We have been told repeatedly that there is no way Crump spotted the site from the train in 1910.
We have been told that for a variety of unbelievable reasons, including the speed of the train.
More credibly, we have been told that it doesn't fit the timeline...that we know Crump looked at sites in Absecon and Browns Mills, NJ at some point, before settling on the present site, and it is presumed that all of this happened in 1912.
However, in looking at Jim Finegan's Pine Valley book last night, I came across something that virtually proves that Crump was already looking at sites for a golf course as early as 1910, including the area around Pine Valley.
First, it's important to note that Absecon is in Atlantic County, near Atlantic City, and over 40 miles as the crow flies from Pine Valley. Similarly, Browns Mills is in Burlington County, or well northeast (about 27 miles as the crow flies) of Pine Valley, which is in Camden County.
Next, consider the letter Howard Perrin wrote to prospective members of the club, sent on April 1st, 1913. It begins;
Dear Sir:
For some years, (bold mine) a number of men who are interested in golf for golf's sake have been thinking about the possibilities of a golf course easily accessible to Philadelphia, where the ground conditions were such as to allow the maximum amount of winter play. This place has been located by George A. Crump, some fifteen miles below Camden, on the line of the Reading Railway, just below Clemonton, NJ. It is sandy, rolling, wooded country, with streams of water flowing through it. Near enough to a town to solve the caddy question and easily accessible, both by railroad and automobile. After satisfying himself that all of the various conditions of the soil, the general layout of the ground for a golf course and its accessibility were favorable, and acting upon the advice of friends, he has purchased 184 acres for the purpose...So, we know that this was something these men had been looking at for "some years" by early 1913. We also know that Simon Carr told us that the men originally met to discuss this at the Colonnade Hotel, which was owned by George Crump until the latter part of 1910 when he sold it, so it is likely that the original meeting took place sometime prior.
After selling his Hotel in 1910, Crump went abroad on a golf trip with a man named Joseph Baker. In 1950 Baker wrote a memoir for the express purpose of setting down for posterity some facts about the founding of Pine Valley. Finegan, quoting Baker, said that Baker claimed to have been a hunting companion of Crump's "on more than fifty trips over the United States."
Baker is quoted further regarding the trip Crump took in October to December 1910;
"In 1910 we (Baker and Crump) made a three-month trip to Europe, playing on various courses - Walton Heath, Sunningdale, Turnberry, Prestwick, Hoylake,...St. Andrews...then we went down to Dover, where there are three golf courses (Royal St. Georges, Royal Cinque Ports, and Princes), and he played 54 holes in one day. From there we went to Carlsbad, Luzerne, Nice, and the Cagres Club. Rome and Egypt completed our trip to Europe and we returned home..."Finegan then goes on to say;
A postcard dated December 1st, 1910, that Crump sent from England to his brother-in-law Ralph Kellam, in Merchantville, suggests that the traveler had in the forefront of his mind on this European odyssey the task he would undertake when he got home, a task he was eager to tackle. "Please buy for me a large map of Camden Co. of most recent date."Now, perhaps Crump in the middle of a three-month dedicated golf trip abroad simply wanted to find how to drive from Philly to Voorhees, or Gibbsboro...
, but the much more likely scenario is that Crump had already spotted land from a train that he was interested in pursuing further. Whether such a map would have had topographical lines is unknown.
Tilinghast wrote in January 1913;
"If I had not been sworn to secrecy I would have told you about this long ago. Now, I am at liberty to do so."Why the need for secrecy? Why the somewhat lengthy delay? Why the need to look at other possible sites (although we don't know the timeframe for when he looked at Browns Mills and/or Absecon, and Baker doesn't tell us)?
Frankly, we don't know for certain. Perhaps the land owned by Sumner Ireland wasn't for sale at that time? Perhaps it was but Crump was hoping to get it at a better price? Perhaps like CBM foisting the story of still looking at Montauk as late as November 1906 he was looking for a negotiating chip? Perhaps there were still sand mining and/or lumbering operations taking place on the property?
Whatever the case, this idea that the couldn't have first spotted the land in 1910 because of the "why did he keep it secret for so long?" theory that seeks to discount Tillinghast's account of a train ride seems to fail quickly in the face of this accumulated evidence.