Willie Campbell & Myopia

[Tom MacWood]

Jeff:

According to the secretary of the club, Dacre Bush, his written records say play began on the original nine around June 1, 1894 and was so popular with members and guests that within a month the club had held two tournaments (the first June 18th and the second July 4) both of which Herbert Leeds who was then at The Country Club Brookline won. Leeds became a member of Myopia in early 1896.

TEP
What written records? Do you have copies or transcriptions of those records?

[TEPaul]

"TEP
What written records?"


Tom:

Myopia's 1894 executive committee written records. Dacre S. Bush was the secretary of the executive committee of Myopia Hunt Club at that time.



"Do you have copies or transcriptions of those records?"


I do not. I only read them at Myopia. They are obviously what Edward Weeks had and referred to when he researched and wrote his 1975 Myopia history book "Myopia 1875-1975." As I mentioned before on here he also had Leeds' so-called "scrapbook" which seems to me may've been a treasure trove of information on Leeds' life and times in architecture and with his twenty year development of the architecture of Myopia from about 1896 until about 1918 or beyond. It also may've been something of a diary of his golf architectural trips abroad. It seems to have been lost since Weeks used it in 1975 although the search for it is certainly still on. I have never seen Herbert Leeds' scrapbook!

As you can imagine the kind of information referred to above is far more important to me than even contemporaneous newspaper articles for the simple reason the former is far more direct source information and material evidence than any newspaper information which at it's very best can only be a reflection of what a club contemporaneously gives out as public information or uses as records for their own use.

CONTEMPORANEOUS club records should absolutely never be ignored, dismissed or rationalized away by serious historians, in my opinion. And that is precisely what has happened on this website, particularly with Merion and Myopia, time and time and time again!  

[Tom MacWood]

TEP
Do you think your memory might be influenced by Weeks' book? Here is your transcription from the book and it sounds similar to your remembrance of the executive records:

"It was fortunate that the man who suggested golf at Myopia was the newly elected Master of Fox Hounds, R.M. Appleton. “Bud” Appleton was the indispensable go-between, so popular he could placate the Hunt and practical enough not to minimize the difficulties. When the snows melted in the spring of 1894, Appleton, with two fellow members, “Squire” Merrill and A.P. Gardner, footed it over the Club acres, spotting the tees and pacing off the distance to provisional greens, probably marking them with pegs.

Appleton and his partners reported to the executive committee that nine holes could be ready for play in three months, and the speed with which their recommendation was followed is evident in this terse entry in the Club records by Secretary S. Dacre Bush:

         'At a meeting of the Executive Committee March 1894 it was decided to build a golflinks on the Myopia grounds.'

Accordingly the ground was examined, and in opposition from a number of members because the ground was so rough, nine greens were sodded and cut, and play began June 1st, 1894. Members and associates soon began to show much interest in the game, and the first tournament was held June 18th , 1894. About twenty five entries. Won by Herbert Leeds of Boston who was scratch. Score first round 58; second round 54; Total 112. The second tournament held on July 4th , 1894. About twenty entries. Won by Herbert Leeds, scratch 52-61-113.'”

I'm trying to recreate my own scrapbook, but starting a couple years before Leeds became a member. Here is an interesting excerpt form the Boston Globe June 10, 1894. What are the chances Weeks ever read this article?

[TEPaul]

"TEP
Do you think your memory might be influenced by Weeks' book?"


Tom:


Not at all. It was Weeks' history book and even questions about it on here which motivated me to search for and read the contemporaneous club records he was using when he researched and wrote his 1975 Myopia history book. He did not transcribe it all verbatim (no club history book writer I've ever known has ever done that). He merely took the essence of it and reported it in his history book in what, at the time, probably seemed like an interesting presentation for the membership. But reading the raw material itself that Weeks used and referred to and reported there is no question in my mind that he represented very accurately what was recorded in the club executive committee records.

Again, Weeks' Myopia history book "Myopia 1875-1975" deals with the entire history of Myopia Hunt Club and golf is far less than half of the book or Myopia Hunt Club's history. Hunting, polo and even tennis altogether is the majority of Myopia's only history book by Weeks in 1975.

Edward Weeks was no amateur in reporting and writing----he was actually a professional. He was a major and longtime player in the national magazine "Atlantic Monthly."

[DMoriarty]

CONTEMPORANEOUS club records should absolutely never be ignored, dismissed or rationalized away by serious historians, in my opinion. And that is precisely what has happened on this website, particularly with Merion and Myopia, time and time and time again!  

I don't think anyone would deny this.   But we don't have the contemporaneous club records, and you don't either.  If we've learned anything in these discussions, it is that taking your word for this stuff is a huge mistake.    Even here your account has been far from consistent, seemingly evolving as more questions are raised, getting ever closer to nothing more than a reference to the Weeks' book.  And these would be the strangest administrative records in recorded history if they contained the type of information you attributed to them.

So we are left with the newspapers and the one brief reference to the executive meeting records in the Weeks' transcription.    

I mean let's be honest about what likely happened here.    TEPaul went up to Myopia intent on proving that Campbell did not design the course. He might have looked at the "Run Book" and saw the March 1894 reference to the golf course (the same one as in the Weeks' Book,)  saw no reference to Campbell, and assumed the rest of the Weeks' story was accurate.   Maybe it was the three members who made the proposal to the board that was approved in March.  

 

[Tom MacWood]

TEP
I'm certainly not questioning Weeks' credentials, but are you at all curious why he wasn't able to uncover the Willie Campbell connection? As you know there were several reports he laid out the course in 1894, along with the two other premier courses in Boston - Brookline and Essex County. It was also widely reported he was the resident pro at Myopia in 1897-98. Weeks has no knowledge of any of this.

I can appreciate your heightened interest in the records, especially when questions began to rear their ugly head. I know whenever I've been put in a similar position at the very least I've taken very detailed notes. I'm surprised you didn't make notes when going through the club records.

[TEPaul]

"Even here your account has been far from consistent, seemingly evolving as more questions are raised, getting ever closer to nothing more than a reference to the Weeks' book.  And these would be the strangest administrative records in recorded history if they contained the type of information you attributed to them.

So we are left with the newspapers and the one brief reference to the executive meeting records in the Weeks' transcription."




The type of information I am attributing to Weeks's book and the Myopia executive committee records (Dacre Bush secretary) is simply that three members of Myopia, Appleton, Gardner and Merrill staked out tees and greens of the original nine at Myopia in the early spring of 1894. There is nothing at all inconsistent about that. It is, in fact, entirely consistent between the 1894 executive committee records and Weeks' 1975 history book "Myopia 1875-1975." And there is obviously a very good reason it is entirely consistent----eg Weeks, in his 1975 Myopia history book "Myopia 1875-1975" was referring to the very same 1894 executive committee records I read!  

[TEPaul]

"TEP
I'm certainly not questioning Weeks' credentials, but are you at all curious why he wasn't able to uncover the Willie Campbell connection?"


Tom:

Of course I am curious about that, particularly with the newspaper articles that have been produced on this website. However, I do not believe that either denys or makes the historical fact that Appleton, Gardner and Merrill staked out that original nine in the spring of 1894 and before Campbell ever arrived in America INCORRECT.

Campbell clearly did something with the original nine in 1894 but Myopia's executive committee records show and make it pretty clear that staking out the tees and greens of the original nine was not one of the things Campbell did.

[Tom MacWood]

I find it fascinating the Boston Globe named Thomas, Appleton, Gardner and Merrill as the first golfers on the new links. Thomas was the man responsible for bringing Campbell to Boston (The Country Club in particular) and the other three are credited by Weeks for the original design. I did some checking and discovered all four men were also members of The Country Club. TCC had the six hole course laid out in 1893 that Campbell redesigned and expanded to 9 holes in April 1894.

It was reported prior to his arrival that Campbell was hired as a green-keeper. Why would Appleton, Gardner and Merrill try to layout out a new course for Myopia when they knew a qualified man was either in town or on his way? Weeks story makes no sense, and makes even less sense when no one is producing any documentation.

[TEPaul]

"I find it fascinating the Boston Globe named Thomas, Appleton, Gardner and Merrill as the first golfers on the new links. Thomas was the man responsible for bringing Campbell to Boston (The Country Club in particular) and the other three are credited by Weeks for the original design. I did some checking and discovered all four men were also members of The Country Club. TCC had the six hole course laid out in 1893 that Campbell redesigned and expanded to 9 holes in April 1894.

It was reported prior to his arrival that Campbell was hired as a green-keeper. Why would Appleton, Gardner and Merrill try to layout out a new course for Myopia when they knew a qualified man was either in town or on his way? Weeks story makes no sense, and makes even less sense when no one is producing any documentation."


Tom:

Who do you think laid out the six hole golf course on F.M Appleton's own estate in 1892-3? Do you think that was Campbelll too even though he would not arrive in America for another year or two? I'm not sure at all why you think it is so odd that Appleton, Merrill and Gardner staked out the original nine at Myopia in 1894! Was Appleton waiting for a green-keeper, star match play golfer or architect from Scotland to lay out a course for him on Appleton Farm in 1892-3? If he was who was it?   I don't think so and the same, according to Myopia's executive committee meeting records, was true in the spring of 1894 at Myopia Hunt Club!

I also don't think you have any understanding or appreciation for why F.M Appleton may've been the ONLY man from Myopia who could've proposed a golf course at Myopia and had it approved by the club. Weeks' explains that very well, I think, but you seem to have either missed it or failed to appreciate that too.

You also asked me a day or so ago if I know when the ANNUAL meeting of Myopia was held and where in 1894. May I ask WHY you asked me where and when Myopia's ANNUAL meeting was held in 1894?

[Tom MacWood]

TEP
Are you certain Appleton's links was laid out in 1892?

[TEPaul]

"TEP
Are you certain Appleton's links was laid out in 1892?"



Tom:

I am. Between 1892-3. I went to Appleton Farm which is not far from Myopia in Ipswich and an historic landmark and checked it out. We even went out there to see if we could see remnants of those six holes. As I said earlier on this thread, it seems Appleton Farm is the oldest farm in America under the ownership of a single family.

You know, you really ought to get off the Internet, off of Google and Ancestory.com and out of your Ivory Tower and away from just Mike Hurzdan's good office/library and get to some of these clubs and their surrounds and do some traveling and real "on-site" research. You might be stunned what you can and will find and learn!  

If you can find a way to do that I very much doubt you will ever again put the stock that you have in someone like David Moriarty! 

[Tom MacWood]

TEP
This is from May 20, 1894 and the tally of Boston courses has no mention of Appleton's course or Myopia.

[TEPaul]

"TEP
This is from May 20, 1894 and the tally of Boston courses has no mention of Appleton's course or Myopia."


Tom:


Uh Huh. So what does that mean in your mind---that it didn't exist because it wasn't in some newspaper article that you just produced on GOLFCLUBATLAS.com? I encourage you to go travel; go to Massachusetts, to Ipswich, to Appleton Farm and to try to research and learn something on site that way and get out from behind your computer in Ivory Tower, Ohio.

You aren't a golf architecture historian. You're only funny---you're ultimately an historical golf architect comedian!   

Well, actually, you're more than that----you're a guy who has tried and is still trying to make a reputation for himself by questioning the architectural histories of important clubs and courses. I see nothing wrong with that at all just that if one tries to do it they should do a far better job of it than you have and you are!   

The best I can say for you is believe it or not you're actually doing a slightly better job of it than the "Missing Faces Of Merion's" essayist, David Moriarty.   

 

[Tom MacWood]

TEP
It would appear the author of the article travelled throughout the Boston area and did not uncover your Appleton course. Was the Appleton course built in 1892 or 1893?

[TEPaul]

"TEP
It would appear the author of the article travelled throughout the Boston area and did not uncover your Appleton course."


Tom:


Yes, it would appear that way, wouldn't it? But I can understand full well that to your way of thinking if a newspaper article did not point out something it could not have existed.

 

"Was the Appleton course built in 1892 or 1893?"


Yes it was!

[TEPaul]

"Was the Appleton course built in 1892 or 1893?"


Tom:

Again, yes it was. The Master of the Myopia Fox Hounds who actually had his own six hole golf course on his massive estate in 1892-3 and who proposed a nine hole course to his club, The Myopia Hunt Club, and staked it out with three of his member friends-----that seems like an unfathonable and imaginable concept to you? Is that correct, Tom MacWood?   

[Rich Goodale]

Toms

One interesting fact is that Myopia was founded in Winchester, not in Hamilton, and not by men, but by boys!  See the excerpt below, from a history of the Myopia area in Winchester:

"The club

The Myopia Club began with a group of boys who used to play together, at first around Wedge Pond where they could go boating and where they built a tennis court during the 1870s. When they took up baseball, they took on a name. Charter member Frederick Prince related that, upon deciding to play a match at Lexington, "it was necessary that the club which we had formed should have a name, so someone selected (as we four brothers and others present were all short-sighted) the name 'Myopia,' and a large red banner with black letters 'Myopia' was hung out when the game took place." That was in July 1876.

The town's baseball diamond was on Bacon Field at the corner of Church and Bacon Streets. But the club acquired a clubhouse on the hill. Dedicated in 1879, it was built by David N. Skillings, whose son-in-law W. D. Sanborn was a charter member of the club.

The house, visible from the railroad, reportedly had a wide verandah, living rood, billiard room, card parlors, and cool bedrooms. Adjacent to it were stables, tennis courts, a shooting box, and acres of wood land.

When the club incorporated in the fall of 1879, its stated purpose was "for encouraging athletic exercise and yachting and establishing and maintaining a place for the use of a reading room and for social gatherings."

In 1882 more members were interested in hunting than in playing ball and changed the name of the club to the Myopia Fox Hounds. although foxes were said to have been plentiful on the hill, soon members moved on to other grounds, particularly in Hamilton.

In 1883, after just four years on the hill, the club gave up the hillside house and grounds. The clubhouse was sold and turned into a residence. Eventually the original house was torn down and a new house built on the site (or the foundation), now numbered 27 Myopia Road. The adjacent house, 31 Myopia Road, is allegedly built on the site (or foundation) of the club stables.

Though the club left the hill after only a few years, in the names of Myopia Road and Myopia Hill, a remembrance of the old club lingers on."

Given this extraordinary genesis is it really a surprise that the boys would take it upon themselves to build their first golf course rather than seek out professionals or other "experts?"  Not to me.

[Niall C]

I find it fascinating the Boston Globe named Thomas, Appleton, Gardner and Merrill as the first golfers on the new links. Thomas was the man responsible for bringing Campbell to Boston (The Country Club in particular) and the other three are credited by Weeks for the original design. I did some checking and discovered all four men were also members of The Country Club. TCC had the six hole course laid out in 1893 that Campbell redesigned and expanded to 9 holes in April 1894.

It was reported prior to his arrival that Campbell was hired as a green-keeper. Why would Appleton, Gardner and Merrill try to layout out a new course for Myopia when they knew a qualified man was either in town or on his way? Weeks story makes no sense, and makes even less sense when no one is producing any documentation.

Tom

You ask the question why Appleton et al would go ahead and layout 9 holes when they knew Campbell was on his way (assuming of course that they knew he was on his way).

You could reasonably ask the same question of the Country Club who had 6 holes laid out before Campbell arrived. As Rich says these guys were used to getting on with things so why not go ahead and lay out a course which would allow them to at least flex their golfing muscles. It might have been rudimentary in the extreme but at least it would allow them to crack on rather than waiting for WC to arrive in town. Guys like WC were hired as keepers of the green, with that they would have the scope to make alterations so I don't see how it is unreasonable to think that there was a course there before WC but that he then knocked it into shape and in doing so made some alterations.

Again it seems a reasonable assumption to me given a club history which says Apleton et al laid out the original course and contemporary reports which give WC credit for laying out 9 holes.

Niall

[Jim_Kennedy]

Given this extraordinary genesis is it really a surprise that the boys would take it upon themselves to build their first golf course rather than seek out professionals or other "experts?"  Not to me.-Rich Goodale


Rich,
It would be no surprise to me if these chums took credit for the course instead of giving the due to a lowly professional.

[Rich Goodale]

Nor me, Jim.

After all, wasn't it as late as 1920 when Inverness became the first golf club in the US to allow professionals into the clubhouse?  In my personal experience you have to dig very deeply into club archives to find out who did what and when and with whom.  In very many cases the only answer you will find is "The Committee."  Very rarely does the hired help get the credit they deserve.

Rich

[TEPaul]

"Given this extraordinary genesis is it really a surprise that the boys would take it upon themselves to build their first golf course rather than seek out professionals or other "experts?"  Not to me."


Rich:

Not to me either. The Myopia Club basically sprung from activities of the Princes in the 1870s---four brothers who were all some powerful all around athletes----baseball, football, riding, sailing, tennis etc. It's believed they built one of the first lawn tennis courts in America at their father's place in Winchester which had a Gothic house they referred to as "Gawky" cottage. The place even had a separate lodge with bedrooms to house their friends from Harvard, Boston and Cambridge who came down on weekends to play all kinds of sports including some vicious tugs of war!   Their father, Frederick O. Prince was the Mayor of Boston.

Some of those early clubs all pretty much included the same people. In 1883 the Myopia Club was actually offered the arrangement of merging with what would become The Country Club (Brookline) at the time but they declined because they did not want to give up their name---eg Myopia Club. Eventually they ended up at what was called the Gibney Farm in South Hamilton where they still are today.

[Tom MacWood]

Tom

You ask the question why Appleton et al would go ahead and layout 9 holes when they knew Campbell was on his way (assuming of course that they knew he was on his way).

You could reasonably ask the same question of the Country Club who had 6 holes laid out before Campbell arrived. As Rich says these guys were used to getting on with things so why not go ahead and lay out a course which would allow them to at least flex their golfing muscles. It might have been rudimentary in the extreme but at least it would allow them to crack on rather than waiting for WC to arrive in town. Guys like WC were hired as keepers of the green, with that they would have the scope to make alterations so I don't see how it is unreasonable to think that there was a course there before WC but that he then knocked it into shape and in doing so made some alterations.

Again it seems a reasonable assumption to me given a club history which says Apleton et al laid out the original course and contemporary reports which give WC credit for laying out 9 holes.

Niall

Niall
I don't understand your point. The six hole course was built in 1893, the year before Campbell came to Boston. Are you saying they should have anticipated his hire the next year?

Appleton, Merrill, Gardner and Thomas were all active members of The Country Club. When it was announced in early March the best golfer in the world (arguably) was coming is it fair to assume it was highly anticipated at Brookline? The Myopia meeting when it was decided to build a golf course was mid March. Willie arrived at the end of March. According to news accounts the course had yet to be laid out in mid May. The course opened on June 18.

What evidence have you seen that would suggest Appleton, Merrill and Gardner actually laid out the course prior to Campbell's involvement?

[TEPaul]

As far as why Weeks's 1975 history book "Myopia 1875-1975" never mentioned Willie Campbell laying out the original nine hole golf course rather than Appleton, Gardner and Merrill, that is sort of curious if he really did do something significant for them. One could claim he wasn't mentioned because people like that at that time were not willing to mention people who worked for them but then that doesn't make much sense since Weeks' book rather prominently mentions seemingly everyone else who worked for Myopia from the beginning and over the years until 1975 including Scot immigrant professional Robert White and also including the prominent mention of their beloved early professional/greenkeeper John Jones. The rough/moundy right side of #10 is still affectionately called "Jonestown."

We should probably consider that rather than assuming they were all trying to hide something or not telling the truth in their records that there may be some other good and logical reason for it such as they just never considered that he did that much for them to mention him in their history.

I see Tom MacWood has stated on here that 'we know' Willie Campbell was Leeds' mentor in either architecture or in how to play golf or both. Do we really know that? I, for one, have never seen that mentioned anywhere or by anyone other than Tom MacWood. If Tom MacWood says that simply because Leeds and Campbell were in Boston at the same time or around the same clubs at the same time that it can just be assumed Campbell was Leeds' mentor, I would say that is just not enough to even make an assumption like that much less saying "we know Campbell was Leeds' mentor." Those kinds of remarks placed on here as assumed fact both can be and are very misleading!

If it has not been explained on here yet what kind of man Leeds notoriously was in that vein maybe now is the time to explain it. Certainly Leeds never hid that and either has the club's history of him. Since they always talked about him the way they did and recorded it in Weeks' 1975 history book one could probably fairly assume that Leeds was never considered to be typical of what the rest were actually like in that vein. Weeks' history refers to Leeds as a "martinet" and that seems to be something of an understatement!  

It also seems pretty safe to say that given the reputation of Leeds and Leeds' Myopia golf course in the world of architecture during that early time that Leeds seemed to have been about as private towards the press and publicity as C.B. Macdonald was public towards it.  

[Melvyn Morrow]

I still believe (according to the reports) that Willie Campbell designed the 9 hole course at Myopia.

The Timline is fine - Tom (P) as I e-mailed you the opportunity of having a course ready in 1894 was within the times you state. As for how good or ready the course was by June is open to question. Although I would expect work continued after June to produce the course Willie had designed.

Yes,  prominent  people and professional Gentlemen would without doubt take credit for the works of lowly golf professionals. However, did they?

As for the original 6 holes course – was it actually laid out?  I would like to know how many of the – lets call them The Gentlemen  - including Appleton knew how to play golf in 1892/3 or 4. This information may help as it would show how much experience existed to generate the ability to lay out a 6 hole course.   

Melvyn