Pat:
You're wrong about that. Macdonald planned to build his clubhouse next to the hotel that stood near the present 10th tee (Macdonald's original 1st tee).
MacDonald planned to build A clubhouse next to # 10 due to the convenience offered by the Shinnecock Inn.
I maintain, and George Bahto concurred that this was to be a temporary clubhouse.
My reasons are as follows.
1 Given the choice of those two sites, which one would you
pick for a clubhouse ? The answer is obvious.
2 CBM would never accept the members of Shinnecock and
their clubhouse forever looking down on the NGLA
clubhouse and members
3 The vast amount of land between # 1 and # 18 wasn't left
vacant by chance. If you had to start a first hole,
wouldn't you parallel the 18th fairway and benefit from
those spectacular views ? Views that CBM himself said
were the greatest in all of golf, save for the possible
exception of Mid Ocean. Yet, CBM didn't, he chose to go
inland, abandoning those views. Since we know how
heavily constructed the first green is, we could conclude
that he could have built # 1 green anywhere, especially
on a site that would have given the golfer another
spectacular view of Peconic Bay.
That parking lot and clubhouse are enormous, as is the
space between# 1 and # 18, and that's because CBM
was always going to put his clubhouse there.
4 CBM himself said that they didn't have enough money to
build a clubhouse and thus designated the first hole to be
close to the Shinnecock Inn as a matter of convenience,
so that the Shinnecock Inn could serve as their
clubhouse. The Inn burned down in 1909. It would be
helpful if George Bahto could supply the exact date of the
fire. Remember too, that the Shinnecock Inn was a built a
short time prior.
5 Scorecards from 1910, before the course officially opened
for play, reflect the present order of play.
6 The spacing of holes that parallel each other have little
room between them, except for holes with steep banks
seperating them, like # 15 and # 5, # 16 and # 2.
The land seperating # 1 and # 18 is relatively without
Pitch or slope toward or away from Peconic Bay.
Why would CBM depart from his pattern of close parallel
holes if he didn't have a good reason.
I'm aware of the second paragraph on page 188 of the book I gave you, but, I think that paragraph is open to interpretation, and, when combined with the six points above, there would be no reason to site the clubhouse in other then its present location. Remember, CBM said "what was intended" but, that is only in the context of the fact that the Shinnecock Inn was going to serve as the clubhouse, due to the lack of funds necessary to build their own clubhouse.
When we get to NGLA in a few weeks we can examine the areas in question more closely.
We'll let Chipoat referee