub­ lished merely as one club’s solution to the problem.] Mythical Scores To start the season, we built up 10 mythical scores in lieu of the five ac­ tual scores on each player’s old handi­ cap card. We found that, had we at­ tempted to blow up any or all of the five actual scores to the required 10, there would have been a variation in the new handicaps of certain players who had been handicapped alike under the old system. Therefore, to treat alike all holders of equal handicaps and to standardize the application to 500 golfers, we deemed it advisable to elimi­ nate the actual five scores, and as indi­ cated above, to substitute 10 mythical scores for each handicap bracket. We found the range of each handicap on a course rated 73 in Table A. We divided the middle figure of that range by 10. Then we entered two or three such scores on the card. For the addition­ al seven or eight scores, to complete the 10, we put down scores not more than two above or two below this figure. The total of these 10 scores had to equal the middle figure in the Table A range. We admit it took a little juggling to make the total come out right. Note examples: Handicaps 5 Range (Table A) 10 16 Middle Figure 765 Middle Figure 760-770 815-825 881-891 820 886 divided by 10 76.5 Mythical Scores: 82 88.6 Total Handicap 5 75 75 76 76 76 77 77 77 78 78 - 765 Handicap 10 81 81 81 81 82 82 82 83 83 84 - 820 Handicap 16 87 87 88 88 88 89 89 90 90 90 ■ 886 As actual scores were turned in, we posted them once a week on the back of the player’s handicap card. If any score appeared that was lower than any of the 10 mythical scores on the face of the card, that score replaced the highest score on the face of the card and the player’s handicap was lowered accord­ ing to Table A. Incidentally, requests for rises in handicaps were practically nil, apparent­ ly in anticipation of automatic adjust­ ment sometime. Many of our players could not pos­ sibly accumulate 50 scores the first year, so, as recommended by Mr. William O. Blaney, Chairman of the USGA Handi­ cap Committee, we checked through all our handicap cards in August and ad­ justed handicaps of members who had turned in 10 or more scores to date. Mr. Blaney recommends “applying the aver­ age of the lowest 20 per cent of a play­ er’s total number of scores to Table A”. For example, if a member’s card showed he played 30 rounds, we took 20 per cent of 30 and used the average of his six lowest scores as a base. This average was multiplied by 10 and Table A was consulted for the new interim handicap. Twenty per cent of the needed 50 scores is, of course, 10 scores. Interim Handicaps We did not raise handicaps figured on this basis more than two strokes, but we put no limit on the number of strokes a handicap could be lowered. Handicaps so arrived at were essentially temporary or interim handicaps and were adjusted more or less frequently on the above basis until a total of 50 scores had been accumulated, according to the USGA plan. These interim handicaps were, we be­ lieve, sufficiently realistic for normal club events, and some will have to serve for an indefinite time because many of our golfers play only intermittently. When a handicap was changed, we immediately gave the player a printed form telling him of his changed status so he could not possibly play his next game on his old handicap. In addition to the cards, which are racked under the handicaps, we have a glass-enclosed handicap case with all our players listed alphabetically. Players do not adjust their own cards but simply file their cards and/or coupons in the boxes provided. USGA Journal: February, 1950 17 The golfers who did not get in 10 or more games continued applying their scores against their 10 mythical scores and will do so until their cards show 10 actual scores, making them available for handicap adjustment on the Blaney formula. Analysis of the above figures shows that 37 per cent of our golfers returned sufficient scores to be considered for August handicap adjustment. But in our opinion these figures are not a good yardstick to use in estimating what per­ centage of our 500 golfers will reach the 50-game goal or when we will have an over-all, workable handicap basis. All of us have found at one time or another in our travels that we of the basic, or potential-game, theory of handi­ capping have been victims of the so- called “current” systems. Wherever you and I play golf, we should enjoy the privilege of playing on an equitable basis with anyone. That requires a uni­ versal method of handicapping which can obtain only through a country-wide standardization of the mechanics of ap­ plying it. The method described in the booklet entitled Golf Handicap System, recom­ mended by the USGA in December, 1947, should be generally accepted as the foundation upon which to build a handi­ capping structure for national golf unity. Many of us feel that strong hands have at last taken hold to steer United States golf into the long-sought-after channels of uniform equalization of play, which should redound generally to the good of the game and specifically to peace on the first tee. C. P. Burgess Following is a tabulation of our first adjustment of handicaps on the above basis for the period March through August: Number of cards examined.... 508 Number of cards with 10 to 20 scores...... . .......... 124 Number of cards with 21 to 30 scores............................... 49 Number of cards with 31 to 40 scores_ _______ ______ 12 Number of cards with 41 to 45 scores............ ....................... 4 Number of cards with 46 to 50 scores......................... 0 189 Number of handicaps reduced by 1_____ ___ _____ _____ 44 Number of handicaps reduced by 2 . ........ . 25 Number of handicaps reduced by 3..................... 2 Number of handicaps reduced by 4... 1 Number of handicaps raised 1 stroke................................ 38 Number of handicaps raised 2 strokes....... ....... 59 Number of handicaps not changed ................. 20 Balance not yet affected..... . 319 189 Statement of Condition The average club has half a dozen really finished golfers and a good many more in the rough. 18 USGA Journal: February, 1950 “Only Way of Playing at the Golfe” One of the oldest known treatises on how to play golf was turned up in the National Library at Edinburgh, Scot­ land, a decade ago by Dr. H. W. Meikle, the librarian. The treatise appeared in a diary kept by an unknown medical student at Edinburgh in 1687 and was summarized in the August 2, 1938, issue of The Scotsman by Dr. Meikle and reviewed again in the August 18, 1938, issue of the London Times. David R. Tod of Spokane, Wash., whose own golfing career dates back to the gutty ball, has prepared a series of excerpts from this treatise, which is fascinating in its indication that there is really little new under the sun where golf style is concerned. In fact: Bless Their Innocence “All those who have ever written text­ books about golf must be, or at any rate ought to be, feeling rather humble at this moment. They think that they found out all about pivoting and pronating and rotating. Lord bless their innocence! It was all discovered 263 years ago and said much more briefly than they have ever said it. “A kind friend has sent me a cutting from The Scotsman of August 2, 1938, and I have been reading in it an enthral­ ling article by Dr. H. W. Meikle, libra­ rian of the National Library. In his library he has discovered a diary kept by a medical student of Edinburgh in 1687. Entirely for his own amusement he wrote down what he boldly called *The Only Way of Playing at the Golfe.’ “He held that the knees ought to be a little bent, that there should be plenty of weight on the right foot, that the ball should be a ‘little towards the left foot.’ He had experimented with what is today called the ‘shut stance’ and was clearly of the opinion that it must not be exag­ gerated, for he said that at most ‘your left foot must stand but a little before the right.’ He knew all about pivoting (though he did not call it that), for he said that ‘all the strength of the stroake is from the swing of the body in turning about’ and, further, that you must turn yourself ‘as it were upon a center, without moveing your body out of the place of it.’ “The writer likewise knew all about the doctrine of ‘keeping bent,’ as an American Champion has described it, for having told you to incline the body a little from the small of the back, he adds you must ‘keep your body in this posture all the time.’ “Finally (I have left out a good deal), he held decided views on the controversy —a very tiresome one it has become— whether the swing is begun by the hands or by a movement of the hips or legs or feet. He was, as I judge, of the body school, for he said that, ‘Your armes must move but verie little, all the mo­ tion must be performed with the turning of your body about.’ “There is only one fine, crusted old doctrine of which I can find no mention. This ingenious young man said nothing about keeping your eye on the ball. Per­ haps he thought that if you followed cor­ rectly all his other rules, the eye would stay on the ball of its own accord, and who shall say that he was wrong? It is not mere anxiety that makes our heads fly upwards but some antecedent and criminal movement into the bargain. “That antecedent movement he traced unerringly to its most common source. It comes from the players ‘stricking’ too hard. ‘Incressing their strength in the stroak makes them alter their ordinare position of their body’ and then they ‘readily miss the ball.’ In order to avoid this state of things you must ‘play with little strength at first but yet acuratly observing all the rules of poustour,’ for. as he justly observes, a ball hit ‘exactly’ will ‘fly verie farr.’ Moreover, to learn to hit ‘well within yourself,’ as we might call it nowadays, will be very useful when you come to the ‘halfe chops and quarter chops.’ No full shots with No. 6 or No. 7 for him! He preferred the old, elegant and almost lost art of the half shot.” USGA Journal: February, 1950 19 THE REFEREE Decisions by the USGA Rules of Golf Committee Example of symbols: "No. 49-1” means the first decision issued in 1949. "R. 7 (3)” means Section 3 of Rule 7 in the 1949 Rules of Golf. Ball Marks: Repair After Putting No. 49-80. Et. 6; R. 18 (3,4) Q: Some of our leading players con­ tend that a player or anyone in his four­ some, under the 1949 USGA Rules, may repair ball marks or depressions made by his own or other balls on the putting green before he putts or completes the playing of the hole. I have searched carefully the 1949 USGA Rule Book and have been un­ able to find where such permission is given. At the 1949 Open in Chicago, ball marks on the green were being re­ paired by men specially designated to do this job. If my memory is correct, this was done after each group of three players had completed the playing of a hole and before the next group played to the green but not in the interval be­ tween the alighting of the ball on the green and the playing of the next stroke by the player. Our association has taken a very de­ finite stand demanding that rounds of golf be played strictly according to United States Golf Association Rules. The writer, who is the secretary, does not want to be out on a limb in regard to rulings. Kenneth E. Hoy Indianapolis, Ind. A: A player may never repair ball marks on the line of putt, and he may not request a greenkeeper to do so. Rule 18 (3 and 4) prohibits a player from touching the line of putt, from placing a mark anywhere on the putting green and from testing the putting surface by roughening or scraping it. If a ball mark were so far removed from the line of play that it could not possibly affect subsequent play of the hole, no penalty would result from its repair by the player. We recommend, however, that players avoid the possibi­ lity of any question being raised by de­ ferring repair until play of the hole is finished. Where the greenkeeping staff is not available to make frequent repairs as is done at USGA competitions, players should observe Section 6 of Etiquette, which provides that after the play of the hole is completed, the player should see that any ball hole made by him in the putting green is eradicated. At USGA competitions ball marks are repaired by the greenkeeping staff. For many years prior to 1949 the greenkeep­ ing staff was requested to make such repairs as promptly as possible, even if between ball and hole (but players were never authorized to do so). However, effective with the 1949 Open Champion­ ship, the greenkeeping staff worked ac­ cording to the following directions: “Please attend the putting surface of the green assigned to you . . . When the last putt has been holed in each group, proceed immediately to the green and repair ball marks on the putting surface and any damage to the surface around the hole. Do not do any work on the green after any shots have been played to the green . . . Do not under any circumstances do any work at the request of any person except an official wearing a USGA badge.” (The above procedure for repairing ball marks supersedes that described in Decision 48-178). Point Match: Penalty Interpreted No. 49-85. R. 12 (5d). Q: If A and B are partners in a first and second ball playing against C and D and A’s ball hits D’s caddie, how many points on that particular hole does D lose? Caddie is carrying two bags, C’s and D’s. Mrs. C. C. Kinsey Seattle, Wash. A: C and D lose the hole, subject to the exceptions stated in Rule 12 (5d). Although the Rules of Golf do not cover playing for points on a “first and second ball” basis, it seems obvious that C and D lose both points. The fact that C and D shared the services of a caddie is not pertinent. Parallel Hazard: Local Rule No. 49-87. R. 17 (2); LR Q: If a ball be in a parallel hazard and a strip of rough border the hazard, may the ball be lifted and dropped into the fairway or into the rough bordering the hazard? Mrs. L. C. Raeckel Richmond Heights, Mo. A: It depends upon the provisions of the pertinent local rule. The Rules of Golf do not contain 20 USGA Journal: February, 1950 special provisions for so-called parallel water hazards. In the absence of a local rule, Rule 17 (2) applies. For certain water hazards paralleling the line of play, where it would be impossible or unfair to apply Rule 17 (2a), the USGA recommends a local rule somewhat as follows: “Hole No. . . Ball in parts of water hazard marked by red stakes (or marked ‘Parallel Water Hazard’) —a ball may be dropped within two club-lengths of either side of hazard opposite point where ball last crossed hazard margin, not nearer hole, under penalty of one stroke.” Bridge: Relief Limited In Hazard No. 49-89. R. 7 (4b. c) Q: If a ball lie on a bridge or bridge abutment over a water hazard, how could the player, under “Relief from art­ ificial obstructions” (see Rule 7 (4), ei­ ther (b) or (c)) lift the ball and place it in the hazard, as near as possible to the place where it lay, in a similar lie and position? Many rulings have been made that a ball on a bridge over a hazard is in the hazard if within the periphery of the hazard. It could well be that a ball could not be otherwise placed in the confines of the hazard—as, for instance, if there were water from bank to bank. I can find no distinction in the Rules between “hazards” and “water hazards” which would apply to this situation. Ike S. Handy Houston, Texas A: There is no possible way of plac­ ing a ball “in a similar lie and position” when it has come to rest on a bridge within the confines of a hazard; conse­ quently, one can only follow the nearest approach to such a procedure. The answer is given on page 13 of the Spring, 1949, issue of the USGA Journal. Should the hazard be completely filled with water from bank to bank, no relief is possible unless the water is shallow enough to place the ball there­ in and play it. The equity of the situa­ tion is obvious. If the bridge were not there, the ball would be in the water, and the fact that it stops on the bridge would, on many occasions, enable the player to make a shot without taking a penalty. Ball Strikes Competitor’s Bag No. 49-94. R. 12 (5b). Q: Mrs. H incurred a two - stroke penalty when her ball struck Mrs. D’s bag on an approach shot to the green. The bag was lying beside the green, having been left there by Mrs. D’s cad­ die, who was attending the flagstick at the request of Mrs. H. Mrs. D contends that it is a rub of the green and no penal­ ty shall be incurred, inasmuch as all are competitors, not partners or op­ ponents. This occurred in a 54-hole medal tournament. Mrs. W. O. Douglass St. Louis, Mo. A: Mrs. D’s contention is correct. There is no penalty; see Rule 12(5b). Mrs. D’s clubs should not have been left anywhere near Mrs. H’s line to the hole and Mrs. H should not have played her stroke until the clubs were removed from her line of play. k“Scooter” Permissible No. 49-108. Misc. Q: May a player use an “arthritis special” while playing in a tournament? An “arthritis special” is a three-wheeled scooter used largely for delivery pur­ poses by merchants but in this case fitted up with seats that will carry four players. A friend has one and uses it in playing golf to save him the physical effort of walking around the 18 holes. My opinion is that it could not be used because of the ruling that a player could have no outside assistance during the match. The pro’s opinion was that the cart could be used. He raised the question of where you would draw the line between carrying a seat around and having one of these carts. S. W. Creekmore Fort Smith, Ark. A: The Rules of Golf do not prohibit a player from using mechanical trans­ portation on the course, such as an automotive “scooter”. The matter is up to the local tournament committee. Water Hazard Entered from Far Side No. 49-115. R. 17(2) Q: Player was in the sand trap to the north of the putting green. He had a bad lie. In coming out of the trap his ball went across the green and into the water hazard on the south. From where should the player make his next shot? iSome interpret Rule 17 as allowing the player to drop the ball any place on the line of flight he desires, which would allow him to drop within three feet of pin, as ball actually passed within that distance of pin. Others were of the opinion that he could drop it any place in line of flight except on the green. USGA Journal: February, 1950 21 Some contended he should drop a ball in the sand trap. William O. Lee Salt Lake City, Utah A: Under Rule 17 (2a), the player should drop a ball behind the water hazard, under penalty of one stroke, keeping the last spot at which the ball crossed the margin of the hazard be­ tween himself and the hole. Spectator Says Ball Was Moved No. 49-119. R. 12 (4d) Q: I have need for an interpretation of Rule 12 (4c) where play is to a blind green and no player can see the balls come to rest on the green. However, spectators see one ball strike another, the one being near the hole when struck and the other one being near the hole after the striking. A spectator advises the players what happened to the balls. Is Rule 12 (4c) effective? Walter Moore Swoope Philipsburg, Pa. A: Rule 12 (4c) relates to a competit­ or’s ball striking a fellow competitor’s ball in stroke play when both balls, before one is played, lie on the putting green, as defined in Rule 18. It seems hardly likely that this fits the case described. Assuming that both balls were not on the putting green, if it can be posi­ tively determined that a competitor’s ball at rest was moved by a fellow competitor’s ball, Rule 12 (4d) applies and the competitor’s ball which was at rest must be replaced; the fellow com­ petitor’s ball shall be played from where it comes to rest. The committee should consider all available evidence, includ­ ing that of responsible spectators. 1 Ball on Bridge over Water Hazard No. 49-120. R. 7(4), 17 (le) QI: A player’s ball comes to rest on a wooden bridge over a water hazard (a small river about 15 yards wide with water several feet deep) so that the ball is in the confines of the hazard, considering the outer boundaries of the hazard to extend vertically upward. According to R. S. Francis’ “Golf, Its Rules and Decisions,” 1939, pages 205 to 208, the ball must be played or dropped back under penalty of one stroke. Fair enough, as without the bridge the ball would have been in the water. Do any of the changes in the 1949 Rules of Golf which now allow relief from bridges and abutments in hazards change the above? My interpretation is that they do not. A 1: Rules 17(le) and 7(4) give re­ lief from bridges in hazards. If the player does not play the ball as it lies on the bridge, he has only one course to follow without penalty—that is, as provided in Rule 7 (4b or c), the ball may be placed in the hazard, not nearer the hole, as near as possible to the place where it lay on the obstruction and without interference therefrom. Ob­ viously, since the ball is being lifted from an artificial obstruction, it would be impossible to observe the Rule’s provision about placing it “in a similar lie and position” in the hazard. In the case described, the above pro­ cedure might require placing the ball in an unplayable position in the hazard, as in water. In such case, if the playter does not wish to play the ball as it lies on the bridge, his only other recourse is to drop a ball behind the water hazard under one stroke penalty as provided in Rule 17 (2a). Q 2: When the bridge is provided with a railing, if the ball comes to rest in such a place on the bridge that the railing interferes with the player’s back­ ward or forward swing or his stance, would not Rules 17(le) and 7(4c) per­ mit lifting the ball without penalty and placing it on the bridge as near as pos­ sible to where it lay, so that it could be played from the bridge, if desired, without interference from the railing? A 2: No. If the player desires to avail himself of Rule 7 (4c), he must place the ball in the hazard. He is not per­ mitted to select a more favorable loca­ tion on the very obstruction from which he wishes relief. The principle is the same as in lifting a ball from ground under repair. Rule 7(5), or from casual water, Rule 16. The purpose of each of these Rules is to give relief without penalty from a peculiar condition, but not to give the player freedom to select a better position for the ball while re­ maining in the presence of the peculiar condition from which he claims relief. For example, in lifting a ball from the putting green under Rule 16(2), the player may not place it in a position which still does not give relief from casual water. The purpose of the ob­ struction Rule, 7(4), is best served by the limitations described above. Questions by: A. F. Matson Chicago, III. 22 USGA Journal: February. 1950 Handicap Play-Off: Strokes Unevenly Divided No. 49-123. Hdcp. Tourn. Q: In an 18-hole, match-play han­ dicap tournament, A has to give B five strokes where they come on the card, two on the front nine and three on the back nine. At the end of 18 holes, the match is all even. The rules of this tournament provide for a nine-hole play-off on a handicap basis. Should B receive two and one-half or three strokes on the nine-hole play­ off, using the front nine? If B gets three strokes on the nine and the match is all even at the end of the nine and continues on the back nine, will B re­ ceive three more strokes or should he receive only two strokes? Would it be feasible to give B two and one-half strokes on the first nine-hole play-off? Francis E. McArdle Silver Spring, Md. A: As the conditions for playing halved matches have been established, the question is one for the local com­ mittee to decide. If the match is to be concluded in accordance with your tournament rules, we believe that B should receive two strokes in the first nine-hole play-off, just as he received two strokes on the first nine of the regular match. If the match remains halved at the end of the play-off, B should receive three strokes for the next nine holes. However, as an odd number of strokes is involved, it does not seem entirely equitable to play off at nine holes, as the handicap difference would not be truly reflected. We do not believe that two and one- half strokes should be given to B in the nine-hole play-off, as this would create an entirely different match from that originally played. Where a handicap match is even at the end of the designated round, the fairest way to determine the winner is to replay the entire match. When this is not possible for lack of time or for other reasons, it is recommended that the winner be determined by lot or by playing a lesser number of holes which will truly reflect the handicap differ­ ence. For example, if A gives B six strokes, one of which comes on the first three holes, the competitors can deter­ mine the winner by playing those three holes, or if A gives B ten strokes, it would be equitable to play nine holes under a handicap allowance of five strokes. Attention is called to the fact that the USGA Golf Handicap System says in part: “It is desirable to allocate the first (handicap) stroke to the first nine, the second stroke to the second nine and continue alternating in this manner until the order of taking strokes is established for the full 18 holes.” Penalty Remission Creates Problem No. 49-142. R. 8 Q: A discussion of rules has come up at the Interlachen Country Club which we would like clarified. The score card states the Rules of the USGA govern all play except when modified by the fol­ lowing (below is quoted Rule Three on the back of the score card): “Ball lost or deemed unplayable. Drop ball as nearly as possible to spot where lost or deemed unplayable. Count one penalty stroke. Or player may have op­ tion of playing another ball from spot where lost or unplayable ball was played. Penalty: loss of distance only (same as out of bounds.)” It has been the practice of some play­ ers to play a provisional ball before determining whether or not the other ball is unplayable, then take their choice after determining the position of the other ball. If after hitting the provision­ al ball the player decides to play the original ball, no penalty is counted. If the provisional ball is in a favorable position and he decides to play it, one stroke penalty is counted. I contend that if you are playing our modified rules you cannot use USGA Rules which allow you to shoot a provi­ sional ball. Our card clearly states that you play USGA Rules except for the modified rules. I would appreciate your ruling. E. S. Rothgeb Minneapolis, Minn. A: There is nothing in the statement of facts that abrogates Rule 19, permit­ ting a provisional ball for a ball which may be lost, unplayable or out of bounds. The USGA does not condone remis­ sion of any part of the penalty in Rule 8(1) for a ball lost or unplayable. It is discretionary with a player as to whether his ball is unplayable, under Rule 8, and it may sometimes be discretionary with him as to whether his ball is lost —that is, he may purposely look in the wrong location and never find his ball. Where such discretion can enter, it is believed that the penalty should be sufficiently severe to discourage taking unfair advantage. The case cited is an example of the problems raised by remission of the penalty in Rule 8(1), and we cannot suggest any solution other than restor­ ation of that penalty. USGA Journal: February, 1950 23 THE TURF PROGRAM AT PENN STATE By H. B. MUSSER A steady and growing demand for a product makes a healthy business. The turf program at the Pennsylvania State College has grown to its present pro­ portions because of the demand for a sound body of facts that will be an ade­ quate guide for successful turf culture. The serious problems of growing sat­ isfactory turf on the modern golf course have been an important factor in creating this demand. However, golf courses are not the only places where turf problems exist. The same basic principles apply wherever grass is grown for specialized uses. The same problems that confront the greenkeeping superintendent arise repeatedly on parks, estates and ceme­ teries, on athletic fields and other recre­ ational areas, on airports, along high­ ways where soil must be kept in place on cut-and-fill slopes and on the home lawn where turf contributes so much to the satisfaction of everyday living. Over 200,000 acres of special-purpose turf on such areas in Pennsylvania having a re­ placement value of more than $75,000,- 000 and costing more than $10,000,000 annually to maintain are the stimuli re­ sponsible for the interest in, and growth of, the turf program. Activities in the special - purpose turf field at Penn State fall into two main lines of service. The first of these is the research program. It is concerned pri­ marily with attempts to increase our knowledge of the turf grasses and the many factors that affect their production and maintenance by experimental meth­ ods. The second is placing information developed by research into the hands of those who can make use of it. It is con­ cerned primarily with interpreting re­ search results in terms of practical ap­ plications. The Research Program The turf research program has been confined to those problems which are most pressing and which we are best equipped to study from the standpoint of location and facilities. The investiga­ tions fall into three main groups: (1) improvement of the turf grasses by breeding and selection for superior types, (2) study of soil factors affecting turf growth, such as physical condition and fertility, and (3) investigation of specialized maintenance problems, such as methods of turf renovating, weed erad­ ication and control of disease. Improved Grasses Efforts to find better grasses for turf use have been concentrated on creeping bentgrass, Kentucky bluegrass and red fescue. We are growing at the present time approximately 250 individual types. 24 USGA Journal: February, 1950 Breeding Nursery for Various Types This area contains more than 10,000 individual plants of creeping red fescue from which 250 different types have been selected at the Pennsylvania Agricultural Experiment Station of creeping bent (these include between 70 and 80 strains obtained from the USGA Green Section). In addition, there are approximately 75 types of red fescue and 30 types of Kentucky bluegrass in turf quality test plots or in seed multi­ plication nurseries for producing suf­ ficient seed to establish test plots. The individual selections of these grasses have been obtained in two ways. Some have been secured by taking plugs from greens or fairways where a particular strain has shown evidence of good performance. Others are individual plants selected out of progenies of parent plants that have shown good performance records. Records are kept on the ability of each individual grass to produce good turf throughout the entire growing season. Promising strains are kept under obser­ vation for at least a three-year period before any attempt is made to evaluate them. This is desirable because there are marked differences in performance of many types under different temper­ ature and other environmental conditions. The first records on the present series of quality tests were secured in 1948, and appraisals will not be made until the end of this season. Records to date show very encouraging prospects that some of the strains eventually will prove to be materially better than types available at present. Soil Quality Three major phases of the relation­ ships of soil to turf production are under investigation. These include the effects of excessive water and soil compaction upon turf quality, the use of nitrogen from slowly available versus quickly available sources, and the value of potash. The water and compaction studies probably have the most immediate and practical bearing upon turf-management problems. It is becoming more evident every day that these two physical soil factors are responsible to an important degree for the rapid deterioration of fairway turf. The experimental work is set up to determine the rate and extent of injury to good quality turf at various levels of soil moisture and compaction and to study methods of correction. These investigations were initiated by the USGA Green Section and are being prosecuted under a fellowship grant from the As­ sociation. The progressively serious ef­ fects of the treatments on turf quality are highly significant and bid fair to be of ' material value as a guide in water management and aerification practices. Fertility Problems The proved desirability of slowly avail­ able forms of nitrogen for use on turf and the relatively high cost and short supply of nitrogenous materials of this kind make this a pressing problem. New USGA Journal: February, 1950 25 Experimental Layout for Water and Compaction Studies Each plot in this area receives a different quantity of water. Different compaction treatments run across the watered plots maintained by the Pennsylvania Agricul­ tural Experiment Station materials that have potentialities should be thoroughly investigated as rapidly as possible. The urea-formaldehyde plastics are in this class. Testing work with these products has been concentrated largely upon determining their value as com­ pared with various natural organic car­ riers of slowly available nitrogen and of soluble inorganic materials. Three years’ results indicate that some of them com­ pare favorably with the organics and can be used to supplement the nitrogen from the latter sources. The question of the proper use of potash for turf is still an open one. A comprehensive series of field tests was established in 1948 to study the response of Kentucky bluegrass, red fescue and bentgrass to controlled potash treat­ ments. Although no final results are available yet, there are abundant indica­ tions that there is a direct and important relationship between the potash supply and such things as the health, vigor and disease-resisting ability of the turf. Weed and Disease Control War needs tremendously stimulated chemical research. Many of the new materials produced have real value as herbicides, insecticides and fungicides for turf use. Unfortunately, their develop­ ment has been so rapid that tests of their usefulness have not kept pace with their production. The result has been that many materials are distributed and recommend­ ed for use with only a very sketchy knowledge of their effects upon the turf which they are supposed to protect. For this reason, careful screening tests of these products have become a necessity. Funds and facilities are the limiting factors in this type of work. Tests of herbicides at the Pennsylvania Experi­ ment Station have been confined to com­ parisons of the effectiveness of certain materials, such as 2,4-D, mercury com­ pounds, cyanates and arsenites on the weeds themselves and to efforts to de­ termine their effects on the grass. Studies of these materials applied as solution or in dry form, both to established turf or as pre-seeding treatments, have been made or are under way. Disease-control studies have been of the same general nature as those on weed control. They have been concerned large­ ly with determinations of the effective­ ness of various fungicidal materials on the specific organisms causing the most serious turf diseases. The work in this field is more complicated than weed control tests because the disease-control tests necessitate a careful laboratory identification of the organism as well as actual field measurements of the ef­ fectiveness of control measures. 26 USGA Journal: February, 1950 Testing Grasses under Different Cutting Heights A part of the six-acre area of turf experiments at the Pennsylvania Agricultural Experiment Station is devoted to the testing of grasses for fairways, lawns and airfields under different cutting heights. Grass Mixtures Grasses have limitations in their abili­ ty to adjust themselves to climatic con­ ditions, particularly to temperature ex­ tremes. Some grow best during the cool weather of spring and fall and are checked and often seriously injured by hot weather in the summer. The reverse is true for others. This has created a serious turf-maintenance problem wherever the climate is characterized by cold winters and hot summers. A part of the turf-re­ search program is being devoted to the possibilities of producing an all-season, good quality playing turf by combining the cool and the warm season grasses. An important phase of this problem is to find the particular kinds of grasses that will get along best with each other. This involves tests, not only of associations of various strains of warm and cool sea­ son grasses but also to determine whether the best types of each will compete suc­ cessfully with one another. Slope Control on Highways Grass has become an important en­ gineering material in highway construc­ tion and maintenance. It is used exten­ sively for holding the soil on the steep slopes of highway cut-and-fill sections and frequently on shoulders and berms. The chief problems are those of finding the grasses that will do a satisfactory job under the very severe conditions of dry and highly sterile soil common to such areas. The Pennsylvania Experiment Station in cooperation with the Penn­ sylvania Department of Highways has initiated a program for studying this and other problems that arise in connection with slope control. Series of field plot tests have been designed and established for securing information on grass adap­ tations, off-season seedings, methods of seeding and mulching and similar prac­ tical problems. Application of Research Results As the results of research become avail­ able, they should be interpreted in terms of their practical application to the particular conditions encountered on in­ dividual turf areas and this information should be placed in the hands of those who can make use of it. This service phase of the turf program in Pennsyl­ vania is maintained by the Agricultural Extension Organization of the College through the County Agricultural Agents and a full-time specialist on turf matters. Other specialists also are available to assist on technical questions in par­ ticular fields, such as disease and insect control and drainage problems. During 1949 these services to turf growers in USGA Journal: February, 1950 27 Pennsylvania reached a total of 202 dem­ onstrations, field meetings and tours, and more than 6,500 contacts with in­ dividuals to whom suggestions and help on their turf problems were given. Advisory Committee A valuable and vital part of the turf program in Pennsylvania has been the creation of a Turf Research Advisory Committee. This committee is composed of representatives appointed by the var­ ious local associations of greenkeeping superintendents in the State and other organizations interested in turf. The com­ mittee includes, also, those members of the research and extension staff of the College who are associated with turf work. The chief functions of the com­ mittee are to review and screen projects dealing with turf problems that are pro­ posed for investigation. It also functions in determining the dates, programs and other items connected with general field meetings and annual educational confer­ ences. Although the committee organ­ ization has been almost entirely inform­ al, the sincere and active interest of each member in the turf program and their willingness to give time and thought to it have been a major factor in its steady development. Turf Research Projects and Extension Service at the Pennsylvania State College 1. Production of improved strains of grasses (Musser and Wright). a) Creeping bent: Two hundred twenty-five selections in nursery; 50 under test for turf quality. Study of practicability of produc­ ing seed by polycrossing best par­ ents (15 such crosses under turf quality tests in comparison with all types of commercial bent seed). b) Red fescue: Approximately 75 se­ lections. Thirty-five in turf qual­ ity tests at different clipping heights at State College and Belts­ ville. Studies in progress to de­ termine whether type can be held in successive seed generations of improved strains. c) Kentucky bluegrass: Ten selec­ tions under turf quality test. Most of our selected strains lost during war. Plan to expand these studies next season. Two thousand five hundred-plant nursery of B- 27 established for foundation seed stocks. 2. Soil relationships to turf produc­ tion. a) Potash: Nitrogen ratios. Effects on growth rates and disease inci­ dence (Holben, Jeffries, Musser). b) Ureaform as source of N. Com­ parisons with other N carriers at State College and Philadelphia (organic and inorganic). Effects on growth rate, disease incidence and weed invasion (Musser, Stan­ ford, Watson). c) Effects of excess water and soil compaction on turf survival and quality (Watson). Changes in populations, density weed invasion and disease incidence under var­ ious rates of water and compac­ tion intensities over a three-year period. To be continued during the next two years with modifi­ cations to study methods of re­ novation to restore quality of turf seriously injured by the dif­ ferent treatments (Harper). d) Study of occurrence of trace ele­ ments on golf-course soils. Just getting under way. Sample plugs have been collected from untreat­ ed areas on courses throughout Pennsylvania (Pennington). 3. Special Projects. a) Crabgrass control. Similar projects conducted at State College and Philadelphia. Designed to deter­ mine effectiveness, rates and fre­ quency o f treatments required with various herbicides for crab­ grass eradication (sodium ar­ senite, phenylmercury compounds, potassium cyanate) (Musser and Stanford). b) Associations of warm and cool season grasses. U-3 Bermuda and Z-52 Zoysia japonica plugged on 12-inch centers and overseeded in individual plots with B-27 Ken­ tucky bluegrass, Penn State Chewings fescue, polycross creep­ ing bent, colonial bent. This is small scale pilot work. 28 USGA Journal: February, 1950 c) Association of improved strains of B - 27 Comm. B - 2 7 Comm. B - 2 7 B - 2 7 Comm. Comm. cool season grasses. Ky. Bl. P.S. Chewings T Ulahee Fescue Ky. Bl. -f- P.S. Chewings 4- Ulahee Fescue Ky. Bl. Comm. Chewings Ky. Bl. F Comm. Chewings Ky. Bl. P.S. Chewings Ky. Bl. Ulahee Fescue Ky. Bl. -p P.S. Chewings Ky. BI. Ulahee Fescue Fes. -j- Col. Bents T Col. Bents Fes. Col. Bents T Col. Bents Fes. Col. Bents Fes. Col. Bents Fes. Red Top v Red Top Fes. t Red Top Red Top d) Pre-seeding soil treatments with herbicides for weed control in seedling turf. Ten materials at three rates followed by grass seed­ ings at three intervals (5, 15 and 30 days after treatment). Total of 756 individual plots 5’ x 10’. Only material that was effective with­ out serious injury was cyanamid. (Musser). e) Highway slope control (Stanford). (1) Best adapted species. Repli­ cated tests on 1% to 1 slope (plots 30’ x 12’) of orchard, Alta fescue, red fescue, tall oats, poverty, crown vetch (separate and mulch seed­ ings). (2) Production of seed-mulching materials. Studies of row versus broadcast yields, har­ vesting time and methods. (3) Off-season seedings and com­ panion plantings of crown vetch with one and two grasses. 4. Disease control studies. Carried out at State College and Philadelphia. Comparisons of effectiveness of fungi­ cidal materials (Thurston and Means). Extension Work Services of one full-time man on turf­ problem consultation work and dissemi­ nation of information (Cooper). Special disease, insect and drainage problems COMING EVENTS Mar. 6-8—Midwest Regional Turf Conference, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. G. O. Mott. Mar. 10-11—Annual Turf Conference, University of Massachusetts, Am­ herst, Mass. Geoffrey Cornish. Mar. 13-15—1950 Greenkeepers’ Con­ ference, Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa, H. L. Lantz. Mar. 15-17—Third Cornell Turf Con­ ference, Ithaca, N. Y. John F. Cornman. handled by specialists in these fields. Total time devoted to turf problems by all these specialists, excluding Cooper, would probably amount to the full-time of one man. In 1949, there were 202 dem­ onstrations, field meetings and tours and more than 6,500 individual contacts. [Editor’s Note: This is the first of a series of articles designed to inform our readers on the development and prog­ ress in the turf programs at the sev­ eral cooperating experiment stations. Through these articles we will learn what is being done, where it is being done and who is doing it. In effect, they will be progress reports. Detailed in­ formation will follow on results as the data are published by the experiment stations Pennsylvania was chosen to lead the series because (1) it is the only State where a complete program of Research, Teaching and Extension in turf is op­ erative, (2) this month marks the com­ pletion of the turf research fellowship (James R. Watson) sponsored by the USGA Green Section from our Educa­ tion Fund and (3) Pennsylvania’s turf program is largely tax-supported.] SUBSCRIBERS TO GREEN SECTION SERVICE Associations Cleveland District of the Greenkeeping Superinten­ dent Association, Cleveland, Ohio. Greenkeeper’s Club of Western Pennsylvania (The), Mid-Atlantic Association of Greenkeepers, Wash­ National Greenkeeping Superintendents Association, Irwin, Pa. ington, D. C. St. Charles, Ill. Kaituna Bowling Club, Dunedin, New Zealand. Bowling Clubs Cemeteries Beverly Cemetery Co., Blue Island, Ill. Catholic Cemeteries Assn., Diocese of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio. Cave Hill Cemetery Co., Inc., Louisville, Ky. Elmwood Corporation (The), Birmingham, Ala. Evergreen Cemetery Association, Chicago, Ill. Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Loveland, Ohio. Knollwood Park Cemetery, Inc., Queens, N. Y. Ridge Hill Memorial Park, Lorain, Ohio. Rosehill Cemetery Co., Chicago, Ill. Spring Grove, Cemetery of, Cincinnati, Ohio. Vine Street Hill Cemetery Association (The), Cin­ cinnati, Ohio. West Laurel Hill Cemetery Co., Bala-Cynwyd, Pa. Westview Cemetery, Atlanta, Ga. Woodlawn Memorial Park of Nashville, Inc., Nash­ ville, Tenn. Commercial Adikes, J. and L. Inc., Jamaica, N. Y. American Agricultural Chemical Co., New York, N. Y. American Chemical Paint Co., Ambler, Pa. Apothecaries Hall Co., Waterbury, Conn. Armiger C. F., Inc., Silver Spring, Md. Associated Seed Growers, Inc., New Haven Conn. Baker Grass Industries, Miami Fla. Bean, John, Mfg. Co., Lansing Mich. Bell, D. B., & Son Inc., Kansas City, Mo. Belleview-Biltmore Hotel Co. (The), Detroit Mich. Belt Seed Co., Inc. (The), Baltimore, Md. Bolgiano, F. W. & Co., Washington, D. C. Brucker, Charles & Sons, Inc. Englewood, N. J. Burdett, Paul E. Lombard, Ill. Carbide & Carbon Chemicals Corp., Fine Chemic­ als Div. New York, N. Y. USGA Journal: February, 1950 Cargill, Inc., Seed Div., Minneapolis Minn. Clapper Co. (The) West Newton, Mass. Coke Oven Ammonia Research Bureau, Columbus, Ohio. Connolly, J. S. Bethesda, Md. Crenshaw McMichael Seed Co., Tampa, Fla. Davis Geo. A., Inc., Chicago, Ill. Davison Chemical Corp. (The), Baltimore, Md. Ditman, J. A. Laurel, Md. Doughten Seed Co. (The), Jersey City, N. J. Dreer Henry A., Inc., Philadelphia, Pa. Drumcliff Co. (The), Towson, Md. Dryfoos, Sidney L. Cleveland, Ohio. duPont de Nemours, E. I., & Co. Retail Products Div., Semesan Section, Wilmington, Del. Engbretson Seed Co., Astoria, Ore. Evans Implement Co. Atlanta, Ga. Everett Seed Co., Atlanta, Ga. Funk Bros. Seed Co., Bloomington, Ill. Gallowhur Chemical Corp., Puratized Div., New York, N. Y. Garden Products Co. St'. Louis, Mo. Geary Bros., Klamath Falls, Ore. Germain Seed & Plant Co., Los Angeles Cal. Godwin, Hiram F., Detroit Mich. Golf & Lawn Supply Corp., White Plains, N. Y. Gormel Plant Food Products, Rochester, N. Y. Griener Clarence E., Co., Indianapolis, Ind. Griffith, E. H., Inc., Pittsburgh Pa. Harris Co., Inc., Joseph, Rochester , N. Y. Hastings, H. G., & Co., Atlanta, Ga. Hector Supply Co., Miami, Fla. Henderson, Peter & Co., Inc., New York, N. Y. Hoffman, A. H. Inc., Landisville, Pa. Hyper-Humus Co., Newton, N. J. Island Landscape Co., Palm Beach, Fla. Jacobsen Mfg. Co., Racine, Wis. Kylander Co. (The), West Hartford, Conn. Lapp, Walter S., Lansdale, Pa. Lawn & Golf Supply Co., Philadelphia, Pa. Lawn-Rite Sales & Service, Denver, Colo. Lilly, Charles H., Co. (The), Inc., Seattle, Wash. Linck, O. E„ Co. Inc., Clifton, N. J. Link’s Nursery Inc., Clayton, Mo. Mallinckrodt Chemical Works, New York, N. Y. Mangelsdorf, Ed. F. & Bro., Inc., St. Louis, Mo. McCullough, J. Chas., Seed Co. (The) Cincin­ nati, Ohio. Merck & Co. Inc., Rahway, N. J. Minnesota Milorganite Co., Long Lake, Minn. Minnesota Toro, Inc. Minneapolis, Minn. Mock Seed Co., Pittsburgh, Pa. Naco Fertilizer Co. Jacksonville, Fla. Northern Field Seed Co., Winona, Minn. Northrup, King & Co. Berkeley, Cal. (*) Ohio Toro Co., Cleveland, Ohio. Old Orchard Turf Nurseries Madison, Wis. Oliger, J. C„ Seed Co., Akron Ohio. Peppard Seed Co. Kansas City, Mo. Peterson. Arthur D., Co., Inc. New York, N. Y. Pfizer Chas. & Co., Inc., New York, N. Y. Philadelphia Seed Co., Inc. (The), Philadelphia Pa. Philadelphia Toro Co. Philadelphia, Pa. Rain Bird Sprinkler Mfg. Corp., Glendora, Cal. Scarlett Wm. G., & Co., Baltimore, Md. Scott, O. M., & Sons Co. Marysville, Ohio. Scovill Mfg. Co., Waterbury Conn. Sewerage Commission, City of Milwaukee, Milwau­ kee, Wis. 29 Sexauer, Geo. P., & Son, Des Moines Iowa. Skinner Irrigation Co. (The) Troy, Ohio. Sluis and Groot of America, Ine., Palo Alto, Cal. Smith E. J. & Sons Co., Charlotte, N. C. Southern States Cooperatives, Inc., Richmond, Va. Spalding A. G. & Bros, Inc., New York, N. Y. Stumpp & Walter Co., New York, N. Y. Sutton & Sons, Ltd. Reading, England. Swift & Co., Plant Food Div., Baltimore, Md. Terminal Sales Corp., Dearborn, Mich. Toro Mfg. Co., Minneapolis, Minn. Volkman C. M. & Co., San Francisco, Cal. Wagner, H. L. & Sons, Imbler, Ore. West Coast Fertilizer Co. Tampa, Fla. West Point Lawn Products, West Point, Pa. Whitney Seed Co., Inc. Buffalo, N. Y. Wood, T. W. & Sons, Richmond Va. Woodruff, F. H. & Sons, Inc. Milford, Conn. (**) Woodside Bent Grass Nurseries, Des Moines Iowa. Worthington Ball Co. (The), Elyria, Ohio. Worthington Mower Co. Stroudsburg, Pa. Golf Club Ineligible for USGA Marlborough Golf & Country Club, Ltd., Carter­ ville, P. Q. Canada. Golf Course Architects Beb, William P. & Son, Pasadena, Cal. Diddel & Johnson, Ormond Beach, Fla. Gordon, William F., Co. Bala-Cynwyd, Pa. Harris, Robert Bruce, Chicago, Ill. Jones, Robert Trent, New York N. Y. Lawrence, Robert F. Boca Raton, Fla. Maxwell, Perry, Tulsa Okla. McGovern, J. B. Wynnewood, Pa. Tull, Alfred H. New York, N. Y. (***) Golf Course Construction Raynor, Ralph I., Melrose Park, Pa. Individuals Bottoms, George D. Bottoms Gardens, Athens, Connell, Bud, Marion Iowa. Hall, A. F. Bethel, Kans. Korber, Mrs. Josephine W., The Wychwood, Great Neck, N. Y. Ladd Greeley, Minneapolis, Minn. Shearman, Mike, Sioux City, Iowa. Park Departments Des Moines, City of, Des Moines, Iowa. Forest Preserve, District of Cook County, Chicago , Hartford Park Department, Hartford, Conn. Minneapolis, City of, Minneapolis, Minn. Palisades Interstate Park Commission, Bear Wichita Board of Park Commissioners, Wichita, Mountain, N. Y. Kans. Private Estate duPont, H. F., Winterthur, Del. Schools Father Flanagan’s Boys Home, Boys Town, Neb. Georgetown Preparatory School, Garrett Park, Md. (*) Placed two $30 subscriptions. (**) Placed four $30 subscriptions. (***) Contributed $100 to Education Fund. Ala. Ill. CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM ORGANIZATIONS IN 1949 Augusta National Golf Club.................... Augusta Women’s Golf Association.... Bond, R. R......................................................... Clapper, O. O.................................................... Detroit District Golf Association........... Georgia State Golf Association............... Golf Association of Philadelphia........... Gruber, Al......................................................... Hall, A. F......................................................... Indiana Golf Association............................ Indianapolis District Golf Association. . Municipal Sports Fund of Los Angeles Mississippi Valley Golf Supts. Assn... New England Golf Association........... Conn. State Golf Assn. Maine State Golf Assn. Oklahoma Turf Association .................... 200.00 Professional Gofers’ Assn, of America 500.00 St. Louis District Golf Association.... 200.00 Shearman, Mike............................ 5.00 Southern Golf Association...... 400.00 Southern Golf Association...... 250.00 Athens Country Club $ 50.00 Nashville Dist. Golf Assn. 100.00 Sea Island Company 100.00 $ 1,000.00 10.00 150.00 1,000.00 750.00 100.00 100.00 25.00 5.00 250.00 250.00 507.47 100.00 1,200.00 Rhode Island Golf Assn. Vermont State Golf Assn. Mass. Golf Assn. New Hampshire Golf Assn. Southern Turf Association........................ 200.00 300 100 300 100 $300 100 $ 7,202.47 30 USGA Journal: February, 1950 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STATE EXPERIMENT STATIONS 1945-1949 Name of Station Cornell University Florida Exper. Station Georgia Coastal Plain Exper. Sta. Massachusetts Agri. Exper. Sta. Michigan State College Purdue University of Missouri Oklahoma A. & M. Pennsylvania Exp. Sta. Rhode Island Saratoga Springs Texas A. & M. U.S. Dept of Agri. (Regional Work) Contributions Education Fund $ 8,330.00 2,250.00 1,000.00 700.00 6,674.68 6,600.00 4,600.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 $ 400.00 900.00 300.00 750.00 1,500.00 5,060.00 600.00 900.00 $ Total 400.00 900.00 8,330.00 300.00 3,000.00 2,500.00 700.00 6,674.68 11,660.00 5,200.00 1,000.00 900.00 1,000.00 $ 32,154.68 $ 10,410.00 $ 42,564.68 Editor’s Note: The money from Green Section Subscriptions is credited to our Education Fund, which is used to foster and to support turf programs at cooperating experiment stations. The Education Fund is used primarily to sup­ plement contributed funds in establish­ ing and financing turf research fellow­ ships on selected turf projects at lead­ ing agricultural experiment stations which have a sound turf program and where the degree of Ph. D. in Agronomy is granted. Research grants of $300 a year are established on selected projects where advanced graduate studies are not immediately feasible. The three - year turf research fellowship leading to a Ph. D. degree is considered to be one of the wisest and most economical plans for using the funds entrusted to us. Not only do we gain valuable data and in­ formation that are needed sorely on pressing problems, but we also help to train future leaders in turf. To all of our Green Section Subscrib­ ers and to all who have made contribu­ tions to the work, we express our sincere thanks and deep gratitude. We hope that the way in which we have used the funds has been agreeable to all of you. We pledge ourselves to further develop­ ment of this service and to continue to bring to you accurate, usable and up- to-date information in the specialized field of turf management. To the experiment stations and to their loyal personnel, we owe a profound debt of gratitude. The development of the national, decentralized program of turf research and education is possible only through the enthusiastic cooper­ ation that has been expressed. Informal cooperation is operative at a number of experiment stations where no funds are involved and where no formal agreements exist. This list includes the experiment stations in Arizona, Califor­ nia, Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Mary­ land, Nebraska. New Jersey, Ohio, Ore­ gon, Tennessee, Washington and Wis­ consin. The list of contributions in this issue does not include funds which were raised by local or regional groups and which were sent directly to the state experi­ ment stations. California, Iowa and New Jersey are representative of this group. Neither have we recognized, by reason of lack of information, the substantial contributions and grants made by branches of industry for special turf in­ vestigations. A large part of weed-control work has been made possible by com­ mercial grants to the experiment sta­ tions. The USGA Green Section, in cooper­ ation with the Bureau of Plant Industry, United States Department of Agricul­ ture, helps to coordinate the turf work in progress, assists in planning research projects and in correlating and dis­ seminating the existing information. Our major support continues to come from golf interests but the over-all scope of the turf work in which we are engaged through cooperative efforts covers every phase of specialized turf. Next year we shall observe the 30th year of continuous cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture. To the officials of the Government who have made this long and happy associa­ tion possible, we express our gratitude. 31 5 4 3 17 1 1 4 2 13 4 15 11 18 1 2 3 3 1 10 1 2 2 1 2 16 1 1 2 3 8 2 1 3 3 1 USGA Journal: February, 1950 Annual Index to USGA Journal VOLUME II — SPRING, 1949 THROUGH FEBRUARY, 1950 SPR. — SPRING ISSUE AUT. — AUTUMN ISSUE Amateur Status Amateurism Is in the Spirit'............... June Doubt as to Amateur Status............... Feb. Evidence and the Semi-Amateur........... Spr. Organized Gambling in Golf............... July Professional Intent........................................ July Books Garden City Golf Club, The...................... Feb. Treasury of Golf Humor, A...................... Feb. Women’s Metropolitan Golf Ass’n.... Feb. Caddies Caddie’s Pay, A............................................ June Club and its Caddie Camp, A................ Feb. Golfer’s Greatest Responsibility, A.. Feb. “Honor Caddie”............................................ Spr. Honor Caddies................................................ Sept. More Caddie Scholarships...................... June New Caddie Scholarship............................. Aut. Championships: Post-Tourn.---- Men Junior Championship, The.................... Sept. Middlecoff’s Courage in the Open.... July Mortality at the First Tee........................ July Profit Returned to Golf............................... Feb. Public Links Championship, The.... Aug. Views on the Walker Cup Match.... Sept. Young Guard Advances, The............... Aut, Championships: Pre-Tourn.----Men British Walker Cup Side, The............... Aug. Championships (Open, Girls’)........... Spr. Chicago Rich in Open History............... June Entries and the Three H’s...................... June Golden Anniversary.............................. Aut. Junior Championship, The............ July Oak Hill: Scene of the 49t*h Amateur Aug. Plans for Championships................. June Rancho: A Model Public Course.... July Walker Cup Team, The..................... July Why Championships?......................... Feb. Courses Golf’s Bottle Neck: Courses............ Aug. Handicapping Canada’s New Handicap System.... Sept. Changing to USGA Handicap System Spr. Handicap Classes.................................. Aug. Peace on the First Tee..................... Feb. Historical . . Aut. Anyone Can Make a Hole-in-One.. History from Memory.......................... July Old International Match, An........ Aut. “Only Way of Playing at the Golfe” Feb. 16 Putts for 18 Holes......................... Sept. 37 for Two Holes in the Open.... June Trophy Returns t’o Kebo Valley, A. .. . Aut. Walker Cup Memories............................ Aug. Implements and the Ball Bulges on Club Faces................................. June Concave Faces.............................................. Aug. How the Modern Ball Plays........... . . Aug^ Mercury in a Clubhead............................. Aut. No Change in the Wedge........................ June Overweight Ball, The................................. Aut. Radioactive Golf Ball................................. June Special Balls? Makers Say No........... Spr. Miscellaneous Accuracy ......................................................... Aug. Active Year for the Seniors.................... June Alice in Blunderland................................. Feb. And Happy Birthday to Us.................... Spr. Ben Hogan......................................................... Spr. Chairmen of USGA Committees.... Spr. Champion Is Runner-Up........................... Spr. Definition Revised........................................ July Don’t Be a Firebug..................................... Sept. Dr. Middlecoff Finds Out........................... July Earning Their Pay?................................... Aut. English on USGA Staff............................. July Fascination of Golf, The........................ Aug. Frat’emity in Golf..................................... Sept. Golf .................................................................... Feb. 5 2 10 14 14 2 3 3 20 9 14 8 1 2 4 12 10 1 3 18 5 14 11 11 6 1 2 21 4 15 18 5 12 9 13 19 2 15 10 3 18 18 8 8 4 5 13 3 15 13 12 13 13 5 3 19 3 3 1 2 11 4 4 11 2 2 3 1 8 “Golf House”.................................................. Golf in Moscow.............................................. Happy Birthday to You............................. Harris, Dahlbender Turn Pro............... Hidden Reserve, The................................. How to Prove a Point............................. Inspiration ..................................................... Kerr N. Petrie.............................................. Lightning Protection................................. Listening Rates.............................................. Mr. A. Cleveland Golfer............................ No Greenskeepers Here............................. Ontario’s Novel Opening Rally................ Perfectly Natural.......................................... Placing the Cups.......................................... Plum Hollow Likes to Read.................... Police Golf Organization........................ Salutes ............................................................. Seniors Visit England and Sweden, The 67 at 67, A....................................................... Spreading the Word................................. They Serve the Game................................. Thinking Out Loud..................................... 35 Years a Champion............................... USGA Nominees for 1950........................ Walker Cup Ties.......................................... Walking Off with the Flag.................... Who’s Afraid of Pine Valley?............... Who’s Afraid of Stymies?........................ Feb. June Spr. Spr. Sept. Aug. Feb. Sept. June Sept. Sept. July Spr. Feb. June June Aug. Feb. Sept. Aug. Spr. Spr. Aut. Feb. Aut. Feb. Spr. July Aut*. Museum Mr. McLemore’s Museum........................ Feb. Saved for a Rainy Day............................. Two Putters and a Ball............................. reb. Necrology J. Frederic Byers.......................................... Passing of Max R. Marston.................... Two Passings................................................. July June Aut. Play of the Game 21 4 20 20 3 17 Addressing the Ball..................................... Sept. Can I Beat Myself?........................................ July Chipping and Pit’ching............................. July Club Pro in Competition, The................ Aug. Clubheads Don’t Work............. ............... Sept. Control and Balance in the Swing.... June Golf and Happiness..................................... Spr. Golf in 52 Lands.......................................... Sept. 16 How to Win at Golf................................. June 14 My Golf Creed.......................... ■................. Aug. 10 Par for Chipping and Putting........... June 11 Professional’s Place in Golf, The. . . . Sept. 14 Swinging the Clubhead............................. Spr. 16 What Mrs. Porter Learned.................... Aut. 9 Rules of Golf (Not the Referee) Changes in the Rules of Golf........... Spr. Every Golfer His Own Referee........... Spr. It Never Fails I.......................................... July Penalties Cut* in British Rules........... Aut. Simplicity in Local Rules........................ July 13 15 12 Rules of Golf Decisions (The Referee) Artificial Drains Defined........................ Sept. 23 Artificial Obstructions Defined.............. Aug. 23 Ball: Almost Lost..................................... Spr. 21 Lost or Out of Bounds?.................... Aug. 24 Moved by Opponent’s............................. Aug. 23 Moving or at Rest ?............................. Aug. 23 Not at* Bottom of Cup........................ Spr. 23 On Bridge over Water Hazard.... Feb. 21 Resting against Flagstick............... Spr. 23 Reteed, No Choice of Spot............... Sept. 22 Strikes Competitor’s Bag.................. Feb. 20 Striking Opponent’s............................... Spr. 22 Striking Opponent's Ball.................... June 24 Striking Two Others.............................. Aug. 21 Ball Marks: Repair after Putting.... Feb. 19 Balls within Club-Length........................ Aug. 23 Bending Growing Objects........................ July 24 Borrowing Partner’s Club.................... Spr. 22 Bridge in Hazard: Lift Permitted.. Sept. 25 Bridge: Relief Limited in Hazard. . . . Feb. 20 32 USGA Journal: February, 1950 Burrowing Animal Hole: Evidence re Ball ............................................................ Spr. Caddie Removing Flagstick for “Leaner” .................................................... Spr. Casual Wafer in Hazard........................ June Claim Must Be Made on 18th Green Sept. Claims: Time Limit for Making.... June Committee May Postpone Match.... July Croquet Stroke Permitted........................ Aut. Drop May Improve Line of Play.... Aut. Dropping Ball from Ditch.................... Aut. Failure to Alternate in Foursome. .. . Aug. Flagstick Can Be Removed.................... Aut. Flagstick Removed by Either Side.... Sept. Four-Ball Stroke Play............................. June Greater Part of Ball below Surface. . Spr. Handicap Changing during Play.... Spr. Handicap Play-off: Strokes Unevenly Divided ..................................................... Feb. Handicaps Province of Committee. . Sept. Knocking Away Opponent’s Ball.... July Lifting in Single Match........................ June Lifting in 3-Ball and 4-Ball Matches. June Line of Play Subordinate.................... Aut. Line of Putt May Not Be Touched. . Aut. Local Rule: Committee Must Interpret' Spr. Lost Ball Assumed in Hazard........... Spr. Lost Ball Penalty..................................... Spr. Lost Ball Procedure................................. Spr. Marker May Be Spouse........................ Aug. Measuring Holes.......................................... July Moving Tree Branch in Address.... Aut. No Option in Sfroke Play.................... Aug. No Relief from Fence............................. June Not a Hole-in-One..................................... Spr. Opponent Removing Flagstick........... July Opponent’s Option if Ball Is Struck Aug. Ordering Opponent’s Caddie from Flag Aug. Out'-of-Bounds Line Must Be Complete Sept. Paling Defined.............................................. Aug. Parallel Hazard: Local Rule............... Feb. Penalty Remission Creates Problem. . Feb. Play Completed when Hole Is Won Sept. Playing without a Marker...................... July Play-Off Methods: Match Play............ Sept. Play-Off Methods: Stroke Play............ Sept. Point Match: Penalty Interpreted... Feb. Practice Putts Permitted........................ Aut. Practice Stroke as Provisional Ball. . July Practice Swing toward Hole................ Spr. Prohibiting Attendance of Flagstick June Protective Screens: Relief Limited.. Sept. Pushing or Scraping Ball.................... Spr. Putter Shaft and Head............................. June Referee Attending Flagstick................ June Replacing Ball Moved by Opponent’s Sept. Ringer Tournament: Tie........................ Spr. Rocks Embedded: Definition................ Sept. "Scooter” Permissible................................. Feb. Smoothing Irregularities in Hazard.. Aug. Soling Club outside Hazard............... Aug. Spectator Picks Up Ball........................... Aut. Spectator Says Ball Was Moved........... Feb. Striking Flag in Four-Ball Match.. Aug. Stymie Rule: No Abrogation Permitted Sept. Tie in Handicap Match........................... July Touching Sand on Backswing........... Aug. Unplayable Ball............................................ Sept. Unplayable Lie: How to Proceed after Failure to Hit Ball............................... Aut. Unplayable Ball in Stroke Play........... June Unplayable Ball Procedure...................... Aug. Use Current Handicap............................... Spr. Water Hazard Entered from Far Side Feb. Water Hazard in Drive Zone............... Aug. Water Hazard: Local Rule Unnecessary June When Lost Ball Meant Lost Hole. ... June Winter Rules Not Recognized.......... Aut. Wrong Ball in Match Play.................... Aug. Sportsman’s Corner Anonymous ..................................................... June Herman Barron................................................. Aug. O. B. Keeler..................................................... Spr. Miss Betty Knoedler................................. Feb. Percy B. Lucas................................................. Aut. Sam Snead.......................................................... July Willie Turnesa................................................. Sept. Willie Turnesa................................................. Aut. 22 24 21 21 22 22 24 22 24 23 21 22 22 20 21 22 22 21 24 3 3 4 3 3 3 3 3 Tournaments (Not USGA) Americans Abroad....................................... Spr. 1 Footnote on Maturity.................................... Aug. 2 Four-Ball Event for Juniors....................... June 20 16 Louise Suggs’ 291........................................ Aut'. 4 Morse Trophy.......................................... Sept. North of the Border.................................... Sept. 1 Observations on the Ryder Cup Match Aut. 17 2 That California Final............................. Aut. Upswing in British Golf........................... July 16 1 When A Didn’t Play B............................... Aug. Verse All Those Divots.......................................... July Craven, The..................................................... July Father ................................................................ Aut. Fore! ................................................................ July Golf .................................................................... July Mednes Only....................................................... June My Caddie’s Dad............................................ Sept. The Golfer’s Vow....................................... Feb. Thus Spake the Voice of Golf................ June When the Game Is Won........................... Aug. Women Champion Who Laughs, A..................... Aut. First Girls’ Champion, The................ Sept'. $500 to Aid Children............................. Spr. Ladies Return to Merion, The........... Sept. Massachusetts Ladies................................. June Women’s Golf Branches Out................. July 13 4 8 11 32 13 9 2 16 10 6 20 2 18 4 15 24 23 24 23 21 23 23 22 22 22 21 24 22 23 23 22 23 24 23 23 21 23 24 22 23 22 23 23 24 23 24 21 22 23 21 23 23 19 22 22 22 25 22 19 23 22 21 24 24 22 24 24 22 24 24 20 TURF MANAGEMENT—USGA GREEN SECTION Maintenance Chinch Bug Control................................. Aug. Chlordane in Fertilizer for Soil-Insects Control ................................................... Aug. Control of Ants in Turf and Soil.... Spr. Grasses for Tees.......................................... Sept. Hints on Brownpatch Control.............. Aug. History and Development of Controls for Major Diseases of Bentgrass on Putting Greens, The.................... Spr. Materials for Chemical Weed Control July Nearly Everyone Has Crabgrass........... July Observations on Maintenance in 1949 Aut. Radioactivity Tests..................................... July Soil and Turf Relationships (I)........... June Soil and Turf Relationships (II).... July Stability of 2,4-D Stored with Mixed Fertilizer ................................................. J uly Trichloroacetate (TCA) for Bermuda­ grass and Johnsongrass Control.. July Turf Problems in California................ Aut. Turf Troubles on Golf Courses........... Sept. Water and Oxygen..................................... Spr. What Happened to Turf This Sum­ mer ........................................................... Sept. 30 Miscellaneous Bentgrass in the South................... Sept. Brief Report on the Status of B-27 30 Bluegrass Aut. 32 31 07 Contributions Received from Organiza- 31 tions in 1949.............................................. Feb. 29 Contributions to State Experiment Stations 1945-49 ................................. Feb. 30 25 One Man’s Methods..................................... Aug. 30 Second Annual National Turf Field 25 Day ........................................................... Aut. 29 Subscribers to Green Section Service Feb. 28 25 29 Turf Program at Penn State, The... Feb. 23 25 Questions and Answers 31 Alta Fescue........................................................ Sept. B-27 Bluegrass................................................. June 51 Construction and Maintenance................. Sept. ?? Highland Bent.................................................... June 3q Mowing in Relation t'o Play................... July Mowing Lawngrasses.................................... Sept. 28 U-3 Bermudagrass........................................... July 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 USGA Journal: February, 1950 33 IT’S YOUR HONOR Friendly Spirit TO THE USGA: Thank you very much for your letter in which you acknowledged receipt of our contribution in the . amount of $500 toward the experimental turf work being done at Tifton, Ga. I quite agree with your comments that the cooperative spirit which exists be­ tween the PGA and the USGA is as it should be, and you have my assurance that it will always be our policy to co­ operate in a manner which will further our mutual interest in the game. It was particularly gratifying to learn that the sum which was sent you will be of some assistance in the work which is being done at Tifton, even though it was not so much as we would have liked it to be and was more or less in the nature of a token contribution in recognition of the great work which you folks are doing. JOE NOVAK, President Professional Golfers' Association Indian Creek's Greens TO THE USGA: Your September, 1949, issue contained an article stating that we had successfully grown bentgrass on our greens. We feel it should be understood why we recon­ verted to Bermudagrass. Our greens have always been good and ready for play on opening day except during the last two winter seasons when bentgrass was being developed. In those years the Club was scheduled to open in November but the greens were not playable; the full course was not open until mid-January, and it was in good shape for only the latter half of our usual six- months playing period. Our experience indicates that bentgrass will not recuperate from summer damage caused by both the elements and the re­ moval of Bermudagrass in time to make good greens by our opening date. Thus we abandoned bent greens because we were not assured of a playable course until the middle of our winter season, plus the high cost. The club had spent between $70,000 and $80,000 for green­ keeping and maintenance in each of the two bentgrass years, and we still did not have six months of good conditions. This season our whole course was open November 1. It was in beautiful condition, with the greens getting better every day. Our green department is costing about $3,600 a month, or $43,000 a year, as against nearly $80,000 before. We retained two bent greens. They have shown considerable improvement since November but are not in excellent con­ dition. After reading the article in your September, 1949, issue, we regret that many golfers and others interested in the growing of fine turf are under the impres­ sion that the bentgrass venture at our Club was a great success. There are many factors to consider before statements should be made about the successful growing of any turf. We are as interested as anyone in ex­ periments with bent greens in Florida, and we believe our Club has contributed much toward them. Anything further along this line should be carried out by the USGA. WILLIAM M. ORR, President Indian Creek Country Club Miami Beach, Fla. From a New Professional TO THE USGA: A month ago I never believed I would be writing you this letter, but after recent deliberation I have decided to turn pro­ fessional. Realizing that the USGA holds an anti­ pathy toward anyone who uses the ama­ teur ranks as a springboard to a profes­ sional career, I should like it clearly under­ stood that, until last month, at no time did I harbor the thought of turning pro­ fessional. My reason for turning is very simple. Due to my opportunity to play in a great number of tournaments, both amateur and open, and because of the unlimited amount of time I was spending on the game, I no longer felt that I could consider myself a true amateur. However, in every other respect I believe my amateur status has been in order. Therefore, as I still desire to continue tournament play, the only logical course open to me is to turn pro­ fessional. SKEE RIEGEL Clearwater, Fla. Editor’s Note-. The USGA Journal invites comments on matters relating to the welfare of the game and will publish them as space permits.