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Show 9 Vines May Be Coming Golf Champion By HKXRY Mcl.EMORE I nited Vrrnn Sport Writer LOS AXfJELKS. Dec. 30-Bing Crosby, of the velvet vocal equip-' equip-' mcnt Crosbys, came out on the air I waves la.t nix lit with the flat " .statement That Kils worth Vines : would be the Vj&i national ama-j ama-j tcur golf champion, j This must not he dismissed as I just another warbling of a crooner, croon-er, because Mr. Crosby is mort than that. He happens to know Mxtrt.s - .several sports. He owns i one of the best racing Ma bit's on the west toast and on his locker door at the Lakeside Golf club is the championhip plaque. A con.Hi stent low 70 s shooter himself, Hmg sincerely believes' I that Vines, now the worlds greatest professional tennis player, play-er, soon will become the country's coun-try's outstanding amateur golfer. I was standing near Vines when Crosby hailed him as a coming champion and, unless I am a poorer student of human nature Ti;rrrTTniirTnm, KHswonn wasn't greatly surprised. His blush was not anywhere nearly as deep as that of a rose and his smile had more confidence than embarrassment in it. Later I talked to Vines about - - - his golf game and his record is an amazing one. He played his first game in 1932 at White Sul- --limc springs, when his mind still was deeply absorbed in tennis." His score was between 150 and Hio He didn't swing a club again Until 1 034, but atthe end of that season he was good enough to fire a 76 and a 79 in the qualifying qualify-ing rounds of the Pasadena J3UO0 open tournament. This year he has played in but one tournament, the California state open, and he proved his improvement im-provement by finishing sixth among the amateurs with successive suc-cessive rounds of 73. 74. 76 and 81. Since then he has broken 70 a doztn times and on courses that require every &hot in a golfer's bag Vines plans to play in the national na-tional amateur this year. His tennis tour with Fred Perry winds up in May, giving him plenty of time to get in shape for the qualifying play. He doesn't believe the United Sihtm rsutf hmh'Mm w, qura-tion qura-tion his amateur status, because he has a letter from the U. S. A. written two years ago telling tell-ing him that he was fully eligible eligi-ble to play in all tournaments sanctioned by the association. "I was a tennis professional then, just as I am now." Vines said, "so I guess I am still eligible eligi-ble " ' golfers a beautifully sound swing j that gets great distance, and a - short game- that Harry Cooper says is one of the surest he has ever seen. Also he will bring tremendous tre-mendous enthusiasm for the sport. "I like golf much better than tennis," ies told me. "It's the best game of them all. I still am keen on tennis, but for pleasure it can't match golf. In tennis it's hard for me to find a game. I don't want to brag, but in tennis there aren't more than five or six men in the world who can give me a game. In golf, the handicap handi-cap system makes it possible for me to always get a match. Too, in golf you play your own game, regardless of your opponent. In tennis, your game depends on the fellow on the other side of The net." Vines HHriUs tennis lin.i iiHiuUj him in golf in only one way given him a real competitive temperament. tem-perament. "In tennis I had to learn to be able to bring off a winning shot i Continued on Following Page) rllsworlh Vines . . . Prefers golf to tennis . . . |