Merion's Early Timeline

[TEPaul]

Guys, I hate to say this and perhaps I shouldn't even be mentioning it on this website but as much as I might want to keep participating on this thread or even acknowledging how addictive I've gotten with it-----it seems in the last 24 minutes or so I have been beset upon by a semi-morbid flairup of Carpel Tunnel Syndrome and it doesn't look like I will be able to post anymore because it doesn't look like I will be able to type for the foreseeable future.

You guys can take that as either a blessing or tragedy, depending on your perspective on the Great Merion, the Great Charlie Macdonald, the Great Hugh I. Wilson and the Great GOLFCLUBATLAS.com Megaposter TEPaul.

In parting all I can say is OUCH and TaTa!!

[DMoriarty]

Jim,

It was Lesley's committee who presented the plan to the Board, and according to Lesley he presented the plan as approved by M&W.

______________________________________

Jeff,

Your understanding of the facts and what they support is different from mine.

Note that, except for the detail of the date of the trip, TEPaul thinks that Merion's history is exactly as understood before my essay.

Please quit comparing my supposed biases and inflexibility to his.  There is no comparison.

[DMoriarty]

I've been doing my best to keep this conversation moving in a positive direction, which is the same thing as saying I have been trying to ignore everything that TEPaul has written, but one of his mantras demands a response, if only because it has been repeated so many times that it appears to have taken hold with some of those who really ought to know better.

TEPaul keeps questioning why I didn't go to Merion before my essay came out and is using this bullshit to repeatedly try to undermine my credibility.   This is not only offensive and downright delusional, it is pretty goddamned creepy and pretty-near patholigical when you consider the role TEPaul and Wayne played in my decision not to go to Merion Golf Club.   TEPaul would apparently have us believe that this drama started when I appeared out of nowhere and posted my essay, but we all know that there is a long backstory in which he and Wayne  were very much involved.  

Long before my essay came out I figured out that Merion's old club records were in storage at MCC (TEPaul had long speculated they were lost in a flood or fire or something)  I attempted to access those documents but was unsuccessful.   As for Merion Golf Club, I considered going to them but thought better of it for a number of reasons . . .

SOME OF THE REASONS I DID NOT GO TO MGC BEFORE MY ESSAY CAME OUT

I.  Wayne and TEPaul made it perfectly clear that this would not be productive.

1.  So far as I knew Wayne and TEPaul were the defacto keepers of Merion's history.  At least that is they they portrayed themselves around here.   And based on their representations and behavior, I determined that going to Merion would be rather unproductive, to put it mildly.

2.  For years Wayne and TEPaul had mounted a campaign to shut down all research or even discussion about Merion's history, other than the version they tried to sell us.  How many times did they tell us that they had all the information?  How many times did Wayne warn us against questioning or even discussing the topic?   Remember TEPaul's open campaign to run me off the website?  Remember his "possee" he put together to harrass me at every turn?   Remember Wayne's vulgar insults and name calling?  Remember him calling me a liar and and idiot for merely correcting mistaken understanding about the length of the 10th hole?    

3. Both TEPaul and Wayne repeatedly and explicitly informed me, in private and on the website, that Merion wanted nothing to do with me.   Wayne told me to "f**k off" among other things.  TEPaul called me every name in the book, and even made up a fake Canadian researcher in an attempt to convince me to send him all my posts to vet them before I posted!

4. TEPaul even went so far as to make up detailed LIES about specific conversations he had had with various officials at Merion, including the Chairs of the Committee relevant to these issues.   He repeatedly informed me that he had specifically discussed my research with these gentleman and they were disgusted and upset by my research and wanted nothing to do with me or my research, and that in their eyes my research was embarrassing myself.  

5. TEPaul also informed me that Wayne HATED me like no other, and that he would never have anything to do with me or my research and he would see to it that Merion never had anything to do with it.  Wayne's own emails and posts on here confirmed this.  

6.  At one point their behavior got so out of line that TEPaul told Tom MacWood a series of LIES about fictional emails he had received from Rand Jerris and other officials at the USGA, where they supposedly said the same sort of  nasty things about MacWood's research; very similar to the LIES TEPaul had told me about what the Chairs at Merion were saying about my research.  

The list goes well beyond this, but in short TEPaul and Wayne did everything they could to STOP my research and  MACWOOD's research, and to convince us that Merion (and the USGA) wanted nothing to do with us.  LIES, namecalling, veiled threats, harassing emails and telephone calls, rude behavior, false rumors, a self proclaimed "Philadelphia Possee" to run us off the board and make us stop.  These "gentlemen" stopped at nothing to try and stop us. For TEPaul to now claim that I should have gone to Merion is patholigical and downright creepy

_____________________________________________________

II. But but beyond this, , his claims that I should have gone to Merion are just his latest attempt to discredit me and TomM and to discredit our research and analysis without actually addressing it head on.  An examination of the history shows his real motive.

1. Both TEPaul and Wayne  - the self-appointed keepers of all things Merion - were aware of the nature of my research and analysis BEFORE my essay came out.    

2.  Before I even came back to the site, I informed TEPaul, Wayne, and a number of others that if I came back it was to discuss Merion and related topics, and I even gave then  a laundry list of the types of topics I would discuss.    
  
3.  Patrick and others told TEPaul and Wayne that I was working on an essay that would rewrite much of the early history of Merion East, and both TEPaul and Wayne encouraged (demanded is more like it) that I post it and post it immediately so it could be vetted.   Most of the website chimed in as well.  

4.  NO ONE ONCE SUGGESTED THAT I GO TO MERION BEFORE POSTING IT.   NOT WAYNE. NOT TEPAUL. NOT ANYONE.  TO THE CONTRARY, THERE WERE DAILY DEMANDS THAT I POST MY ESSAY IMMEDIATELY, FINISHED OR NOT, SO THAT IT COULD BE VETTED.  I WAS ACCUSED OF HOLDING OUT, OF WITHHOLDING INFORMATION, OF PLAYING GAMES, OF HAVING ULTERIOR MOTIVES.

5.  TEPaul has repeatedly claimed that he was discussing my Essay with Merion before I even posted it.  Yet apparently not even Merion wanted to look at it before it came out.   Or if they did TEPaul kept that to himself.  

6.   Not even Wayne originally claimed the Essay should have gone to Merion first.  And we had plenty of communication where he could have; while I was explaining to him how the property transactions worked; or various other details not covered in my paper; or when I was providing him with the documents  he requested and directing him to others.   Never a peep.

7.   It was only in retrospect, when more conventional methods of defeating my essay would not prove adequate, that Wayne and TEPaul started this nonsense about how I should have gone to Merion.   Only then did my actions suddenly become so offensive. How convenient yet completely contrived.  .

_____________________________________________________________________________

III.   A few other things to consider:

While my dealings with Merion are none of TEPaul's business (or any of your business, for that matter) I will remind you that my essay relied entirely on public domain material and concerned topics that had been discussed on this website for years.  The only difference with my essay is that I actually did the research and put it all into one coherent piece.
 
I discussed providing Merion with a copy before posting it with some, but was encouraged not to do so because, I was told, Merion would most likely try to stop me from posting it, especially given that they would undoubtedly involve Wayne in the process.   There was no legitimate reason for me not to posting it.  In retrospect, I can see that this was the case.  There would have been no way to keep TEPaul and Wayne out of the process, and with them involved the process was bound to be a real mess, just as it has turned out on here.

Plus, even if I had gone to Merion, nothing would have changed.  By the point I was ready for a draft of my essay to be posted,  I knew everything TEPaul and Wayne knew about the origins of the East course, and a whole lot more.   And I had tried to work with them cooperatively in the past, and that proved impossible, and I was resolved to not getting bogged down again.  So long as TEPaul and Wayne were  running the show regarding Merion's history, one would have to be a fool to think that cooperation would get anyone any closer to the truth.   Unfortunately, they prove this on an almost daily basis.

I mean look at TEPaul's idiotic claim that all I have proven is that the date of the trip was wrong.  Considering how much more we know as a result of my essay and subsequent work, it is delusional, pathetic, and creepy; just like his attempts to shut TomM and me down, just like his lies about what the USGA and Merion had to say about us, and just like his demands that I should have contacted Merion.    Delusional, pathetic, and creepy.

[edited to bleep the profanity.]

[Anthony Gray]

  bump

[JESII]

  bump

Post of the year - hands down...there will not even be a close second...

[Tom MacWood]

As far as those minutes, I heard earlier this week that the Flynn book that Wayne Morrison has been working on is now going to press, so I'm hopeful you'll get a copy and we can finally put this matter to rest.  My understanding is that it will include verbatim accounts of those MCC minutes, which make very clear that no routing was approved (despite the many iterations of "plans" the committee devised) til late April, 1911, with Robert Lesley reporting for Hugh Wilson and Committee to the Board.   They will also make clear that Macdonald recommended which of the Committee's plans to use, and that's the plan that went to the board for final approval.  Somewhat magnamoniously, Macdonald says that if they use that particular plan, they will have the finest 7 finishing holes in the country.    They will also make clear that both the 3 acres that Macdonald recommended they buy back in July 1910, as well as the land along Golf House Road that was swapped in the Francis Land Swap Deal were both purchased after that approval date in late April 1911, prior to construction.   Once you see them, the timelines of everything should become much clearer.

As it turns out, partially due to the work you've put forward and the corresponding research in reaction to it, Macdonald's role as a superb advisor to the Merion Committee was confirmed and probably even accentuated, but what we now also know in much greater detail than ever before is that Hugh Wilson kicked some serious ass, and fully deserves to be known as he always has been as the architect of Merion.  

All,

Last night I outlined what I thought the "state of the course" was when Findlay wrote his article, and I think there is enough evidence from Tillnghast and Findlay to support that understanding.   "Far and Sure", whoever he was, supports that as well in his writing.

But last night at about 4am I woke up and something pretty  fundamental occurred to me that I don't think I realized prior;

I think we've made a collective mistake in believing that if there was an Alps hole, or a Redan, or any of the template holes built in the first iteration of Merion East, that it was clear direct evidence of the routing and planning of one Charles B. Macdonald.   That isn't so, and now when looks at the timelines, and the supporting evidence, the whole thing comes pretty sharply into view.

Let's consider the timeline;

June 1910 - The landowner Mr. Connell brings HH Barker to the large plot of land he wants to sell to Merion (Lloyd acting as the angel), and Barker sketches a routing that gets sent in what is essentially a prospectus package packet to Merion.

Later June 1910 - At the invite of Griscom, C.B. Macdonald and H.J. Whigham visit the proposed site for what seems to have been a single day with the intent of determining if the acreage proposed, the site specifics, and the inland soil would be appropriate to build a first class course.    In July, their very general recommendations are sent via letter to Merion, recommending a 6,000 yard non-specific course, the purchase of 3 additional acres along the creek and mostly concerned with agronomics.

July - November 1910 - Not much written record, but one can reasonably assume that properations to purchase the land and to setup committees to deal with purchasing and possible construction is being done.  

December 1910 - Mr. Lloyd purchases the 117 acres for Merion's use as a new golf club.

January - early March 1911 - Hugh Wilson and the newly formed Construction Committee work on putting together various plans of how to use the new land.   They report later to the Merion board;

""Your committee desires to report that after laying out many different courses on the new land, they went down to the National Course.....", which we now know happened around the end of the first week in March.

March 1911 - Wilson and Committee visit Macdonald at NGLA.   The Merion minutes, and later Wilson writing in 1916, make clear that the first day was spent going over Macdonald's sketches of the ideal holes abroad and the second day spent going over the course at NGLA.

to be continued

Tom,

I agree and I prefer not to type out the timeline again but I do think it's important for making my next point that people understand when Macdonald was originally at Merion in June 1910 and what he did, when the Committee went to visit him at NGLA in March 1911 (and what was discussed), and when Macdonald returned for a day in early April 1911 and what he did at that time.

I say that because it occurred to me overnight that I think many folks here have interpreted the fact that there are/were a few template type holes at Merion as some proof that C.B. Macdonald had to be directly involved with the design.  

Coupled with the fact that David's essay discovered that Wilson didn't go abroad until the spring of 1912, how possibly could Hugh WIlson and committee have already routed and seeded those template holes before he even went to see the originals unless CB Macdonald had done it for them?

It's a fair question, and on the face of it seems to make a lot of sense.

However, when one considers the fact that most of the holes as originally grassed in Sept 1911 were pretty much "blank pages", using only what natural features where available, and with very little in the way of bunkers, "mental hazards", or other man-made touches that would ultimately create the various strategies  of each hole.   Relatedly, if you think about the definitions of the Ideal Holes as identified by Macdonald, the vast majority are largely defined by their pre-prescribed bunkering patterns that serve to create the strategic choices and demands of each hole type.

Alex Findlay's June 1912 article gives us clear insight into the state of the course nine months after seeding when he states that it's too early to even comment on "the possibilities of the new course" and then mentions that it won't be until the late fall 1912 that Fred Pickering "will give it the finishing touches".  

But, we also do know that the first iteration of Merion did have a few attempts at Template style holes in the style of CB Macdonald, including the redan 3rd, the Alps 10th, and the Eden green at the 15th.

How could those have been conceived or created by Wilson if he hadn't gone abroad yet?

Well, they likely came from Wilson and Committee's trip to NGLA in March 1911, after which the Merion minutes reflect;

"On our return, we re-arranged the course and laid out five different plans."

Approximately a month later, on April 6, 1911, M&W came and spent a day onsite with the Committee and selected one plan in particular that they claimed would lead be equal to the seven best finishing holes on any inland course in the world.

Good question indeed. I do have the report and it does not say it was written by Wilson and it is not signed by Wilson. It merely says:

            Golf Committee through Mr Lesley, report (sic) as follows on the new Golf Grounds.
            Your committee desires to report that after laying out many different courses on the ground they went down to the National.....

This is all contained within the April 19, 1911 MCC board meeting minutes.


Since the wording of the report said 'your committee' and then said 'they' I just assumed that since Lesley was not part of Wilson's committee that the report was written by Wilson's committee who were the only ones with first hand knowledge of what they'd been doing through the winter and spring of 1911 and at NGLA (again Lesley was not part of Wilson's committee and apparently did not go with them to NGLA in early April 1911) and since Wilson was the chairman of the Wilson committee and chairman generally write reports for the committees they chair, I have assumed that Wilson probably wrote the report that was delivered to the board by Lesley, the chairman of the Golf Committee that the Wilson committee apparently worked and operated under. But I don't know that for sure and I admit that another member of the Wilson committee may've actually written the Wilson Committee report although I can't exactly imagine why another would have rather than Wilson himself.

If you haven't figured this out for yourself at this point, Hugh Wilson was clearly a very efficient and organized man in these kinds of things and his app. 1000 agronomy letters makes that very loud and clear!

Have you ever even belonged to a golf club, David Moriarty, and do you even have a modicum of personal experience in things like this with these kinds of private clubs, how they work, how their committees work and function and report and so forth and so on?

No, I didn't think so!  

HOWEVER, when the Wilson Committee report to the MCC Board of Directors meeting on April 19, 1911 used the term “we laid out numerous different courses on the new ground” in the winter of 1911 BEFORE visiting NGLA and Macdonald that could mean they staked out holes on the property AND/OR they submitted those staked out “courses” on the ground to a paper topographical contour survey “plan” of the property (courses drawn on those paper plans). I know they had topographical contour survey maps of the property that was now in the possession of Lloyd because Wilson mentioned the plan and enclosed it to Russell Oakley in Washington D.C. in his first correspondence on Feb. 1, 1911.

In that case we KNOW that when they used the term “laid out” to describe what they HAD BEEN DOING in the PREVIOUS months in that report (winter months of 1911 and before visiting NGLA) there is no way at all they could’ve meant they were BUILDING or actually CONSTRUCTING a golf course on the ground because WE KNOW from the Merion TIMELINE that was an event (the actual BUILDING of a course) that would NOT TAKE PLACE for a number of months HENCE!

In that Wilson Committee report to the MCC Board Meeting on April 19, 1911, it also said they “rearranged the course and laid out five different plans” FOLLOWING their visit to NGLA in the second week of March, 1911. One can certainly logically assume that by “laid out” at that point they meant submitting a routings and perhaps designs to their paper topographical contour survey plans which Macdonald and Whigam would review on April 6, 1911, help them select one to be submitted to the MCC Board of Directors meeting on April 19, 1911, and which “plan” was reported to have been ATTACHED to the Wilson Report and which was reported to have been approved and which would be built in the coming months.

No problem, it may be taking a risk with my understanding with Wayne and MCC but I'm willing to take that risk on that at this point if it will AT LEAST help to put a stop to the constant ongoing argument and bickering and mindbendly boring and irrelevent PARSING of words and their meaning on here as to WHAT drawings and sketches the Wilson Committee were referring to during their two day visit to NGLA:

Your committee desires to report that after laying out many different golf course on the new ground, they went down to the National course with Mr. Macdonald and spent the evening going over his plans and the various data he had gathered abroad in regard to golf courses. The next day we spent on the ground studying......

That's all that's mentioned about plans and data (the words sketches and drawings are not used) and I think it's pretty clear that probably means Macdonald's plans and such from abroad even though one could conclude the first part could mean his plans of NGLA itself also, BUT it could not possibly mean Merion's plans or drawings. I hope you all notice the word "his" (so I didn't highlight or capitalize it ) and I hope no one on here will try to contend Merion's plans were HIS (Macdonald's, even though at this point I wouldn't put anything past the essayist)! 

[Tom MacWood]

"I was referring to you. How do you explain it?"


Tom:

Thanks for the answer. What error are you referring to that was made over and over again that you and Jeff and Mike repeated. Could you find the posts and show me the error I made over and over that you and Jeff and Mike repeated and I'd be glad to address and explain it? Are you referring to the January 11, 1911 date of the appointment of the Wilson Committee that you and Jeff kept repeating? If so, I already explained to you that I never said that and I don't know why you and Jeff thought I did and you kept repeating it.

I will post it again. I was referring to your recent altering of the wording in the Lesley report, in particular your change from 'they' to 'we'. How do you explain it?

"Where does Johnson Contractors fit into quote?"

What do you mean where does Johnson Contractors fit into quote? What quote? Do you mean where does the Johnson Contractors fit into the Wilson report that Lesley delivered to the MCC board meeting of 4/19/1911?

Yes, what is said about Johnson Contractors in the 4/19 report, and why have you redacted that portion?

[Tom MacWood]

Mike
Is there some reason you can not answer this simple question? It appears you were quoting the report before TEP, where did you get those direct quotes from the April 1911 report?

[Kirk Gill]

David, your last post is surprising. If you're researching something and there are people who you feel are in your way, you've got three options. Co-opt them, assault them frontally and hope for victory, or attempt an end run.

You made a choice in deciding that there was no way that going to Merion was going to do you any good. It wasn't done TO you. All of your reasons listed for not going had to do with TEPaul and Wayne. Maybe you would have gotten some information if you'd tried. Maybe you wouldn't have. But you made a decision not to make the attempt.

[Tom MacWood]

David, your last post is surprising. If you're researching something and there are people who you feel are in your way, you've got three options. Co-opt them, assault them frontally and hope for victory, or attempt an end run.

You made a choice in deciding that there was no way that going to Merion was going to do you any good. It wasn't done TO you. All of your reasons listed for not going had to do with TEPaul and Wayne. Maybe you would have gotten some information if you'd tried. Maybe you wouldn't have. But you made a decision not to make the attempt.

Kirk
We're you around here when I was researching and writing my Crump essay?

[Kirk Gill]

I don't know when you posted the Crump essay, Tom, but I think it was before I was a member of the DG. I've read it, and enjoyed reading it.

[Tom MacWood]

Kirk
You may think the Crump essay is interesting, and certainly David's Merion's essay is very interesting, but neither will be as interesting as the background story of each, starring TEP & Wayne.

[JC Jones]

97 pages and no Mayhugh butt shots.  Last time I trust Anthony Gray....

[Jeff_Brauer]

In a shameless attempt to reach 100 pages.....

I got to wondering the other day...how long has the design attribution of MCC been a hot topic?  Obviously, JHW was simmering about it for a while, using CBM's funeral to finally vent, not unlike Diana's brother's subtle references to the royal family at her funeral.  Tillie early on wrote that CBM has shown him the plans (but did say he was working with the committee) but later recalls how few people knew Wilson designed it.  Did he perhaps have any ulterior motives, like staying on MCC's good side for possible remodel commissions?

Have any of our expert researchers uncovered any evidence that this discussion really started somewhere closer to 1913 or so?

[Phil_the_Author]

Jeff,

You wrote, "Tillie early on wrote that CBM has shown him the plans..."

Where did he do this?

[Jeff_Brauer]

Phil,

Maybe it was far and sure, but wasn't he Tillie? (smiley)  Anyway, someone wrote it!

[JESII]

Jeff,

I think what was written by Tilly in the context of a "chat" with CBM is that he had seen the plans...

[Jeff_Brauer]

Jim,

I thought so, but if Tillie's historian was questioning it, I began to question it myself.  Isn't his nick name "Photographic Memory Phil?"

[Kalen Braley]

Just thought I'd do my part to make sure this thread makes it to 100 pages.

With that I give you golf's 1st couple!!   

[Phil_the_Author]

Jeff & Jim,

Tilly NEVER wrote that CBM had shown him the “plans” for Merion.

In May of 1911 he wrote, “I had a chat with C.B. Macdonald and he told me more about the new course at Merion… from his description of the holes… No description of the links can be attempted at this time, for the work is still in its infancy…”

No mention of his having been shown any plans by CBM.

He wrote on another occasion that he had seen the plans for Merion, but CBM was not involved with that. For some reason a number have been putting those two separate occasions together and stating as fact that CBM showed Tilly the plans for Merion. He didn't.

Hopefully for the final time, the proof that Far & Sure was NOT  Tillinghast is because Tilly spent the winter of 1910-1911 and all the way through the May opening of Shawnee in the Philadelphia and Shawnee areas. He didn’t do any traveling.

Far & Sure wrote that he was in Pinehurst for two weeks in the winter of 1911 (January). Tilly could do many things; being two places at one time wasn’t one of them.

Jeff, I’ve been given a few nicknames, mostly a tad bit uncomplimentary, but that isn’t one of them… 

[Mike_Cirba]

Jeff & Jim,

Tilly NEVER wrote that CBM had shown him the “plans” for Merion.

In May of 1911 he wrote, “I had a chat with C.B. Macdonald and he told me more about the new course at Merion… from his description of the holes… No description of the links can be attempted at this time, for the work is still in its infancy…”

No mention of his having been shown any plans by CBM.

He wrote on another occasion that he had seen the plans for Merion, but CBM was not involved with that. For some reason a number have been putting those two separate occasions together and stating as fact that CBM showed Tilly the plans for Merion. He didn't.

Hopefully for the final time, the proof that Far & Sure was NOT  Tillinghast is because Tilly spent the winter of 1910-1911 and all the way through the May opening of Shawnee in the Philadelphia and Shawnee areas. He didn’t do any traveling.

Far & Sure wrote that he was in Pinehurst for two weeks in the winter of 1911 (January). Tilly could do many things; being two places at one time wasn’t one of them.

Jeff, I’ve been given a few nicknames, mostly a tad bit uncomplimentary, but that isn’t one of them…  

Hi Phil,

Thanks for correcting Jeff's CLEARLY ERRONEOUS POST, that big galoot.      

[Anthony Gray]

   What is a 100 page thread without MOM



   

 

   



    Pink Champain




 


   

[JC Jones]

   What is a 100 page thread without MOM



   

 

   



    Pink Champain




 


   

I should spend more time in Tennessee.  I just can't get enough of the awesomeness.

[Phil_the_Author]

Mike,

You asked, "You mentioned that Tilly was too busy at Shawnee during the winter of 1910/11 to have gone to Pinehurst for two weeks and therefore could not have written as "Far and Sure".   That's cool. But, do you know what was he doing every week from November through March during the winter of 1911/12?"

Yes! I have been working on a Tilly timeline now for nearly 9 years. When I first began it was simply an exercise to place into a stream and locate as much information as I could about Tilly. Especially since my biography of him came out in 2004 a wealth of information and articles have been sent to me by those who are interested in Tilly. These have led to other articles which both fill in time frames and answer previously unanswerable questions. Let me give you an example.

In 1925 Tilly wrote that he had designed the 9-hole Harmon CC course in years past. That is all that was known. Not a single reference in any newspaper, magazine or anywhere else putting Tilly at Harmon could be found.

Late last year, another Tilly fan located information that proved that the Harmon CC was designed and opened for play in 1902 without mentioning Tilly. Did that mean that the Harmon CC was actually Tilly’s first design some 9 years prior to Shawnee?

This was a serious question that seemed unanswerable yet demanded one. The one clue that might be of help was that the information as to Harmon’s beginnings definitively stated that it was designed during the second week of May in 1902, and so it did.

Early this year another article was located in a most surprising place. It was a newspaper account about a shooting tournament at a Frankford gun club held during that very week. Tilly finished 6th. In fact, it turns out he was a member of the club and would remain so for many years. Tilly could not have designed the original course in 1902. We are certain that he designed the new course in the very early teens, but that too requires definitive proof before anything else can be said.

My point in all of that is there is a real paper trail comprised of Tilly’s writings, newspaper accounts, Shawnee documents (Tilly was club secretary and making arrangements for the first Shawnee Open among other things) and even family letters that can place where he was during that time period and longer.

And before you ask, you’ll have to wait as it is part of what I am planning for Volume III about his life and work (Volume II is close!).

[Joe Bausch]

Now that there are many more people following this thread, I think it is worth revisiting the review of Merion by Tilly in the Dec 1912 Philadelphia Record newspaper, as well as the January 1913 American Golfer article by the author(s) "Far and Sure".

Here is the Tilly Philly Record article:



And here is the American Golfer article:











Gosh, I'm not an English teacher (well, maybe Anthony and I could team teach a class together with spelling lessons), but it sure seems that we have a serious case of plagiarism here!  Since Tilly's article was likely written before the AG article (although I don't think this can be proved), I'll assume "Far and Sure" is/are the plagiarist(s)!

And just to make the comparison of the relevant passages more easy, here are a couple of figures I put together:





Or, I think a more reasonable explanation is that Far and Sure was two people, with Tilly being one of the two.