If it is alright with you Tom MacWood, I'll stick to my enjoyment of the story and history of Tom Bendelow, and view it in the context that I imagine was the millieu of the times. I don't think I have any of the facts so inaccurate that I have a warped sense of what Tom Bendelow meant to the game of golf. And, as I mentioned early on, I don't have any need to rank Tom Bendelow against any other of the ODG historical figures as to who is the most influential or worthy of some hall of fame bid. To me, Tom Bendelow will always be 'the Johnny Appleseed of Golf' in America. No need to grind on that, it is my view and needs no validation from you.
Moreso, I really don't have any need to assert myself as some be-all- end-all voice of authority on golf course architecture history or history of the game. I can read, and I can interpret for myself the various facts and factoids we are lucky enough to have brought to us by folks like Sean Tully, and then go about my enjoyment and consumption of the facts to give my imagination a thrill to think about those great and talented men, of that era. Should I comment and find a kindred spirit who thinks similarly, or has interesting points to add or give more enjoyment to the discussion of that era... well that is why I still come here to GCA.com.
About the only think that really does detract from that enjoyment of discussion on GCA.com is your priggish insistance of injecting your personal determinations of what is historically valid and not valid in nearly every discussion of the accomplishments of those people of that era, to the extent that whenever you enter one of these historical golf or tribute to an historical figure threads, it seems to take on a nasty edge.