Then it sounds as though one of two things is possible.
1) Players drove it much shorter in 1916 then we imagine. I don't have Google Earth on the computer I'm on right now, but have to imagine that if the tee is where we all think, a drive to carry those bunkers would have been about 200 or so?
The carry may have been even shorter than 200 yards from the old tee. But with a substantial elevation increase, something like 20 feet to the bunkers.
Keep in mind that in Scotland's Gift, the only driving distances that MacDonald seems to trust at all were those in the 1919 experiment where the average driving distance was 228 yards. Into a slope and up a hill, this would likely be shorter. So I have my doubts about whether many of these guys would have gotten to the crest of the hill, which is one reason why I think there was a good chance that the hole was blind.
My own feeling is that it probably was a fairly difficult hole. The pictures of the green seem to indicate that it was severely protected, and very undulating. Still, I can't say that it resembles anything like the 3rd at NGLA in the most basic form. I still think Lesley's point was about the front bunker, and I also think that these were guys who were just learning the game and its lexicon.
Maybe I am nuts here, but looking at Flynn's sketch and the later aerial photo, sure seems like the green sites are similar to me. This is not to say that the rest of the hole is similar, but the greensites sure seem similar.
All it probably took was for one single person to refer to it as "Alps like", and that was repeated by others.
This would be more more plausible to me if these guys were nobodies as opposed to who they were.
I also have yet to see a single shred of evidence that Macdonald had anything to do with any hole at Merion, or any communications with Wilson post the 2-day visit.
You keep coming back to this but in my mind this really isnt even at issue. I dont think MacDonald designed the hole, and I doubt anyone else does. But this is a far cry from the conclusion that he had no influence. Even if we assume that all MacDonald did was spend a couple of days teaching about basic concepts of golf design and helping Wilson route his trip, this by itself could have had a tremendous impact on Wilson's approach at Merion.
But to your question, I think the Merion history mentions that MacDonald was free with his advice after Wilson got back.
Until we see something surface to the contrary, I think we're speculating and also over-reaching. To say that Macdonald would not have bragged about his involvement at Merion because others were doing it for him is completely inconsistent with his personality, it seems. NGLA was widely lauded by the golf world, yet he wrote about it extensively. He also wrote extensively about what he did at Piping Rock.
We are only speculating or overreaching if we are claiming that MacDonald actually designed the hole, and, again, I really dont know why you keep saying and implying that this is my position, because it isn't.
I also don't know what others wrote about his involvement, besides some very vague term of "advisor". What did others say his advisory role entailed besides giving Wilson a tour of NGLA, and advising him on what courses to see in GB?
Your right, they didnt say much specific about MacDonald's role. But they did refer to an Alps hole at Merion. As I have said before, I am not sure why we dont seriously consider the possibility that Wilson took MacDonald's advice, went and looked at the original holes, and then incorporated some of the features from the originals, as opposed to those at NGLA.
According to MacDonald, the Alps at Prestwick was shorter than NGLA (375 yards or 385 yards), flatter than NGLA (the green is not as much above the fairway,) and a well placed drive at Prestwick (just to the left of the center mound) would leave the golfer with a fairly easy approach.
So maybe the 10 is more of Wilson's version of Prestwick's Alps than NGLA's. Or maybe it is a hybrid of Prestwick's, NGLA's, and Wilson's own original ideas.
Until some other hard evidence of continued communications and "advise" surfaces, then it's pointless speculation, no matter how we try to piece it together.
We may not be able to speculate on specifics, but it is too much to dismiss the likelyhood (based on contemporary sources) that MacDonald did indeed advise Wilson, and that advice likely influenced Wilson, even if it was only in some broad sense.
I was thinking about your question of "breastworks, ramparts, and trenches" (Oh my! ), and have to think the answer has been right in front of us the whole time, courtesy of the 2 pictures of the 10th green from Golf Illustrated.
I believe the "trench" was in fact, the road, which in 1916 was likely a pebbly, ditch running throught the property, and VERY MUCH in play on the 10th. We also know from seeing the steps that the road was below the surface of the golf course, probably on both sides of the road. You wouldn't want to get stuck down there, especially with then having to pitch over the road edge, and then over the front crossing bunker, and then over the far edge of that hazard (RAMPART), with the fear of skulling that might take your ball into the huge BReASTworks behind the green.
You are forgetting the three mounds placed directly in front of the hole. These were apparently removed fairly early on, but they are present in the Flynn sketch. TEPaul and Mr. Morrison dismiss their significance and magnitude, but because of the angle, the one photo I have seen of them is certainly not conclusive as to their size.
Also, IMO, in the photograph the green appears to sit down in a bowl, or at least a bowl on three sides (not necessarily the right.) Take a look at Flynn's sketch and you will see that he designated the ground sloping down to the green from the left.
Now, the question still remains. Was this an Alps, or meant by Wilson to be an Alps? Was it something inspired or instructed from ole CB and Whigham?
Unlike you, I just dont think there is enough evidence to override the views of the men who thought differently. After all, they were there and they knew what they were talking about.
Does anyone out there know differently?? Is there a single document that speaks or even hints at continued conversation between the two men??
As I said above, I am not sure why this is a prerequisite for you. That being said, I think there is a least one such document.
Given MacDonald's personality, and his role in teaching wilson and helping him plan his trip, I find it extremely likely that MacDonald would have stuck his nose in and given advice whether Wilson asked for it or not.