Show ONEY lil lilMAN MAN By I I I 1 TO 1 0 LANE MERRIT there was 1 more than the title of club gui golf champion at stake In today's match very much more indeed There was for instance the need to wipe out this Donald Youngs Young's attempt to humiliate Lane the evening before after the semi-finals semi when he called across the club dining room How about a little bet on the match tomorrow tomorrow to to- morrow Merrit Men Say or so It was a R deliberate and Lane thought cheap try to embarrass him for Young and the others knew Lane didn't have Old Pop Weller sitting with Lane had glanced at him to see how he was taking it He hesitated and then called to Young Ill take that bet betl And the so can cnn be anything anything anything any any- thing you ou want to make it Lane had looked appealingly at nt Pop and pleaded Dont do it Mr Weller But Pop snorted Its about time I that show off was taken down a peg or two Under the circumstances there was nothing for Young to do but accept the bet but Lane sensed be he wasn't too keen about It And then most Important of all there was Ka Kay Cawley Now up toa to toa a few months before to the Cawley and Merrit families and naturally Kay and Lane the future was definitely definitely deli deli- settled for these two Then Young entered the picture with his flashy world the manners clothes and swank car And he proceeded proceeded proceeded pro pro- to give Kay the rush of that young ladys lady's life Lane was hurt but somehow It all seemed so right riot Not ot that he blamed Kay She was young youn pretty and bubbling with enthusiasm for life She deserved adulation and also the good times that Lane just making his start was unable to provide In fact wIthout without without with wIth- out his fathers father's help he be would have bad to relinquish his membership in inthe Inthe inthe the Midvale Country Club At best It would be two or more years before before be be- fore tore he could rightly ask Kay to set the wedding date At breakfast Lane gave thought to his problems He wanted to win forbis for his bis own sake he wanted to taste the sweetness of victory over that hard blow-hard Young he wanted to win for tor Pop Weller fine sport gentleman and friend that he was and most of all he wanted to win back Kay 0 Of course winning a golf gol match wouldn't be enough for this last but it might help Lane arrived at the club a good half balt hour before the time set for the start of the finals and as he drove his modest coupe Into the grounds he be saw Young on the practice tee m he thought the guy cant can't be too confident As he made his way through the room locker to his alley Lane was hailed from all sides with good goodluck goodluck goodluck luck wishes Strangely he felt none of the excitement which seemed to fill the room He knew that besides Pop Wellers Weller's large bet much money had been wagered on the outcome of the match 11 JIe He e dressed leisurely and he was lacing his shoes when Young entered entered entered en en- held out his hand and in a voice loud enough to carry said Good luck Merrit Lane promptly acknowledged and returned the wish In irs kind but thought Still playing to the gal gal- lery There was quite a crowd at the first tee and for the first time Lane felt a bit squeamish In the stomach On the tee itself itsel he saw young Willie Hopper waiting with his clubs young Willie freckled-faced freckled snub-nosed snub and hardly a dandy in his worn well denim pants and i khaki shirt Willie loyal and capable capable capable capa capa- ble at his job the job the thought made madeLane madeLane madeLane Lane feel better He caught a glimpse of Kay standing in the crowd well back of the tee Lane waved she smiled and waved back in encouragement he hoped They drove ofT off straight and far Wi P s 's ti S. S I 1 ii I t i S S SS j ic yi y- y I S i lie He swung and hit Wt hard and clean with Youngs Young's ball stopping a few tew yards out in front They halved the first hole In par figures and that's the way it went until the seventh when Lane rolled in a n long curling putt for a par to Youngs Young's bogie five to go one up Lane held that lead until the twelfth when Young birdied the short hole after his iron shot from the tee had stopped a scant foot from rom the thc cup Lane went one up again at the seventeenth when Youngs Young's second found a deep trap of off orr the green And that's how the morning round ended Gallery and players trooped Into the c club dining room for lunch Thebie The big bie room was noisy with the clatter of ot dishes and the chatter at the tables as shots of ot the round were talked over and replayed Pop Weller sat with Lane You played fine golf gol my boy but I think on one or two occasions a little too safe Dont Don't let my bet disturb you Lane Win lose or draw the dickens with It It doesn't mean a thing to me except the satisfaction Ill I'll get when I collect it from that phony At two the second round started Now l Midvale was no heartbreaking heart break ing course Tough en enough ouCh and long enough but an intelligent golf gol committee committee com corn had pointed to make It Interesting interesting Inter inter- esting and suitable to the games of Its Us members rather than a 8 test for tor top flight pros It did boast however however however how how- ever one hole holc the thirteenth which would try the skill of the worlds world's best Many 1 Midvale members had protested this hole but the terrain was such that the committee could do little about changing chancing it Two hundred hundred hun hun- dred and fifty yards from the tee just far enough to catch the duffers duffer's second or third the fairway ended and dropped abruptly Into a gully about fifty feet feet deep This gully with excellent turf stretched approximately approximately approximately ap ap- ap- ap proximately a n hundred yards along the bottom before the start of the therise therise rise back to tho the second section of fairway Arriving at nt the thirteenth Lane still retained his one up lead lend of the morning round He had played steady golf and two or three times he had fought off orr brilliant play by Young which threatened his slender lead On the tee Lane debated the advisability of blasting for the gully or playing it safe He decided on the latter much to Willie Hoppers Hopper's visible vIsible visible vis vis- vIs ible disapproval Willie reluctantly handed over the requested spoon and ambled oil off toward the brink of the gully Lane hitting first stepI stepped Cd to the tee the murmuring of the gallery ceased He swung and hit hard and clean The ball carried carried car car- ried ned fairly straight as far as the yard two marker and then hooked sharply downward and to the left Two long bounces and It disappeared Into the heavy rough Willie on the other side of the fairway groaned as he hurried across to locate the ball A member of the gallery pointed deep In to a tiny white speck at the base of a small tree Willie glanced hurriedly at the ball his heart sinking land and t took ok up up his position nearby It was wasa a bad break and he was puzzled that the ball had bounded so deeply into the rough Meanwhile Youngs Young's drive a tremendous tremendous tre tre- tre- tre clout had carried the first fairway and gained momentum r r. ri It hit the downhill roll of the gully guRy rolling almost to the very center I He lie walked with Lane the gallery galler trailing down the fairway from the f e. e Lane went Into the rough and glanced down at the ball Willie was guarding It was partly burled buried Its markings completely hidden It was I almost an unplayable lie and Lane berating himself himsel for the error In playing safe had about decided the best thing to do was to try to cut it out to the fairway Just then called someone Heres Heresa i a ball Lane Looks like yours Jim Meredith refereeing the match walked to the second ball It was but a few feet in of off the fairway s sitting up pretty as you please on a small tuft hift o of of grass its markings clearly visible e. e Meredith ruled it was Lanes Lane's ball and Lane with a quick glance at the the perfect lie selected selected se se- se- se his brassie and sent the ball sailing over the gully and well onto the second section of the fairway It was a perfect shot and the gallery gasped As soon as Lane had hit Young walked up to Meredith I protest that ruling he said How do you know that was the ball Merrit l hit from the tee It could have been dropped there I insist on examIning examining ing tog that other ball by the tree Im I'm sure its it's Merrit's ball because from rom the tee I watched It bounce Into the rough toward that tree treel His face was white and set his voice shaky as the import of ot his words suddenly struck him your privilege Meredith answered He went over to the tree and lifted the half hall burled buried ball ban carrying It back to Young See he said Its a Falcon and you know the make ball Merrit Is play play- lug ing With that he be walked of off Pop Weller who had seen and heard muttered to the man next to him There goes your ball game garnel I And the b ball ll game went Young dubbed his second completely the ball missing the top of the gully and rolling back to to rest halt half way up the slope He stood watching the ball bail for a few lew seconds then his n nerves breaking slammed the club heavily into the turf Yes youve you've guessed it Lane woo won the match Best of all aU Kay rushe I onto the sixteenth green where the i match had ended to congratulate Lane and and right right smack in sight of that large audience threw her arms around his bis neck and kissed him And much to Pop Wellers Weller's delight Youngs Young's check cheek bounced 1 |