MRS. H. ARNOLD JACKSON

Transcription

1 MRS. H. ARNOLD JACKSON Who won the 1914 Ladies' Championship of the United States (Photo by Edwin Levick)

2 THE LADIES' CHAMPIONSHIP By JOHN G. ANDERSON FOR many years the entry lists for the Sectional and the National Championships have contained the names of married ladies in far greater proportion than those who still espouse the state of single blessedness. Yet unless we go back to the records, which tell us of championships being won at medal play in the national event, we would look in vain for any name which betokened the marriage bonds. It will not be so next year, for on the trophy, which is the symbol of a captured title, will be the name of Mrs. H. Arnold Jackson of the Oakley Country Club, Watertown, Mass. When the Amateur Championship of the United States Golf Association was completed at Manchester, Vermont the golfers who had taken in the sight and watched the play all through the week said on leaving, "The best golfer won." It was true, and yet there have been times when dissatisfaction has been shown because of the fact that the best golfer did not win. When the Woman's Golf Championship was finished at Nassau it surely would have taken a long stretch of the imagination to conjure up to mind the play of any golfer other than the winner who deserved the title. There were golfers who could drive farther; there were players in the tournament who not only could but actually did putt better; there were ladies out on the links who had the power and the skill to get longer distances and a straighter ball with the iron both from the tee and through the green, but there was no golfer who played in the championship who was as good in all departments of the game in their relation to actual need and service at the proper time as the champion for nineteen fourteen. Sometimes there arises the question of luck and bad misfortune undeserved. These were quite conspicuous by their absence this year or at least that is the way it appeared to me and the matches were won and lost on their respective merits. Smoothly, and with no hitch, the championship was run off and with the beautiful weather continuing for the whole week it was no wonder that this titular struggle should have evoked from the participants many utterances of their keen pleasure and sturdy conviction that this was the best of all championships. It is hardly necessary to say much about the course over which the championship was played. Nassau is well known to most golfers and its condition at this time was a bit better than those of the surrounding courses because there had been special preparation made for the event. But like many of the other neighboring links the fairway was burnt up and the ground was in consequence very hard so that long drives were far from uncommon. No one ever objects to a long drive, anyhow, but the bounces and the angles at which the ball would shoot off when the long irons were played toward the greens made up for the added advantage accruing from an extra distance drive. The putting greens, however, were excellent and with the exception of the twelfth uniformly true. There was no reason for taking three putts on the green for the holes were put in the center and this made the approaches as well much the easier. The traps were kept raked all the time and it was the exception rather than the rule for a golfer to lose more than one stroke in getting out. No complaint of any sort would have been in order about the course taking all the facts about the weather and drought into consideration. There were ninety-one who took score card and pencil and strode up to the first tee on September fourteenth in the qualifying round for the Woman's Championship of America. The last year's title holder, Miss Gladys Ravenscroft, was not on hand to defend her title, and the expected and long awaited visit of Miss Cecilia Leitch, probably on account of the war situation, did not materialize. The scores which were handed in early in the day gave indications that there would be no hope for those who had cards over a hundred. This was quite disconcerting to those who had played in championship qualifications before, for never in the history of the play had scores under 103 been left out in the cold. But worse news from their standpoint was still to come, for when all the cards were in it was found that only those with a score of 96 or better could go on in the match play. Even at this figure there was a tie which resulted in the elimination of Mrs. F. B. Ryan of the Cranford Club. In this group was Miss Elaine Rosenthal, who later was to reach the final round. The low score was made by Miss Georgianna Bishop of Brooklawn who went out in 46 but came home in 39 for a grand total of 85. Four scores were under 90 and over half of the qualifiers were 92 or better, assuredly a strong argument that the ladies' golf is increasing in value and excellence along with that of the men. The scores of the qualifiers: Miss Georgianna M. Bishop, Brooklawn Mrs. H. Arnold Jackson, Oakley Miss M. A. Irving, Richmond County Miss Lillian B. Hyde, South Shore Mrs. Ronald H. Barlow, Merion Miss Bertha A. Stratton, Cranford Miss Marion Hollins, Westbrook Mrs. Isaac Harter, Richmond County Miss Louise Swabacker, Ravisloe Miss Margaret Curtis, Essex County Miss Caroline Painter, Midlothian Mrs. Clarence Vanderbeck, Philadelphia Cricket Miss Frances C. Griscom, Merion Mrs. E. M. Steedman, St. Louis Miss Fanny C. Osgood, Brookline Mrs. A. C. Sumner, Nassau Miss Alexa Sterling, Atlanta Mrs. J. L. Davis, Nassau

3 G O L F Mrs. Thurston Wright, Allegheny Mrs. E. W. Daley, Oakley Miss Harriet F. Curtis, Essex County Mrs. Caleb F. Fox, Huntington Valley Mrs. E. H. Fitler, Merion Miss Grace Semple, St. Louis Miss E. M. Allen, Oakley Miss C. C. Robertson, Bellport Mrs. H. R. Stockton, Plainfield Miss Ethel M. Campbell, Overbrook Mrs. H. C. Phipps, Piping Rock Miss Elaine V. Rosenthal, Ravisloe Mrs. G. M. Heckscher, Piping Rock Miss Florence McNeely, Merion When the draw had been completed and the first day's matches analyzed there was not a golfer present who did not wish that the names might again be put into the hat and another shuffle made. It seemed as if some golfing sprite had wormed his way into the hat and with the most perverse of natures had matched all the champions in the first round with particular delight when two came from the same section of the country. Else how could two ladies from far off St. Louis have come together in this round or the two best players of the Metropolitan districts, Miss Hyde and Miss Rollins? And why should two such rivals as Miss Margaret Curtis, three times champion, and her opponent in the final round two years ago, Mrs. Ronald Barlow, have to settle their score, or two former champions from the Boston district, Miss Harriot Curtis and Mrs. Jackson, who as Miss Katherine Harley won the title a few years back, be forced to start right in in ding-dong, fashion? However, there was nothing to do but talk about the introduction of the number system, where the low scorer plays the last qualifier and so on, and prepare for the first round with more or less fear or trembling but with the added thought that if defeat came it was at the hands of some worthy opponent. A very large gallery followed the play on the second day. The feature match proved to be that in which Miss Margaret Curtis was opposed to Mrs. Barlow. The latter was out in 44 and had a lead of two holes. When this was increased by one at the tenth there seemed little chance for the Boston lady. But here is where calculations went wrong. Miss Curtis with a 4 at a bogey three hole was 2 under 4's for the first six holes on the inward journey and although Mrs. Barlow was getting down in bogey or par figures she steadily lost ground and at the sixteenth was 1 down. Miss Curtis's almost superhuman play could not go on forever and she lost the sixteenth and also the next. At the home hole Mrs. Barlow slipped up on the green and the match was all square. Playing the first extra hole Miss Curtis after a fine drive measuring at least 225 yards, flubbed her second and lost in a 4 to 5. The medal score, of the players, Miss Curtis 83 and Mrs. Barlow 85, were worth recordance. Meanwhile the two New Yorkers of the most prominence were having a good match featured by the wonderful driving of Miss Lillian Hyde. Time and again her drives went 250 yards and at the ninth hole, a distance of 280 yards, her drive left her almost 20 on the edge of the green. This proved too much of a handicap to Miss Hollins, who had to rely mostly on her putting, which was not quite effective enough to counterbalance the other's play through the green. Miss Hyde for ten holes had a score of only 3 over 4's and so it was no wonder that she brought the match to a conclusion before the round was completed, the final result being a win by 4 up and 3 to play. The other match which was of the gallery order was where Mrs. H. A. Jackson met Miss Harriot Curtis. They were fairly even until the sixteenth hole, where Miss Curtis took four putts from a distance of ten feet, and losing a hole, which she should have won, cost her the contest by 1 up. It would be unfair perhaps to pass by the fine play of one of the younger golfers who in a few years should be able to hold her own in the hardest of matches. Miss Alexa Sterling of Atlanta, Ga., lost in this round to Miss Bishop at the seventeenth hole. The manner in which Miss Sterling plays her iron shots caused much favorable comment. Her style is crisp and the ball leaves the club with no unsteadiness. She is but sixteen years old and gives promise of developing into a crack golfer. The second and third rounds, by the way all the matches were at eighteen holes including the final, went pretty much as was expected by the great majority with the exception of the contest in the third round between Mrs. Ronald Barlow and Miss Lillian Hyde. Here there was a difference of opinion as to whether the fine driving and iron play, displayed almost without effort by Miss Hyde would surmount the steadiness for which Mrs. Barlow is famous. Those who favored Miss Hyde had their innings for a long period for at the fourteenth hole the New York player stood 3 up with only five holes to go. That is quite a lead for a player of Miss Hyde's ability to have on such an occasion, but it only inspired Mrs. Barlow to greater efforts. For the last five holes the play was close and interesting not to say exciting. Mrs. Barlow by playing three holes in twelve strokes squared the match. The features of the inward play came at the sixteenth and the seventeenth holes. At the former hole Miss Hyde was on the green comfortably in 2 while Mrs. Barlow was in a bunker guarding the green. Her third shot barely got her over the embankment and she went down in two more for a 5. Here was Miss Hyde's chance, for a win would make her dormie. But to the stupefaction of all she not only fell short on her third and fourth shots but her fifth, a short putt, was also missed and the match was all square. Then came that next hole where some brilliant play was accomplished. The hole is a good two-shot one for a woman and the fact that Mrs. Barlow was on by means of a glorious brassie shot, after a fair drive, merited all the generous applause which was accorded to the shot, for her ball came to rest but fifteen feet from the pin. Miss Hyde

4 G O L F MISS ROSENTHAL BEING ONE DOWN GOING TO THE EIGHTEENTH HOLE IN THE FINALS Of the Ladies' Championship was compelled to attempt the carry of this bunker. She just failed and is here seen playing her third stroke to the eighteenth green MISS ROSENTHAL PLAYING A CHIP SHOT TO THE FOURTEENTH GREEN IN THE FINALS Mrs. Jackson watching at the left 21

5 had a bit of difficulty and did not reach the green until her third shot was a matter of history. Then to show her friends that her putting aberrations on the previous hole was but a bad miscue she proceeded to hole her longish putt for a 4. The gallery, unmindful of instructions, burst into a round of applause after which Mrs. Barlow stepped up to her difficult fifteen-footer and gently piloted it into the hole for an illustrious 3. The last hole was halved and once again Miss Hyde must wait for the pages to be torn off the calendar before she can again essay her luck, which to my mind is not just what you would call uncommonly kind. There were now left in the struggle four representatives. Three of them were well-known players of the East but the fourth, Miss Elaine Rosenthal, from the Ravisloe Country Club of Chicago, who was competing for the second time in the tournament, had been little heard of as being a real contender for the title. Her victories up to the third round, however, had been won by larger margins than any of those who were still in and it was not with absolute feelings of confidence that the friends of Mrs. Barlow trooped out to see the play. It was a finely fought struggle from the start. To win the honor at the tee it was necessary to make a hole in a stroke under par for the most part. Mrs. Barlow won the first hole but lost the third and fifth. After a couple of halves the Philadelphia player won the eighth in a 3 and they turned for home all square and with medal scores of 41 each. Then came a circumstance, which will not be found in many matches, where the play is so close. Not a single hole of the in- G O L F MISS ALEXA STERLING Whose perfect golfing style created a great deal of favorable comment, is here seen playing an iron at the short eighth hole MISS CLAIRE BIRD AND MISS MARION HOLLINS Were interested spectators of the finals 22 ward round was halved and the better ball which won the hole totaled up to but 37 for the last nine. Miss Rosenthal lost the tenth, squared at the next, became 1 up at the twelfth, and then was all even at the succeeding hole. Once again the Chicago girl gained the lead with a fine 3 only to lose her advantage at the next hole. They divided honors at the sixteenth and seventeenth holes and then squared for home. Too bad that it couldn't have been an extra hole contest but when Mrs. Barlow, after taking infinite pains, missed an easy putt which was assuredly something short of a yard, there was nothing left to do but shake hands with an opponent who deserved the most praise. In the other section Mrs. Jackson was holding a fairly safe lead all the way, her driving invariably being on the line, and although her putting was not up to the standard set by Mrs. Vanderbeck, the latter had lapses at the wrong moments and never could reduce the lead of her opponent to less than one. The scoring was not extraordinary. The final result found Mrs. Jackson the winner by 2 up and 1 to play. Chicago and Boston were thus left to fight it out in the last stage for the premier honors of the season. Sympathy lay with Miss Rosenthal on the Saturday, for her plucky play all through the tournament had been admired and commented on by many golfers. In addition, her most pleasing personality and the evident pleasure which she derived from the game gave a freshness of vigor and delight to those to whom the championships had become somewhat of an old story. Moreover, when does a golfer who has won the title once or more

6 G O L F Photo by Levick MISS MARION HOLLINS DRIVING FROM THE FIFTH TEE Photo by Levick MISS HYDE DRIVING FROM THE SEVENTEENTH TEE THE RETURN OF THE GALLERY TO THE CLUB HOUSE Mr. Walter J. Travers with clubs under arm is about to congratulate Mrs. Jackson who is just back of him to the left 23

7 { } G O L F 87 Mrs. H. A. Jackson Miss H. S. Curtis Jackson Mrs. H. A. Jackson 94 Miss Eleanor W. Allen { Miss Frances C. Griscom } Allen Mrs. H. A. Jackson Mrs. H. R. Stockton { Mrs. C. F. Fox } Stockton up to 20 holes..... Miss Painter Miss Caroline Painter { Mrs. E. H. Fitler } Painter 1 up Miss E. M. Campbell { Miss M. A. Irving } Campbell Miss Campbell Mrs. E. W. Daley { Mrs. G. M. Heckscher } Daley Mrs. C. H. Vanderbeck 95 Miss C. C. Roberson { Mrs. T. Wright } Roberson 1 up Mrs. Vanderbeck Mrs. C. H. Vanderbeck { Miss F. C. Osgood } Vanderbeck Miss Elaine V. Rosenthal { Mrs. H. C. Phipps } Rosenthal Miss Rosenthal Miss G. M. Bishop { Miss Alexa Sterling } Bishop Miss Elaine Rosenthal 96 Miss F. McNeely up 19 holes { Mrs. A. C. Sumner } McNeely 1 up Miss McNeely by de- 92 Mrs. E. H. Steedman fault { Miss Grace Semple } Steedman Mrs. I. Harter { Miss B. Stratton } Harter 1 up Mrs. R. H. Barlow 90 Mrs. R. H. Barlow { Miss M. Curtis } Barlow 1 up Mrs. R. H. Barlow 1 up 88 Miss L. B. Hyde { Miss M. Hollins } Hyde { } 93 Mrs. J. E. Davis Miss L. Swabacker Davis Miss Lillian Hyde 7 6 THE SCORE SHEET OF THE 1914 LADIES' CHAMPIONSHIP Mrs. H. A. Jackson Miss Rosenthal 1 up.. Mrs. H. Arnold Jackson 1 up. get the greatest support? It seems to be human nature to desire a change so that some one else may have an opportunity to enjoy the glory. Mrs. Jackson had many adherents who had little doubt that she would carry off the honors because of her vast experience and the knowledge that she had won the title on a previous occasion and could go through with the finishing touches without a show of strain. It might be said in this connection and at this time that the one fact which impressed the writer more than anything else in the whole championship was the way in which Miss Rosenthal stood up to her task and played as if the whole performance was merely a practice round for a club tournament. Such coolness has never before been witnessed in a championship in this country. But to get on to the final round itself. The wind during the week had played no part in the speculations of the golfers but on this Saturday it was brisk and the experts at once began figuring how it would affect the scores and the hole play. For the first few holes the ladies failed to gauge the proper angles and were continually getting into trouble from the tee but after the fifth there was much better concordance. Mrs. Jackson started out by winning the first hole in a 5 poor driving accounting for Miss Rosenthal's failure, but at the next hole the conditions were exactly reversed and Miss Rosenthal won. Par figures won the third for the Boston player and then came a series of halves mostly in par figures until the eighth hole. This was to my mind the turning-point in the whole contest. Mrs. Jackson had driven into the bunker guarding the green and it looked as if the hole were gone. But Miss Rosenthal dished her mashie shot into the pond and had to drop and play three. Her second attempt was a good shot which left her not far from the cup. Mrs. Jackson played out in splendid fashion and going down in two putts won a hole which to all intents and purposes should have gone to her opponent. This put the ultimate winner two holes ahead instead of having the match all square. The ninth hole was a beauty from every standpoint. Miss Rosenthal played a fine drive right down the middle of the course and a second to within ten feet of the pin, from where she holed in a single putt. Needless to say, her 3 won. Coming home affairs went less smoothly from a Chicago standpoint. Miss Rosenthal suddenly developed the bad habit of hooking drives and socketing mashie shots. This cost her the tenth and the eleventh holes and put her three holes behind with but seven to play. In such cases it would have been expected that a newcomer to championship finals would wilt away but not so in this instance. Miss Rosenthal won the twelfth, helped a trifle by a bad second shot of Mrs. Jackson's, halved the next and won the fourteenth in a 3. This was bringing matters to a head and causing the utmost uneasiness among Mrs. Jackson's friends who began to imagine that perhaps after all the title might take wings and flit to parts unknown. Excitement reigned among all those who were in the gallery for on every succeeding hole there was one or two chances where if either had made a slip up the result might have had a different ending. Halves at the fifteenth were followed by the same at the next but the manner of their comprisal was far 24

8 G O L F different. Miss Rosenthal had a splendid drive and followed this up with a great iron shot that landed on the green and backspinned with pretty force. Mrs. Jackson, however, was so far away that she had to use her spoon and not catching the ball with the right elevation it went on a line and directly towards the big croquettes which guard the green. The ball struck a couple of yards back of these elevations and bounced over and across the green coming to rest at the farther edge. That was enough to show which way the wind was blowing, so to speak, and to take the heart out of an experienced player. Imagine my astonishment, therefore, just after the hole had been halved in a four to hear Miss Rosenthal say as she walked toward the next tee, "Isn't this the greatest fun?" The highest tone golf spirit without doubt. The seventeenth hole was halved in five and then the play to the last hole found Miss Rosenthal on the green in three and Mrs. Jackson nearer but in a little trench at the side of the green. Her approach was a good one as it left her four feet from the cup. Miss Rosenthal, on the other hand, approached and putted far over the hole but ran it down without a quiver. It was up to Mrs. Jackson then and if her nerves had not been steeled for the moment she never would have sent it so earnestly on its mission. A half at the last made four in succession and the championship was won by a single hole. Little need be said in addition. Mrs. Jackson played with her mind fixed on a central idea, namely to win each hole and to leave nothing to chance. That she succeeded in this is a tribute to her courage and golfing mentality. There were few times during the week when she was in doubt as to the method of procedure. She never was hurried in any of her strokes and her play reminded one of the manner in which a thinker gets results. I know that there is more truth than fiction in this last, for if asked to name the one factor, which counted for victory more than any other outside of the actual play, I would say that it was the study which Mrs. Jackson, aided in many respects by Mr. Jackson, has put upon the game this year. This has brought her the titles this year of club champion, Eastern Woman's Champion and last but greater than all the others combined the championship of the United States. Miss Rosenthal, I think, will find enough glory in the years to come, which will make up for the loss of the title this year. Her style is sound and her play is pleasing to watch. Given these two qualities and golf becomes a pleasure at all times. Perhaps a last word on a matter not so directly involved with the subjects in hand. When you have been at the Open Championship of the United States and the Amateur Championship and then the Woman's Championship, all of which events take up more than a week's time for each, and seen the same officials busy with their respective duties, forced probably to neglect their businesses, all for the love of the game and its traditions, it would be a base ingratitude if some expression of their worth and never failing good-nature and masterly management were not commented on. This year has set a high-water mark for other officials to follow and the thanks of the entire body of golfers are due to these members of the committees. MISS ROSENTHAL DRIVING FROM THE TENTH TEE IN THE FINALS The Nassau Clubhouse in the background 25