When GolfClubAtlas.com went live in 1999, it did do with 30 course profiles under the Courses by Country section. Approximately half were written by my brother John and the rest by me. We have added about 150 since and one of the most unusual ones – and certainly the one that has provoked some of the most amusing emails – was John’s on Walnut Lane. Written in 2001, it wasn’t the black and white photos that made it stand out as opposed to the fact that this sub 5,000 yard municipal course outside of Philadelphia looked a little bit out of place beside profiles on Pine Valley, Royal Melbourne, etc.
As I recall, I got an email in the ~ 2005 timeframe from a man asking if Walnut Lane’s inclusion was some sort of joke. Regardless, he harrumphed that he wanted no part of a web site whereby people changed into their golf shoes in the parking lot. Oh well – win some, lose some. John’s write-up has always made me want to get there. Read my brother’s profile found here
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/courses-by-country/usa/walnut-lane/ and see if you don’t agree that this par 62 course packs quite a punch, courtesy of such standout holes as the 8th, 12th and 14th. Looking at my brother’s photos, the architect’s use of the land seems both varied and exciting. Plus, here is a man with the guts - as well as clout - to say that a par 62 is the best that could emerge from that particular parcel of land. All very inspiring if you ask me.
Walnut Lane’s architect was Alex Findlay and truthfully, that didn’t mean anything at all to me at the time. Nonetheless, it sounded like such a crafty design that I have always been keen to learn more about him. Hence this month’s Feature Interview with his grandson Richard.
Of course, the more one reads, the more one comes to appreciate how little one knows and that is certainly the case with me having read this Feature Interview several times now. Coincidentally, it turns out Walnut Lane built around 1935 might have been Alex’s last course. His first one came 48 years earlier in Nebraska! Without any doubt, here is one of the pioneers that help spread the game in the United States yet his efforts have gone unrecognized and hugely unappreciated. How he (and Tom Bendelow for that matter) is not in the World Golf Hall of Fame speaks more about that institution than it does about Alex’s contributions.
Richard writes as any proud grandson would and covers about as much territory as his grandfather once did. As the architect of nearly 500 courses (!) from Boston to Montana, Alex spread and promoted golf like perhaps no one before or after. The only logical comparisons came be with Tom Bendelow and Donald Ross but they spread the game as paid professionals: Alex always remained an amateur. An immensely talented player from the very start, he clearly loved golf for golf’s sake and the game loved him back for a long, long time. Richard estimates that his grandfather played over 2,400 courses in his life which is a staggering number given that he moved to the largely golf barren United States in the winter of 1886/1887 and what transportation was like back then.
Alex was the most famous Findlay but there were many others. His brother Fred gets the design credit for Farmington CC in Charlottesville, VA, which some traditionalists consider to this day the best course in Virginia.
Anyway, it is always mission accomplished when you can fill in a gapping hole in design history. Hopefully, you will find this Feature Interview as informative as I did.
Cheers,