Patrick,
Early writings do NOT confirm your theory about Yale... While I don't have the article (yet) I know it was in the Hartford Courant in 1925. Anthony Pioppi found the article, and here is George Bahto commenting:
Re: Interested in opinions on The Biarritz style at Yale and Fishers
« Reply #20 on: October 23, 2009, 12:39:16 PM » Quote
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Bill Brightly and others:
Concerning the idea of the front section of Biarritz greens being putting surfaces:
Biarritz holes have been a favorite of mine from the "git-go" of my Macdonald - Raynor - Banks research.
When I first began researching and visiting their courses beginning in the late 1980's only a few courses had putting surface before the "Valley of Sin" swale; Yale, Mid-Ocean, Chicago Golf come to mind (there were a few more). To me it was a striking feature, totally different from the Biarritz on my hole I'd been plain for so many years, so I encouraged other clubs to go down the road of a "double-green" bisected by the swale.
I had (and have) to this time been able to determine what the original Biarritz green was like but given the time line (1888), the ball, the golf clubs, certainly the firm ground and the differential in the height on the Chasm hole, tee to green, I would suspect the green (or the approach to the green) was long and narrow (a cliff on the right). The original hole was 220-yards - the carry over the Bay of Biscay reported to be 160 or so yards, which leaves 60-yards beyond the Bay to the middle of the green.
but concerning whether the Biarritz holes by Macdonald Raynor were ever meant to be a double green and given that the Yale-9th would be the poster-child for Macdonald-Raynor orginal interpretation, a few months ago friend Tony Pioppi turned up the following information from the Yale archives stating the "green proper is behind a deep groove in the approach" - to me - verifies these hole were never intended to have the double-green.
a portion of the article:
Special to The Courant
The Hartford Courant; Aug 16, 1925 - page B4
New Haven, Aug. 15, 1925
Yale to Open Probably Most Unique and
One of Largest Golf Courses in United States