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Vol. XXVIII
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APRIL 4, 1925.
Entered &s second class matter at the post office at 'PTTCTrTTTT'Pfinr* w n a ,
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Number 16
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United North and South Championship for Women
i (By Bukt IIoxie) v;-,.
MRS. MELVIN JONES, a member of the Olympia Field
Club, Chicago, has added the North and South Cham
u—J P'onsh»P title for women to her long list of past achieve
ments. On the Number 3 course last week at the expense
of Miss Marian Bennett, the present Queen of the Windy
City links, and former Western women’s champion, became
the successor to Miss Glenna Collett, who was not present
to defend the title. The score was 4 and 3, and one of the
largest galleries ever seen at Pinehurst in similar events turn
ed out to witness the contest.
Miss Bennett is a miss of sixteen, a student, and was spend
ing her vacation of two short weeks here. Mrs. Jones had
never made a pilgrimage to Pinehurst before, and no doubt
the finalists created something in the nature of a surprise, for
the field was large, numbering well over 100, and it fairly
bristled with talent.
When Miss Louise Fordyce, of Youngstown, the Western
womens champion, stepped in to take the qualifying round
with an 84, through a 44 out, and 40 back, she immediately be
came the outstanding favorite in the field. But a glance at
the card of the new champion develops another surprise. For
we find on the seventh hole a terrible ten dotted it. About
everything happened there apparently, but at that she was
out in 45, and back in 46 for a 91. This gave her name no par
ticular prominence at the start, though it may be seen what
might have happened in the initial test but for the double
figures, and even after passing easily through the first round
at Mrs. G. H. Bright's expense, and the second with Mrs. Jay
Lee, as her opponent, Mrs. Jones was still considered likely
to pass by the wayside, for Miss Louise Fordyce was to be her
next opponent.
But the medalist suffered vthe same fate as the other op
ponents, a nervy shot on the home hole which developed into
a par four by Mrs. Jones being her undoing.
While this was transpiring Miss Bennett was being looked
upon as quite capable of creating an upset in spite of her
youth. She had done so before here, and was playing golf of
a delightful nature to her followers. Mrs. E. E. Harwood
first found the pace too fast, and, secondly, Mrs. F. C. Letts
had to lower her colors on the home green, the second of the
hig six” in the country to have to become a spectator. Then
only Mrs. N. K. Toerge stood in the path of the miss from the
Nutmeg state to prevent her from being a finalist, but the
New York representative had no better luck than those who
had gone before and was put out of the running on the 17th
green.
Then youth met experience and experience triumphed, and
it was through better golf without any question. But to the
credit of Miss Bennett it should be mentioned that her favorite
brassie became useless in a practise session prior to the match
and she was forced to use a spoon. She was heavily1 handi
capped from' the tees and to poor tee shots can be traced the
loss of many holes. Karly in the match it appeared a severe
overthrow was her fate, for on the eighth tee she was three
down, but that was the bracipg point of the outward nine
and the next two holes were tucked away so that when the two
players headed toward home Mrs. Jones was enjoying but a
single hole lead. The golf in spots was not so good but that
is expected when the stakes are high and the gallery is large.
Mrs. Jones was 45 to the mid-way station and Miss Bspnett 47.
The match was never on an even keel. At the tenth Miss
Bennett got a fortunate halve when she missed her drive and
second shot, the Westerner, playing safe short of the brook,
needed four more to put her ball into the cup. A drive to the
woods at the eleventh was costly for Miss Bennett as her ball
was practically unplayable and she was forced to concede the
hole and become two down. At the long twelfth a reduction
of the lead seemed about to take place. Miss Bennett was just
off the sand in threjg and Mrs. Jones close to the next tee, but
a deadly run-up shot by the Chicago golfer developed into
a halve and the lead was still hers, two up. It became three
up when Miss Bennett was trapped on her' second shot at the
thirteenth and required a six, Mrs. Jones having a perfect
par four. On the water hole Miss Bennett missed her tee
shot again and only gained about 75 yards. Her second was
over the pond but was trapped. Mrs. Jones, in 'the meantime,
was lying on the edge of the trap with another win apparent
ly in sight, but she popped her second into the pit and thereby
lost the hole, as Miss Bennett nibliced out dead to the cup for
a four, and Mrs. Jones needed three more to get down. When
the fifteenth was lost through Miss Bennett’s drive to a trap,
the end seemed just around the corner, Mrs. Jones playing the
hole perfectly, a drive, brassie, perfect approach and one putt
for par figures. The short sixteenth was where the cham
pion again demonstrated her mastery of the run-up shot.
Dead to the pin from 30 yards short of the green, she sank
her putt and the match was over. Miss Bennett’s try for par
after a well hit approach shot was a valiant one but the cause
had already been lost. She certainly is deserving of all manner
of congratulations for her showing and better days are ahead.
She showed that she has the stuff of which champions are
Continued on page Six