Mea Culpa, David
As I'm sure you know, I'm referring to the general routing of the land mostly to the south of Ardmore (i.e. today's 1-13), for which the general layout was seemingly fairly obvious from Day 1. Whether Barker (or MacDonald or Wilson or whoever) was there on day 1 is a matter of conjecture.
As I am sure you don't know, this makes no sense whatsoever.
On "Day 1" a large chunk of the land (21 acres) south of Ardmore was not even being considered for the prospective golf course. While you might think that the routing was obvious once this land was added, it surely was not made obvious
until the land was added. I originally thought that Barker had been involved BEFORE this land was added, but it is possible that the land was added
because of Barker.
- It is not conjecture to say that, whenever "Day 1" was, Barker was there before anyone from Merion.
- It is not conjecture to say that Wilson was not present on "Day 1"
- It is not conjecture to say that these 21 acres were included in the land that CBM considered when he inspected the property in June 1910.
It sounds like you think that the 13 holes might have been routed BEFORE CBM saw the land? By whom, if not Barker? And what evidence supports this?
"The only fact I have in my possession is that I do not believe that you have (or have at least displayed) any significantly relelvant facts regarding Merion and its history . . ."Aha. I think I am beginning to understand our differences in approach. Like TEPaul, you seem think that because you have a
belief, this somehow makes it a
fact. In contrast, I prefer to base my beliefs on facts, and not visa versa. While you
believe I don't have any significantly relevant facts, I think you must have an unusual understanding of both significance and relevance.
As for your general disappointment with the threads, what can I say except the vast majority of them are not my threads, or if they are the are taken in directions that are not all that interesting or relevant. They disappoint me too, but some things are beyond my control.