[Joe Bausch]

A little bird whispered in my ear that these three articles I unearthed on microfilm from the Philadelphia Public Ledger on the upcoming National Amateur Tournament (aka U.S. Amateur) in 1916 will be of great interest.  I whispered back to the bird that these will likely cause rancor and be like an old scab to be picked at.  This fine little feathered friend assured me that he will, uhh, target anyone and everyone's car that dares takes this thread into a bickering session.



On April 23 was an article titled "Will Spend $10,000 To Improve Golf Course":




This one from August 27, not long before the tourney started:






And finally perhaps what might be of most interest to all, a course drawing (by William Flynn, I think) and description of the holes at both the East and West courses from the September 3rd issue:




Please remember that little bird story from the beginning!

[Adam Clayman]

70 yards below the 17th tee?

[Joe Bausch]

70 yards below the 17th tee?

Gotta be a typo/error Adam, you think?  70 feet sounds a bit more reasonable!

[Mike_Cirba]

Joe,

I think these are some tremendously fascinating articles.   

During recent discussions, a good deal of time was spent on trying to convey and understand what the Merion course might have looked like when it opened in 1912.  I know Andy Hughes in particular was very curious.

I would guess that one could get a pretty good idea by looking at the drawing of the layout and then "backing out" the changes and additions to each hole that are described in the top article.   As the drawing shows all of the bunkering that existed by 1916, what's left after deducting that significant work  is probably fairly close to what was there originally, or at least what existed in the first 2-3 years.

I'll resist comment on the other attributions, except to note them.

[Thomas MacWood]

Joe
When did Evan's begin writing for the Public Ledger?

[Joe Bausch]

Joe
When did Evan's begin writing for the Public Ledger?

The earliest article I have where his name is listed as an author is March 19, 1911.  I can't right now find another article I have from a few years later where he wrote that he'd been doing articles for the Ledger for eight years or so.  I can't quite remember the year, but I believe he went back to around 1908.

I do have a handful of "golf comments" articles from the Ledger in 1909 that have no author listed, but the writing style is very much like Evans of 1911 and later.

[Dan Herrmann]

Three items of note -
1. Did you notice that 14 year old Robert Jones of Atlanta was the youngest player?

2.  And the info on Flynn was amazing.

3.  Lastly, the paragraph on Wilson was very well written and conveys genuine respect for his work.

[Ray Cross]

Joe,

Thanks for these finds, really interesting!  Did holes 10, 11 and 12 cross Ardmore Ave in 1916? Sorry, if I'm asking a question which everyone has known the answer.
Thanks
Ray

[Joe Bausch]

Joe,

Thanks for these finds, really interesting!  Did holes 10, 11 and 12 cross Ardmore Ave in 1916? Sorry, if I'm asking a question which everyone has known the answer.
Thanks
Ray

Ray, yes, as the Flynn drawing shows from the Sept 3 article, holes 10-12 all played across Ardmore Avenue in 1916 (10 and 12 on the second shot, 11 from the tee).  Perhaps Wayne Morrison would like to chime in here (    ).

[Mike_Cirba]

Ray,

Also note the position of the original 13th, as well as the dogleg-left direction of the 1st hole.

Joe,

Interesting the date of the first Evans article you found corresponds closely with the finalizing of the plans and start of construction on the East course.   This was about the time of the Tillinghast article, as well, that mentioned seeing the plans.   

What is the last Evans article you've found?

[Dan Herrmann]

I wonder how the club members of that time got from 13 green to 14 tee?  It looks like they'd need to go either backtrack past 1 tee or through the clubhouse

[DMoriarty]

I wonder how the club members of that time got from 13 green to 14 tee?  It looks like they'd need to go either backtrack past 1 tee or through the clubhouse

Some of the accounts do note that the players passed through the clubhouse on their way to the 14th tee.  I believe one or two of them called it a "second drink" hole, because they could stop by the bar.   Also, I think there was a gap between buildings. 
_____________________

Not sure that all of the changes described actually were made, or that that all of the man-made features on the course were accurately marked. 

A number of accounts cite the harshness of the 8th green as the reason for the new green, but I have also seen it written that one could hold the green if one properly positioned themselves on the far right side of the fairway.  There are at least three different and distinguishable drawings (presumably all by Flynn) of the 8th green in pre-Amateur literature.   

Hugh Wilson discussed rebuilding a few low lying greens for agronomy reasons. 

_________________________

Interesting the date of the first Evans article you found corresponds closely with the finalizing of the plans and start of construction on the East course. 

I'll bite.  Why is this interesting?

This was about the time of the Tillinghast article, as well, that mentioned seeing the plans.

I think that what Tillinghast said was that he saw enough of the plans to be confident in the project.  This was around the same time he spoke with Macdonald about the project.

_______________

Dan Hermann,

Bobby Jones had the low score in the first round of qualifying and eventually made it well into match play before eventually falling to the defending champion and 1916 finalist, Robert Gardner.   If Jones wasn't already, he became a nationwide phenomenon at the 1916 Amateur.

[Jim Nugent]

By 1916 did Merion East still have the so-called Redan, Alps and Eden holes?  If so, which ones were they? 

[DMoriarty]

By 1916 did Merion East still have the so-called Redan, Alps and Eden holes?  If so, which ones were they? 

The 7th (now the 3rd) was the so-called Redan in 1916 and was so-called by various accounts.  The 10th was the so-called Alps.   The distance of the 9th was just right for an Eden, but it wasn't "so-called," and the pictures don't really look like an "Eden" in 1916.   Perhaps you are thinking of the 15th, which according to "Far and Sure" had a green based on the Eden green?  As far as I know, this green had not been altered by 1916, but I don't think it was based on either the Eden hole at NGLA or the 11th at Saint Andrews.   

[TEPaul]

Ray Cross asked:

"Thanks for these finds, really interesting!  Did holes 10, 11 and 12 cross Ardmore Ave in 1916? Sorry, if I'm asking a question which everyone has known the answer."


Ray Cross, how the hell are you---you old dog you? Long time--no see.

The holes crossing Ardmore Ave---eg #10, #11, #12 were not changed until preparations for the 1924 US Amateur were done.

There's a really good article in a 1924 issue of Golf Illustrated by Merion member and US Amateur defending champion, Max Marston, about the architectural changes made to Merion East in preparation for the 1924 US Amateur, including the changes to holes #10, #11 #12 and #13.

[Mike_Cirba]

David,

The Evans timelines are only notable in the sense that he was already the golf writer of the Ledger by the time the new Merion course was planned and built, and according to Joe's findings, had actually been writing about golf for the paper as early as 1908.  As mentioned earlier, he was an insider's insider, and as the head of the Green Committee of Lansdowne CC just a scant mile or two away, he would have been a keen observer.

I'm not sure why you feel compelled to mention Macdonald in conjunction with Tillinghast's observations?   Tilly twice made very clear who designed Merion, both at its inception as "Far and Sure" and later in the 1930's when he bemoaned how sad it was that so few knew that Hugh Wilson designed the course.   

We don't need to travel this road again...how about we just take the articles for what they're worth for a change.   

[Willie_Dow]

Joe

That first article discussion with Wm Flynn is a treasure.  When you consider he was 26 years old at the time, what a remarkable person he must have been even at that stage in his life.

Who was Wm Evans, by the way ?

[Joe Bausch]

Joe

That first article discussion with Wm Flynn is a treasure.  When you consider he was 26 years old at the time, what a remarkable person he must have been even at that stage in his life.

Who was Wm Evans, by the way ?

Here is what I'm recalling from my somewhat faulty memory of William Evans:  he wrote about golf at the Philadelphia Public Ledger for many years, perhaps as early as ~1908 and into the teens.  He was a prominent member at Lansdowne CC and also involved with GAP.  I'm confident he went to UPenn and graduated around 1902ish, I think, and I also believe he was class president.  I believe he was also a member of the Penn Athletic Club, back when they had a golf team and even had an indoor golf course downtown designed by Flynn (this was in the mid to late 20's), I think.

[Willie_Dow]

Sorry, Mike, 'hadn't read your comment about Evans.  Thank's

[Dan Herrmann]

Whoa Joe - an indoor golf course designed by Flynn?

Do you know more about this?

[Joe Bausch]

Whoa Joe - an indoor golf course designed by Flynn?

Do you know more about this?

Yep.  Here is the April 30, 1926 article from the Philadelphia Public Ledger:

[DMoriarty]

David,

The Evans timelines are only notable in the sense that he was already the golf writer of the Ledger by the time the new Merion course was planned and built, and according to Joe's findings, had actually been writing about golf for the paper as early as 1908.  As mentioned earlier, he was an insider's insider, and as the head of the Green Committee of Lansdowne CC just a scant mile or two away, he would have been a keen observer.

I'm not sure why you feel compelled to mention Macdonald in conjunction with Tillinghast's observations?   Tilly   twice made very clear who designed Merion, both at its inception as "Far and Sure" and later in the 1930's when he bemoaned how sad it was that so few knew that Hugh Wilson designed the course.   

We don't need to travel this road again...how about we just take the articles for what they're worth for a change. 

I'd be glad to take information in the articles at face value, and have been for quite some time.   But as far as I can see, the articles do not imply or mention that Evans must have been in-the-know in 1910 and 1911. That was you, not the articles.  The articles have nothing to do with what Tillinghast said years later.  Again you, not the articles.   Nor do they state as a fact that Tillinghast was "Far and Sure."  Again, you, not the articles.  Nor do the articles misrepresent and take out of context both what Tillinghayoust and what "Far and Sure" (different people) said.  Again, you, not the articles. 

If we don't need to travel this road again, then when why on earth did you head down this road?   Perhaps what you really mean is that  think that you should editorialize down any road you want, but you would prefer to do so without critique or comment? 

I don't think any reasonable conclusion can be drawn based on when Evans was writing for the Ledger. 

I mention Macdonald because there is a very good chance that Tillinghast's "observations" about Merion came from his conversation(s) with Macdonald about Merion.    He mentions in one of the two articles written at about the same time what Macdonald said about Merion.  It is not much of a stretch to assume that Macdonald was the source of the information which formed the basis for Tillinghast's comments.

I don't think Tillinghast was Far and Sure.  The article you think proves he was "Far and Sure" actually very likely proves the opposite.  At the very least, you should not state it as if it was fact. 

I don't want to get into this at all, but I will respond and set the record straight when it is mischaracterized, and will probably continue to respond to inaccurate or incomplete editorializing on your part.  Perhaps Joe's friend the bird ought to fly over and tell you to stay away from these issues if you guys don't want to discuss them. 

Thanks. 

__________________________

Joe, I have seen mention of the plans for the indoor golf course, but I don't recall if I have ever seen any evidence that it was completed.  Was it?

[Joe Bausch]

Joe, I have seen mention of the plans for the indoor golf course, but I don't recall if I have ever seen any evidence that it was completed.  Was it?

I don't know.

[DMoriarty]

For those interested in the discussion of Flynn, there is a similar discussion of greenskeepers generally in the Hugh Wilson Essay in the Piper and Oakley book, Turf for Golf Courses.

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