[Bryan Izatt]

As I follow with sadness the goings on in the Voyages thread, I came across these aerial pictures of 1930 Merion.  I don't recall seeing them before.  Are they well known?  Looks like you need permission from the site to post them here, so I think I'll just post the links.

A picture of the iconic 10th during the final of the 1930 Amateur.  Sadly the picture misses the tee in the trees.  Interesting how the second tee wraps around the back bunker of 10.  The drives look to be about where the Jones' pictures on the other thread put them.

http://digital.hagley.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p268001uw&CISOPTR=2913&CISOBOX=1&REC=12


And, this one from 1925 that shows the current configuration of the 10th but also appears to show the old 10th green across Ardmore, just in case anyone wants to try to place the location of that green, Alps or not.

http://digital.hagley.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p268001uw&CISOPTR=200&CISOBOX=1&REC=16

[Dan Boerger]

Very interesting stuff, particularly with so few trees. What the heck is that circular pond to the right of #10 fairway? If it's still there I must be looking at my shoes as I walk down those steps!

[wsmorrison]

Notice how close the bunkers are to the greens?

Dan,

It is still very much there and easily seen.  As you walk down the steps, rather than looking right towards the containment facility, take a look at how the 9th green looks from that angle.  It looks much different than as it is played.

[Dan Boerger]

Wayne -- I shall!

Also, could you comment on the "severity" of the rough then versus now? It appears to be a lot less aggressive, or is this just how it looks to me from these pics?

[wsmorrison]

I am not informed enough to comment on a comparison on the severity of the rough.  Perhaps Craig Disher and some architects could look at the aerials and make that determination.  I'll take a look at some ground level photos and see what that shows.  My guess is that it plays more difficult today.

[Tom_Doak]

Dan:

The rough in those days probably wasn't as "managed" as it is today.  They never watered it or fertilized it to make sure it was tough ... but if it was a wet year, it would be thick, and if dry, it could be burnt out. 

That's still how they approach things in the UK -- one year the rough is like Carnoustie '99, and the next it's like Hoylake '06.

[John Kirk]

In particular, the first picture is excellent.  The 11th tee box has an unusual shape, a bit narrower in the center.  Comparing to the 2nd tee, I would conclude there is no common tee box shape on the course at that time.

Does that look any good for golf?  Sheesh.  Look at those bunkers!  The equivalent of pornography for architecture buffs.

[Tom_Doak]

We mentioned it on another thread a month or two ago, but just to reinforce:  look how wide the landing area is on #11 fairway.  It's all the way up to the creek edge on the left side, and easily twice what it is today.

[Jim Nugent]

I take it there are far more trees now than when these pictures were taken.

1.  Who planted the trees?

2.  When did they plant them?

3.  Why?

4.  Is the course better now, or would some deforesting (ala Oakmont) improve it? 

5.  I thought Merion is considered a parkland course.  Do these pictures bear that out? 

[Joe Hancock]

I'm not positive, but many suburban parkland courses of today were rural farmland courses when they were built. I'm not sure if that was the case with Merion.

Joe

[JESII]

Jim Nugent,

There are relatively few trees impacting play within the golf course at Merion. Some have been removed in recent years, but there has been no comparison to Oakmont or Winged Foot.

But there are more trees than in those pictures...

[Kirk Gill]

I know you all are more than capable of looking things up for yourselves, but I couldn't help myself:

http://digital.hagley.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p268001uw&CISOPTR=2303&CISOBOX=1&REC=4

http://digital.hagley.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p268001uw&CISOPTR=5936&CISOBOX=1&REC=4

http://digital.hagley.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p268001uw&CISOPTR=4706&CISOBOX=1&REC=14

A most interesting resource. Thanks, Bryan Izatt.

[Rich Goodale]

Makes you wonder why the powers that were allowed the trees to reinfest that lovely place....

[Bradley Anderson]

I can't recal ever seeing photos of a golf course in this era with tees even half as large as these are. And they all appear to have been hand mowed. This would indicate that there was a lot of money being spent on Merion's grounds budget.

[JESII]

Perhaps, but this was during the NAtional Amateur...if there was one week that year that Merion was going to hand mow the tees, this is it.

[Sean_A]

I take it there are far more trees now than when these pictures were taken.

1.  Who planted the trees?

2.  When did they plant them?

3.  Why?

4.  Is the course better now, or would some deforesting (ala Oakmont) improve it? 

5.  I thought Merion is considered a parkland course.  Do these pictures bear that out? 

Jim

Parkland course has to be one of the most over-used terms in golf.  Very few courses were built in parkland which is essentially a less controlled garden much of which is grass with scattered stately trees, perhaps a folly and grazing animals.  Parkland is not carving a course out of a forest or planting trees around converted farmland.  Sure, many farmland courses developed into parkland style, but of course the use of trees in the vast majority of cases is way overdone from the original idea of parkland. 

Ciao

[Andy Scanlon]

Bryan:

Great pictures.  Thanks for posting for all to enjoy.

Andy

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