Who Designed Leatherstocking?

[JNC Lyon]

I was just looking at a thread from almost two years ago on this subject.  I would really like to figure out who designed Leatherstocking.  Some sources have Devereux Emmet designing the first nine in 1909 and the second nine in 1919.  Other sources list a mysterious Rayner, who was the head pro at Leatherstocking in the 1920s.  There is also a question of whether the current routing was Emmet's original routing.

Using Joe Bausch's suggestion of fultonhistory.com, I dug up this letter to the editor from a 1960 edition of The Otsego Farmer:

http://www.fultonhistory.com/Newspapers%20Disk3/Cooperstown%20NY%20Otsego%20Farmer/Cooperstown%20NY%20Otsego%20Farmer%20&%20Republican%20Grayscale%201960-%201961.pdf/Cooperstown%20NY%20Otsego%20Farmer%20&%20Republican%20Grayscale%201960-%201961%20-%200373.pdf#xml=http://www.fultonhistory.com/dtSearch/dtisapi6.dll?cmd=getpdfhits&u=359442ae&DocId=8442979&Index=Z%3a%2fFulton%20Historical&HitCount=13&hits=2a8+321+333+345+35a+3d1+70a+719+747+75c+78a+7ac+7b9+&SearchForm=C%3a%5cinetpub%5cwwwroot%5cFulton%5fNew%5fform%2ehtml&.pdf

The conclusion was that Emmet built the original 9 holes in 1909, and head pro Len Rayner and Stephen C. Clark (NGLA member and accomplished golfer) made later changes after Rayner arrived in 1918.

Is this conceivable that these two men built the second set of nine holes at Leatherstocking?  Emmet visited Cooperstown often after 1909 as a guest of Mr. Clark, so it is probable that he helped as well.

Thoughts? Let's get to the bottom of this...

[Jim_Kennedy]

Golf Course Pro And
Superintendent
Since 1919
Leonard M. (Len) Rayner, sinceApril, 1919, course superintendent and golf pro at the Cooperstown Country Club, this week announced
his retirement effective October 31.The popular "Len," who was born in England in 1889, has been in indifferent health for some time andwas hospitalized twice by a heart condition in 1952. For the past three years he has been acting only in a supervisory capacity in matters connected with the local golf course. He said that following his resignation he and his wife, Laura, probably will leave for an extended stay in Florida.- The couple's home is at 6 Pine Boulevard, this village. Rayner's outstanding work in construction of the Country Club's 18-hole course came in 1919 when he changed the location of every tee and green with the exception of No. 2.The building of the present 18th tee was termed a "most remarkable feat."" At this point in Blackbird Bay (Blackbird Bay is the body of water at the 18th)  there appeared to be no bottom to Otsego Lake," a spokesman said. "Rayner first formed a base with 22 junked automobiles, and "2,000 yards of rock from the cut on Fly Creek hill were hauled in. To complete the fill he used debris from the old Mehodist Church site on Elm Street and bricks and plaster from the Fenimore Hotel which used to stand at the corner of Main and Chestnut Streets. This was topped off with clinker cinders and topsoil, and the tee remained intact until 1954 when repairs had to be made because of damage caused by muskrats."  In addition to the Country Club course, Rayner has laid out many other courses including those at the Sullivan County Golf Club, Liberty; Woolfert's Roost, Albany;  Windham Country Club, Windham; Woodstock Country Club, Woodstock, and the second nine at the Oneonta CountryClub.

[JNC Lyon]

So it sounds like Rayner may have been involved after all.  I wonder how much work he did relative to Clark and Emmet?

[George_Bahto]

JNC and my good friend Jim Kennedy - thanks for the info

Boy, I’m really glad this all came out about Len Rayner the long time super adn his talents!!

What has always been a mystery to me, until now, is that in a great 4 page article about Leatherstocking, written by the Dev Emmet himself, no where in the article did he reference that he built the course.

thanks guys

(another mystery seeing the light of day)

[Mike Cirba]

Who the heck was Len Rayner??

[JNC Lyon]

JNC and my good friend Jim Kennedy - thanks for the info

Boy, I’m really glad this all came out about Len Rayner the long time super adn his talents!!

What has always been a mystery to me, until now, is that in a great 4 page article about Leatherstocking, written by the Dev Emmet himself, no where in the article did he reference that he built the course.

thanks guys

(another mystery seeing the light of day)

I did some searches on Devereux Emmet on the Fulton History site, which covers all sorts of newspaper from around New York State (again, unbelievable find as a source).  Anyway, I found many references to Emmet visiting Cooperstown during the 1910s, usually as a guest of Stephen C. Clark.  It is very hard to believe he would not have had input into the course changes in 1919.  Maybe Clark and Emmet were making plans to expand the 1909 nine, and Rayner provided the final piece of the puzzle when he arrived.

From Jim Kennedy's source, Rayner was a fairly accomplished architect.  Until now, I had never heard of him!

Like you said, I find no mention of Emmet building anything beyond the 1909 course himself.  However, there was definitely a connection there.

I hope others can find some more information on this layout, because I sense that we have far from a complete picture here.  Jim Kennedy, what was your source for this description of Rayner?

[John Foley]

John & Jim,

Great find!! A few summer ago I went to the local library & historical society looking for some details but came up empty.

Asked around the pro shop but no one knew - super was not around.

One question I would ask is what does Bob Cupp know??

His renovation was pretty extensive (though I do not believe he did much work if any on the greens). He had to have some source material to go by. I wonder what that was??

Anyone in the treehouse have contacts for him?

[JNC Lyon]

Who the heck was Len Rayner??

Who the heck indeed.  It might be hard to swallow that a course like Leatherstocking was designed by an obscure pro/superintendent.  I guess we should find out more about Rayner.

John, the Cupp question is a good one too.  I guess I don't even know exactly what he did.  Even if we establish that Rayner/Clark/Emmet designed the current layout, we still have a long way to go to reach today's layout.  I'd like to know what Cupp did and what Cupp saw before he did it.

[Jim_Kennedy]

JNC,
A Brooklyn Eagle article, 'pinched' from the same source as yours.

I've played a few of the Rayner courses mentioned in the article, and at least one that wasn't, Cobleskill GC in Cobleskill, NY, which has nine of his holes. Leatherstocking and Wohlfert's are at the top of the list, but the others are all fun and interesting in their own way.   

[Jim_Kennedy]

.....and Rayner also helped with the grassing at Doubleday Field (in Cooperstown of course ), and he placed the last few squares of sod in front of home plate.  When asked what he was going to do in retirement he said "Loaf", but he didn't get to do that for very long as he died a short time after leaving the club.

   

[JNC Lyon]

.....and Rayner also helped with the grassing at Doubleday Field (in Cooperstown of course ), and he placed the last few squares of sod in front of home plate.  When asked what he was going to do in retirement he said "Loaf", but he didn't get to do that for very long as he died a short time after leaving the club.

  

It looks like Rayner was the pro and superintendent at Leatherstocking (then called Cooperstown Country Club) for a very long time, well into the 1950s.  Clearly, Len Rayner had a major hand in the development of the course at Leatherstocking.  Additionally, my editorial stated that Clark, who was part of a rich, philanthropic family around Cooperstown, was instrumental in making Leatherstocking accessible and affordable to local residents.

One other fun fact I found about Rayner: In 1934, he played Cooperstown CC Eight (8!) times in one day, setting some sort of record.  It's amazing the interesting stuff you find when you starting searching for info on these fellows.  It seems that some of these older courses were built due to the vision of a few men with means and dreams.  Fascinating stuff.

[Jim_Kennedy]

JNC,

From Wolferts Roost website:

The original (1915) golf course at Wolferts Roost, consisting of nine holes with sand greens, was designed by Harold F. Andrews, a civil engineer of Albany.

In 1921, the Club commissioned Albert Warren Tillinghast to redesign the original nine and build an additional nine holes.

The “Twenties” have been called the Golden Age of Golf Course Architecture in America. A. W. Tillinghast, of Philadelphia, was one of the most notable designers of that era. Among the masterpieces created by “Tillie the Terror,” as he was know in his day, were: The Baltimore CC Five Farms Course (1926); Baltusrol GC, Upper and Lower (1922); Quaker Ridge CC (1926); Winged Foot GC, East and West (1923) and, of course, Wolferts Roost.

With the purchase of additional land, the course was altered and expanded in 1931. Leonard Ranier, of Cooperstown, was the architect, and he produced what is basically our present golf course. Ranier was careful to maintain the Tillinghast characteristics in his design.

Several changes have occurred since 1931, including: a new 8th hole (1938); a new 7th green (1946); addition of the pond and a new green on 14 (1949); the redesign of the 15th green (1958); the addition of the top level to the 6th green (1959), and one of the first automatic irrigation systems in the area was installed in 1964.

In 1987, Geoffrey S. Cornish, of Amherst, Massachusetts, who had been working with the Club for several years on specific projects, was retained to develop a Master Plan for the golf course. Mr. Cornish, author of the largest selling (non-instructional) golf book in history, The Golf Course, the “definitive work on course architecture,” is the designer of more courses in New England than any other architect in history.

[JNC Lyon]

JNC,

From Wolferts Roost website:

The original (1915) golf course at Wolferts Roost, consisting of nine holes with sand greens, was designed by Harold F. Andrews, a civil engineer of Albany.

In 1921, the Club commissioned Albert Warren Tillinghast to redesign the original nine and build an additional nine holes.

The “Twenties” have been called the Golden Age of Golf Course Architecture in America. A. W. Tillinghast, of Philadelphia, was one of the most notable designers of that era. Among the masterpieces created by “Tillie the Terror,” as he was know in his day, were: The Baltimore CC Five Farms Course (1926); Baltusrol GC, Upper and Lower (1922); Quaker Ridge CC (1926); Winged Foot GC, East and West (1923) and, of course, Wolferts Roost.

With the purchase of additional land, the course was altered and expanded in 1931. Leonard Ranier, of Cooperstown, was the architect, and he produced what is basically our present golf course. Ranier was careful to maintain the Tillinghast characteristics in his design.

Several changes have occurred since 1931, including: a new 8th hole (1938); a new 7th green (1946); addition of the pond and a new green on 14 (1949); the redesign of the 15th green (1958); the addition of the top level to the 6th green (1959), and one of the first automatic irrigation systems in the area was installed in 1964.

In 1987, Geoffrey S. Cornish, of Amherst, Massachusetts, who had been working with the Club for several years on specific projects, was retained to develop a Master Plan for the golf course. Mr. Cornish, author of the largest selling (non-instructional) golf book in history, The Golf Course, the “definitive work on course architecture,” is the designer of more courses in New England than any other architect in history.

I always knew Wolferts Roost was a Tillinghast layout.  I've always heard good things about the course, and so I assumed it was mostly a Tillinghast.  Clearly Rayner was heavily involved, and the club even admits that he was responsible for the current layout.  I would love to see aerials from 1930 and 1950 to figure out exactly what Rayner did.

It seems Rayner was a major figure in Upstate New York golf in the 1920s and 1930s that, until now, has been pushed into the background.  He worked at Leatherstocking (then Cooperstown) for over 35 years and oversaw the development of what might be the best course in Upstate New York.  He designed numerous courses, public and private in Central New York that still exist today.  Rayner was also an accomplished player and by all accounts an exceptional superintendent.  Why has he not been more recognized until recently?

[Dan Boerger]

JNC -- Thanks! You just explained why my father -- now ninety -- has always referred to the course as simply "Cooperstown"!

[JNC Lyon]

Here's the full article that Jim Kennedy quotes in his original post on Rayner.  This article was in The Otsego Farmer on Friday, November 4, 1955:

LEN RAYNER
TO RETIRE ON
0CT0BER 31
Golf Course Pro And
Superintendent
Since 1919
Leonard M. (Len) Rayner, since
April, 1919, course superintendent
and golf pro at the Cooperstown
Country Club, this week announced
his retirement effective October 31.
The popular "Len," who was born
in England in 1889, has been in indifferent
health for some time and
was hospitalized twice by a heart
condition in 1952. For the past three
years he has been acting only in a
supervisory capacity in matters connected
with the local golf course.
He said that following his resignation
he and his wife, Laura, probably
will leave for an extended stay in
Florida.- The couple's home is at 6
Pine Boulevard, this village.
Rayner's outstanding work in construction
of the Country Club's 18-
hole course came in 1919 when he
changed the location of every tee and
green with the exception of No. 2.
The building of the present 18th tee
was termed a "most remarkable feat."
"At this point in Blackbird Bay
there appeared to be no bottom to
Otsego Lake," a spokesman said.
"Rayner first formed a base with
22 junked automobiles, and "2,000
yards of rock from the cut on Fly
Creek hill were hauled in. To complete
the fill he used debris from the
old Mehodist Church site on Elm
Street and bricks and plaster from
the Fenimore Hotel which used to
stand at the corner of Main and
Chestnut Streets. This was topped off
with clinker cinders and topsoil, and
the tee remained intact until 1954
when repairs had to be made because
of damage caused by muskrats." ,
In addition to the Country Club
course, Rayner has laid out many
other courses including those at the
Sullivan County Golf Club, Liberty;
Woolfert's Roost, Albany; Windham
Country Club, Windham; Woodstock
Country Club, Woodstock, and the
second nine at the Oneonta Country
Club.
He coached the Cooperstown Central
School golf team for two years
when it was in the Southern Tier
League. The squad captured the
championship the first year and was
runner-up the following year. He
also was instructor to Miss Virginia
Guilford when she won the New
York State championship in 1941.
In 1934, Rayner established a then
world's championship by playing
eight rounds of golf, in a single day.
"I wanted to prove that golf is
truly a relaxing game, and that I
could go eight straight games even
though I was no longer a young
man," he said.
Four years later, 1938, he helped
construct now famous Doublcday
Field, traditional birthplace of baseball.
Possibly because of a sentimental
urge, he laid the last few
sods near home plate.
Rayner figures that manicuring
the local golf course involves an
annual "trip" of 10,000 miles for the
men who mow the grass. Each man
covers an average of 200 miles of
green, not including fairways and
approaches.
When asked what he intends doing
in his retirement. Rayner answered
in a single word.
"Loaf." he said.

That is a pretty solid and complete account of Len Rayner's tenure at Cooperstown/Leatherstocking.  It sounds like the Cooperstown community owes a great debt to Mr. Rayner after his 36 years of service at the golf course.

[JNC Lyon]

So what do we know about Stephen C. Clark?  Among other things, he built the Otesaga Hotel, founded the Baseball Hall of Fame, served in the New York State Assembly, and served in World War I.  Here is the link to his Obituary. 

http://www.bobkestrut.com/images/stephenclark.pdf

Unfortunately, it mentions nothing specifically about helping to construct the golf course.

However, we can be certain that he was an avid golfer who played golf at both Otsego Golf Club and Cooperstown Country Club.  Since he built the Otesaga, which Leatherstocking is now affiliated with, it would not be surprising if he was involved in the construction of the golf course.

[Jim_Kennedy]

JNC,
You have probably noticed all the non-golf related endeavors Rayner was into, like coaching at the school, running skating parties, etc..
Seems like he was quite the guy and a highly engaged member of the Cooperstown community.

[George_Bahto]

Stephen Clark was a member of NGLA - his father Edward was the lawyer for Isaac Singer - together the "invented" the sewing machine .................................  Singer was trying to make a lathe, if I recall but Clark got the idea of the sewing machine "bobbin" (for despatching/disbursing thread)

crazy stuff!

................. Singer lost all his money and Clark, of course, was, among other things a philanthropist.


Isaac an avowed womanizer and fathered 28 children by several wives and countless loversHe had a ga-zillion kids - many of them illegitimate

"Isaac Singer died in Paignton on 23 July 1875, age 63 years. He was buried in Paignton. After his death, his many children fought over his estate. He fathered at least 19 children by his five known "wives":

two by first wife Catharine Maria Haley: a son, William, and a daughter, Lillian;
10 by Mary Ann Sponseler, including a son, Isaac;
five by Mary McGonigal;
one by Mary Eastwood: a daughter, Alice; and
at least one by Isobelle Boyce: a son, Paris Eugene Singer (Everglades Club and Winter Club (now No Palm Beach CC)

[Mike Cirba]

This is indeed an awesome "thread", no pun intended.

Thanks guys...let's keep digging, and I'd be shocked if we don't uncover a larger role for the other Raynor and/or Emmet, but or new Mr. Raynor seems quite the guy!

[Jim_Kennedy]

Another reason to like Len:
This from 1945:

GOLFERS PLAN GOLF LINKS FOR PATIENTS' USE
To Be Built On GroundOf Rhoads HospitalAt Utica L. M. Rayner, Local Pro, Donates Services as Architect to Lay Out Course .
Plans are nearing completion for the raising of $20,000 from golfers throughout the Centeral New York section for the construction of a golf course at Rhoads General hospital at Utica, for the wounded soldiers…..


JNC,
Affordable was the word for it.

From The Otsego Farmer, August 25, 1938:

GREENS FEES FOR LOCAL PLAYERS LOWER
Under a ruling just adopted by the Board of Governors of the Cooperstown Country club, bona fide residents of Cooperstown may use the Cooperstown golf links by paying a greens fee of one dollar per day. All other regulations affecting the course remain unchanged. The new local rate, which is one-half the regular greens fee, will be appreciated by many Cooperstown golf enthusiasts.

[Tom MacWood]

Mike
Why is this thread any more awesome than the other threads that attempted to discover who did what?

[JNC Lyon]

Mike
Why is this thread any more awesome than the other threads that attempted to discover who did what?

I think Mike was making a joke about the Singer Sewing Machine connection more than anything else.

Mike, It seems Rayner (not Raynor--we have to keep that clear, I think) was pretty heavily involved--wouldn't it make sense that oversaw changes over his many years there, with intermittent suggestions from big-name architect Emmet and golf fanatic Clark?

Furthermore, I have not come across Seth Raynor's name in any of this.  I don't see a lot of Raynor fingerprints at Leatherstocking, except on holes 7, 9, 15 (sort of), and 18 (although we know Len Rayner built the island tee here).  The few Raynor features that are out there might just be the result of Clark's influence as an NGLA member.

[Tom MacWood]

Hilarious...if Leatherstocking was in Philadelphia I don't think this thread would be so awesome.

[JNC Lyon]

Hilarious...if Leatherstocking was in Philadelphia I don't think this thread would be so awesome.

Well, obviously Leatherstocking is not in Philadelphia, so we don't have to worry about that.  The main thing we are trying to do here is figure out who contributed to the early architectural evolution at Leatherstocking.  So far we've established:

• Devereux Emmet laid out the first nine holes in 1909.  He was a consistent visitor to Cooperstown in the 1910s and 20s, so he likely had input on the expanded 18 hole course.
• Len Rayner became head pro and superintendent at Cooperstown Country Club in 1919.  He changed the layout of the entire golf course (except for the second green), and he supervised construction of the brilliant island tee on 18 (presumably to make room for a new par three 17th.  He stayed there until 1955, and he oversaw or made changes that took place in those 35 years.
• Stephen C. Clark completed the Otesaga Hotel in 1911 as a developer.  He was an avid golfer and member at NGLA.  He contributed to the expansion of the golf course in 1919 along with Rayner and Emmet.

Tom, if you have anything to add to this history of Leatherstocking (FKA Cooperstown), please post it.  We'd be happy to have your input.  Otherwise, please refrain from making sarcastic comments that contribute nothing to the discussion.

[Jim_Kennedy]

Mike,
As the digging proceeds, what larger role from Seth Raynor or Devereux Emmet do you think will be found, and why would you be shocked if it wasn't?

Thanks