Rodgers Forge/CC of Maryland and Herbert Strong?

[Mike Cirba]

Does anyone know the story of Rodgers Forge GC, which was supposedly designed by Herbert Strong in 1925?

Today a club known as Country Club of Maryland in Towson, MD states that they were Rodgers Forge GC, yet their site claims the golf course opened in 1943, with an opening day article in the Baltimore Sun newspaper with no mention of Strong. 

Has anyone played there?   The photos look interesting, but I'd also be curious to understand the lineage from any Strong aficionados out there..

Thanks.

[Craig Disher]

Mike,
The 1930-1 American Annual Golf Guide lists Rodgers Forge GC, founded in 1923. Oddly, the 1927 guide don't list it at all.

The GM at my current club came from CC of Md. Next time I see him I'll ask him if he knows anything about it.

[Geoffrey_Walsh]

Mike,

Per our conversation tonight, here is the link to the prior thread:

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,43532.0.html

I came up with a 1925 date for Rodgers Forge which is more consistent with his career timeline.

[Craig Disher]

According to the Baltimore Sun, Strong was the architect of Rogers Forge. An article from April 1924 says

"Upon completion yesterday of his two-day inspection of the Rogers Forge golf links, Herbert Strong, course architect, expressed full satisfaction with the condition of the links and the progress of the work of construction....

The architect spent most of his time going over the greens that had settled over the winter and spring and suggesting changes where conditions warranted them. He also staked out locations for additional traps. Strong left last night. He will return once every two weeks during the spring and summer."

[Tommy Williamsen]

Mike, I played some competition there some thirtyfive years ago. In fact I played it a couple of ti es leading up to it. I remember that the terrain was rolling and the course played fast and firm. It was a new experience for me and had some trouble scoring on it. As I recall the course was a little short but it had one of the best par fours in the state. It crossed a stream twice and vote the tee ball and second shot were difficult. As I recall I enjoyed the course because it made you think your way around it.

[Mike Cirba]

Thanks for the information, fellows.

The website history certainly makes it appear as though the club and course opened in 1942...very odd.

https://www.memberstatements.com/tour/tours.cfm?tourid=33519

[Craig Disher]

Rodgers Forge GC became CC of Maryland in Feb, 1941. In Feb, 1940, the club decided that since the forge no longer existed, the club needed a new name so they settled on Terra Mariae (Latin for Mary's land) GC. That name lasted a year and in 1941 the club renamed itself as CC of Maryland.

A 1943 aerial suggests that the course hasn't been changed much but it's impossible to tell if the greens have been replaced. They certainly appear to be in the same locations and are close in shape and size.  My guess is that there is a lot of Strong's design still on the ground.

[Mike Cirba]

Craig,

Thanks for the additional information...much appreciated!

[Mike Cirba]

Just to wrap this us, came across the following.

Also neat to know that Franklin Meehan, who was involved in Philadelphia design and construction as early as the creation of Shawnee and Cobb's Creek, designed the original Hillendale CC in MD in 1924.  

Perhaps someone familiar with today's CC of Maryland can tell us if the holes sound the same?

 

[John Emerson]

Update on this.  While searching for some information about a local Club I came across this...”across the road (some road in Baltimore I guess) Herbert Strong , famous golf architect is laying out the Rogers Forge Club links.  The latter tract of land was the original grant from king George to the Stevenson family and the original deed is still in file in Annapolis.”  Courier Journal April 15, 1923

[John Emerson]

It goes on to say that all Baltimore area work is to be completed before end of ‘23.  Implying to me that RF was completed in ‘23.  Not sure though.

[Sven Nilsen]

Here's a June 22, 1924 Baltimore Sun article on the course.  Apologize for the small size of the print, best I can do right now.

[Greg Smith]

This is my favorite course to play in Baltimore.  I am not a member, but have played it numerous times from 2007 to present.   The course/tees I played almost exactly matches with the 1924 yardages listed in the newspaper article, except the 7th is now a 430-yard par 4.

The CC of Maryland folks apparently had a renovation done in about 2005, because aerials from the 1990s showed a course with much less prominent bunkering and rounded-off greens.  I have to think the "renovation" was actually somewhat of a restoration because the greens now look much like I think Strong would have done, and that's how the club bills it.  I don't know who did the restoration work, but I really like it.  And the conditioning is great.

A very under-the-radar low profile club, and a wonderful member's course to play.  It takes thought, not length.

[Joe Bausch]

Here's a June 22, 1924 Baltimore Sun article on the course.  Apologize for the small size of the print, best I can do right now.

Perhaps this from the Bausch Archives is more readable:

http://www.myphillygolf.com/uploads/archives/1924BaltimoreSun/pages/page_10.html?

[Sinclair Eaddy]

Joe, we exchanged a few emails regarding your photo collection for CC of Maryland. I am a current member and have been for the past 18 years. The 1924/25 timeline for Rodgers Forge CC are the correct dates for the current Country Club of Maryland. A green and tee renovation was completed in 2005 by designer Joel Weiman from McDonald and Sons who also did the construction. We just completed another phase of our master plan in 2017 with additional tees and the regrassing of all our greens to 007 Bent. Our fairways and tees remain ryegrass. Again McDonald & Sons did the work. Number 7 was changed from a par 5 to a par 4 many years ago and we added a few fairway bunkers (5) after substantial tree removal, but the course remains almost entirely Strong's work and we intend to keep it that way. One of my friends has unofficially kept historical documents which he passed along to me. Still trying to find my copies though...

[Joe Bausch]

Joe, we exchanged a few emails regarding your photo collection for CC of Maryland. I am a current member and have been for the past 18 years. The 1924/25 timeline for Rodgers Forge CC are the correct dates for the current Country Club of Maryland. A green and tee renovation was completed in 2005 by designer Joel Weiman from McDonald and Sons who also did the construction. We just completed another phase of our master plan in 2017 with additional tees and the regrassing of all our greens to 007 Bent. Our fairways and tees remain ryegrass. Again McDonald & Sons did the work. Number 7 was changed from a par 5 to a par 4 many years ago and we added a few fairway bunkers (5) after substantial tree removal, but the course remains almost entirely Strong's work and we intend to keep it that way. One of my friends has unofficially kept historical documents which he passed along to me. Still trying to find my copies though...

My photo album of the CC of Maryland:


http://www.myphillygolf.com/uploads/bausch/CCofMD/index.html

[Jim Sherma]

I’ve played CC of MD a couple times recently and according to the head pro 17 of the 18 greens are original. The 6th was softened to regain some pin placements.


From 150 in the course is excellent with very good green complexes. Off the top of my head 3, 9, 11, 15 and 17 being something special while all had something of interest going on with them.


However the course is very land locked and felt very short. Definitely an example of a course that has deserved design pedigree but given the new equipment could really could use another 30-50 yards on a handful or so holes.


CC of MD is a really nice club with a wonderful set of greens and a nice walkable routing on an interesting piece of land. Everything that should tick all of my boxes and I strongly recommend anyone to play it if given a chance. Unfortunately the playing characteristics and lack of scale appropriate to modern equipment makes it is a poster child, in my opinion, of what has been lost to golf’s inability to temper our distance fetish.

[Jim Sherma]

CC of MD did re-grass their greens in 2017. None of the slopes were altered according to the pro and they looked consistent to me before and after.

[Jim Franklin]

Joe, we exchanged a few emails regarding your photo collection for CC of Maryland. I am a current member and have been for the past 18 years. The 1924/25 timeline for Rodgers Forge CC are the correct dates for the current Country Club of Maryland. A green and tee renovation was completed in 2005 by designer Joel Weiman from McDonald and Sons who also did the construction. We just completed another phase of our master plan in 2017 with additional tees and the regrassing of all our greens to 007 Bent. Our fairways and tees remain ryegrass. Again McDonald & Sons did the work. Number 7 was changed from a par 5 to a par 4 many years ago and we added a few fairway bunkers (5) after substantial tree removal, but the course remains almost entirely Strong's work and we intend to keep it that way. One of my friends has unofficially kept historical documents which he passed along to me. Still trying to find my copies though...

How did the rye handle the summer heat and tremendous amount of rain?

[Sinclair Eaddy]

Jim, not well. The rain and elevated soil temperatures from the summer have taken their toll. The superintendent reseeded some of the hardest hit fairways and they are coming along nicely now that we are getting into cooler, though not necessarily dryer weather. Our new 007 greens were largely unaffected by the heat this summer. I played Five Farms last week and your 007 fairways weathered the summer very nicely. The greens were smooth and fast as you would expect at BCC.