The Importance of the Club Historian

[David Wigler]

I am curious what some of the job responsibilities are for a club historian?  What kind of budgets do they get?  Any great stories out there about significant or cool finds while performing the job?  Do all historically significant clubs have them or only some?  I'm guessing that a fair number of us have held that position.  I'd love to get some feedback.

[Paul Richards]

David:

Don't have time to answer all your questions now - that
would take a long time.

I grew up caddieing at Beverly CC and knew it was a very
historical place.  When I was fortunate enough years
later to become a member, I looked around the clubhouse
and was very disappointed at the lack of anything there
that told the story of all the great things that have happened
at this club.

I wrote a letter to the Club President and he thought it
was a great idea, and that's how I became Beverly's Club
Historian!

[ian]

They give their time and effort for the love of their club, not for money. A few writers have acted as historian for the club, but that is unusual.

A Cool stories:
I met with the historian (and greens chairman) at Penn Hills. We walked the course and he said I think we have some plans in the club somewhere. Rolled in the dirtiest locker you have ever seen were Travis's original rag drawings. They have all 18 holes, the masterplan and other associated drawings. They are in good enough condition to run prints.

A dedicated guy:
At Cataraqui, John Smith has been collecting photos of the club for years. He now has over 180(al before the sixtys), and a complete set of photos for every hole done in 1933. We are currently redoing the 2nd green, he sent me two photos from 32, one of the 33 photos, and aerial from the 30's and another later aerial. He has found these in the Queens archieves and from other unusual sources. He still makes trips to find more.

Often a golf superintendent fills the role. At St. Georges, John Gall, has found a 1939 ariel (from Ottawa), a 1963 (from the city archives). The club already has Thompsons original plan and an exstensive set of photos. When you combined the aerials with photos, you have a much clearer understanding of how to return the bunkers back to their original character.

[John_D._Bernhardt]

I only wish we had a club historian. I cannot find the original Dick Wilson work. This site should remind all of us of the importance of the historian to any club. The historian and others helped bring the Seth Raynor restoaration to Metairie CC in New Orleans. they really did not have much left but have worked hard to find enough to put the picture back together again.

[Paul Richards]

John:

You make a great point here.  At Beverly, when I became
historian, our "archives" consisted of about 8 photos from
a few Western Opens, and a few scattered other findings.

Somewhere out there is an ever-elusive scrapbook that
contains a bunch of old photos and newspaper articles.
Apparently, this book grew legs and walked away after one
of the grill room renovations.

Also, a club history that is supposed to be from the club's
50th anniversary has never been found.

We now have over 100 old photos of the course from
other sources and many are proudly displayed around the
clubhouse and grill room.

Persistence pays off!

[Jeff Mingay]

My story's similar to Paul's at Beverly.

I grew-up playing golf at Essex G&CC in Windsor, Ontario, and with a keen interest in history and golf architecture began researching the evolution of the golf course, without compensation (!), before any other member knew about it.

I found Donald Ross' original 1928 plans for the course at the Tufts Archive, and old aerials of the club's property at the National Air Photo Library in Ottawa, photos of Sandy Sommerville, the 1932 US Amateur champ, putting on Essex' 4th and 5th greens during the 1934 Ontario Amateur in the Royal Canadian Golf Association's archive, etc. etc.  

A few years later I met an older member of the club who had collected club newsletters, searched the club's minute books, and kept detailed scrapbooks of significsant tournaments played at Essex, including the 1976 Canadian open. He and I have since collaborated on a comprehensive club history book, which will be printed in October of this year. It's paid for by "The Association of Life Members", a group of non-dues paying members who annually contribute to a special project otherwise not provided for by the club itself.

In preparing Essex' club history book, I've collected and studied other club history books. It's immediately apparent which books were researched and written by members with passion for the subject matter, and which were done by hired writers.

The books done by members, including Geoff Shackelford's Riviera history, are ALWAYS much better.

[Paul Richards]

Jeff:

Would love to hear more about your "Association of Life Members", a group of non-dues paying members who annually contribute to a special project otherwise not provided for by the club itself.

[Jeff Mingay]

Paul,

At Essex, once you reach age 65 and have been a member of the club 40 years, you no longer have to pay dues. At that time, you become a member of the Association of Life Members. Because this category of "Life" members doesn't pay dues any longer, they contribute to a "pot" that annually funds a capital project otherwise unaffordable to the club. (Have I made sense of this?)

Over the past few years, the Association has installed new flagpoles at the club entrance and purchased wooden benches for tees on the golf course. Last year, they financed the construction of a new practice putting green and patio area, and for 2002, their project the publishing of the club history book.

It's actually pretty neat, isn't it.

[Paul Richards]

Jeff:

It sounds really neat.

I'm going to pass this idea along at our Club.

Thanks for sharing it!

[TEPaul]

It's interesting to note that many golf clubs have had "club histories" done throughout the years but until relatively recently few of those "club histories" have really concentrated on the course's architecture and its evolution, if at all!

That's changing now and "club histories" that concentrate sometimes exclusively on the architecture are becoming more prevalent. One of the most interesting byproducts of this is it can rekindle pride in the golf course and its architecture amongst the membership very quickly and sometimes very benefically. And if a restoration is on the drawing boards it can really help the architect and also help tremendously on a "Preservation Master Plan" for the future of the golf course.