BABE DIDRIKSON

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 128, 2 June 1939, Page 13

BABE DIDRIKSON

World's Longest Woman Driver Famed As Athlete And Golfer

(By T.R.B

Cl\ E years ago there passed 1 through Auckland a party of American golf professionals en H'ntr lo the Melbourne centenary contest. Representing the cream ol players in (he States, one of llu-m, Jflmes Thomson, came with thr reputation of being the longest driver in the world. Any sut-uestion that this might be just 8" much ballyhoo was set at rest whf-n thr sturdy James hit some prodigious drives at Titirangi, among them being the unprecedented one which reached the sixth 400 yards away, over a sully and on the uphill slope. I ll"Mi|i-.r>n eerlainlv wm the ? n(n|< fl'i'l a ,l ■<!!<• in this country wi.Mied to <i: ,"I hi * '■'■ li '" "* the iiiiglitirn hitter ]>i.i vim; i In , ;j.inir>. When I was tolfl |Hst j'rirolflv that Hi- ••' i •■!- loupe.-! woman hitter w; * tr.iu-.'liiiL' dm th,. Am-iiiiiri t,. Aii-iiMliii, l"l.I I!'.!! »ll«>. 100. WHS ,||| AllU'l-i.-HII I ili.l not .lonl.l tlin claim. Ku| « he,, it w.i- reported thnt shp would outdrive most rnon playing the jfmnc, and tli;ii wont, tor prot>«.inriH).o too. I who »'-i'i''i..il. A n<l (lull i« why I be, ,11110 fl'-qiMii I with Mildred '-Ralie" Didrik-,.,,. Tin,-* slip i<4 known (lit< ♦ li- »"i|,l ~f .-(Miri, but i>ll tin. |iii-M.ii!_'i'r lint sin- is Mi-, i ;,>,)!■-,. /;ih,i,-i;is. \V-. the mi mo 10st Oorjro Zaharia*, Greek (ii.mt. of flu , wrwitlinjr rinjr.

It *o happened that on the day that the Aoranjfi arrived in Auckland an }'.nj'li«h woman. -Miss D. Odam. had created ii new hijrh jump record for her ce\ and liad broken a fivp-year record jointly held by Mis.* Mildred Didrik-on iind Miss Jean Shirley. Her Record Broken. H.ihe was just, mildly interested when I told her this news, and tried to take her mind back to the Olympic Games of 10.".'J at. Loe There she skyrocketed to fame hy winning the hurdles nnd javelin events, and created world records--in addition to sharim_r the other honour with .Tean Shirley. Rube didn't 11-11 'lie. but the records show that after the (James she got at odds with the Aniciiciin Athletii: AsfOtdn t ion whieli < liilleiiL'ed her amateur status on very slender evidence. mid subsequently retracted, but too late. Ha be. ntiinu' to madness by the readiness with which the authorities accepted tlie evidence. made up \\ci- mind to tnkc up a professional career, and accepted offer* which placed her outside, amateur ranks in all npnrt. Alter exploitin? various professional nwnues in »p<*rt Bebo concentrated mi K"! , '. Prior f.. ('■•• Cimes she had p.irl "■< ipile<| in her nne and on!v amateur chainpimix.'iili— that of her own Stale. Texas She u ,ii it, Two of the WOI i who had b.-Mi scl.'i ».'d to repi«ennt the fluted Si i'e« .itraitnl KnzUnd were brHither] aside in ' in.in h I" the title. (")•' her cvpei lences wince she liar! played the iMiin' for a livelihood the \iwitc»r had more in -.iy She did not irive lessons, but ttiiued 111 o States \\ ith well known men playrrs in exhibitions, N"o nomau in the Slates win really a match for her. and this contention she justified by *tatin:z that she hud defeated Patty Bei*. a youthful Arnericin champion by 19 etiokee in <i 72-ho!c medal conteet.

| VVith S.irazen she had tonre-l ex- - iiMM-iy, .1 n<l gun,. f, ou , foui-BC t0 Cf , ui>n oM.ibl.j.liing_ new records ior women—and '■'•' • ,o ", irorn thn men's teee.

"I nevpp ~Uy t|, e front le0( -. f(hc eni . .I,IM hn-.v tl-N, Il,ie WM 1 [,m,i,(,|

Kxi.il.it ion K o|f U , IS a pn ,fi t ,,h| c .-,„,! N'Mxins vix-.ition HpfNtrently tor the MMU.r Nie had iiviMagod ln:{ cl.lll.lrs 111 lifr rxhilntioiw over u lon- pei kml. And J '■-' '■;'>■"',!>, while l,i- tieoi-jje had bes, »iv.«thnc in Honolulu ~hc had .KM) '." l:rt '" ll'c I'.iuiil.v t'.\«lifi|uer !iv eiiii-i----t.-iinini; the -OIHII- lans theto. And 'they K'-l their in.iiu-.v-V worLh. lor Bebc eshot a i' , , 1 ;, 1 " 1 i'l "" ■'«' the men's tow. Hip p.*tpoiHMnciit ot the filing time of I I' , AoLinai th.it 1 should this woiidor Kolrer in action. She was only '."" .it tho ide,, ~f getting aw ,,y tloin the ship and the city.

And >~ ».,.< (;,,„.,

A lilt!.' later he Mlodo down the 2.M1-. "■'V «.illi tivu massive b.i«.i whieh only piotessionals earry, at least don't carry— ni.it i< a job For the unlucky caddie. 1 houpht of otToiing my ncsictance, but look another look at that human colossus d.tiiliMl that for him it was only a hoy s job. Parking the visitors and their '"■--'■ l - , ' into a modern baby car wis ~..in-!lmi_' nt a pr..b!em. for Ueoree'a head Ihie.iiencd to go tliroiiprll the roof. He twined bis lees in a s.i.-sors. shruzired his F-liiiiililei'4 as if es.apinjT from a hear! holrl, and his top piece had an inch of clearance. George U'ot to like the Kiaht on the trip to Middleinore, and alter ■i;lniii imr t'ie jireen fields nlonj: the f.'reat s "'ilh Koiirl. remarked to his wife. ■•Honey. I his is the .sort of ear that would suit you." No Longer Sceptical. On reaiiiin;; the i-oiii>o Habe slid open one of the big pockets of her bag and a ■ iiuple o:' dozen balls -the big Ameman ones were ejected. These she proceeded to 111 ivi' towanls the sixtrenth ffrpen from "i it "lit of the clubhouse, and I and a

few lustiindnis stood amazefl as shot after shot sped 2.")O yards and more down the fairway. F was m> longer sceptical. Babe could hulil her own with the men from the tee. There w.is nobody in our club who » mild outdrive her.

And then the round started. I had no hesitation in putting her on snatch and accepting my handicap, six strokes, from Babe, but challenged her spouse, level. Slip spurned the discs at the front of the tee and hit her drive from 20 vaids behind them. Her spouse followed suit, and I had to do likewise. She leached the hack of the jrreen with a mashie spcond: (ieorje and T were on in three. When I offered to show her the itronßtli of the jjreon and ran down a tof.ioter. (JporsieVi cauliflower ciitwitclied. but B.ibe was inijiei t'irbable. She ■vent lxildly for the pin. overran it by nine le, I and holed the next. The m-r-nnd Iv.le she i ea, hed with ~ dlive and mashie a-am. and capped off this :'e.it bv holing a ."iyil putt for a birdie three. ' From as far back as she could ;o she drove from the third tee a tremendniiball that was slightly pushed out. behind I lie trees on the rijlht oi tlie fairway. Tt \y.i* aL'.iili only a ma-hie jo the -recti, li-il the trees unfoi t un.itelv blocked the s>i..! and a fi was le.orded, I'or tlie next four holes on end Babe hid no trouble in recording the scratch ti-'ires of the course. On the eijhth L'leen T forgot pride and let the two visitors hit from way back on the tee alone. T needed all the advantage I could Bfet. and went up to the discs. K'nm 15 yards behind that female Jimmy Thomson outdrove me hv 30 yards, and reached the ureen with a Xo. 7. whereas T required a. Xo. 3. Her four here gave her a tallv of 3.1, and she wanted the reaulatlon five for n 38 out —one more than the men's scratch score . . .

The ninth Ixilc pros od that even such a prodigy can make the mistakes, uf every otliPi" go 1 for. ''For i-ryiiiK out loud," she exclaimed « In , n she .-iii.ilhcreil her tec shot and honked it into the trees. Two more t>) •j;et out. and slip finished up with ;i 7 —and had stiil piiiyed the nine holes in 40. Five holes of the homeward journey slip played in the standard figures excepting the thirteenth, where her spoon from the tee found the hunker. I got <ieorj:e "against the ropes" (so he put it) liy outplaying him with a No. 1 iron to the jiiet'ii. and informed him that In , nwed me a .-hillin , /. "Voll take that off what yon owe Babe " 1,,, teplied. 'I'ln i i' Hern '■ :.-;ons of the wonder golfer i — t.■ t.::~liiis— .in ••.ill-time" tvomnn'x refold I'm , tin , tniiiM- when the -aim , li.nl to -tup at till' fourteenth hole to en.iliie the \ ii-itors tn Inn i y ha. k tr, tlieir 1 ! MrZaharins M had not my tongue ri.und that name liy nmvl «as even lours for the cml hull', and would have had no lioiiliie ill li: ■■.! kmn SO from further hack mi the le«< tli.in any man has played on Ihe links. <;coi-e ~reeded us to the far. It lmvi> me an opportunity to to Babe for doubting her prowess, not only nom tht , tees Init in yener.il stroke pro-diii-tinn. There was no woman player in New Zealand within strokes of her. While tlie Dominion players would be pleased to break SO off the front tee. she, in my opinion, would l>e threntenins 70. And then I discovered the secret of (ieoi'iie'fi admiration for the Kijjht. He had hauled it out of the shed with one hand, Hicked it in a half circle, and to save another backward and forward movement, harl lifted it by the front axle facinu towards town. They say Ocorse is too toufrh to present to the Auckland ivrestlhv* fans.