Joe,
Nice pic(s). Let me add a couple.
First, here's just a nice spring pic of the 5th hole. The fairway-level greensites, the rairoad running behind, the proximity of the creek to the green just says early Philadelphia golf to me.
Next, here's a look up the hill of the original 6th hole tee shot. While not quite as daunting as it appears today (the top of the hill has an elevated tee that if elminiated would probably reduce the intimidating look at least a bit), the hole required an 85 foot climb to reach the fairway of the 400 yard par four.
Speaking of elevated tee shots, a few weeks ago a few of us were speculating here (based on the old article Joe recently found that stated the architects had hoped for a more architecturally interesting final hole) about where that hole might have been given today's greensite.
Well, I found that if I went almost due east from today's 11th greensite (the former 17th) and switchbacked around, I could get down to the bottom of a hill quite easily where there is about 60 yards of flattish terrain just short of a creek, from where a final hole could be created anywhere from 530 to 600 yards. Similar to the old 6th hole, it would require a tee shot climbing about 60 or so feet in elevation, and needing to carry about 170-210 to reach flattish terrain from the front, and obviously a longer carry from the back, more like 240 from the tips.
It's a little rough in there and my legs have the scratches to prove it, but it would be possible to create something very much like the 18th at Yale, or even a bit like 18 at Merion from that position.
First, here's today's 17th hole. The hypothetical 18th tee would be require the golfer to play this hole, then go back and to the left about 100 yards, playing the next tee shot up and over the hillside seen behind this green.
From the hypothethical tee, there is a creek running about 20-30 yards in front of where this pic is taken, which is the low point, before traversing back uphill.
I definitely don't see this as an unrealistic hole, and the more I study the terrain in this area the more convinced I become that the founding fathers envisioned something wild like this hole would certainly be.
