Rich,
You're absolutely right. Although Hugh Wilson has been portrayed here as somewhere between a mental deficient and a nincompoop in terms of golf knowledge, all he ever said he was a novice in was agronomy and construction. So was virtually everyone else in the US at that time, especially as regards inland soils.
For anyone who really wants to know more about Hugh Wilson, and not just listen to this agenda-motivated characterization, the following is a series of snippets ( a lot from Joe Bausch's research) from another thread that gives more of the facts of the man;
Hugh Wilson was something of a golfing prodigy in other ways, as well.
The Golf Association of Philadelphia was formed in 1896 with four member clubs, which included Belmont which later became Aronimink. The others included Philly Country Club, Philly Cricket Club, Merion Cricket Club.
Dr. Henry Toulmin of the same Belmont club was elected Vice-President of GAP. Remember him? He later served on Hugh Wilson's construction committee. He was also one of three men credited with the design of Belmont.
In the first Golf Association of Philadelphia club tournament ever held, which was the Belmont Club Championship in 1897....was won by 18 year old Hugh Wilson!
Later that year, he also competed in the first Philadelphia Amateur Championship, in October 1897.
After the medal rounds, he was in second place of the 8 men who qualified for the championship.
However, in the first round of match-play, he lost to the eventual winnder, Ab Smith! Funny how all this stuff ties together.
He played competitively at Princeton, and played in the Intercollegiate Championship in 1901, where he unfortunately lost in the second round.
I can find him records of him playing golf competitively almost every year...except 1910.
To suggest that he knew next to nothing about golf and golf courses when he was appointed chairman of the committee at Merion in 1911 is not accurate, no matter how modest, self-effacing, unassuming, and humble a man he might have been in his public statements.
I'm thinking this thread might be a good place to build a primer about Hugh Wilson, and given that most folks know very little about him, hopefully we can dig a bit deeper.
This from a recent Joe Bausch finding where he beats Tillinghast in 1903.
I'm finding myself surprised when I see that most of these relationships go back a decade or more.
It's a bit hard to read, so I'll repeat the first paragraph;
"Hugh I. Wilson has again asserted himself in the local golfing world. His early promise as one of Philadelphia's best golfers bore fruit through his college career at Princeton, but in winning the St. David's Plate, the annual election day trophy of the St. David's Golf Club yesterday, he demonstrated his ability to hold his own in a medal play contest against the best of Philadelphia's players."
I had mentioned that Wilson was very active in sports in college in a previous thread. Here is what I base that upon (from the December 19, 1900 issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer).
I did not know that Hugh Wilson was a member at Philly CC before Merion (or perhaps he belonged to both). These scores are from the May 8, 1898 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer:
And from the May 18, 1901 Philadelphia Inquirer is this little snippet, buried at the very bottom of the sports page:
I'm assuming this means he was captain during his senior year.
Wilson’s playing experience at many of the top clubs while at Princeton alone would have put his knowledge far, far, FAR beyond the average club member, even if he didn't play another single course for the next decade until 1911, which we know he did.
However, where he was really fibbing us was in this latest bit;
As mentioned, Wilson went to Princeton in 1898 and played golf through all four years.
In 1898, it was reported that the University was looking at land to build a new course, one which they hoped would be 18 holes. Later that year land was aquired, and work began on the course.
I've seen accounts of this first course that suggest it was designed by Willie Dunn, and I came across an account today that suggested that it was done by one James Swan.
In either case, work was slow, and funding was scarce but nine holes of the course opened by 1901.
On March 16th, 1901, the Trenton Times reported that,
"The governors are making every effort to have the course open by June 1st. A professional has been engaged to take charge of the new course and will arrive here in a few days. The work will be pushed as rapidly as the funds will permit."
"H.I. Wilson, (class of) 1902, was elected a member of the greens committee."
I've done a more comprehensive search for Hugh Wilson in the database of early Philadelphia Inquirer issues I have access to. I essentially searched for "H I Wilson" or "Hugh Wilson" or "Hugh I Wilson" from 1890 to 1922. Sorting through the many hits I think this is a reasonably complete list of stories where he is mentioned, but I'm sure I missed a few or more. In chronological order:
1. March 1, 1896: youngster at a dinner party (in the 'This Week in Society' article)
2. July 26, 1896: family makes trip to the Adirondacks
3. May 9, 1897: GAP match for Belmont team
4. Dec 4, 1897: GAP tourney
5. Dec 5, 1897: match at Philly CC
6. Mar 6, 1898: story calls him 'king' golfer at Belmont and that he doesn't play when the weather gets cold.
7. May 8, 1898: interclub match playing for Philly CC
8. June 1, 1898: usher at a wedding.
9. Dec 31, 1899: at a 'subscription dance' (?); Mary Warren in attendance too.
10. July 29, 1900: at an 'enchre party' (?) in Spring Lake, NJ
11. Dec 19, 1900: appointed manager of P'ton FR baseball team
12. May 18, 1901: named captain of golf team
13. June 26, 1901: leaves to visit Silver City, NM (I think this is where little mentioned brother Wayne lives).
14. May 11, 1902: NCAA match at Garden City
15. June 14, 1903: better ball tourney
16. oops, I skipped a number!
17. Sept 27, 1903: GAP qualifier
18. Nov 4, 1903: wins Election Day Trophy tourney at St Davids
19. May 8, 1904: interclub match
20. May 26, 1904: Stevenson Cup qualifier (playing for Merion)
21. May 28, 1905: GAP match at HVCC (for Merion)
22. June 4, 1905: GAP match vs Mt. Airy
23. May 24 and July 1, 1906: tourneys at Merion
24. Jan 17, 1907: squash tourney
25. Jan 24, 1907: squash tourney
26. April 21, 1907: named to play in 4/27/07 Chevy Chase match
27. June 29, 1907: a "Hugh Wilson" is listed on a boat to Glasgow.
28. February 12, 1908: squash tourney
29. May 3, 1908: intercity match vs Washington
30. Jan 17, 1909: squash tourney.
31. Feb 16, 1909: squash tourney (defaulted match)
32. March 18, 1909: Princeton Club dinner.
33. Dec 1, 1911: at the Radnor Horse Show (Robert Leslie there too)
34. Sept 12, 1912: tourney invite for 9/27 and 9/28
35. Apr 10, 1913: Cobb's stuff.
36. Apr 25, 1913: Cobb's stuff.
37. June 23, 1913: Philly Cup competition
38. June 24, 1913: upcoming GAP tourney
39. July 5, 1913: GAP match
40. July 6, 1913: GAP match
41. Sept 20, 1913: Lesley Cup qualifier invite.
42. Dec 31, 1913: caddy dinner story at Merion.
43. Nov 4, 1914: Joe Bunker article.
44. Jan 24, 1915: Joe Bunker Cobb's story.
45. March 17, 1915: Joe Bunker article.
46. Apr 9, 1915: 4-ball match w/ Ouimet at Seaview
47. Jan 9, 1916: Joe Bunker Cobb's article.
48. Apr 23, 1916: Joe Bunker article that includes recent changes to Merion for upcoming National Amateur tourney.
49. Jan 14, 1917: Billy Bunker article
50. Mar 11, 1917: his work on two holes at Philmont
51. April 15, 1917: mentioned in part of PV story
52. Apr 22, 1917: Billy Bunker article.
53. Apr 21, 1919: mentioned "In a Social Way" article
54. Dec 21, 1919: part of "Clubs and Clubmen" article where he is mentioned finishing PV
55. Jan 8, 1920: elected to exec comm of USGA
56. Jan 10, 1920: same as above
57. Jan 18, 1920: same as above
58. Feb 8, 1920: trip to Atlantic City
59. Nov 13, 1920: mentioned "In a Social Way" article
60. Nov 4, 1920: again USGA comm mention
61. Dec 1, 1920: sold house in Bryn Mawr
62. Dec 5, 1920: dance invitation at Merion CC
63. Aug 2, 1921: trip to NY
64: Oct 31, 1921: guest at H'ween dance.
65. Mar 3, 1922: searching for more golf course sites for the city
Has anyone ever come across this one before? In all of our discussions I can't recall ever seeing it.
In the February 1916 issue of American Golfer, AW Tillinghast writing as "Hazard" wrote the following;
"Certainly a reference to the Merion Course over which the championship of 1916 will be played, must be of interest. The course was opened in 1912, and the plans were decided upon only after a critical review of the great courses in Great Britain and America."
"It was the first of the two eighteen hole courses at Merion, the West Course being opened several years later. The distances are admirable and altogether Merion presents a good test of golf, but in view of the fact that the National title is to be decided there next September, a number of hazards will be introduced to bring the play closer to championship demands."
"Many of the hazards are natural, and a creek which winds through the tract is encountered frequently. Probably the most interesting section is found at the very end of the round; certainly the last three holes are the most spectacular , for a large stone quarry has been converted to a hazard of immense proportions."
"The sixteenth hole finds it immediately in front of the green, and it must be carried by a courageous well hit second. The seventeenth calls for a tee shot to the green, immediately over the excavation and again it has to be carried in driving for the home hole."
"Other holes present the characteristics of the famous Redan and the Alps of Prestwick. Ben Sayers, the wellknown professional of North Berwick, spends a great deal of time at Merion, where his son George is engaged, and he declares that the course is thoroughly good."
Here's an April 9, 1915 Philadelphia Inquirer report of the match involving Ouimet, Reid, Geist, and Hugh Wilson:
Mike, we need to check out the Philadelphia Record, Philadelphia Press, the Evening Public Ledger, etc in late 1914 and early 1915 for stuff about Seaview. Another gathering at the Free Library is in order!