St Enodoc as it once was - old photos

[Thomas Dai]

Some now coloured old B&W photos of St Enodoc as seen in past times.
Enjoy.
atb


Below - the original Clubhouse was not on the site of the current one. It was instead located between the current 1st/18th fairways with its position now indicated by a slate marker stone.

[ward peyronnin]

Surprisingly none include the ancient chapel ??

[Ed Tilley]

I saw a tweet from St. Enodoc golf club yesterday with this very picture. It said “We have plans to restore this bunker to its former glory in the near future”.

[Thomas Dai]

I saw a tweet from St. Enodoc golf club yesterday with this very picture. It said “We have plans to restore this bunker to its former glory in the near future”.

It was a response to my tweet of this coloured photo I believe. I always let the club concerned see them.
I have a couple more which should appear in the next couple of days.
Atb

[David Harshbarger]

I saw a tweet from St. Enodoc golf club yesterday with this very picture. It said “We have plans to restore this bunker to its former glory in the near future”.

They are going to need a lot of rakes....or maybe they will just let people know that, you know, it's a hazard, get over it!

[mark chalfant]

Dave Harshbarger,


It is great to see you posting again. I hope your kids are doing well  !!


Mark

[David Harshbarger]

Dave Harshbarger,


It is great to see you posting again. I hope your kids are doing well  !!


Mark

Thanks, Mark!  Nice to hear from you.  Yes, kids are well.  Relative to this board:


  Older son has a job lined up at Taconic (123) in the spring!
  Younger son's favorite course is Glens Falls (121).  Played last match of the season for his HS team there shooting best round of year. 


In other words, everything is going to plan!


Maybe we can catch up come spring :-). Dave

[Thomas Dai]

Three more old b&w photos now coloured.
atb
According to StEGC the little 'shed' by the side of the 10th green was once the local mortuary for those waiting interment in the Church cemetery, the cemetery where amongst others poet Sir John Betjeman is buried.

[Thomas Dai]

This analysis of an early routing at StE recently appeared on social media. Terrific work from Joe McDonnell. Hope he doesn't mind me posting them here. If you're on Twitter his account is well worth following.
atb

[BCrosby]

Please post a link to Joe's Twitter account.


Thanks.

[Lou_Duran]

David,


I think that you were just born at the wrong time. I can see see you walking to that large dune with 4 or five sticks in a canvass bag and whacking away to your heart's delight.


St Edonoc is one of my favorites.  I considered putting my name in for membership and even had a member willing to help me, but the logistics made it too difficult.  You're a bad man for stirring my longing.

[Thomas Dai]

Thanks Lou. Playing over sheep mowed fairways and scythe cut greens too!

Bob - see - @joemmcdonne11 - amazing work

Atb

[Tom_Doak]

The hole pictured in the very deep valley was the original finishing hole . . . it's in the valley to the left of the tee shot on today's 18th.  I have suggested they might restore that someday as a part-time option or just because it was so beautiful, but you would have to throw out either #17 or #18 and those are both great holes, too.  The old finisher would be a very reachable par-4 today.

[Ally Mcintosh]

David,


Not that I mean to question that 1898 routing - as I don’t know enough about the history - but it doesn’t appear to make sense with 18 finishing miles away from the 1st.


I know of no Victorian courses (and barely any today) where the 18th finishes a mile away from the start.


There seems to be zero connectivity with some of the holes. Was it two different 9 hole courses?

[Thomas Dai]

Ally,
The same thought about the distance from the 18th green back to the to the 1st back in 1898 occurred  to me too but I’m only the postman on this one so hoping someone who knows more can chip-in here. Maybe it’s an earlier version of Tom D’s intended California course where the 1st and 18th are separated well apart!?
As to Toms point about the photo above, there’s apparently a marker stone next to the now 1st fairway showing where the wooden Clubhouse seen in the photo once was.
Atb

[Ben Stephens]

The hole pictured in the very deep valley was the original finishing hole . . . it's in the valley to the left of the tee shot on today's 18th.  I have suggested they might restore that someday as a part-time option or just because it was so beautiful, but you would have to throw out either #17 or #18 and those are both great holes, too.  The old finisher would be a very reachable par-4 today.

Tom


Could you have a hole from the 16th tee to 17th green playing off in front of the ladies tee and create a short par 3 dell like hole for 17 as an alternative option?


Cheers
Ben

[Tom_Doak]

Could you have a hole from the 16th tee to 17th green playing off in front of the ladies tee and create a short par 3 dell like hole for 17 as an alternative option?

Ben:


I'm not really looking to change the routing of the course unless the club asks me to study it.  And my policy is not to discuss potential routing changes online here with another architect who is apparently much more eager to change old courses.  [I call it the Ben Stephens rule.]  This was just a feature of the old course that seemed like it would be easy to restore.


Also, the 17th green is about 30 feet above the 16th . . . that would be a seriously uphill conclusion to the hole.

[Ben Stephens]

Could you have a hole from the 16th tee to 17th green playing off in front of the ladies tee and create a short par 3 dell like hole for 17 as an alternative option?

Ben:


I'm not really looking to change the routing of the course unless the club asks me to study it.  And my policy is not to discuss potential routing changes online here with another architect who is apparently much more eager to change old courses.  [I call it the Ben Stephens rule.]  This was just a feature of the old course that seemed like it would be easy to restore.


Also, the 17th green is about 30 feet above the 16th . . . that would be a seriously uphill conclusion to the hole.

The Ben Stephens rule that made me chuckle!    Mike Clayton has images of holes that aren't holes which is also imaginative.

To me its the what ifs its the same with buildings, bridges, golf club design probably all aspects of design.

Yes it would be a serious uphill conclusion to the hole but can be playable doesn't Perranporth have some steep holes? The nearest equivalent would be the 11th and the alternative 11th skyline green at P+K which is 30 feet higher than the normal green. I know most players would not like it.

A realistic option could be Hole 17A (current) and 17B (where the old 18th green was from a different tee angle possibly close to the 18th back tee)

A lot of older courses have evolved over time more in their first 50 years than their second 50 years. St Enodoc has had 5,6 or 7 different variations of its course layout in the last 125 years.

I have played 2 different greens on the 16th the old green and Peter McEvoys version. The older green was a more natural shape and fitted the landscape better plus was closer to the 17th tee. McEvoy's green there is lots of artificial movements. 16th is not one of St Enodoc's strongest holes IMO whereas 17 and 18 are awesome. 16 in theory probably play better in the opposite direction.