1909 course reviews in The Christian Science Monitor

[DMoriarty]

I'd say that's a cop-out (pun intended) on your part Mike. There are 6 holes with one cross bunker and 3 holes with two.

Guy's either an inconsistent reviewer or a homer.    

Or, what seems most likely to me, he had never seen CGC and was commenting on the map and other descriptions.  

Speaking of inconsistency, critiquing some of these courses (but not others) based on a stick routing is more than a little offensive to the very idea of sound historical analysis. Look at the stick routing for Myopia, for example. There are plenty of cop bunkers and road crossings.  Was it an inferior, dark ages links? Of course not. Making such a pronouncement based on its stick routing would be ridiculous. The same goes for pronouncements that courses like CGC or Montclair were "bad" or "ghastly" based on nothing more than a stick routing.

Cops were part of the style of the time. Some courses featured cops, yet still had architectural merit.  Myopia for example. Stick maps show cops, but they don't necessarily show other, better architectural features, such as the incorporation of natural undulations.

[MCirba]

What else do we have to comment on here if not for the stick routings and hole and course descriptions?

In the case of Chicago, the members and CBM evidently agreed, having Raynor design essentially a brand new course shortly after WWI.

[Jim_Kennedy]

In the case of Chicago, the members and CBM evidently agreed, having Raynor design essentially a brand new course shortly after WWI.

Mike,

You know that was the case with every golf course that was built prior to 1910. 

[MCirba]

In the case of Chicago, the members and CBM evidently agreed, having Raynor design essentially a brand new course shortly after WWI.

Mike,

You know that was the case with every golf course that was built prior to 1910.  ;

Jim,

True of many and probably most but some of the best of that time period like Myopia, Garden City, and Ekwanok remain today very much as they were by 1909.

[Brad Tufts]

Hi Joe,

GREAT FIND!!!

Glad this article was of use for you Brad.  I must admit that I know very little about Tedesco.

Thanks...I think this may go into our newletter, and may be the beginning of a long overdue history section on our website (I have many other references/articles to post).

Brief summary of our golf course history, we are located in Marblehead/Swampscott, MA about 16 miles north of Boston, a half mile from the ocean...the course is named for a ship that wrecked in Swampscott in 1857.

1902-1903: 6 holes were built by members adjacent to the beach in Swampscott...this was an early summer home area for wealthy Bostonians.

Roughly 1906:  Farmland was purchased between Tedesco and Salem streets, and 9 holes were planned, presumably by members.  The CSM article details these holes, and we did not have details for them, even though our current 1-5, 8-10, 18 are basically the same as the original 9 with a few length, green location, and playing angle changes.

1912:  Additional land is purchased across Salem St. into a wooded area, 9 more holes open.  We are not sure who is responsible for designing this.  We have record of a construction company, but not an architect.  Our supposed architect of record has long been Skip Wogan, who was Ross's assistant pro at Essex CC from 1910-1913 before becoming head pro when Ross went to NC full time.  It would make sense that the designer was some combination of Ross/Wogan (as Wogan was in his early 20s and had no courses to his name yet), but no proof as to how this worked out.  About half of these holes exist today.

1927:  An additional 9 holes is built across Tedesco St. in a marshy area, called the "Gun Club 9."  Not sure who designed this, but very likely to be Wayne Stiles.  

1927-1930:  Wayne Stiles refurbishes the current 18 with new bunkering (we once had 200+ bunkers, today there are about 65), and adds a fourth nine holes beyond the back nine.  The members immediately incorporate the new holes into a "Championship 18," leaving many of the original holes as the "Short 9."  Local papers tout Tedesco as one of (if not the) first full-service 36 hole country clubs in New England.

1931-1932: Gun Club 9 is sold to locals to be operated as the public Sunbeam Golf Course, eventually closing for development in 1953.

1935:  The 4th nine is abandoned, the routing returns to the 1912-1930 configuration with a few elements of the 4th nine included.

1937:  Donald Ross consults, and makes many recommendations...the only substantial one the club does is to move the current 12th green from a low area to a shelf-like green on a steep hillside.  Ross's pamphlet comically/sarcastically lists "Tedesco, one hole, 1937."

1938-1980s:  The dark ages...bunkers disappear, too many trees are planted, a few holes are re-routed, we arrive at something similar to the original 1912 configuration with about 6 holes replaced/changed.  By the club's 50th anniversary in 1953 (but probably earlier), members are playing today's course.  

1990s:  Stephen Kay consults, bunkers are refurbished.  Phil Wogan is also involved somehow, as we build a large driving range in the middle of the back nine (through area that contained some of the abandoned 1930s holes) in the mid-90s.

2014:  Long range plan with Ron Forse completed...historically-sensitive "resto-vation" dreams are discussed!  Lot of trees removed!

[MCirba]

I think one of the important things to keep in mind in looking at any of the old routing drawings (and MUCH thanks to Joe, and Jim Kennedy, and others who have dug up so many over the years here for our understanding) is that during those early years roads were deemed "hazards" under the Rules of Golf.

When Richard Francis wrote in 1950 that "In those days, we thought Ardmore Avenue would make a fine hazard", referring to the three parallel road crossings taking place on the original 10th, 11th, and 12th at Merion East, he was being quite literal.     

[Jim_Kennedy]

Jim,

True of many and probably most but some of the best of that time period like Myopia, Garden City, and Ekwanok remain today very much as they were by 1909.

Mike,
The known changes to Ekwanok and GCGC are numerous enough to dispel that notion.

[MCirba]

Jim,

I'm not as familiar with Ekwanok but seem to recall that the basic routing from that time period remains much the same and that's largely true of Garden City as well, no?   

That doesn't mean bunkers haven't been added or subtracted, new, longer tees built and/or greens re-built and such but isn't the basic framework of both those courses (and Myopia) much the same?   

By contrast, courses like Chicago seem to have been wholly redesigned, or at least significantly redesigned with entirely new holes.   

[DMoriarty]

Mike,
The known changes to Ekwanok and GCGC are numerous enough to dispel that notion.

Same goes for Myopia, which was undergoing significant changes for years therafter, including major changes circa 1910-1911.

[John Burnes]

Joe-

1) With regards to Chicago, was the course reviewed in this article the same (or very similar) to the Open that would be hosted there in 1911?

2) If so, then what change were made by Raynor?

3)  Lastly, if #1 and #2 are true, what is the current course features, layout, routing etc?

Maybe you have a diagram of all three?

[MCirba]

John Burnes,

1) Yes, correct.  

2) Raynor submitted plans in 1920 for what was a essentially a redesign of Chicago into much the course that exists today.

3) I don't have a diagram of the present course but I do have an article to share from the Chicago Daily Tribune in 1920.   I'm hopeful either Joe or Jim Kennedy can provide us a side by side comparison.

[Dan Kelly]

Rogers on Bretton Woods
http://tinyurl.com/q4mx56v

1901 photo of Bretton Woods (be sure to click "View Full Size"): http://www.shorpy.com/node/11895

[MCirba]

That is one cool picture, Mr. Kelly.

[Jim_Kennedy]

Dan,
Any idea what was going on in the photo? Couldn't help noticing the gallery rope.

[Dan Kelly]

Dan,
Any idea what was going on in the photo? Couldn't help noticing the gallery rope.

Jim --

Your guess is as good as mine.

Looks to me as though a Big Match is about to commence. The crowd is heading out to watch it.

My guess is: Shorpy has the wrong date on the picture.

My guess is that it's 1900, not 1901.

My guess is that Harry Vardon and J.H. Taylor were in the midst of their long American tour.

Did they play at Bretton Woods? I don't know. Maybe someone else here does.

Dan

[Dan Kelly]

Ha!

According to Links magazine article on the Omni Mount Washington resort:

Even quainter is the nine-hole Mount Pleasant course, which first opened in 1895, was redone by Silva and the late Geoffrey Cornish in 1989, and in between has challenged the likes of Harry Vardon, J.H. Taylor, Willie Anderson, and other early-game greats. Today it’s perfect for family golf or a spirited warm-up (it’s no pushover), featuring vast tracts of wildflowers and wetlands.

DOUBLE HA!

See http://www.shorpy.com/node/14073

Is that Taylor, in fact, hitting the tee shot? Is Vardon in that picture?

[DMoriarty]

I hope those reading realize that it is fallacious logic to conclude that in Chicago Golf Club was a horrible course in 1909 just because it was changed by CBM and Raynor a decade later.

As a number of posters have pointed out, virtually every course in the United States was significantly changed during this time period, beginning near the end of the first decade of last century.  Golf course architecture was undergoing significant changes during this time period, and this impacted all of the top courses, not just CGC.

[MCirba]

John Burnes,

Per your questions, I've borrowed images of the circa 1894 Chicago Golf Club course from Kevin Mendik's great article on restoration from this site and a modern aerial image of the Seth Raynor design from the similarly terrific site www.golfcoursehistories.com to show the differences.  

[MCirba]

There's a vast and obvious difference between courses that were almost completely redesigned on the same land like Chicago and Newport versus some of the best courses from that early period whose fundamental bones and core routing prior to 1910 remains virtually intact.

Yes, bunkers have come and gone, tees have been added, greens rebuilt, but by land large the following courses generally acknowledged as the best in their time periods are like the old Bob Seger song, "Still the Same".  

I've included Ekwanok, which I don't know as much about as the other three (and could only find a routing map from 1914) so perhaps I'm wrong there but believe from a previous thread that the routing from very early on is much the same.  

Garden City 1900



Oakmont 1903



Myopia 1901



Ekwanok 1914

[DMoriarty]

If greens have been rebuilt and or moved, bunkers added and subtracted, tees added and repositioned so as to avoid blind shots, roads moved or filled in, high spots bulldozed, then the courses are not "still the same."  

Doing this sort of analysis based on stick routings is just plain silly, especially when there are numerous sources describing significant changes over the years at all these courses.

And so what if Chicago was changed around 1920. Does this mean it a bad course in 1894-1909 compared to what else was out there at the time? Of course not. A "redesign" in 1920 does not mean that the course before was horrible in 1909 or before.

Through 1912 CGC had hosted three US Opens and (more importantly) four US Amateurs, including the 1909 and 1912 Amateurs.  While it was far from perfect, it was considered one of the top courses of the time.  But like all of the courses of that era, it was eventually changed significantly, and brought more up to date with more modern ideas.

[MCirba]

I think the difference between a course with the same routing evolving over time and one that's largely blown up and redesigned from scratch is self evident.  

It really isn't worthy of debate.

[Jim_Kennedy]

I think the difference between a course with the same routing evolving over time and one that's largely blown up and redesigned from scratch is self evident.  

It really isn't worthy of debate.

There is really no difference -  anyone who played on these courses in 1909 would not be able to recognize any of them today.

  

[MCirba]

Jim,

I'm really surprised you believe that.   From an agronomic perspective, I can see perhaps, but those golf holes on the ground didn't go anywhere.  

When I look at photos of vintage courses I'm most familiar with in the area built in the teens such as those at Cobb's Creek and Merion they are very recognizable.

[Jim_Kennedy]

I don't recall the conversation mentioning any courses built in the teens, only ones from an earlier era.

If you choose to believe that a reincarnated Walter Travis would recognize the modern day Ekwanok then so be it.