Hugh Wilson #1, A.W. Tillinghast #2

[Joe Bausch]

Well, at least in this election day tournament in 1903 at the original St. Davids Golf Club (which happens to be about a long par 5 from my house):



You'll also notice a W. E. Wilson farther done the scoreboard.  I'm pretty confident this is the lesser known brother Wayne of Hugh Wilson.  I think Wayne moved out of the area not long after this tourney and hence not as much is known about him.  Not many people knew about this brother until I stumbled upon Hugh Wilson's obit at the Temple University Urban Archives this past winter.

BTW:  I also recently uncovered a 1900 Philadelphia Inquirer article that suggests one Hugh I. Wilson was the manager of the freshman baseball team as well as the hockey team at Princeton.  This fellow was pretty busy it seems!

[Jim Nugent]

I wonder if CBM was a better golfer than Wilson.  Found Wrigham's scores in the 1897 U.S. Amateur final, which he won.  He shot 87 the first round, which gave him a 7-up lead.  He shot 44 on the front nine of the afternoon round: that built up his lead to 8-up.  All this was at Chicago Golf Club, CBM's home course, that he designed. 

Was Wrigham a scratch golfer?  Was Macdonald?  Doesn't sound like it took much to win those first few Amateurs.  No great surprise, since only 30 or so golfers took part. 

[Phil McDade]

Jim:

USGA records show 32 entries in 1895, but 58 the next two years and 120 entries in 1898.

Wigham, who won the US Am in '96 and '97, was the medalist in '96 with 163 (two rounds, Shinnecock). Macdonald was the medalist the next year, with 174 at Chicago. Macdonald was again the medalist in '99 with 168 at Onwentsia.

I'm not sure if it's an apt comparison, but scores, winners and courses during a similar time period for the British Open (not Amateur) were:

1895 -- JH Taylor, 322 (including an opening 86) at TOC
1896 -- Vardon, 316 (including opening 83) at Muirfield
1897 -- Harold Hilton, 314 (rounds of 80 and 84) at Hoylake
1898 -- Vardon, 307 at Prestwick
1899 -- Vardon, 310 (with an 81) at Sandwich

That's a pretty good mix of players at a pretty good mix of courses.

[TEPaul]

Joe:

I don't know much about Hugh and Alan Wilson's brother Wayne but if he happened to move to Cleveland Ohio it would seem he followed both his brothers in an interest in golf agronomy as he seems to be listed on the USGA Green Section committee a number of years later.

Frankly, I think one of the biggest tragedies of all these Merion/Macdonald threads and essay is the attempt by some to try to make Hugh Wilson look like such a novice that he couldn't have done some of the things he clearly did do.

To me that is just plain bad historiography. It seems to me it's an attitude and modus operandi of people that an excellent history professor referred to as the "No-Can-Doists". For some reason they just can't believe somebody could do something so they go to such lengths to prove the things someone did could not have happened.

Much better historiography is to accept the truth and figure out both WHY and HOW he did do it! To me that is most of the real interest in this subject and in an era like that one when Merion East was created!

Not to mention perhaps the biggest irony of all on these Merion/Macdonald threads which seems to be these peoples' attempt to make C.B. Macdonald into a much bigger "legend" and "myth" than he actually was AT THIS PARTICULAR TIME! We shouldn't forget his own NGLA had not even formally opened at this time. That would not happen formally until September 1911, the same month Merion East completed its initial phase construction and Jim:

[Joe Bausch]

How much of a stretch is it to suggest Hugh I. Wilson was a born leader based upon what that article reports, not too mention that a year later he was also named captain of Princeton's golf team?

[Andy Hughes]

Frankly, I think one of the biggest tragedies of all these Merion/Macdonald threads and essay is the attempt by some to try to make Hugh Wilson look like such a novice that he couldn't have done some of the things he clearly did do.

But Tom, doesn't Wilson pretty much say the same thing about himself? Obviously he was a capable man and learned and grew as he went on, but at the beginning of the process, he certainly describes himself as needing help.

[TEPaul]

Joe:

I believe Hugh Wilson graduated from Princeton in 1902, and so when that tournament at St David's took place he'd graduated from Princeton.

[Mark Bourgeois]

Didn't Wilson lose in the semis of the 1902 Intercollegiate Golf Championship held (in May) at Garden City?

[Mike_Cirba]

Joe,

Please stop inferring that Hugh Wilson knew anything about golf, sports, or life in general prior to his meetings with CB Macdonald in 1911, when he had his previously empty noggin filled with Macdonald & Whigham, with a cherry on top!

After all, we know Wilson wasn't the type to brag endlessly about himself and his golf related accomplishments, or the type to get into petty and vindictive arguments with virtually every club that hired him, and we also know he wasn't the type to call an entire national tournament invalid because he didn't win it, so we would certainly know that if he was humble and modest and stated that he was grateful for Macdonald and Whigham's advice to him and the committee that showed them the principles they would need to lay out Merion that he couldn't have possibly done it.   

Haven't you learned anything here in recent weeks?   

[Joe Bausch]

Joe:

I believe Hugh Wilson graduated from Princeton in 1902, and so when that tournament at St David's took place he'd graduated from Princeton.

You are right Tom.  I somehow got it in my head that the article above was from the year 1900.