Dave
This is just my opinion, but the tone of your piece didn't reflect a belief that Wilson was the main man at Merion. Above, you seem to be saying that Wilson was the main man. I think if you go back and read your piece you will see how one can be confused. You spend an inordinate amount of time describing what everybody other than Wilson may have done. Just to be clear, do you think Wilson was the main man who utilized resources that were available to him?
Ciao
In answering your question I am telling you what I think happened, and not necessarily what I can or will try to support 100% at this time. So please take it with a grain of salt.
Not sure what you mean by main man? I think Wilson was the main man once construction began. During the pre-construction planning he may have been the main man among those from Merion, but I do not think he was the main creative force behind the plan for the golf course. I am not saying that M&W were in charge or that they made all the decisions. Rather, my guess is that Wilson et al. took everything M&W would give them and tried to make it work at Merion. I think that is why they went to NGLA to meet with M&W for two days-- they needed M&W's guidance and explanation as to how and why to put certain holes in certain places.
I don't really trust much of what TEPaul writes without him providing support, but if there really were multiple routings in 1911 that doesn't surprise me. They were trying to make it work and trying different things, and it sounds like M&W may have chosen for them.
My guess is that it was something like the Macdonald-Raynor courses. According to Whigham, Raynor would often be the one on-site doing the initial planning, but he was trying to plan a CBM course based on CBM's general ideas. Macdonald would then examine and critique the plan and Raynor would make the changes.
The difference is Macdonald may have been more hands on at Merion than he was with some of the Macdonald-Raynor designs.
-- My guess is that M&W gave them some idea of the holes and their placement in 1910, and I have seen nothing to indicate otherwise. (I am speculating here, but I really doubt that the only contact he had with them for the 7-8 months between the first course visit and the NGLA meeting was the single letter that Wayne posted. And I really doubt that the site Committee members came away from the first committee with only that letter.)
-- They may have tried to work it out on paper before they went to see M&W, but if they were, they were likely using his ideas when they were trying to work it out.
-- They went to see him and he clarified what he had in mind with sketches, examples, etc..
-- They tried to make this work, and may have considered multiple layouts to make it work.
-- M&W came back down to help them get it right.
-- They built the course.
So if this is correct who was the main man? I don't know, and I really don't care. I am more interested in trying to figure out what happened, because I think it was an important point in the history of American golf course design.
Sean, I noticed your comment in the other thread about the sides not being as far apart as one might think, and while that is possible, especially now that TEPaul is busy trying to claim my ideas as his own.
But still I wonder if perhaps your exposure to these various threads has skewed your understanding of Merion's accepted history, because almost every section in my paper has some fact or analysis that goes beyond or contradicts Merion's accepted history as it has been understood by almost everyone, including golf writers, golf historians, Tolhurst, Wayne and TEPaul and Mike Cirba.
While I have avoided doing so because it is too close to the credit issue for my comfort, I recently tried to explain a few of the places where Merion's history has been wrong to JES, and cut and paste the same to you, as that post is probably lost in the ocean of TEPaul posts.
-- I have never read an account or summary of Merion's history that mentioned that M&W were brought in to inspect the site before Merion purchased it, at least not one written in the past 80 years.
-- I have never read a historical account (other than Hugh Wilson's essay and Alan Wilson's incomplete mention) that accurately portrayed M&W's role at the NGLA meeting. Historians and golf writers (and the authors of the yet to be released point-by-point counter to my essay) have relegated M&W's role in these meetings to that of glorified travel agents. In reality,
they were helping Wilson and his Committee plan the course! -- Also, I have never read an account or summary that mentioned that M&W were back on site right before construction, to further help and guide Wilson and his Committee plan and lay out the course.
In short, I have never read another modern account of Merion's history that acknowledges that M&W repeatedly helped the Wilson and his Committee plan the course!
Moreover, Wilson's role has been exaggerated or otherwise misrepresented by history.
--He did not travel abroad before building the course.
--The concepts for the holes did not "spring from the holes he had seen overseas."
--If he grasped the principles of Scottish and English course design better that Charles Blair Macdonald did," then he gained this knowledge
after the initial Merion East was designed and built.
--Same if his "touch in adopting the features of the famous British holes appears to have been surer than Macdonald's."
In sum, no modern account explains that M&W were there aiding Merion and both Committees every step of the way until construction began.
Tolhurst's only mentions of M&W's involvement are as follows
1) Before Wilson left to study abroad, "he discussed his itinerary with" CBM.
2) "When Wilson returned from England, both Macdonald and . . . Whigham . . . freely gave their advice. So the Club had the benefit of their experience as well as the skill and knowledge of the Committee. "
This is a drastic understatement of M&W's role, and an overstatement of Wilson's. According to Hugh Wilson, he and his Committee did not have any skill or experience in designing, laying out, or building golf courses, and it was Macdonald and Whigham who guided them through this process!
I hope this helps you understand what I am trying to accomplish here.