Mysterious Ad, 1915 - Can Anybody Name the Architect

[Neil Regan]

I found this in Golfers Magazine, 1915.

Any ideas who this Andy might be ?

[Rich Goodale]

Fascinating, Neil

I have a reasonably educated guess that "Andy" could well be Archie Simpson, based on the research which I did for an article I wrote about him several years ago:

http://www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/Article/Archie-Simpson/1432/Default.aspx#.UxhxyYX1nIU

Archie was one of the finest golfers in the world in the late 19th century as well as perhaps Old Tom Morris' most trusted architectural assistant, working with the great man on courses such as Dornoch and Cruden Bay.  He worked in both England and Scotland as a golf professional and an architect and designed much of the back 9 at Royal Aberdeen as well as all of Murcar and many other courses in and arpound Aberdeen.

He moved to the US in 1911 to become the Professional at the CC of Detroit in 1911, and there are occasional references to him in the LA84 archives, both as an accomplised golfer and as the man who assisted Harry Colt in his re-modeling of the CCofD course in 1913-4, but after 1914, the references stop.  The next thing we know about Archie is that he went back to Scotland in 1921 before returning to the USA spoon after, moving itinerantly from Illinois to Ohio to Illinois in the 1920's before disappearing again until his death, from "old age" in 1955 back in Detroit.

In writing the article linked above I was in contact with CCofD officials and they were very friendly until I broached the subject of:

1.  How much of Colt's remodel was actually done by Archie, and
2.  Why did Archie leave, and exactly when?

All I got from them was silence.  Not more friendly correspondence saying something like "Sorry, Rich, but we just cannot find that information", but complete silence and no responses.  I gave up after 2-3 tries and then wrote the article.

I have a theory as to why Archie seems to have been airbrushed out of CCofD's publicly available collective memory, but it is just coincidental speculation.  I have more confidence in stating that Archie's relationship with CCofD went sour at sometime after his arrival in 1911, and that if this is so, the pseudoymous advertisement that you have posted would fit the facts and my speculations.  That the advertisement was posted at the height of WWI also fits with its text of a man stranded in a place he longer wanted to be.

My thoughts, anyway.

Rich

[Rich Goodale]

Do I get to express a backup theory?  If so:

Willie Park, Jr.

[Jason Thurman]

Rich, Archie Simpson was one of the first pros at my home club in Cincinnati. I don't know a ton about him other than that he was a notorious gambler. I'll read your article when I get a minute later today. Thanks for posting it.

[Jim_Kennedy]

Rich,
I have several references to Archie playing tournaments at Whitemarsh in 1917, at CC of Detroit in 1915, and at the Michigan Open in 1920. Either a reference to Detroit or a reference to him as the pro at CC of Detroit is mentioned.

As you wrote, he was the pro at CC of D in1911 and articles mention him being employed there in 1915 and 1920. Doesn't seem like he'd be looking for a job in 1915. 

[Sven Nilsen]

These types of "coded" response tags were pretty common.  I don't think there is anything sinister in why the job seeker was not using their real name.

Sven

[Neil Regan]

I had a notion that it might be Tom Winton.
He came to Siwanoy as greenskeeper in 1915, Iirc. (Corrected:1916)
He made clubs, and his family were several generations of well-known professionals and clubmakers.
In 1920 or 1921, Harry Vardon at Siwanoy said that he knew Winton from back home as an excellent course designer who has made a wonderful course at Siwanoy. (Donald who ? )
The ad ran for at least 2 months; I have not checked to see exactly how long it ran.

"Andy" was most likely a pseudonym, but perhaps with some connection to reality. (Sort of like "Rihc"? )

 

[Rich Goodale]

Thanks, Neil, but I can't see it being Winton as he has absolutely no design pedigree in the UK, whereas Simpson and Park Jr. did habve.  Of course, he could be conflating his resume, a la some contemporary NY based developers.....

As for pseudonyms, I think that the inverted commas give that away.  When people adopt pseudonyms they often make them similar to their real name (e.g. "Shivas"=Schmidt).  To me "Andrew" is far closer to Archibald than any other of the so-far named suspects.  And as for "Rhic" it is a tyop that has gone vilar..

All the best

Rich

[Joe Bausch]

Do I get to express a backup theory?  If so:

Willie Park, Jr.

That's my guess, too.

[Neil Regan]

I think Park is a good guess, but...
Tom Winton came over with Park on the same boat in 1916.

Rich, you say
"...but I can't see it being Winton as he has absolutely no design pedigree in the UK, whereas Simpson and Park Jr. did habve."
I have seen references that say Winton helped Park and Abercromby build courses, e.g. Coombe Hill and South Herts.
Harry Vardon did say that Winton had built some fine courses back home. ( I can not remember the exact words, they came in a thank you note to Siwanoy.)
And I believe that Harry Vardon wrote a letter of recommendation for Winton when he was being considered for Rockefeller's Pocantico course. ( Flynn got the job.)
I think that "absolutely no pedigree" is not quite right. But "conflation" is a distinct possibility (if the ad is Winton's.)

I'm leaning toward Park as the answer. But if so, I would guess that there was some connection between Park coming over and Winton getting the job at Siwanoy.

PS I am not up on old clubs. Did Park have a "celebrated line of golf clubs"?

[Jim_Kennedy]

Another guess would be his brother, John "Jack" Park.    He supervised const. of Maidstone in 1898 and then worked with Willie and Mungo in Britain and Argentina, respectively, building courses. He once again returned to Maidstone in 1915 as the pro.

As WP's great-nephew Mungo wrote in a Feb. '08 Golf Course Architecture magazine article:

Willie didn't come to the US again until 1916, the ad is 1915, and didn't he come to open a design business, not become a club pro?

  With the onset of war there was little to be done in Britain or Europe, and few people to do it. In 1916, thus, he went again to New York, where his younger brother John was already professional at the Maidstone. Willie developed the office of ‘William Park – Golf Architect’ with the same energy and application as in Britain.

Granted, Willie could have been coming here looking for a professional's job for some steady income, but this October 21, 1916 Sporting Life was happy to see him return to the states for his architectural abilities. Plus, he was 52 or 53 years old in 1916.
 

[Marty Bonnar]

It's Kaufman, of course. Faked his own death, travelled back in time and placed a fake ad. Genius.

F.

[DMoriarty]

I have my doubts about Willie Park, Jr. because he was quite famous and I cannot see that he would have had to resort to a general advertisement to find a position. I also have my doubts about anyone who had already been established in the U.S. for similar reasons.

[Ulrich Mayring]

The term "European War" was only used in the US at that time, so we are looking for a guy, who in 1915 already is in the US, but was based in Europe before.

There was a well-known clubmaker Andrew Bisset in North Berwick, but I don't believe he designed any courses and I don't know if he came to the US. But apparently he stopped making clubs in 1915.

J. H. Taylor, who has all the credentials, never left the UK. But perhaps that's because no one answered his ad

Ulrich

[Neil Regan]

"The term "European War" was only used in the US at that time, so we are looking for a guy, who in 1915 already is in the US, but was based in Europe before."

Not so sure about that.


The First VC of the European War, painted in 1914
   
 

[Ulrich Mayring]

From http://www.history.com/news/ask-history/were-they-always-called-world-war-i-and-world-war-ii

After initially referring to the “European War,” U.S. newspapers adopted “World War” once America entered the confrontation in 1917. On the other side of the Atlantic, meanwhile, Britons preferred “Great War” until the 1940s—with the notable exception of Winston Churchill, who reminisced about the “World War” in the 1927 volume of his memoir “The World Crisis.”

Ulrich

[Andy Levett]

Not sure anyone already in the US would be affected by the "European war" in 1915 and using that as a reason for seeking another post.
How about Sandy Herd? The name fits, he had a good portfolio of course designs and as an Open champion may well have had a "celebrated line of golf clubs". He left Huddersfield GC in 1911 and didn't die until 1944, but I don't know what he was doing in 1915.

[Rich Goodale]

Hi Andy.  Great to hear from you again.

Vis a vis 1915, anybody in the USA who was even thinking about travelling to or from Europe would have been extremely cautious about the effects of the "Great" War, particularly after May 1 of that year when the Germans torpedoed and sunk the passenger cruiser HMS Lusitania, killing hundreds of innocent US citizens in the process.  Any Brit resident in the US on that date was risking death to travel home.

Another possibility?  Ben Sayers, who became Merion's head pro ~1915, IIRC.

[Ulrich Mayring]

I read the ad such that the guy lost his employment in Europe due to the war and that he advertised his services in an American magazine. If he were still in Europe at that time, then how could he communicate with the American magazine in a timely manner or even be sure to make it across the ocean in case of an employment offer? Remember, U-boat warfare was going on and the RMS Lusitania was sunk in May 1915, creating world-wide repercussions.

I'm not saying that it was impossible to communicate with and emigrate to the US at that time, just very impractical and unreliable and thus unlikely.

Ulrich

Edit: I thought of one of the Sayers boys as well, namely George, but did any of them design any courses?

[Andy Levett]

Yes, I'd thought he was in Britain, having either returned from a job on the continent due to the war or having lost a post in Britain (or experienced a big drop in income) due to the war. I thought he would have placed the ad by telegraph.
But on reflection he could have been in the US already, his employment coming to an end, and reluctant to return for both economic and personal safety reasons.
The date the ad was placed is relevant - the sinking of the Lusitania shocked and surprised people at the time so they were much less willing to cross the Atlantic in either direction in the second half of 1915 than the first.

[Ulrich Mayring]

If he had placed the ad by telegraph, then how would he have paid for it? He would at the very least need a contact person in the US to handle that for him and keep him updated on the offers rolling in (also via telegraph?). Negotiations or interviews with interested clubs also seem impractical other than in person.

Ulrich

[Jim_Kennedy]

This link takes you to a fairly comprehensive list of clubmakers. It also lists where they began and where they ended up.

http://www.antiquegolfscotland.com/antiquegolf/maker.php3

Here's the only one on the list that comes close to fitting the description in the ad.

James Hepburn
Carnoustie/London/NY

 James Hepburn was born in Carnoustie in 1876. I don't know if he was secretary of the PGA as his grand-daughter suggests, but he was certainly one of the original members. He was both a good player (representing Scotland against England in 1903, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1909, 1910, 1912 and 1921, twice semi-finalist in the PGA Matchplay Championship, two top 10 finishes in the Open Championship) and a renowned clubmaker.

 He was professional at Bush Hill Park 1896-1897, Enfield (London) 1897, Church Stretton 1898 (which he designed with Jack Morris) [Church Stretton’s own history mixes this up saying James Hepburn was professional at Royston - that was, in fact, his brother Robert] and Home Park (Surbiton, Surrey) 1900 until, perhaps, 1914. Some time shortly after this he emigrated to the US and was pro at the National Golf Links in Southampton, NY, until 1928. (Some sources conflict on these last dates, he may have been a visiting pro there from as early as 1915, i.e. spending summers in NY and winters in England. He is cited as the pro there in the New York Times of 1st September 1916)

 He was chairman of the committee responsible for forming the PGA of America in 1916.

 While in Surbiton he ran a successful clubmaking business (Hepburn and Williamson) with Hugh Williamson, brother of Tom.



Edit: A BDE article from April 30, 1915 suggests JH was hired prior to that date. If Neil's ad was from the second half of the year you can scratch him.         

Pending the arrival from abroad of James Hepburn, the British professional, Frank H. Bellwood of Garden City has arranged for Irving Stringer to carry on the professional's work at the National links at Shinnecock Hills, L. I., for a month.

[Niall C]

Neil

Interesting article. Remind me but the Golfers Magazine, was that an american mag ? I assume so.

Couple of observations;

1 - the ad reads like its from someone looking to leave the UK, presumably to go to US if I'm right about Golfers Mag being american publication.

2 - they are looking for employment and promoting themselves principally as a professional golfer

3 - they presumably weren't of fighting age or at least weren't fit to fight, but at the same time possibly were reluctant to openly be seen to be looking to leave the UK which might have been thought unpatriotic.

Having said that, and looking at the candidates to date, I doubt very much whether either Simpson or Park would have written the article. For one thing Archie was already in the US, working I believe, so why the need to reference the conflict and what was happening in Europe ? Why not just advertise under his own name ?

Park also already had business interests in the US at that point did he not ? So again why be circumspect ?

I think it is more likely to have been a lesser known professional who had a club job, made his own clubs like a liot of them still did, and had laid out a few courses. I'd guess that he was Scottish and had worked in England. Scottish pros tended to go south while English pros rarely went north for work as there was more money down south.

So who could it be ? Could be many but Butchart is one who springs to mind. He worked all round the UK including Ireland, laid out a number of courses and was a well known clubmaker.

Niall

[Niall C]

Just had a message from Jim Kennedy pointing out that Butchart was in a prisoner of war camp so clearly wasn't him. How many pro's of the time, aprt from Andra Kirkcaldy were called Andrew ?

Niall  

[Sven Nilsen]

"Andy" was simply a code used for the magazine to sort and direct the responses while keeping the advertising party anonymous.  It is entirely possible that the person who bought the ad didn't even come up with the name.

Take a look through the ad sections of some of those old magazines and you'll find a plethora of similar types of "names."

For example, one of the 1916 Golfer's Magazines contains a ton of Position Wanted ads, many of the "Address" directions are numbers (1197, 2010, etc.).  Many are names or initials, including:

Scot
A.F.
No. Berwick
Competent

Sometimes they used their real names, including Otto Hackbarth and Jack Canavan.

Sven