Travis List from Travis Society (with questions answered by Ed Homsey)

[Ian Andrew]

For Mike and other who have requested it:

Ed's note to me (for context): Ian--Here's our latest listing, including original designs, remodeling, and consultations.  This will create some discussion.  Very little documentation for this listing came through Travis writings, except copies of his correspondence.  In one 1920s autobiographical article, he wrote about talks he had with Ross concerning Pinehurst #2; in addition, we have an item from an early Golf Illustration about his idea that was used for the first hole.  In magazine ads, Travis listed his courses, though I believe he was overly cautious about claiming them as original versus remodels.  In one letter to a prospective client, he listed courses that could be used as references.  That was used to confirm a couple of courses.

Walter J. Travis Golf Course Projects
(2008 Revision)

Original Golf Course Design
(18 hole design unless otherwise noted.  Dates given reflect when Travis did his work, according to available documentation)

1899   Ekwanok Country Club (with John Duncan Dunn) Manchester, VT

1904   Mount Pocono Golf and Country Club   Stroudsburg, PA

1908   Poland Spring Golf Club
   South Poland, ME

1910   Grand`Mere Golf Club
   Shawinigan, Quebec

1911   Youngstown Country Club
   Youngstown, OH

1916   Garden City Country Club
   Garden City, NY

1916   Orchard Park Country Club (FKA The Park Country Club)  
   Orchard Park, NY

1916   East Potomac Park Golf Club  (with Walter S. Harban)
   Washington, D.C.

1916   Canoe Brook Country Club (North Course)  
   Summit, NJ

1917   Lochmoor Club (assisted John S. Sweeney)  
   Grosse Pointe Woods, MI

1918   Onondaga Golf and Country Club
   Fayetteville, NY

1919   Westchester Country Club (South, West, and short course, FKA Westchester-Biltmore Club)  
   Rye, NY

1920   White Beeches Golf and Country Club (FKA Haworth Golf Club)
   Haworth, NJ

1921   Cape Arundel Golf Club
   Kennebunkport, ME

1921   Lookout Point Country Club
   Fonthill, Ontario, Canada

1921   Stafford Country Club
   Stafford, NY

1922   Longue Vue (NLE)
   Hastings-on-Hudson, NY

1922   Cherry Hill Club
   Ridgeway, Ontario, Canada


1922   North Jersey Country Club
   Wayne, NJ

1922   Pennhills Club (FKA North Penn Club)
   Bradford, PA

1922   Round Hill Club
   Greenwich, CT

1922   Yahnundasis Golf Club (27 holes, 18 built)  
   New Hartford, NY

1923   Camden Country Club (FKA Kirkwood Links)  
   Camden, SC

1923   Oak Ridge Golf Club (NLE)
   Tuckahoe, NY

1924   Louisville Country Club (18 holes, not constructed)  
   Louisville, KY

1925   Country Club of Scranton
   Scranton, PA

1926   Country Club of Troy
   Troy, NY

1926   The Gleneagles Golf Course  (FKA Equinox Golf Links)
   Manchester, VT

1926   Jekyll Island Golf Club (Great Dunes course)  
   Jekyll Island, GA

1926   Sea Island Golf Club (Plantation 9)
   St. Simons Island, GA

Remodeling/Renovation Projects

1902   Flushing Golf Club (LKA Old Country Club) (NLE)
   Flushing, LI, NY

1901-08   Garden City Golf Club (FKA Island Golf Links)  
   Garden City, NY


1909   Essex County Country Club (with John Duncan Dunn) (NLE)
   Manchester, MA

1910-11   Grover Cleveland Muni (FKA Country Club of Buffalo)  
   Buffalo, NY

1915   Columbia Country Club (with Walter S. Harban and Bob White)
   Chevy Chase, MD

1917   Hollywood Golf Club
   Deal, NJ

1919   Sunningdale Country Club
   Scarsdale, NY

1920   Lakewood Country Club
   Lakewood, NJ


1924   Augusta Country Club
   Augusta, GA

1924   Country Club of New Canaan
   New Canaan, CT


1924   Louisville Country Club (9 holes)
   Louisville, KY

1924   Milwaukee Country Club  (NLE)
   Milwaukee, MI

1924   Granliden on Sunapee (9 holes)
   Lake Sunapee, NH

Consultations

1904   Pinehurst Country Club (#2 course, with Donald Ross)
   Pinehurst, NC

1906   Fox Hills Golf Club (NLE)
   Staten Island, NY

1906   Van Cortland Park Golf Club
   Bronx, NY

1910   Chevy Chase Club (with Donald Ross)
   Chevy Chase, MD

1910   National Golf Links of America  (with C.B. Macdonald and Devereux Emmet)
   Southhampton, NY

1910   The Country Club
   Brookline, MA

1912   Palm Beach Club
   Palm Beach, FL

1912   Ormond Golf Club
   Ormand Beach, FL

1916   Chicago Golf Club
   Chicago, IL

1916     Misquamicut Golf Club
     Watch Hill, RI

1917     Pine Valley Golf Club (with George Crump)
     Pine Valley, NJ

1922     Century Country Club
     Purchase, NY

1922     Sankaty Head Golf Club
     Nantucket Island

1924     Pasadena Golf Club (with Max Behr) (NLE)  
     Pasadena, CA

1924     Philadelphia GC (NLE)
     Philadelphia, PA

1924     The Park Country Club
     Buffalo, NY

1924     Yountakah CC (NLE)
     Nutley, NJ
     

1925     Paducah Golf & Country Club
     Paducah, KY


FKA   Formerly Known As
NLE  No Longer Exists
LKA  Later Known As

[Mike_Cirba]

Thanks Ian...

I've been trying to find out if the Mount Pocono Golf Course listed above is the same one that still exists today...a strange nine-holer that likely lost a bit of yardage to highway expansion but almost nobody knows anything about the history except that it's OLD.

Also, other accounts list the first course to be built in the Poconos to be located in the little town of Paradise, which is exactly where this one sits.

[Joe Bausch]

Was thinking about suggesting the addition of Cobb's Creek to the consultation list for Travis, but that would just cause trouble wouldn't it.  

So instead I'll post a Google aerial of this 9 hole Mount Pocono Golf Course, followed by a 1942 Penn Pilot aerial.

[J Sadowsky]

Played 9 at EPP in DC yesterday - not much architectural merit to it, to be honest.  One mildly interesting par 3 on the front 9, thats about it.  Does its job as a muni, though, I guess.

[wsmorrison]

Thank you for posting the list, Ian.

[Mike_Cirba]

Joe,

It's amazing that the course hasn't changed since 1940, but I'm also thinking that the road may have changed between 1904 and then.   In any case, a few holes down near ther roads in the southeast corner are very strangely cramped.

Some interesting old features though, don'cha think?  

Ian...anything look like ancient Travis?


btw, Joe & Wayne...check your mail

[Mike_Cirba]

btw, I think Travis needs to be listed as having worked on Cobb's Creek in its "finishing" stages before opening during fall 1915 til early 1916.   The documented evidence seems pretty clear that he was spending a good deal of time there.


I'm also really, really hoping to have a Travis exploration year.

I want to get to Troy and Yahundasis at a minimum, and probably throw in Onondaga for good measure.

[ChipOat]

Where was Philadelphia Golf Club (NLE)??

Do you mean the original Phila CC course on City Line Avenue?

[wsmorrison]

I don't think it was Philadelphia GC, probably the Pennsylvania CC.  The Pennsylvania RR owned 2 golf coures, one in the western suburbs, which is now Chester Valley GC.  The architectural attribution is unsure.  Some evidence points to Donald Ross while Cornish and Whitten attribute it to Perry Maxwell.  The eastern one was, according to Jim Finegan, in Havertown, not far from Llanerch.  Craig Disher has an early photograph of it as seen below.  I believe it went NLE sometime shortly after WWII.

Ian,
Any thoughts on this design being a Travis?

[Joe Bausch]

I believe this was known as the Pennsylvania Golf Club, very near the PECO course (now McCall).  A 6432 yard par 73 layout according to Wexler's book (but this should be treated w/ a tiny bit of skepticism as I've found some inaccuracies in the book; and yes, I've talked to the author about them).

[mark chalfant]

Ian

Thanks so much for this list. Is Onandaga well preserved in terms  of Travis routing, greens and/ or  bunkering
thanks

[Kyle Harris]

btw, I think Travis needs to be listed as having worked on Cobb's Creek in its "finishing" stages before opening during fall 1915 til early 1916.   The documented evidence seems pretty clear that he was spending a good deal of time there.


I'm also really, really hoping to have a Travis exploration year.

I want to get to Troy and Yahundasis at a minimum, and probably throw in Onondaga for good measure.

Mike,

I assume you've been doing more reading, but if you're referencing the one mention of Travis's involvement at Cobb's I don't think that's very clear at all.

Is there access to New York papers that can cross verify Travis's doings during that time period?

[Art Roselle]

A couple of things on that list are interesting (to me).  First, it lists Camden Country Club in SC, which is generally listed as a Ross course.  Bradley Klein lists it correctly as a Ross remodel in 1939, but the club itself seems to makes no mention of Travis' prior work (at least not here).

It appears that the Travis course was built around 1903 and you can find mention of it in some old literature about the Kirkwood Hotel (the original owner) such as
this postcard.

Second, for Louisville Country Club, it says "(18 holes, not constructed)" under Original Designs, but then lists it again under Renovation Projects with the same year (1924) but says it is only 9 holes.  Does anyone know what the deal is there?  LCC certainly has 18 holes now and generally is listed as a Walter Travis course (with a recent renovation by Keith Foster).  I was under the impression that some sort of course was there before 1924, since the club opened in 1905, but that Travis designed the curent 18 holes in 1924 and it was constructed (or "remodeled") then.

[Jamey Bryan]

Art:

Camden's web site is a bad joke in many ways (I'm a member btw), the "history" there is simply one of the worst sections.

Walter Travis constructed, in 1923, 18 holes for the Kirkwood Hotel which was a large resort hotel catering to wealthy Northerners who wintered here.  The course was one of the first to have very undulating sand greens and was considered a "championship" course in its day.  Travis spent a good portion of the 1923-24 season in residence at the Kirkwood, the local paper reported that he was playing the new links daily.

Donald Ross, in December of 1939, opened the "renovated" Kirkwood Links (Gene Sarazen and Charles Yates attended the opening and played an exhibition).  The biggest change to the Travis course was a complete rebuilding of the greens which were grassed.  Ross also eliminated one hole (which called for a shot across a rail bed) and built one entirely new one shotter.  Many minor changes were made, but it's clear that Ross recognized Travis's work as excellent and many characteristic Travis features were left alone.  The routing is 80 percent Travis.

Kris Spence recently submitted a new master plan to the club, and has recommended that the club embrace the full heritage of the design (in other words, restore some of the Travis features that have been lost over the years).  I've long thought that we should be publicly embracing the Travis legacy.

Jamey

[Ian Andrew]

Sorry about taking so long to get back to this thread – I’ve been avoiding anything golf this week in deference to the kids.

Mike,

I can’t make judgments just from an aerial – I can easily assume a pattern is similar to what I have seen on a plan or on the ground and simply be wrong.

Troy, Onondaga and Yahnundasis are excellent examples of his work – the three would would provide a wonderful overview of his work. If you want to make a second trip – Cape Arundal and Ekwanok should be another great trip.

Wayne,

Ed Homsey might have some research to answer your questions – I could never be certain from any aerial on any architect - I would need more information. Travis is hard to nail down, while a lot of the works seems to follow certain patterns, Hollywood, Orchard Park and a few others don’t. I have learnt to be careful with Walter, because each course I generally find a suprise.

Mark,

Onondaga is pretty intact with 3 and 4 new holes by Wogan and  7, 8 & 9 are holes by Purdy. The rest is still there with multiple blind shots throughout.

Art,

Kris Spence sent me the plan and old aerials – the Travis routing is still intact. I appreciate the fact that Kris is trying to have them recognize their heritage but there is resistance to sharing credit with Ross.

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

Ian:

I think you need to put Misquamicut in its own catagory. "Consultation" doesn't adaquately describe his role. He redesigned the entire course, submitted plans and was paid for his efforts even though the work was never done. Too had the plans are no where to be found.

I have no idea, however, how you would catagorize his role in that case.

Anthony

[Ian Andrew]

Anthony,

Ed Homsey is the head of the Travis Society - he is reading these threads but is unable to respond - I sent him an email offerenig to respond on his behalf if he wants.

He will be very interested in what you wrote - I love the fact that they have removed courses every once in a while too - its a well researched list involving quite a few people.

[Art Roselle]

Art:

Camden's web site is a bad joke in many ways (I'm a member btw), the "history" there is simply one of the worst sections.

Walter Travis constructed, in 1923, 18 holes for the Kirkwood Hotel which was a large resort hotel catering to wealthy Northerners who wintered here.


Jamey

Jamey,
Thanks.  That is sort of what assumed, although I did not realize that the routing was left so close to the original Travis design.  I apologize that the postcard does not appear to be coming up correctly on the link I provided.  It did on my Mac at home, but now does not appear to open the correct page.  The postcard I meant to include shows a photo supposedly from 1904 and shows golfers in front of the hotel and the caption references Travis's work.  Was there a course there prior to Travis's work in 1923?  Also, I did notice that the Camden CC site mentions Ross's work in the "late 20s".  I assume the 1939 date is the correct one.
Thanks

[Jamey Bryan]

Art:

There was a pre-Travis course; in fact, there seem to have been several versions.

The original nine holes opened for play sometime around 1903 and were located in front of the Kirkwood hotel extending toward the center of town.  Until July, 1913, advertisements and listings in the USGA's golf course directory indicated 9 holes at 2800 yards.  In July, 1913, the first listing of 18 holes appeared showing 5910 yards.  American Golfer attributed the new holes to the resident professional, James Norton, this nine was laid out behind the hotel adjacent to the polo field.  Minor tweaking seems to have been done in 1920 and '21 bringing the total length to 6120 yards.

In 1923, Travis used the land for the second nine holes and adjoining property to construct a new "championship course."  (The original nine remained in use and was referred to as the "short course")  Travis's course was originally advertised as 6143 yards, par 70.  In 1925 it seems that there was a modification as par changed to 71 at 6264 yards.  We know that Travis continued to visit during this period so I presume this change was overseen by him, but I've been able to find no documentation.

Donald Ross's renovation began in summer of 1939, and opened for play in December!!  Charles Harris was the construction superintendent overseeing the work.

The postcard you linked to shows the first nine prior to the expansion.  If you look at the aerial of the Kirkwood grounds (page 112 of the book) you can see the clubhouse in the center of the postcard in front of the hotel.  In the c.1920 aerial, too, you can see some of the features of the second nine (pre-Travis) behind and to the left of the hotel.

Thanks for posting that.....  I'd seen it before but had forgotten.  Good stuff!

Jamey

[Art Roselle]

Thanks.  By the way, (and I think I posted this to you a few weeks ago), I think Camden is a really neat spot, although the greens ate my lunch.  I hope Travis gets some credit for his role there.

I especially like the 1980s-style poster of a scantily clad Jan Stephenson tacked to the wall of the men's the locker room.  If that is not "old school" then I don't know what is.

[Art Roselle]

I think this is the one, but yours had a nice autograph to the members too.  Well done.  Ok, back to the topic.

[Michael Powers]

Thank you for the list Ian.  I was wondering if you had any information on the Essex County Country Club, listed in Manchester, MA and as NLE.  Thanks.

[Ian Andrew]

FROM ED HOMSEY

hi ian--frustrating to not be able to participate in the discussion.  lot of stuff i'd like to respond to.  this is what we're all about--trying to make certain that there is accurate information about travis out there.
 
a few things:  please thank jamey bryan for his accurate description of the role travis played at camden.  i agree with his assessment of their website and, particularly, the so-called "history".  i think it is dishonest for them to claim that their course was designed by ross.  even the ross society doesn't make that claim.  they recognize that his work there was remodelling.  thanks again, jamey.  he should be a member of the travis society.
 
re wayne morrison's comments concerning philadelphia cc.  it was indeed the philadelphia country club where travis was asked to assess some land they were considering for a golf course with the idea that he would design an 18 hole course for them.  he examined the property on june 27, 1924, tried to work out a layout, but found the property to be "too narrow" to permit 18 holes.  he wrote Mr. Ralph E. White of Philadelphia indicating that "there is not sufficient room available" nor is it topographically suitable.  He charged them $125. for his work.  subsequent correspondence suggests that philadelphia proceeded with their plans despite travis's recommendations.
 
re mount pocono.  let cirba know that we've been unable to nail down the location of the course since our email exchanges with him in 2003.  we paid the local historical association to do some research for us, to no avail.  one of our members has visited the area to do some searching.  all we have is a 6/26/04 philadelphia inquirer article, found by bob labbance, that the clubhouse will open about july 1, the links is a nine-hole course, "accessible from all points on the mountains" and "laid out by walter j. travis, the golf champion of the united states, and is considered as one of the finest".  if anyone out there can provide confirmation that travis's course still exists, we'd greatly appreciate it.
 
we would be very interested in hearing more about cobb's creek.  we know nothing about it.  we would be interested in any documentation that confirms travis's involvement there; even if it was just 'consultation'.  please email us at:  travissociety@yahoo.com
 
re art roselle's comments concerning louisville.  we have a very large file on louisville.  have had extensive conversations with a member who is well-informed concerning their history.  also extensive conversations with keith foster.  provided keith with a lot of information from the travis papers about louisville, as well as about travis's design work.  it is very hard to sort out.  but, best we can determine, tom bendelow staked out the original course in1908.  when they bought new property and brought travis there sometime in 1924.  at the time, he designed an 18 hole course for the new property, and then did  renovation of 9 of the bendelow holes.  
 
if anyone has any information that can be verified, and is different from the above, please let us know.  i have not been absolutely confident in our information.  there are some contradictions.  we do have correspondence that travis was having with his contractor who was doing work at louisville.  in addition, we have a letter travis wrote to the 'northpenn club' in bradford, pa, which states, "i am working on plans for an additional 18-hole course for the louisville cc, in addition to remodeling nine holes of their present course'.  that's the best of the info we have; and, i'd have to say, it's probably the final word!
 
re yahnundasis.  i enjoy the course.  it has several terrific examples of classic travis green sites.  several changes were made to the front nine in the early -'60s because of land that had been appropriated by the state for a highway.  the gordons did the remodelling that affected 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6.  from what i understand, the current 3rd and 4th greens are original, but not the current 1, 2, and 5.  i enjoyed the yahnundasis pictures that were posted.  they did a great job of showing the undulations in greens such as 11 and 18.
 
the original travis design of yahnundasis had 27 holes, including a 9-hole short course.  because of land restrictions, the full 9-hole short course was not built.  i believe that, for a while, they had 6 holes, but did not maintain them.  
 
unless you're fortunate enough to be able to get on courses such as scranton, troy, hollywood, or north jersey, i would suggest a trek to cape arundel.  it gives you the feeling of stepping back in time, and has some of the best travis green sites around.  please don't go expecting pristine conditions.  if that's what turns you on, this isn't the place for you.  however, you will find greens that roll true and, if speeded up, will give you more challenge than you might want.  it's a great example of travis's ability to make the most of the existing terrain.  if you go, be sure to stop and say hello to ken raynor, director of golf, and avid golf/travis history buff.
 
garden city golf club was mentioned as a course to play.  if you have the connections to do it, but, keep in mind that it is an emmet course.  yes, travis did major renovations there, and though several significant travis features remain, a lot of his work was removed.  but, it is a travis shrine because of his association with the club from its inception until his death in 1927.  tom kirby, their historian, is constantly on the search for additional travis memorabilia to hang in their travis room, and for ways to highlight their rich history.
 
it's great fun, for this travis historian, to see a discussion focusing on the works of 'the old man'.
 
thanks,
 
ed homsey
archivist/treasurer  

[Chris_Blakely]

John Duncan Dunn was a consultant with Travis at Cape Arundel GC.

[Joe Bausch]

Ed, I'll e-mail you the two Philadelphia Inquirer articles that link Travis to Cobb's Creek.  Here is the text from this reference:

Headline: It Happened in Golfland; Article Type: News/Opinion
Paper: Philadelphia Inquirer, published as The Philadelphia Inquirer; Date: 12-19-1915; Volume: 173; Issue: 172; Page: [16]; Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

An article by Verdant Greene:



Note, some on this site don't think this is strong evidence at all.  I politely disagree.  Verdant Greene wrote in a different style and this paragragh, by my interpretation, suggests VG is making the claim about knowing where Travis has been since the mentioned tourney, not the reader relaying second hand info.