Vol. XXVIII
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FEBRUARY 28, 1925
Entered as second class matter at the post office at PINEHURST, N. C. Subscription $2.00 per vear
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Number 11
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The Annual Seniors’ Tournament
(By Burt Hoxie)
Trmmmmm HOSE hale and hearty boys
of the links, with the tinsel
. in their hair, the spring of
youth still in their stride, but some
of the old sting missing from their
swing, gathered at Pinehurst for
their fifth annual tournament
this week. They are known as
the Senior’s of the game, their
ages running from 55 to beyond
the well known three score years
and ten. The ones who are the
envy of many of the younger
generation through their links
prowess.
Whenever they gather, ferret
ing out a feature is no trouble.
Rather, there are so many that it
becomes a difficult assignment to
recall them all and elect the prime
one. And so in this colorful and
enjoyable party one does “the
hesitation” in starting the keys on
the name of a particular indi
vidual.
The ensemble was composed of
about seventy-five, the group be
ing divided into three classes, with
a tid bit of silverware for the best
gross performer in each class.
Following the opening test, which
consisted of an 18 hole qualifying
round, five divisions were muster
ed together for the hand-to-hand encounter regardless of the
class they originally qualified in. And at this writing, neck
and neck finishes are on the bill of fare each -day, and picking
a winner anywhere, anytime, as uncertain as niblicking one’s
way from a number ten trade mark in a deep bunker.
If "opening performances mean anything G. E. McClintock,
of Manchester, New Hampshire, might be considered the best
bet in the first flight. He proved his capabilities in the medal
test by romping home a winner in Class A with a very fine card
of 95. His figures of 41 out were the best of anyone in the
field, and the 46 back was very creditable, especially so as
playing conditions were not exactly idealistic. A high wind
swept the landscape. The trophy acquirer is 59. He certainly
left his years in the club house when he negotiated that first
hazardous nine holes in 41 shots.
Miss Glenna Collett, present holder of the North and South
Championship, who is expected to defend her title at the
twenty-third renewal of this event, starting March 25
But the real class of the field,
and we will be so bold as to state
the featurist of the day after care
ful consideration, was S. R. Smith,
of Freeport, New York, a member
of the Garden City Club, on Long
Island. This enthusiastic
youngster” of the links has now
arrived at the point where he has
seen sixty-two summers and win
ters pass into the discard. But
age doesn’t mean anything as the
well known New York cartoonist
and golfer by the name of “Rube”"
Gdldberg tells us. Mr. Smith
wasn’t in the “sixties” golfing
mood on this occasion. All that
he did with just an ordinary set of
working implements was turn the
ninth in 42, and scamper home in
47, for a very fine 89, two strokes
better than the consistent C. L.
Becker, of Pinehurst.
There was still another, how
ever, to whom something besides
honorable mention is apropos.
This is G. W. Statzell, of Pine
hurst, and Drexel Hill, Pa., the
pace setter in Class C. On his
shoulders are 67 years, but you
wouldn’t know it. And it’s hard
to credit on a championship course,
this card of 93, a 50 out and 43 back. But again we reiterate,
the veterans can make some of those still in the Spring of life
sit up and take notice. Mr. Statzell had a trio of shots to
spare in snaring the honors in his Squad, C. S. Strout, of Bidde
ford, Maine, being his nearest competitor.
Robert Foote, of New Haven, Connecticut, was the daddy o£
the field, having recently reached his seventy-fourth birthday..
J. R. Shoaff, of New York, won second honors in this respect,,
being 72. Eight in the field had seen seventy years or more of
life, and the ages of twenty-six ranged from sixty to seventy.
Just what the game has done to men of this class is a revela
tion. And it’s a lot of sport to see the fire in their eye as they
wend their way in match play over the fairways. *
(Continued on page 9)