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Joe Bausch

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1916 Long Island golf courses
« on: May 24, 2010, 04:13:24 PM »
This big document published in the New York Tribune nicely summarizes many (?most) of the golf courses on Long Island in 1916.  I really like the info given:  how much the train trip costs, annual dues, the guest fee, etc!

@jwbausch (for new photo albums)
The site for the Cobb's Creek project:  https://cobbscreek.org/
Nearly all Delaware Valley golf courses in photo albums: Bausch Collection

TEPaul

Re: 1916 Long Island golf courses
« Reply #1 on: May 25, 2010, 12:09:00 PM »
Joe:

Some of us have this kind of thing in our computer files. I don't know if it's the exact same as this one but what we have seems very similar and is essentially from the Long Island RR company as a way to promote traffic on their system out to Long Island. You'll note that with the listing of every golf club they also include the train fare.

Mike Cirba

Re: 1916 Long Island golf courses
« Reply #2 on: May 25, 2010, 12:12:51 PM »
I'd be curious to see an accounting of how many of these still exist today, how many are NLE, and how many are now renamed to something else.

It may help the architectural attribution of some courses to learn that their course was named something else prior.

Joe Bausch

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Re: 1916 Long Island golf courses
« Reply #3 on: May 25, 2010, 03:58:01 PM »
Joe:

Some of us have this kind of thing in our computer files. I don't know if it's the exact same as this one but what we have seems very similar and is essentially from the Long Island RR company as a way to promote traffic on their system out to Long Island. You'll note that with the listing of every golf club they also include the train fare.

Tom, I think this was something the paper had quite a bit to do with, just assuming so since toward the bottom right of the listing of the courses is the line "Received too late for indication on map."  Apparently three courses did not respond in time, and I'm thinking it was from the Tribune's request.
@jwbausch (for new photo albums)
The site for the Cobb's Creek project:  https://cobbscreek.org/
Nearly all Delaware Valley golf courses in photo albums: Bausch Collection

Chris Shaida

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Re: 1916 Long Island golf courses
« Reply #4 on: May 25, 2010, 04:03:13 PM »
Joe,

Any chance there was a similar piece on Westchester courses wherever you found this one?

Joe Bausch

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: 1916 Long Island golf courses
« Reply #5 on: May 25, 2010, 04:04:24 PM »
Joe,

Any chance there was a similar piece on Westchester courses wherever you found this one?

Nothing so far Chris.
@jwbausch (for new photo albums)
The site for the Cobb's Creek project:  https://cobbscreek.org/
Nearly all Delaware Valley golf courses in photo albums: Bausch Collection

Phil_the_Author

Re: 1916 Long Island golf courses
« Reply #6 on: May 25, 2010, 04:53:26 PM »
Chris,

I actually have one that lists all the golf courses within a 60-mile radius of NYC from the mid-teens... Now to find it! I'll post it when I do...
« Last Edit: May 25, 2010, 05:05:38 PM by Philip Young »

Phil_the_Author

Re: 1916 Long Island golf courses
« Reply #7 on: May 25, 2010, 05:04:14 PM »
Chris,

Here it is. It is the lower half of a large travel map dated 1917 it is titled "Key to Location of Golf Courses Within Sixty Miles of New York City."



Now I have to figure out where I filed the other half!  ;D That one shows who published it in 1917 (You can make out the 1917 date in the upper right center...)

Warwick Loton

Re: 1916 Long Island golf courses
« Reply #8 on: May 26, 2010, 12:30:08 AM »
The monetary aspects of the L.I. list interest me.

First, even the more prestigious clubs were prepared to disclose their joining fees / annual subs / visitor fees.

Second, even after allowing for inflation, the member/guest costs are modest by modern US standards. For example, the more expensive joining fees were in the $100-$200 range and the most expensive annual subs were in the range $100-$150 (refer Garden City, Lido, National, Nassua, Shinnecock). To equate those numbers to today's money, you'd get a fair indication by simply multiplying by 100 (see below for reasoning). That suggests it cost something like $10,000-20,000 (in today's money) to join a top L.I. club in 1916, and then $10,000-15,000pa in subs: the fabulous Lido would have been at he top end of this range; membership at the National cost less than half as much; and a more modest private club substantially less again...
As context, the US had not entered WWI and the US economy was growing soundly at the time (ie the US was not in a state of economic distress nor military mobilisation in 1916).

[Maybe my numbers are a bit high or a bit low. There's no simple way to say what a dollar in 1916 would be worth in today's money, but the following indicative measures suggest a multiplier within the range 20-110 is not wholly unreasonable:
Since 1916 the average pay rates of skilled workers in the US have increased by roughly 110;
Those of unskilled workers by around 75 times; and
The US consumer price index is around 20 times higher than it was in 1916...
Back then a Model-T cost $360 & a ride on the NYC subway cost 5c]
« Last Edit: May 26, 2010, 12:53:45 AM by Warwick Loton »

Ed Oden

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Re: 1916 Long Island golf courses
« Reply #9 on: May 26, 2010, 09:37:49 AM »
From Philip's list, Morristown Field Club once had a golf course?  It's always been a racquet club as far as I knew.  And what is Kahn Private Golf Course in Convent, NJ?  I assume it was a private estate course that is NLE.  Maybe on what is now the Honeywell property?

Ed

Steve_ Shaffer

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Re: 1916 Long Island golf courses
« Reply #10 on: May 26, 2010, 10:11:03 AM »
Ed,

Otto Kahn, the investment banker, did have an estate in Morristown , Cedar Court, which later became Honeywell.


http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=2&res=9F04E6D81031E433A25754C0A9619C946195D6CF
"Some of us worship in churches, some in synagogues, some on golf courses ... "  Adlai Stevenson
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Ben Hogan “The most important shot in golf is the next one”

Ed Oden

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Re: 1916 Long Island golf courses New
« Reply #11 on: May 26, 2010, 10:49:07 AM »
Thanks Steve!  I found similar info on the Wikipedia page for Otto Kahn.  Here is a Google Earth image of Morris County Golf Club with the Honeywell campus immediately to the north...  

« Last Edit: May 26, 2010, 02:12:59 PM by Ed Oden »