I think it might be useful to try to create a timeline of events based on 1) What we know as facts, and 2) What was reported in various publications as posted here over the past several weeks.
For starters, let’s review again what CBM wrote in 1928 about the process of locating the land and determining its usefulness for his purposes.
I think the key elements which are important to understand and timeline, are;
“The company agreed to sell us 205 acres, and we were permitted to locate it as best to serve our purposes.”Followed by;
“Again we studied the contours earnestly; selecting those that would fit in naturally with the various classical holes I had in mind, after which we staked out the land we wanted.”I think trying to get a better sense of the timing of two events requires some speculation. We KNOW as a fact that CBM secured 205 “undetermined” acres of the 450 available on December 14th, 1906.
However, is this the date that “the company agreed to sell us 205 acres”? I’m not certain, as David’s October 15th, 1906 article seems to suggest that consideration of the Sebonac Neck property was already well underway, to the point where it had already been surveyed and mapped, presumably by Seth Raynor. In fact, if the land in question in those October articles is indeed the Sebonac Neck property as David and Patrick have insisted here, then indeed those articles strongly suggest that Raynor had already done his site survey and mapping by that date.
Yet, CBM tells us when he first saw the property with Whigham it was so overgrown as to be impassible on foot, so they had to ride around for 2 or 3 days on horseback, “studying the contours of the ground”.
So what do we know for certain, and what does the timeline of the reports suggest to fill in the blanks?
Sept 1905 – FACT – Dean Alvord’s company buys over 2000 acres around Shinnecock Hills and shortly thereafter the Shinnecock Hills and Peconic Bay Realty Company is created to develop the land.
FACT – CBM tells us that a few weeks after Alvord’s purchase he “determined that we should build a course there if we could secure the land.”
FACT – Some undetermined time after that, CBM
“offered the Shinnecock Hills and Peconic Bay Realty Company 200 dollars an acre for some 120 acres near the canal connecting Shinnecock Bay with the Great Peconic Bay, but the owners refused it.”In September 1905, CBM is quoted as saying;
“They have nothing over there that we haven’t got here – sand, turf, hills, the sea – and as far as the reproductions go they will be limited only by the topography of the ground we get, which will be molded and shaped to the degree demanded in carrying out our plans. Moreover, it is the testing features of the best holes we want, not the absolute physical imitation of the Scotch or English models.”“In the selection of holes I am to be a committee of one, but later on others will be appointed with me on the green committee. I shall probably go abroad this winter, and with surveyors and draftsmen visit the ‘classic’ links and plan the working model of our new course.
With the topography of our tract always in mind, it will be an ordinary engineering problem to map out just the course we want. After that the fulfillment will be a matter of contract. Contractors here are up to very fast work on any conceivable undertaking, and if we can get the ground this fall we should be playing golf on it in two years, say the spring of 1907.”The report stated, “Mr. Macdonald added the course would probably be on Long Island and as accessible from New York as possible.”
Jan-June 1906 – FACT – During this period CBM went abroad to complete his studies and had surveyors maps created and did his own sketches of features he felt worth emulation on the best golf holes abroad.
Upon his return it was reported that he was still looking for an ideal site on which to purchase 200 acres for his golf course.
A news article printed in June upon his return quotes Macdonald, making clear that his intent is NOT to create 18 replicated holes, but instead;
”In the thousands of holes I have played and studied abroad with the one idea in view, the principles that make a good hole have cropped up again and again. I found myself classifying the holes on their basic principles, forming them into groups in which the desirable features were due to the reproduction of the same characteristics. On our new course these principles will be introduced to give attractiveness to each hole, and according to the nature of the land finally selected, some three or four of the holes may be exactly resembled. In this country the monotonous cross bunkers for first and second shots bring up one principle again and again; abroad there is an infinite variety of hazards from which one may collect ideas.”October 15th, 1906 – FACT - According to articles found and posted by David Moriarty, news articles announce that CBM has purchased 250 acres on Long Island. Based on the description of the land, David has contended that it was indeed the Sebonac Neck property, essentially proving that they were considering this land well before November and well before the December 14th formal securing of the land.
The articles mention that no construction will be done until the following spring, by which time the opinions of “expert players” in this country and abroad will be sifted and analyzed. The articles go on to state;
Maps showing all the undulations and grades in feet have been executed, and Mr. Macdonald has mailed these to such authorities as Horace Hutchinson, Harold Hilton, John Ball…”
“On this side, H.J. Whigham has accompanied Mr. Macdonald to the scene of operations, and Walter J. travis has been invited to act as consulting engineer, as it were.”Here is how CBM described Raynor’s role and duties;
November 1, 1906 – FACT - It is reported that Macdonald is down to two possible tracts for his purchase; one near Montauk and the other close to Good Ground in western Shinnecock Hills.
December 14th, 1906 – FACT – CBM signs contracts formally securing 205 “undetermined” acres of the 450 available for sale on the Sebonac Neck property.
December 15th – 17th – FACT - Various articles in the New York papers tell the story of the property acquisition with a number of them including a purported quote from CBM;
Sometime in the first half of 1907 – FACT - Construction Commences
August 10th, 1907 – FACT – A news report states,
“A vast amount of money was necessary to insure the proper construction of this unique golf course, for landscape artists have much to do in resurfacing the course to comply with the patterns brought from Europe.”August 26th, 1907 – FACT – The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reports,
“It is now possible to give an official map of the course, which shows it exactly as it will appear except that several additional bunkers are to be added at points not yet determined.” The article includes a sketch of the layout “now under construction”.
Here is how CBM described the construction process;
Macdonald himself cites the holes that are indeed meant to be replicas…the Alps, the Redan, the Eden, and the Road hole and describes the Sahara as, “In one sense, it is not a replica, but it is a mental picture of that fine hole, embodying the underlying principle – a golfer’s reward is granted t him who can negotiate the carry he is caple of accomplishing.”
Here, Macdonald describes the rest of the 13 holes that are not meant to be exact reproductions, as well as the help received from Horace Hutchinson;
February 1908 – FACT - Macdonald, in an article written by Horace Hutchinson, is quoted again referring to the very few holes that are exact copies (and states that they had to be bunkered as the originals dictated), but states that the bunkering of the other holes will take time and likely be placed after play is observed on the course.
August 1908 – FACT – The following article is published that describes further the ongoing construction process, Macdonald’s ongoing communications with Hutchinson, and the article reports that Walter Travis is still involved in the project.
It also again mentions which holes are meant to be replicas and which bear resemblances, as well as which are original creations.