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Amateur Golf Real Love Of Famous Olympic StarJuat ask Babe Dldrickson anything and she says Golf,” Amateur golf is the Babe's last frontier. So from now on, the little girl who has won a big hand in almost every line of athletics will play golf — golf -—and more golf. H Sitting on the WS5b“-Jj House of David■ bench during theinnings ofI- t.helr game herelast night, she |gi spoke her mind■g deeisfvcly.t1 We asked her.| 1 as a connoisour i —1 of sports, which; was her favorite.Golf,” 'she said.■ And what was she going to do, when baseball was over for the ; season?Golf.And after that?More golf.Sure.” she said, grinning.T I’ve played everything else. Lotsa times I’ve been 100 percent. That's what I aim to be in golf before I’m done—and I’m not stopping now until it is 100 percent.”, The trim figure in a baseballuniform snapped her attention back to the field, where a House of David player was rounding the bases in one of those run-packed later innings.“Yihoo! ” she yelled, as full of ? pep (maybe a little bit more so) as any player on any bench. That's one thing about the Babe that has made her the greatestj woman athlete of this decade— the extra pep, the added push f that gets things done.There's a good big reason be-j hind this golf business, beside the!fact that Babe is looking f.or new , sports worlds to conquer. We caught a hint of it in the Babe’s eye, as she talked about her two years in professional athletics.Golf is one of the few sports in which she still has amateur standing, Miss Dldriekson confided. It. wouldn’t surprise us a bit to see l her hang right onto that amateui1 _ standing. The lure of amateur sports—hard, fast contests, keencompetition, the roar of great crowds—itill hovers ovet,‘ theOlympic star of 19 32,She has no regrets about turning professional; but there is a lot of fun back on the other side of the fence, and it wouldn't be surprising if Didrickson’s name was mixed up in it before very long.“This stuff is soft,” she said, a sweep of her hand Indicating the part she played with the House o£ David, “There’s no work to it. In amateur sports they work you —hard.’ ’The Babe is the kind of a girl who likes to work hard, to be in the thick of the battle.“Competition is faster among amateurs,” she said. There’s a lot of good players in that outfit. And they play harder for what they get.”She looks forward to the time when more and more amateur athletes turn to the professional ranks; when she haB more of a chance to pit her skill against people in her own class, The Babe, who has gone beyond her circle, may not feel lonely in sports which typically belong to men; hut she would like to test her powers again in true competition.The Babe’s golf card hovers between 75 and 80 most of the time now; she wants to pare that down a lot.Her drives? Good. Putting? —the best of all. Chip shots— okay. It's the second drive that gets her down, and the fact that, she still must coordinate her shots a little better.But she's on her way.After Chicago, and some hard work with the best, pros there, it'll be Florida, or Los Angeles. Babe isn’t sure which yet. Better golf in Florida, but it's hard to play on crowded links. She may t-our with a group of professionals,“1 can drive with the best of them,” she declared, her eyes intent on this business of mastering golf. “I’ll stick with 'em.”But she's going to keep a firm hold on her amateur standing. Yes, sir! That's the gateway hack to the land of hard work, of screaming head-line?, of real triumphs—amateur golf.
Newspaper Details
The Daily News
Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, US
Tue, Aug 14, 1934
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Michael W.
NA, 29 Jul 2023
Other Publications Near Huntingdon, Pennsylvania
Huntingdon Gazette
Huntingdon Journal American
The Daily News
Huntingdon Journal
Huntingdon Globe
