Tom MacWood said a day ago:
"The evidence is vague regarding who did what with the design and construction of Merion. That is the reason Wayne has avoided specific attributions. It was reported by numerous sources that the committee (led by Wilson) designed the course, with Macdonald and Whigham advising. That's my view."
Basically, that's our view too. The reason Wayne avoided specific architectural attribution is because he can't document specific architectural attribution well at all in the first phase of the design and construction of Merion East. For whatever reasons almost the entire record of that early time from around the early spring of 1911 until around the fall of 1911 just doesn't exist any longer and if it does no one we know is aware of where it might be. That's assuming there ever was much of an architectural design and construction record of the first phase of Merion East.
What we tend to go with and present is the common sense and logic of that time and the design and construction of a course like Merion East.
The common sense of it is that from every single mention of Merion East's design and construction from within Merion was that a committee was formed by Merion Cricket Club to build a new course in Ardmore. Wilson was made the head of that course committee. He went to see Macdonald at NGLA before departing for Europe for seven month of architectural study in 1910. Wilson gives Macdonald a good deal of credit for helping him during those two days at NGLA.
Wilson returns from Europe with many architectural drawings and sketches of his impressions of holes and architectural concepts and principles from Europe. Wilson and his committee following the winter of 1911 sets about designing and building Merion East between the early spring of 1911 and the Fall of 1911 when the course is seeded and allowed to grow in for a year and then opens in September of 1912.
Wilson and his course construction committee included Rodman Griscom, Dr Henry Toulmin, Richard Francis and Horatio Gates Lloyd. Wilson and his committee had a crew led by William Flynn, nominally the greenkepper and his asst Joe Valentine, engineer Howard Toomey, construction foreman Fred Pickering that were on site every day through the spring, summer and Fall of 1911 building the golf course presumably to the routing and design of Wilson and his committee.
Merion history book writer Desmond Tolhurst says of Wilson and his construction committee:
"This was a fine committee for the job. Griscom's accomplishments have been outlined in the first chapter (Rodman Griscom was Merion's first president and his father owned the land next to the original Merion Haverford course and offered the club his own land for an additional nine holes). Francis was an officer of a construction company, an engineer and a surveyor, and his skills were invaluable. However, the chief burden fell on (Hugh) Wilson, who was the priniciple architect of the course."
Approcimately 3-4 people reported in local newspapers or golf magazines that perhaps 2-3 times Macdonald and Whigam came to Philadelphia (from NY where they lived) and advised Wilson and his committee. From what I've seen of those visits it appear Macdonald mentioned something like the land was very promising for a golf course before the course was built and perhaps once or twice Macdonald mentioned that he approved of the results he saw and felt the course would be one of the best in America. (It probably isn't too far-fetched to assume that approval was good news to Wilson, his design and construction committee and to Merion Cricket Club.
Logic and common sense and the 94 year Merion history sort of tells us that Wilson and his committee designed the golf course and oversaw its construction which was the purpose of Wilson going to Europe in the first place for seven months the year before. Logic and common sense also sort of tells us that since Wilson had no compunction about crediting Macdonald with assisting him before he went to Europe that Wilson would probably have no compunction with crediting Macdonald and Whigam with any significant design and construction ideas when he returned or during the construction of the golf course. For some reason neither Wilson nor anyone else from Merion ever mentioned anything like that specifically about Macdonald and Whigam. Logic and common sense would seem to be telling us why that was.
Later world renowned architect George Thomas, originally of Philadelphia mentioned in his book how much Wilson taught him about golf architecture during the design and construction of Merion and a course Thomas called Philadelphia Municipal and Thomas went on to mention that in his opinion Hugh Wilson was one of America's best golf architects either amateur or professional.
So just as the Merion record has always mentioned it was Wilson and his committee ably assisted by crew inluding Flynn, Toomey, Pickering and Valentine that designed and built Merion East rather quickly---eg a period of app seven months. Following that initial design and construction those involved from Merion basically spent the next twenty years redesigning and improving the course.
A few reporters mentioned early on that Macdonald and Whigam visited a few times and advised. Again, Macdonald seemed to say he approved of the site for a golf course and he approved of the results he saw of what was done there.
This is the record of the design and construction of Merion East as far as it's known. There aren't numerous or specific records of who precisely did what or thought of what on the course or on various holes. Logic and common sense would seem to say the reason for that is that Wilson and his committee and their excellent crew were just doing what they were formed to do, and were doing it every single day. To me, anyway, logic and common sense says that means a lot as to who was responsible for the design and construction of Merion East. But perhaps Tom MacWood thinks logic and common sense more likely implies that Wilson and his design and construction committee and excellent crew were waiting on or depending on New Yorkers Macdonald and Whigam to show up for a visit about 2-3 times over a few years to explain to them what they should be doing regarding the design and construction of Merion East.
Merion's record always mentioned that Macdonald and Whigam showed up a few times and assisted and advised. What they specifically assisted and advised on no one knows at this point. If someone assumes today that Macdonald and Whigam advised or assisted on the design or construction of template holes from GB that'd been used at NGLA that would be somewhat of a stretch in our opinion. That might've happened but if Macdonald and Whigam were that central to the design and construction of Merion East one wonders why that was never recorded and never mentioned by anyone.
Logic and common sense tells us the record of the design and construction of Merion East, as general and non-specific as it is, probably is correct.
The real irony with Wilson, and his brother Alan and particularly William Flynn and Howard Toomey is how totally consumed they became with the agronomy of Merion East from 1912 on and for many years.
This record we call the "Agronomy Letters" between Hugh and Alan Wilson and Piper and Oakley of the US Dept of Agriculture number over 2000 which would mean the Wilsons and Flynn and Toomey were communicating on this subject with Piper and Oakley by letter sometimes a couple of times a week for over 13 years!
Common sense and logic tell us that if they were that dedicated to the agronomy of Merion East and that hands on they were probably just as dedicated and hands on with the design and construction of the golf course. Unfortunately that architectural record, unlike the "agronomy" record (which actually resurfaced no more than about four years ago) has apparently been lost.
This is the record of Merion East and I don't see that there's any significant disputing of what went on there, or any reason for anyone to dispute at this point what went on there or who was responsible for it.