David,
Was AW Tillinghast wrong in 1934?
Was he lying?
Was he misinformed??
Why didn't he mention Macdonald in his lengthy article when Merion opened?!?!
Much less Barker....sheesh...
Or, are we simply once again, for the 1000th time, misinterpreting him in 1934.
He really meant something else than to say that Hugh Wilson PLANNED and DEVELOPED the course at Merion.
Or perhaps TIlly didn't understand the meaning of the term?
Or perhaps they used it differently back then?
Or are we going to hear, once again, that Tillinghast wasn't talking about the course that opened in 1912, but instead about the course as it existed in 1934?
That perhaps by "planned", he was talking about changes to the course over time, and not at inception??
Or perhaps Tillinghast was jealous of Macdonald and didn't want to give him due credit??
That because he also said "developed", he MUST have been speaking about the evolution of the course, and not its inception.
Or, perhaps Macdonald simply failed to note that HE, Macdonald had really PLANNED the holes...but figured Tillinghast would know that and it didnt' need saying.
Or that Macdonald didn't want Tillinghast to mention that...shhhhhh...the holes came from overseas...which by that time there was some arguments with JH Taylor, and didn't want to stir that pot.''
Or that we all really know that Tilly had some....shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...."problems".
Holy cow...I can't imagine what excuse we're going to hear that tries to tell us that TIllinghast was either confused, insane, lying, misinformed, sick, on a bender, telling a partial story, had the wrong source, was too busy....or perhaps that anyone who actually can read the plain English of what he says clearly says is (Z) All of the Above.
WTF do you mean that Macdonald taught them how to place the holes on the F*cking ground?!?
That is an insane statement, meaning nothing.
He taught them where to place sticks to make locations of tees and greens?!?
I could do that to an 8-year old??
Better yet, the press gave these Captains of Industry much credit for this exercise.
Tillinghast said that Hugh Wilson and his Committee deserved the congratulations of all golfers for their ability to place stakes in the ground.
Are you kidding us??!
Do you know that one of Tillinghast's reports has information that is ONLY included in the MCC Board Meeting Minutes?
And yet, you and MacWood are trying to tell us that he didn't know what the hell he was talking about and that he wasn't there??
Simply because after the plan was approved at Merion and construction started (ALL of which Tilly reported on in depth) in late April 1911, he didn't get back during construction until he played the course shortly after it opened in autumn 1912?
Even with that, he still reported on the ongoing work during the middle of 1911, but that had NOTHING to do with who the architect was...that was grassing and growing.
Please explain what the hell you guys are talking about because this is truly historic revisionism in its worst form, where even expert eye-witnesses back then are put under some interrogation room lamp and their very simple, straightforward words are screened and construed in the most damning, most suspicious possible light.
This is a travesty.