[legendsport]

Toledo, OH: August 13, 1920:

Rollie Barrell had discovered that being beaten around the face and head didn't help your golf game.

That was not exactly a surprise. The beating he'd received from Charles Bigsby Jr's thugs left him with occasional headaches and slightly blurred vision for several weeks. He felt normal again, but the time that had elapsed while he recovered had kept him off the golf course, and it showed.

Rollie was participating in his first ever U.S. Championship. The tournament had not been played in 1917 or '18 and he had missed the 1919 event due to his brother's death (the event had occurred a week after Jimmy's funeral and Rollie wasn't about to leave his parents at a time like that).

But he was - finally - participating, and he was down on himself for what he felt was subpar play through the first two rounds, which had been played the day before. The tournament had a two-day format - two rounds on Thursday and two rounds on Friday.

His first round had been... acceptable. Francie was on hand and offered her trademark brand of what Rollie considered "tough love" in critiquing his play and offering suggestions on approaches to the various holes now that she'd seen how the course played. Rollie had to admit that his wife was something of a prodigy when it came to looking at a course and figuring out strategies to fit each individual hole.

She had written up exhaustive notes that Rollie's caddy, Billy Caldwell, carried around with him as Rollie played the second round on Thursday afternoon.

No fewer than six previous Championship winners were in the field and Francie watched them as the opportunity afforded itself. The course was a tough one - only one player turned in an under-par first round - a Scotsman named Bill MacDuff. Rollie turned in a +4 for the first round, which was good enough for a 10th place tie, entering the afternoon round.

In the afternoon, Rollie played a decent round, saved by a birdie on the incredibly tough 9th hole - a 492 yard, monster par 5. He bogied the 15th and the 17th (both par 4s) and ended up +3 in the afternoon, sitting in 7th place after the first two rounds.

"You're frustrated and it's showing," Francie told him that night as they sat at dinner in their hotel's restaurant.

"You're right - I'm pressing and I know it. When I bogied the 15th, I pushed too hard and that's why I ended up bogeying the 17th too." Rollie said as he pushed some mashed potatoes around on his plate.

"Didn't Mom tell you not to play with your food?" a familiar voice said from over his shoulder.

Rollie grinned and turned around. Joe was standing there with Edna.

"What are you doing here?" Rollie asked.

Joe's grin grew even wider. "Well, my brother and I are in the same state for a change, so I figured Ed & I could catch a train to watch you play tomorrow."

Francie said, "Please sit down. Roland's too preoccupied to remember his manners."

Edna chuckled and said, "When the Barrell boys get together, they tend to block out things like manners and common sense." She sat down and thanked Francie.

Joe grabbed the other chair and asked how Rollie had played.

"Fair," Francie said before Rollie could respond. Rollie raised a questioning eyebrow and she continued, "He's hard on himself - and I am too, but I will admit that he acquitted himself fairly well today. Seventh-place going into round three."

Joe whistled and said, "Well done, brother. Do you think you have a chance?"

Rollie shook his head and said, "Not unless MacDuff really falls apart tomorrow. I've never seen anyone play as well as he did today."

Francie waved a hand and said, "It's possible. That course is tough. We have a strategy that I think will help Roland tomorrow."

They chatted about the Championship for a bit and then Joe asked Rollie about the money they'd received from Miles Bigsby.

"My wife," he said, pointing to Edna with his fork, "thinks we should return the money."

Rollie chuckled and said, "Well, my wife doesn't. Francie apparently isn't going to let principles override the fact that $50,000 is a lot of dough."

Francie glared at him and looked at Edna and said, "Professional golf doesn't pay that well. That money will last us a good long time, and maybe give the duffer over there," she pointed at Rollie, "an opportunity to make a mark in the sport."

The left side of Rollie's mouth curled in a half-smile and he said, "I'm investing the money, see if I can make it work for me. All those classes at Nobel Jones might pay off after all."

Joe nodded. He said, "I'm investing too... but Edna isn't really on board."

Edna spoke up, "One of Joe's old college team mates wants him to invest in a pro football team of all things."

Joe frowned. "It's not a bad idea," he said, and looked at Rollie. "I'd want you to look over the contracts and such. This would be a brand-new team, in Chicago, where my friend is living. He's even got a potential lease worked out with Ben Hunter - that's the Cougars owner - to play our games in the North Side Grounds."

Edna was shaking her head. "Joe is bound and determined to keep moving us further north. By the time our kids are adults we'll be living on the Arctic Circle."

Joe cocked his head and gave her a look.

"OK, that's obviously an exaggeration... but I'm a Southern girl and even these Ohio winters are tough on me."

Rollie smiled and nodded at Edna before turning back to his brother and asking, "So even after what happened in New York, you think this pro football thing is going to be a reality?"

Joe bobbed his head with enthusiasm and replied, "Absolutely. Carl - that's my buddy, Carl Boon - has been invited to a meeting of serious midwestern football operators. I think a league is a strong possibility. This is my chance to be more than just a player - I can get in on the ground floor of this thing."

Edna shook her head. "He neglects to consider the fact that while college football is massively popular, the pros can't hardly draw flies."

Joe scowled, "We've been playing in Akron. There's a world of difference between Akron and Chicago, you know."

"I do know," Edna replied. "And there's a lot more going on in Chicago too. More competition, you know."

Rollie tipped his fork at Edna, "She's right, there are some good college football programs in Chicago too."

"We play on Sunday - the colleges play on Saturday."

Edna frowned again. "I still don't like this playing on Sunday thing." She had been raised in a fairly religious family and working - even as a professional athlete - on Sundays ran against her grain.

"No blue laws in Illinois, and I doubt that the Lord cares."

"Don't. Blaspheme." Edna growled in reply.

Joe shook his head and spread his hands while giving Rollie a wry look. "You see what I'm dealing with here," he said.

Rollie knew better than to get involved. Instead he looked at Edna and said, "I'll look at the paperwork. Joe's a great athlete, but he's never had a mind for business. I can at least make sure that if you two agree to do this," he pointedly looked at his brother before continuing, "that you won't lose your nest egg."

Edna wasn't happy but she saw there was some sense in what Rollie had said.

Francie looked at Edna and said with a gleam in her eye, "Edna, you must admit. Using the Bigsbys' money to own a football club that might end up competing with them would be sweet revenge."

Edna sat back and then replied, "You know? I hadn't thought of that." She looked pleased by the thought.

-----------------------------------------------

Joe and Edna joined Francie the next day at the Championship. Neither Joe nor Edna had ever watched golf before, aside from seeing Rollie work on his game at the Barrell Farm. Joe was impressed by the combination of skill and strength involved in driving the ball for distances. Edna enjoyed herself - she genuinely liked Francie and even though the latter was very focused on watching Rollie and kept muttering to herself on each of his shots, she was in all other ways a perfect guide, explaining how the tournament worked and the various strategies the players tried - with varying success - to employ.

Rollie played a decent round, posting a +3 to finish the third round at +10, good for 8th place. Although he did lose ground, he was still just five shots off the lead: Bill MacDuff had posted a +3 himself and was now in second place. An Englishman, Hugh Wilson, was now the leader going into the fourth and final round.

Wilson posted a +7 in the final round, tumbling to a second-place tie with MacDuff and two other players. Rollie posted a +4, and though he hated himself for it, he did finish sixth, and won $90. This demonstrated to Joe & Edna that Francie hadn't been joking when she said being a pro golfer was not exactly a lucrative endeavor.

The win went to another Englishman, Tom Rogers, who finished +11 on the tournament to claim the trophy and the $500 purse.