Mike, To refresh your recollection . . .
Remember that CBM had already been over the land, and we know that (at the very least) he had already been considering how to make use Merion's natural features. And we also have been told that Merion had already considered a number of different courses on their land. And we know that the NGLA trip took place in the spring of 1911, when they were actively planning the course. And we know that they had a contour map by this time. Given all this and the rest of what we know, I have a few question I hope you will answer thoughtfully and reasonably:
1. Is it reasonable for you to continue to assert that Wilson traveled to NGLA and spent two days with CBM shortly before he was to begin building the course, yet they did not even bother discuss the prospective layout?
2. Doesn't this position directly contradict Alan Wilson's statement, and common sense?
3. If CBM and HJW were not directly involved in the design process (at least with regard to the routing and hole concepts), then why would Merion trouble him to travel back to Philadelphia to again go over there land, consider the various plans, and approve a final layout plan?
David,
Thanks for your questions and I’ll try to respond thoughtfully and reasonably.
I think for starters we need a standard here separating fact and conjecture, as neither of us want to be accused of simply “making sh*t up”, as you sometimes contend. That is why I tried in my previous post to stick to the facts we know and how those affect the timeline of when events occurred and what conclusions we could reasonably draw from those events.
For instance, if we know that Merion had only secured 117 acres as of February 1
st, 1911 and they eventually bought 120 acres that decision to purchase an additional three acres
had to have happened after February 1
st, 1911.
If we know that Richard Francis told us that his brainstorm allowed them to squeeze in the final five holes, by exchanging some land that didn’t fit in with
“any golf lay-out” they were still considering for land they could use, then only one of two possibilities is true;
1) That Richard Francis had his brainstorm that allowed them to fit all the holes on the course prior to February 1
st, 1911, yet in the next few months Merion decided they
still needed an additional three acres for the golf course because, I don’t know, but we’d have to “make sh*t up” to try to rationalize or justify this belief as there is really no factual evidence to indicate otherwise, right?
2) That the Richard Francis brainstorm exchange took place after February 1
st, 1911 but required an additional three acres overall to fit the golf holes, requiring them to authorize another capital outlay to cover the purchase. Indeed, the April 1911 Minutes would seem to substantiate this, as follow;
Whereas the Golf Committee presented a plan showing a proposed layout of the new Golf Ground which necessitated the exchange of a portion of land already purchased for other land adjoining and the purchase of about three acres additional to cost about $7500.00, and asked the approval of this Board, it was on motion Resolved, that this Board approve of the purchase and exchange, and agree to pay as part of the rental the interest on the additional purchase. Similarly, it’s a fact that Richard Francis’s 1950 account begins by telling us that he was
“added” to Hugh Wilson’s Committee presumably for his engineering and surveying skills. That committee formed on January 11, 1911 according to Jeff Silverman’s Merion history book, and Hugh Wilson himself told us that his Committee was formed in early 1911, as well. Francis also tells us that the brainstorm he had related to the golf plan (other golf layouts were under consideration at the time) that was eventually approved and built. Similarly, the Merion Cricket Club Minutes indicate that various plans were considered prior to the Committee’s March 1911 visit to NGLA, and that upon returning, the Committee
“rearranged the course and laid out five different plans” which were later reviewed by CBM as part of the decision-making process.
Thus, knowing those facts, only one of two things can be true;
1) That Richard Francis’s brainstorm happened after being “added” to Hugh Wilson’s Committee, which is consistent with all other known facts.
2) That somehow Richard Francis had his brainstorm prior to being added to Hugh Wilson’s Committee in January 1911, after which the Committee considered various other plans over several months before coming back full circle to the original Francis plan. There is no factual evidence to indicate this, so once again we’d have to make sh*t up, correct?
We also know it’s a fact that the November 1910 Land Plan submitted to the Merion membership is a scale drawing by civil engineers Pugh & Hubbard indicating the 117 acres secured for the golf course, and also showing the adjacent real estate development separated by an “Approximate” location of a road dividing the two, today’s Golf House Road. We also know as fact that Richard Francis told us that
“the land now covered by fine homes along Golf House Road was exchanged for land about 130 yds. wide by 190 yds. long – the present location of the 15th green and 16th tee.” However, it’s also a fact that the northernmost “triangle” on the Pugh and Hubbard 1910 drawing does not measure those dimensions at all, but instead measures approximately 95 yds. wide by 260 yds. long.
Thus, knowing those facts, only one of two things can be true;
1) Richard Francis had his brainstorm prior to the creation of the Pugh and Hubbard map in November 1910 and subsequently, Pugh and Hubbard made a gross error in indicating the northwestern border of the golf course on that map. However, there’s really no evidence to substantiate that claim, so we’d once again have to make sh*t up, right?
2) Richard Francis had his brainstorm sometime after the creation of that map, during which time that northwestern boundary was re-aligned to the 130 yards wide by 190 yards long dimension recalled by Francis, likely as a result of swapping land not used for any golf layout along that same border.
Admittedly,
I think all of us fell into the trap of imagining that the land exchange Richard Francis mentioned in 1950 was a straight acre-for-acre exchange, when it is clear from the April 1911 Merion Cricket Club minutes that it was not. Indeed, an additional three acres was needed for the golf course along that western border north of Ardmore Avenue, which is the only place on the property where such flexibility was even possible. And, as mentioned, Merion authorized the payment of $7500 for those additional three acres at the April 1911 Board of Governors meeting.
So, I think it would be a very productive step for our discussion that we come to agreement that all of the factual evidence indicates that the Richard Francis brainstorm and subsequent land exchange took place after Wilson’s Committee was formed in early 1911, and likely after that Committee’s trip to NGLA in March of 1911. Such an agreement based on the known facts would also greatly benefit future discussions on this and other topics. Thanks, and I’ll answer your other questions shortly.