Who broke the story is not important IMO. What is important is uncovering the truth. If you are interested in the true history of these courses (as opposed to legends) you must have the facts, be it the circumstances that led to Crump's suicide or Wilson's 1912 trip to the UK or Campbell's design of Myopia's first nine.
Tom, I know it is unimportant, and that you think so. I have just grown very tired of watching the extent to which these guys will go to avoid acknowledging that anyone other than themselves could ever figure anything out. Backroom rumors, gossip, and local myth may satisfy TE Paul's thirst for "knowledge," but he should not trying to pass off
hearing gossip as
an accurate understanding of history. ________________________________________________________________________
Wayne Morrison,
You have a lot of nerve lecturing Tom MacWood on privacy concerns and on coming forward with information unrelated to the topic at hand.
-- Have you forgotten your repeated attempts at sullying MacWood's reputation with your vague and unsupported third-hand rumors about some supposed indiscretion at some private club or another?
-- Have you forgotten that you once did your best to spread laughably false and third hand rumors about my supposed snail's pace of play?
What does it say about a man when he has more concern for the long dead than he does the living?
Tom MacWood,
Please explain the importance of knowing that Crump shot himself? How does this fact increase our knowledge of the golf course architecture? We know that Crump's death impacted the development of the course, delaying it for several years and shifting some of the design work to the Wilsons, Alison, Maxwell, Flynn and others. But how does the uncovering of the truth about his death increase our knowledge of anything other than the final detail about Crump himself?
Some people want to know every detail that can be determined about the life and death of an individual. Others respect the privacy of individuals. Important historical figures (presidents, generals, etc) deserve more scrutiny than golf architects. Where one falls on this continuum says as much about themselves as it does about the individuals they study. Crump was not a public figure. He was developing a golf course for his friends and the Philadelphia district. As I see it, the details of his death are not important to the final story. His death was a factor. But I prefer to let the dead lie in peace. The circumstances of his death are not fully understood. Why he committed suicide will never be revealed. So what exactly is the point, except to bring attention to the man who dug up the superficial circumstances?
Yet another shining example of why the USGA should have absolutely nothing to do with a guy like Wayne Morrison when it comes to building its archives:
Wayne Morrison has decided Crump's suicide is "not important to the final story," therefore the information should have been concealed. Wayne and Tom Paul, you do realize that the roles of
Censor and
Archivist are in opposition, do you not?
Wayne, I am fascinated at your willingness to so flippantly decide what is part of the story and what isn't.
-Is this the real reason you let the Barker routing
slip your mind?
-Is this the real reason you have longe misrepresented the identity of the real draftsman of some of the Flynn drawings?
-Is it the real reason you and TEPaul long concealed the 1912 letter to Oakley which provided the real date of Wilson's trip abroad?
-Is it the real reason you and TEPaul long concealed the portion of the Alan Wilson report which credited C.B. Macdonald?
-Is it the real reason you (reportedly) left references to Macdonald and Whigham's role at Merion out of the early drafts of the long awaited Flynn Puff Piece?
-Is it the real reason you never bothered to take a closer look at the Sayre's scrapbooks?
-Is it the reason you knowingly misrepresented M&W's role at Merion, trying to reduce them to glorified travel agents?
-Is it the real reason you sat silently while TEPaul lied about Merion purchasing the property in 1909?
You decided that all of the above was "unimportant to the story," and therefore should be concealed Astonishing.
I guess that is also the reason you and TEPaul are now cherry-picking the information from MCC. You decide what is "important to the story," on the one hand, and what should be concealed, on the other.