Tom,
Also, some of the early newspaper accounts indicated that "trapping" would be done later, once general play was observed (somewhat like the early accounts of Merion, actually).
However, earlier in this thread, in answer to someone's speculation as to why Wilson didn't see fit to subsequently come in and bunker extensively, I replied with the following;
Or maybe, heresy though it may be, the historical record seems to suggest that Hugh Wilson was not much of a bunkering master himself, but instead was an amazing architectural prodigy, who could find wonderfully natural golf holes, incredible greensites, and sound shot values on limited acreage by fully utilizing existing topography.
Hugh Wilson resigned as Green Chairman at Merion in 1914, well before this. Although suspect health is certainly a possible reason, as could have been the nation at war in 1917-1919, I very much suspect that he didn't fully bunker Cobbs Creek because;
1) The course was universally hailed as is.
2) The course was amazingly popular as is.
3) The course proved amazingly difficult as is.
In 1924 he worked with William Flynn to come up with a rebunkering scheme for Merion, which Flynn largely implemented after Wilson's untimely death. So, he was still active for quite a number of years after Cobb's was built.
I suspect that after working on Cobb's Creek for six months, he would have been very pleased to hear how it's held up all of these years simply based on largely natural features.
We later learned that Hugh Wilson was involved with city public golf until at least 1922, when he was part of a committee charged with finding new sites in the city for additional public courses. We also know that Wilson was doing additional design work at places like Philmont and North Hills thru these years, and then later at Pine Valley. So, I have little doubt that if he wanted to "toughen" Cobbs Creek, he could have. The record simply suggests that it didn't need it.