It seems to me an exceptionally long period to come up with an out and back routing only to have to spend five more months determing which holes to reproduce and their distances after they secured the property per CBM as quoted in Dec of 1906.
Another straw man. By CBM's account they were a long ways into deciding on which holes to feature before the option was obtained.
David,
I am not so sure.
In the March 1906 letter from London, CBM says no design takes place until all his vaunted committee is consulted.
The October article says he has just sent contour maps to those committee members
The December article says that by now, most of the committed (maybe all) have seen the site.
If we take CBM at his words there, then we can't believe he was well on his way to design before the option. It appears his first step - consulting the committee - didn't occur until after October.
And, as in other posts:
If we read what he says in SG literally (i.e., he found 6 holes.....and not mentioning "placing" said holes until after he mentions the Nov 1906 option) the design work started after the option.
I believe the surveying and contour maps took at least a month, maybe two, and I don't see your timeline accounting for that time.
I find it hard to believe CBM ordered Raynor to do a contour map (certainly no earlier than July) and ignore it, starting to route with out it. I doubt he could complete his routing without a map of boundaries and contours. I do agree with you that he could tentatively set some basic boundaries on earlier maps.
I don't believe he was actively routing before consulting his committee, as it would just piss them off, don't you think? What is the point of touting this committee and then not using it? I will grant with CBM's ego, I can envision him outvoting them by 1 to 7 in a few cases!
beyond his reconnaissance rides, and finding a few holes.
Many of your "logical interpretations" don't seem to fit all the known facts from the record, and thus, can reasonably be disagreed with.