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PThomas

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when the name "Tim Cronin" popped up as a poster on a recent thread, I thought I recognized the name, and I was correct:  Tim is the author of "A Centruy of Golf/Western Golf Association 1899-1999"

This 256 page history of the aforementioned topics has plenty of great color and black and white photos as well

I HIGHLY recommend this very well-written book...Tim was too modest to toot his own horn, by the way...perhaps I can prod him into posting a bit on the book now.....
199 played, only Augusta National left to play!

Mike_Trenham

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Re:recommended book on the Western Open/Western Golf Association
« Reply #1 on: July 22, 2005, 11:57:34 PM »
I had a few questions I was too lazy this week to research to get the proper answers to...  

How many western amatures and opens did Bob Jones play in?  I know he never won these.

Was he eligible to play in these events as an amature golfer from the southeast?

If no to question A and yes to question B, should we really consider the Western Open a Major pre-Masters if one of the two best players of that era (Hagan was the other) skipped the event every year?

BTW I had always given Macdonald Smith credit for his Western Open win as a Major pre-masters.  But I am reconsidering this lately...
Proud member of a Doak 3.

Michael J. Moss

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:recommended book on the Western Open/Western Golf Association
« Reply #2 on: July 23, 2005, 06:33:55 PM »
Mike,

If we're talking Major Championships pre-Masters, wasn't the Met Open considered one? It is the third oldest competition being played first in 1905, and up until 1941, the winner would practically be guaranteed a Ryder Cup birth.

Tim_Cronin

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Re:recommended book on the Western Open/Western Golf Association
« Reply #3 on: July 24, 2005, 12:22:26 AM »
First, thanks to Paul Thomas for the very kind words. They are very appreciated.

To Mike Trenham: Bobby Jones played in one Western Open, the 1921 championship at the Oakwood Club in Cleveland, which was won by Walter Hagen. Jones, however, was the leader after 36 holes, scoring 69-70 for 139 on the first two days, and had a one-stroke lead over first round leader Emmett French. Jones blew up to 83 in the morning round on the final day, finishing with a 73 and tying for fourth with Joe Kirkwood, eight strokes behind Hagen. Jones was the low amateur. (Incidentally, the field scoring average for the third round was 79.909. Hagen shot 73, while the low round was George Bowden's 70.)
As to the Western Amateur, Jones played twice. In 1919, at age 17, he lost in the first round to Ned Sawyer at Sunset Hill Country Club in St. Louis. In 1920, he raced through stroke play qualifying to win the medal by eight strokes (scoring 69 in the first round to set the course record at Memphis Country Club), then advanced to the semifinal, where Chick Evans beat him 1 up in a 36-hole match.
Macdonald Smith won three Western Opens (and played in only seven): 1912, 1925 and 1933. Like Harry Cooper (winner in 1934), his major championship wins are not counted by most modern followers of the game.
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Paul Richards

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:recommended book on the Western Open/Western Golf Association
« Reply #4 on: July 24, 2005, 08:37:30 PM »
>his major championship wins are not counted by most modern followers of the game.


They should be.

If it was counted as a Major then, it should be counted as one now.

"Something has to change, otherwise the never-ending arms race that benefits only a few manufacturers will continue to lead to longer courses, narrower fairways, smaller greens, more rough, more expensive rounds, and other mechanisms that will leave golf's future in doubt." -  TFOG

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