If the club wants to do a comprehensive "design evolution report" of the course on their present site, it seems like they now arguably have some pretty decent "assets" to be able to do it. I've seen some clubs attempting to do a comprehensive "design evolution report" of the entire architectural history of their course have less or less good "assets" than Glen Ridge apparently now has and I’ve seen others who have a lot more “assets” and other “assets” that are more detailed and explanatory.
So what are all the “assets” (information) that Glen Ridge now has and what are the new "assets" (information) that Glen Ridge just discovered that they may not have had before, or have not been that aware of, or have never really analyzed that carefully before?
At this point, and having spoken a little bit to Dean and Ron Forse yesterday I would have to say it is the following “assets” (information) in order of importance that they may not have had before or considered that carefully, at least when it comes to Willie Park Jr architectural contribution to the course on that site.
1. The realization that Willie Park Jr may potentially not have been in this country between the late 1890s and 1916 and what that may mean to their architectural evolution between the course before Willie first arrived and before anyone changed the course after him.
2. The realization (perhaps very recent) of those old newspaper articles from the 1911 to 1915 timeframe that describe the original creation of the course at the present site by particularly Robert Thomson (the Glen Ridge pro) and perhaps some committee input.
3. Even though Dean seemed to say yesterday that the club has had that diagram drawing contained in that March 28, 1915 article, I'm not sure he said or meant they also have that actual newspaper article that fairly comprehensively describes the holes on that diagram drawing. (on that particular point there may be a fairly interesting historical reality involved here----eg who actually drew that diagram drawing contained in that March 28, 1915 newspaper article? In other words, how would or how could a newspaper actually get an actual pre-existing stand alone course drawing into a newspaper article in 1915 (no copy machines, scanners etc). They probably couldn't and so it might've just required some newspaper man or other artist at the newspaper to draw it right into that newspaper article copy before it was a rolled onto the newspaper press and distributed the next morning).
Dean also seems to know and in very close detail the architectural changes made to the course by Tillinghast and by RTJ. Obviously those changes were done after Willie Park Jr.
Having apparently never been aware that Park Jr may’ve not been in this country between the late 1890s and 1916 Dean and the club may not have known or appreciated that the routing and course was done by someone other that Park----eg Thomson et al in the timeframe of 1911 and 1915 (that diagram and hole by hole newspaper description) after the club bought that property in 1911----thinking that Willie Park Jr may’ve done it at some point between the purchase of the property in 1911 and 1918 which seems to be the time the club thinks Park may’ve completed his project for Glen Ridge.
So if I were trying to do a complete “design evolution report” report of Glen Ridge I would start with that truly important March 28, 1915 newspaper report and its diagram (which the club has apparently had for some time—eg the diagram that is) and essentially do a detailed work up hole by hole of the way the course was and what it looked like in hole by hole architectural detail at that time (March 28, 1915). In that vein, the diagram itself is essentially a glorified “stick” routing that is very explanatory about the routing itself but pretty much useless when it comes to the all important “design” features of the individual holes such as “through the green” bunkering and such and particularly individual green designs (shapes, contours, sizes) and green-end bunkering and such. But luckily the hole by hole text descriptions in that article (March 28, 1915) is quite explanatory on such things as “through the green” bunkering, greens shapes, slopes, contours, and green-end bunkering.
So then after doing as detailed a hole by hole architectural description as possible from that article and the diagram of 1915, I would take the changes made to the course by Tillinghast and RTJ and just back those changes and redesigns out for the time being. From there I would begin to compare the course’s hole by hole redesigning and resequencing and such for basic routing changes and other redesigning that Tillie and RTJ did not do and compare it all very closely to that March 28, 1915 diagram for routing and resequencing changes and redesigning. The differences should logically show what Willie Park Jr did with Glen Ridge to some degree of accuracy.
All there is after that is the Forse restoration project in the last five years but Dean and Ron know that in minute detail because they both did it.
The only piece of the puzzle I can see that may not be that knowable is what the holes looked like in detail that Tillie and RTJ did or redesigned before RTJ and Tillie did those projects. Unless the club has some kind of photographic or descriptive evidence of what they looked like before those two redesign projects I suppose it would have to just be some degree of guess-work.
This is an interesting investigation with some new historic material on this website and again I'm very glad that Glen Ridge's Dean Paolucci has been on here and has been part of it.