Judge — February 1938 — page 25: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

CRAZY GOLF By Alec HEN I asked for descriptions of crazy shots by golf amateurs last month, I never dreamed that so many yarns of fairway foibles could be gathered together in such a short time. For that reason, not one, but five dozen golf balls will be awarded this month. To these winners, congratulations; to the other writers, many of whose letters were excellent, thanks and crazier luck next time. For both winners and losers, however, there is a very comforting bit of news this month. Like every game invented since the dawn of the half-holiday, golf entails a certain amount of hazard, less than most to be sure, but every now and then another player or the inevitable in- nocent bystander is winged by a hook or a slice. Should the player be held liable for such damages? I hold that he shouldn't, and am glad to report that my view has been supported officially by Judge Perry T. Allen, of the Springfield, Mo., Court of Appeals. Here are a few lines from a very understanding deci- sion: “Golf is a game of precision, fraught with uncertainties. No player has ever achieved such perfection that he does not occasionally hit off the prescribed line. To hold that a golfer is negligent because the ball did not travel in a straight line, as intended by him, would be imposing upon him a greater duty than the Creator endowed him with fac- ulties to carry out.” And now, the winners of an even dozen shiny new golf balls, and may they keep ever in the fairway! Pocket Golf Here’s a crazy golf shot for you. About a year ago, I was playing the East Lake Golf Course at Atlanta, Geor- gia. We were on the short 12th waiting for some elderly gentlemen to move off the green and onto the nearby 13th tee. Finally I was able to drive, but as luck would have it I hit a shot straight at the 13th tee. All of us let go with a lusty “Fore!” When we got up to within hailing distance, we found they had heard our warning. All of them had bent over and covered their heads (as golfers will). February, 1958 Duncan Judge Jesse M. Wood, who had on a pair of loose-fitting slacks, felt a sud. den stinging sensation, reached into his hip pocket, and pulled out my golf ball. What he had thought was a bee in his pants was actually my “hole-in-one.” Incidentally, I suggested to the Judge that he take off his pants in order that I might play my second shot. This, how- ever, he refused to do. Freveric F, STEVENSON Short Hills, New Jersey A Birdie in Par Have you ever made a Birdie and a Par on the same hole, with only one ball and only once over the fairway? I have. This contradiction was accomplished on the first hole, 386 yards, at the Sak- onnet Golf Club at Little Compton, R.I. My drive hit a robin in flight about 75 yards from the tee. Ball and robin dropped to the turf, giving me my birdie. Brassie about 200 yards, a three iron to the green, and a six-foot putt made a total of four, giving me my par. N. VauGHN BaLLou Norton, Massachusetts Concrete-Hard Luck Story Several years ago I was caddying at the Spokane Country Club for Mr. Clyde Witter, one of a foursome. We were at the eighth tee, in front of which is a small pond with a six-inch cement oo — NUD A, Wily wall around it. Mr. Witter’s drive was a hard, low-hit ball which skimmed over the water and hit the concrete wall. With a crack it bounced back right at Mr. Witter, who took a hefty swing at it. He connected perfectly and smacked it straight down the fairway. Because of this unusual second shot, he was allowed to be shooting two and not three. Paut E. BERGMAN Spokane, Washington In His Mother-in-Law’s Arms The most unusual golf shot I ever witnessed took place at the 14th hole of the Arrowbrook Country Club on Long Island. I was playing a foursome with Mr. Jack Leibowitz, who happened to hook a ball out of bounds. He drove again and hooktd to the same place. Disgusted, he decided to search for the balls, and drop one on the fairway, tak- ing the penalty. The rest of us joined in the search, and we found the balls; not two feet apart in a cemetery—and directly in front of the tombstone of Leibowitz’s Mother-in-Law. At any rate, that death-defying shot finished his game for the day. Nat Diener New York City Dizzy’s Dizzy Drive A foursome consisting of the famous baseball players Dizzy Dean, Paul Waner, Paul Derringer, and Loyd Brown were playing from the fifth tee of the Bobby Jones Golf Course in Sara- sota, Florida, on January 2d. At the same time another foursome was play- ing from the sixth tee. It included Al Nelson, of Hopewell, N.J., Don New- burn, city champion of Sarasota, J. Carl- ton Jones of Chicago, and Wes Ferrell, pitcher for the Washington Senators. The latter group had just been extended the courtesy of playing through a ladies’ foursome who were waiting in the fair. way at the 250 yd. marker. The two holes are parallel and adja- cent. Dizzy Dean and Al Nelson were each driving last in their own four- somes. They swung together, and Dean connected with one of his celebrated hooks. Suddenly one of the ladies who was waiting in the fairway heard an impact, ducked, and a golf ball landed on each side of her. The two balls had collided in midair about 250 yards from the 6th tee. Several others, including myself, both saw and heard the collision. Don B. NewBuRN Sarasota, Florida With this sort of thing going on at golf clubs all over the land, I am not going to appear again until I have been properly fitted out by an armorer, or insured with Lloyd's. Alec Duncan's offer holds good—a dozen golf balls cach month for the craziest golf shot by an amateur. comicbooks.com