Francis described the land Merion received in the swap as "land about 130 yards wide by 190 yards long -- the present location of the 15th green and 16th tee."David,
The only problem with that theory is this isn't what Merion actually purchased.
If you're telling us that prior to the Francis Swap Merion had not originally intended to purchase any land north of the south boundary of Haverford College, only giving themselves about 80 yards beyond the quarry to work with (despite CBM's admonishment that "much could be made of the quarry" as a hazard
), and despite the fact that the Johnson Farm ran for 328 x 150 yards north to College Avenue, then it still makes no sense..
As Bryan Izatt pointed out last week, Merion didn't buy a 130x190 parcel of land in some swap, if that's how you're interpreting Francis.
Instead, as part of their overall purchase they bought a triangle of property that is 130 yards at the base (southern boundary of Haverford College) and goes 328 yards to the north, encompassing the right side of Golf House Road the entire length, and maintaining the existing historic eastern Johnson Farm boundary along the entire length.
In fact, Merion ended up purchasing the Johnson Farm to its historic original boundaries on the east, on the north, on the south, and on the western portion below Ardmore Avenue. The only border that wasn't simply the historic existing border was the western side above Ardmore Avenue where the property was sub-divided for real estate development.
Are you saying that Merion didn't originally intend to purchase any of the Johnson Farm land north of the south boundary of Haverford College prior to the swap?
At the end of the day, they still ended up purchasing a narrow triangle of land 138 yards long beyond that 190 cited by Francis, 76 of which only included the right side of Golf House Road, and the next 62 gradually widening to include the curve of Golf House Road to the west and running along the existing historic eastern boundary of the Johnson Farm.
Are you saying that if Merion had found a way to fit the final five holes into the cramped space south of Haverford College, that they would not have purchased any land north of there? If so, how do you think Golf House Road would have been configured and would Merion be on the hook for the right half of the 328 yards of Golf House Road north of there?
Why do you think they wouldn't have wanted to use any of the 328 yards x 150 yards of the Johnson Farm north of the Haverford College boundary?