Miami Beach Golf Club - Carl Fisher, Langford, Park and Tippett

[Jim_Kennedy]

How's this for confusing:

Miami Shores CC (NLE) was built by Ross in 1925 on Miami Shores Island which became Indian Creek Island which is also where Flynn built Indian Creek CC in 1930 prior to two Flynn associates building Miami Shores Village G&CC in Miami Shores in 1938, which later became known as Miami Shores CC.

They certainly didn't make it easy for us to try to figure all of this out.

Sven

 

[Jim_Kennedy]

Sven,
I saw a couple of articles saying it was to be a nine hole course, and here's an ad which shows a limited area for golf.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dlMtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=i9cFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5033%2C6747937

[J Cabarcos]

RE:  Willie Park's Bayshore GC

I got a chance to delve into the old Miami News Articles of the past thanks to Google and was able to discover a consistent pattern of upgrades on Bayshore that go way back.  Bayshore in the 1920s was a golf course in a seasonal resort town which routinely closed for the summer months.  Those in charge of Bayshore, namely Carl Fisher's Alton Road Realty Corp took said opportunity to "improve" upon the course in time for the next winter season.   Fisher utilized the golf course as catalyst to lure Northerns down for the winter season to stay and buy land, so it was imperitive for him to have the "latest and greatest championship golf course" for his real estate promotions.  And what a better way for Fisher to showcase his latest golf course than to host an annual professional golfer tournament while the rest of the country was shoving it way out of the snow.

I can’t help but to see Carl Fisher being akin to today’s Donald Trump and Willie Park designed Bayshore like Dick Wilson designed Doral Blue Monster. History has a tendency to repeat itself.

Anyways here is a quick timeline in Bayshore’s 90 plus years and the many changes along the way.



Quick Timeline:

1921    Willie Park lays out 18 golf holes to create a “championship golf course”

1922-23   Bayshore Golf Course is Inaugurated

1926    Miami Hurricane - Course was underwater and subsequently went through changes.

1927-29    Bayshore hosts the Miami Beach Open. Gene Sarazen wins each year.
      Ornate Mediterranean Clubhouse built
        Each year changes were made during the closed summer months.

1930s    Decline: Great Depression compounds previous Florida Land Sale Bust

1940s    World War II - Course was transformed to a military training facility.   
      Developers almost succeed turning Bayshore into a housing development
      Bayshore is restored back into a golf course of prominence. (Redesign by ? Golf Architect)

1950s    Sam Snead wins the first Miami Beach Open after a twenty year tour absence
      New Clubhouse is built

1960s    Arnold Palmer runner up to Gary Player in the 1961 Sunshine Open
      Doral takes pro tour away from Miami Beach
      Jackie Gleason Era at Bayshore
      Renovations by Bruce Devlin & Robert von Hagge

1970s    Decline: Miami Beach becomes Gods Waiting Room
1980s    More Decline: Miami Beach becomes playground for the Cocaine Cowboys
1990s    South Beach’s resurrection prompts Bayshore to get it together.
 
2000           Course is razed, Every blade of grass on course removed, Clubhouse demolished Over 10 Million dollars are spent.
      Arthur Hills/ Steve Forrest golf course emerged in 2003, renamed Miami Beach Golf Club
      
   

[Sven Nilsen]

I found an article from 1913 (The Miami News, Dec. 10) discussing the start of Fisher's Miami Beach project (then known as Alton Beach).

First, here's a photo of Miami Beach from 1914 showing many of the features noted in the article:



In one of the opening paragraphs, the article notes that a golf course has already been laid out, possibly by Langford if the article posted above is correct.  Towards the end of the piece, we are told that Tom Bendelow was to offer his advice on how to make the course "scientifically correct."  

[Sven Nilsen]

Adding to the Indian Creek mystery, here's an article from the Sept. 30, 1928 edition of The Miami News discussing the work needed to make golf on Miami Shores Island possible:

[Sven Nilsen]

A couple of maps of Miami Beach showing the locations of some of the courses discussed in this thread.

The first is from 1936:



The second one dates from 1949:

[Sven Nilsen]

Quick followup to post two articles on the first Miami Beach GC course.

The first is from the Jan. 27, 1915 edition of The Miami News.  As the main 18 hole course was under construction, a temporary 9 hole course was established to allow for play.



The second also appeared in The Miami News and dates from Feb. 3, 1916.  The article notes that holes 4, 5 and 6 were still being worked on at that time, but the rest of the course was in good enough condition to host a 15 hole tournament.

[Tyler Ince]

This is a great read Sven. Miami Beach is my home summer course and Normandy my home winter course.  They both have had the best greens and turf in SoFla.  Miami Beach is the longer of the two and both have water throughout.  Biscayne or Crandon is a great layout but has been in terrible condition the last year or so, I refuse to play it now.

Miami Shores is more of a muni here but I still play it occasionally....it has lights on the range so a decent place to practice.