One of the most frustrating yet telling of Mike's characteristics is his near complete lack of self-awareness in a his posts. He has no sense of irony, proportion, or self-reflection whatsoever. He will write and say anything if he thinks it might sell, no matter how hyperbolic, exaggerated, and misleading it might be.
Take his treatment of the Whigham remembrance. He his trying to convince us to disregard Whigham's inclusion of Merion on the list of famous courses by CBM and/or Raynor by falsely portraying the entire article as an "over-the-top, over-reaching, hyperbolic eulogy" where Whigham "essentially credited [CBM] with every good course built in America from 1910 to 1939." Apparently Mike's point is that we ought to discount "over-the-top, over-reaching, hyperbolic" statements and their authors as overly emotional, too attached to the subject matter, inherently unreliable, and unworthy of any real consideration. I am all for this generally, but Mike ironically focuses on the wrong author.
Here is what mike wrote, his bold:
"All, Not since Marc Antony gave Julius Caesar post-mortem oral have we seen such an over-the-top, over-reaching, hyperbolic eulogy as what HJ Whigham delivered to his late Father-in-law, where he essentially credited him with every good course built in America from 1910 to 1939. More on that later...
The irony is that Mike's representation suffers from the exact same defects which Mike falsely attributes to the Whigham article. The Whigham articleis pretty damn reasonable given the context. Mike's claim is the only thing "over-the-top, over-reaching, [and] hyperbolic." Whigham did not credit CBM with designing every good course in America. He credited CBM and NGLA for laying the groundwork for the golden age courses that followed. He essentially highlighted the groundbreaking and conversation changing nature of CBM's work at NGLA, and that, in my opinion, is a reasonably accurate claim, especially within the context written.
In fact, Whigham not only specifically discussed other great courses for which CBM was not responsible, he demonstrated, unequivocally, that he knew the difference between a CBM course and a course at which CBM had merely offered advice, only some of which was followed. Pine Valley. According to Whigham, CBM inspected the land at Pine Valley and offered his opinion on what should be done, but only some of that advice was followed. Whigham readily acknowledged that while considered one of the best three courses in America, Pine Valley was NOT a CBM course, but sprang from the mind and ideas of Crump. But Merion was a CBM course. Whigham was there and he knew firsthand that this was the case.
So the "over-the-top, over-reaching, hyperbolic" statements? All Mike's. Same for the outright false and/or blatantly exaggerated and misleading statements. Mike's claim(s) deserve the same treatment he suggests for Whigham. He should be dismissed as a partisan hack who is way too caught up in the emotion of the situation and who cannot help misrepresenting the truth to make his case. The constant "over-the-top, over-reaching, hyperbolic" crap is ample evidence that he deserves no place in this conversation.
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Jeff Brauer,
Instead of trying to mock me for calling out Mike for his less than productive tactics, wouldnt it be more productive if you would join me? Use kinder words if you like, but surely you can see what he is doing here. You have admitted it before. Take a look at any point above where I call him out, and tell me that the substance of my criticism is misplaced. So scold me for my word choice all you like, but don't go on ignoring the obvious. I'll bet I'd be a lot less harsh and a lot less negative if others like you didnt turn a blind eye to what we all know is ongoing here.
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Bryan,
The photo you posted was apparently taken with a wide angle. The green is the light colored patch in the back center of the photo close to the center trees, much further away than one might expect to find had it been taken with a narrower lens. While it is difficult to make out much, one can just make out the front ridge of the plateau green. I may have a better copy of the photo somewhere, or when I get a chance I will try to make a better copy from an actual magazine from which it came.
The 100 ft. drop figure gets thrown around elsewhere as well. Merion was none to good at accurate measurements. At least they didn't pretend there was an Ocean crashing below like the chasm hole at Biarritz.