Wellshire--Donald Ross?

[Tim Pitner]

Wellshire Golf Club, a Denver municipal course which used to be private, claims to be a Donald Ross course.  If there is a Denver municipal course that deserves to be restored/renovated a la Harding Park, it would be Wellshire.  

For you Ross experts out there, I wonder, first, how much involvement did Ross have in the design of Wellshire and, second, how many post-Ross changes have occurred (how much Ross is left)?

[Brad Klein]

I can claim with virtual certainty that if Wellshire, as I have it listed, is a 1926 Ross design, he was never on site. He made one a trip or two to Colorado for design, in 1916-1918. He probably passed through Denver (without stopping for any work) on his way via train to California in July 1922 and then back in mid-August, and he was never out West again. That's it for his visits out there.

I don't have every year's itinerary for him, but I do know how limited his travels west of the Mississippi were.

[Kirk Gill]

Tim - I asked this question quite a while back but am unable to find the specific thread - but I do remember that another GCA'er replied at the time that he believed Ross was onsite while he was in-state working on Broadmoor.

On the other hand, Doug Wright also mentioned in a number of earlier threads that he has copies of Ross' drawings of Wellshire, and that Ross did not visit the site.

Also, apparently Ross did not list it as among his designs in a list he compiled in the early 30's.

[Doug Wright]

Tim,

Yes Wellshire is a 1926 Ross design. I have his original drawings of the course (or at least I did and need to find them again... ) and would be happy to show them to you (again, if I can find them!). I and others did some research about the course in connection with its 75th anniversary in 2001 and it's pretty clear as Brad says that Ross never visited the site but did the routing and layout from topo maps as I understand he did with many other courses. Walter Hatch did the course work using Ross's drawings. The routing is pretty much intact though the nines are reversed. Many really good Ross features remain such as the sloped greens (eg 3 and 16!!). There were a number of bunkers removed over time as the course moved to public play. What we need is a benefactor to put some $$ into a restoration a la Wilmington Municipal. The bones are there--it could be a real gem.

[Tim Pitner]

Doug/Kirk,

Has a restoration of Wellshire ever been seriously discussed (perhaps on the 75th anniversary of the club)?  I wonder what the city's level of interest would be, given that I'm sure plenty of rounds are played there as it is.  

I haven't played Wellshire in awhile.  I've been somewhat turned off in the past by the slow play and poor conditioning (can we remove the backstop-like, chain-link fences, please).  I should have another look though.

[Doug Wright]

It was discussed back in 2001 but there wasn't much interest. I suspect it would be even less so now that Tom Woodard is out of the picture with the City. It's easy to discuss in the abstract but would never happen unless there was a pool of money at the ready to fund the work.

You should play Wellshire again Tim, particularly if you're interested in Ross--there are some features like the routing, the greensites and some of the greens that are emblematic of Mr. Ross. I've played it twice this year and the conditioning is pretty good--it has been for the past several years under superintendent Gregg Blew. They have improved the pace of play though of course it depends on the day and time (the early morning players are usually pretty fast). What chain link fences are you talking about?

[Tim Pitner]

What chain link fences are you talking about?

Last time I was there, they had some stretches of fencing near some tees--I think they were on some of the holes near Hampden, perhaps on #3, for example.  The fencing was clearly designed to protect players from errant shots.  You see that kind of fence often on older, municipal courses.  They look like baseball backstops.  I remember Rancho Park in Los Angeles also had them.  They are very unsightly--reminiscent of a cage.  I don't think I'm imagining this.

[Doug Wright]

What chain link fences are you talking about?

Last time I was there, they had some stretches of fencing near some tees--I think they were on some of the holes near Hampden, perhaps on #3, for example.  The fencing was clearly designed to protect players from errant shots.  You see that kind of fence often on older, municipal courses.  They look like baseball backstops.  I remember Griffith Park in Los Angeles also had them.  They are very unsightly--reminiscent of a cage.  I don't think I'm imagining this.

OK, gotcha. Yes, there are a couple of these (mesh, not chainlink) at tees for safety, and thankfully they are there as an untimely slice off 5 or 12 tees or hook off 16 tee could do serious damage. Don't think Donald Ross was too worried about such things in 1926... As it is, I once played Wellshire in a hardhat after I experienced a couple near misses in the prior round.   For this reason I try to limit my Wellshire rounds to early mornings when there generally are only serious, sober, straighter-hitting golfers or empty holes about.

[Eckstein]

Doug Wright
If you find the Ross plan could you post it??

[Doug Wright]

Eckstein,

Well, it's 18 large pages (one per hole) of Ross's drawings so it's probably hard to copy and post them. If you want to know what they look like, look in Brad Klein's book at the  examples of his drawings on the cross-hatched paper.

[Eckstein]

Doug Wright
I understand. Could you post one or two of the holes??

[Eckstein]

Doug
I guess that would be a no.

[Tim Pitner]

Short follow-up:  I played Wellshire early this morning for the first time in a long while.  The conditioning has improved markedly.  The course is short and tight--not necessarily my favorite type--but it's a welcome change of pace from the prairie links-style courses that abound in the Denver area.  I definitely recommend playing Wellshire if in Denver.  Play early though.  I teed off at 6:00 a.m. and pace of play wasn't an issue, but it is later in the day.  I have a couple of criticisms--the pond that comes into play on #10 tee doesn't fit in very well and makes for kind of a silly hole and the power lines coming into play on #18 tee are unfortunate.  Car traffic from Hampden and Colorado Blvd are also a bit distracting at times.  Still, it's definitely worth playing and I'm glad to see that maintenance has improved in the last few years.  

[Tags:]

Tags: