Phil,
As relates to the aquiring of Barker's services, Merion's official documents indicate;
"Mr. Connell,
on his own account, obtained from H. H. Barker, the Garden City professional, a report, of which the following is a copy:"
Tom MacWood,
who also now thankfully and finally has come to the understanding that there is no way that the factual evidence supports the creation of a routing of Merion prior to November 1910, has come up with a new "Anybody but Wilson" theory that Barker came back to Merion in December 1910 for a day and routed the course.
Without wanting to speak for Tom, he bases this theory on the following;
1) The November 24, 1910 article I found that states Merion has secured Barker's services to do the layout. Of course, the same article has a byline of Lakewood, NJ and isn't supported by anything else, much less club internal records or the fact that those records clearly state that the committee worked on multiple plans for the course with M&W's help after that time.
2) The Cuyler letter of December 1910, in which Cuyler acting as legal representative of the club advises that Lloyd take title to 161 acres under his own name so that he can move boundary lines because there is no "definite course" at that time. Rather than use the term definite in its proper legal real-estate definitiion of "within set or determined limits", he interprets it to mean that a golf course existed already.
3) A December 1, 1910 NY Times article that states Barker is leaving to lay out some new courses. Of course, this ignores the fact that Barker left for the south every winter {where he would be assigned to a club, play winter tournaments, and was beginning to layout some courses}., and was playing in a tournament in Atlanta a few days later, and also is credited with laying out some courses in the south during that time. Mr. MacWood argues that because the train line to Atlanta ran through Philadelphia, Barker must have stopped at Ardmore for a day to route the course and move on .
Of course, the fact that there is not a single mention of hiring Barker or any word of his routing exists in the Merion minutes does not deter him in the least, nor does the subsequent discussion and report to the board in April 1911 that tells the real story of who actually did the plans, routings, and who helped them.
Re: our debating which courses were opened that Mr. Barker designed as of June 1910, the following is copied from an exchange between Tom and I a year ago when I asked him which courses were open and available for play that Barker designed;
Mike
In the south or nationally? Nationally, courses Barker designed or redesigned that opened in 1909-1910 (that I know of today) would be CC of Viriginia, Waverly, Spokane, Newport, Columbia, Rumson, Skokie and Springhaven. I'm certain some of these courses opened before May and some after May. Arguably his most famous design was under construction in 1910 ~ Mayfield. Mayfield's moto was "beat Myopia." Tom,
Thanks for the information. I don't want to take this thread too far off-track, but what I'm hoping to better understand is exactly how well known Barker might have been as an architect by June 1910, which courses would have made his reputation at that point, and possibly why his proposed routing was seemingly not considered.
As you know, some of these dates are tricky, because a design might be done in one year and the actual course didn't open until 2-3 years later. So, in this case, I'm trying to see what he actually had built "on the ground" that was open for play by that date.
Of the courses you listed, I understand that Waverly had an existing course from 1896, so I'm assuming it was a re-do, and Spokane didn't purchase their land until 1910 so I'm assuming these two courses didn't much figure into the thinking of anyone at MCC.
In New Jersey, Barker did the routing for Arcola in 1909, but the course didn't open until 1911. In the case of Rumson, this is another perplexing one, because an existing course was being played in 1910 (formerly Seabright CC), and Barker became the pro there in April 1911, after apparently leaving Garden City. It's difficult to determine who did what when there.
I'm guessing Skokie was also a re-do, as a nine-hole Bendelow course existed in 1904, and I don't believe it became 18 holes until Ross came in the teens. Am I understanding that evolution correctly, or did Barker have a larger role?
Two I haven't been able to determine the timeframe on are his work at CC of Virginia (where i know he was the professional before leaving this country in 1915), and Newport, where again a nine holer existed (by Willie David) previously, and the standard story is that Ross then turned that into 18 later. Any info you can provide on those would be helpful.
The one course I think might have an MCC connection is Springhaven. In early 1910 it was reported that Barker had been consulting with the club and had recommended the addition of fifty bunkers to the course, which the club said they would build as soon as weather and logistics permitted.
Still and all, do you think it would be fair to say that Barker was probably better known for his playing abilities and the fact he was the pro at the famous Garden City club at this point (June 1910) than for any architectural achievements, most of which came later in the south?
Thanks...this is indeed interesting to explore, and I had no idea previously that he was so prolific. I'm just trying to determine the actual timeframe of his achievements and how that related to how the MCC Committee might have viewed him at the time.
Mike
I'm not interested in turning this thread into another Merion thread. Tom,
I think it's fundamental to ALL of our discussions of US golf architectural history to accurately determine;
1) How many courses built before NGLA opened were architecturally worthy or renowned as such. I contend that was very, very few.
and
2) How many "professionals" and other "experts" were actually known to be golf course architects by 1910, or whether they were known more as top amateurs, foreign-born professionals, and dabblers into all things golf from agronomy to clubmaking to their golfing contemporaries throughout the country at that time. I contend the latter.
When it's stated that;
"According to Tom MacWood, Barker’s other designs include Country Club of Virginia (Westhampton Course,) Waverly Country Club in Oregon, Spokane Country Club, Rumson Country Club, Columbia Country Club (1910), a remodel of Detroit Country Club, Mayfield Country Club, Country Club of Asheville (NC), a remodel of East Lake Country Club, Youngstown Country Club, Raritan Valley, Arcola, Brookhaven, Druid Hills (Ga), Winnetka (with H.S. Colt,) Roebuck Country Club, a remodel of Newport Country Club, Palm Beach Country Club, Westhampton (Long Island, with Seth Raynor.) He also had reportedly planned or remodeled three courses in or near Philadelphia. "
I think it's important to our accurate historical understanding of events to determine accurately when all of this actually took place, because courses like Columbia didn't open until 1911.
I think this is the crux of where we disagree on quite a few matters. If you wish to blow me off here, that's ok too and I understand.