"From the survey, Macdonald made a rough sketch of the holes he planned to build, and with Raynor, located potential sites and elevations for greens, tees, and turning points in the fairway.
Macdonald tinkered endlessly with the routing plan. Finally, after months of planning, he was ready to move to the next step." - George Bahto - "The Evangelist of Golf"
December 1906
Inexplicable, yes...
What I find inexplicable is how anyone could read the articles and understand the painstaking, detailed, design and planning process that Macdonald used at NGLA and then argue senselessly and without the slightest bit of evidence that he must have produced a routing plan for Merion during his one day there in June 1910 (when Macdonald clearly tells us he didn't and couldn't even say whether it was enough land there for a first-class golf course), or that he did a one-day routing when Merion came to visit him at NGLA in March, 1911 (which we know he didn't because 1) Many plans were created by the Merion Committee prior to that meeting and 2) five revisions were developed subsequent to that meeting).
We also already know that he didn't create one on his final one-day visit to Merion in April 1911 because it is written that he approved one of the final five plans.
We also see from the evidence above that once Macdonald secured 205 acres out of over 400, there were no fixed boundaries because they wanted the latitude to build the course wherever they needed to.
We also see from the evidence above that Macdonald originally believed he'd need about 110 acres for his golf course, and was going to use the remaining for homes for subscribers.
We also see from the evidence above that Macdonald's original idea that a Short hole at the end of the point near Bullshead Bay never happened, and it's clear they were still tossing around just very basic ideas based on some key natural features.
We know the course as built eventually took somewhere between 150-170 acres, so at the time they bought the property to say a routing was completed is just simply not true.
I find it inexplicable how intelligent men can know so much about this fundamamental shift in the way things were done in the US that Macdonald pioneered, yet still sit here straight-facedly and tell us that Barker or Macdonald must have done a one-day routing at the request of Merion.
Unbelievable, really.