I'm not sure why this is difficult.
It shouldn't be difficult, but we have had many obstacles to overcome. I am glad that at least now you are focusing on July 1910 date versus the September 1911 "formal opening," as you had been for months. Baby steps.
You've told us "they" were playing NGLA in 1909. I'm just looking for some understanding of who "they" were, and that should tell us pretty clearly just exactly who might have been influenced by NGLA prior to 1910.
The reason I have emphasized that some were playing the course in 1909 was to put an end to this unfounded speculation that the course was still in the throws of primary construction at that time. It was not. All the holes were there.
As for who played, I am not sure whether Macdonald said all who played, nor do I think it matters.
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Patrick, Mike:
I've always been confused about the July 1910 tournament, described in the August 1910 AG. In his book, Macdonald described an informal tournament which took place in 1909, not 1910. I had always suspected that Macdonald simply had the date wrong, and that the informal tournament actually was in 1910 rather than in 1909. I thought this because Macdonald included the story of Ward going 2-2-4-2 on holes 1-4 (then 10-13.)
After looking at the source material again, I think a better explanation may be that there were two tournaments, a very informal one with approximately 20 friends (including Ward) in 1909, and the July 1910 tournament where Ward had such a great stretch. The reason I am leaning this direction is because Macdonald runs through some of the brackets and the winner, but they do not at all match the July 1910 results.
1909 Tournament: Ward lost to Herreshoff who lost to Tuckerman in the final of the "First Eight." Macdonald beat Robert Watson (1 up) to win the SECOND eight.
1910 Tournament: Ward beat Behr, then Travis beat Ward, and Herreshoff beat Travis in the final. Macdonald lost in the first round of the "First Eight" to Travis. Neither W.T. Tuckerman or Robert Watson even played in the 1910 tournament.
Looks like two different tournaments. Perhaps Macdonald mistake was to describe Ward's feat as having occurred a year earlier than it did.
Mike, while I don't understand what it gets you, a few if the names from the 1909 tournament were Ward, Tuckerman, and Robert Watson.
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One potentially interesting sidebar to this is the influence that Macdonald's "ideal golf course" had. I think what he meant by the term has been hashed out in other threads - I think he meant a golf course with no weak holes and with all holes manifesting the principles of good architecture. That public raising of the bar must've had real impact/influence. I wonder how it relates to the premium and value we now place on an architect's ability to route a golf course, i.e. on his talent to make "the most out of a site" - and whether or not that was a talent that was as valued back then, say in the work of men like Ross and Colt (and even in their own understanding of how architect's can manifest good principles).
Peter
I generally agree that this is what Macdonald meant by an ideal golf course, and my understanding is that this concept in and of itself was groundbreaking. I would add that for Macdonald there were a couple of other specific requirements for an ideal course-- seaside linksland and no trees in play. An inland course with trees in play could be an excellent classic course, but it could not be ideal. For example, CBM considered NGLA and St. Andrews ideal, while he considered Yale classic.