Essex County Club - Travis's Original Design

[SPDB]

There is an excellent piece in the most recent MassGolfer which chronicles Massachusett's architectural history - with blurbs on many architects, even the most obscure one (e.g. a paragraph on Al Zikorus).

In the write up on Herbert Leeds they mentioned that he assisted Walter Travis and John D. Dunn in the original design of Essex County Club, which was cited as the first 18 hole layout in the state.  Is this true? The timing seems a bit dubious, but thought I would ask the group what, if anything, they know about the original course. The Travis society page has it listed as 1908, and a remodel at that.

[T_MacWood]

I'm not sure when the first 18 was built in Massachusetts, I believe Myopia was around 1900...perhaps Essex predates that.

JD Dunn and Travis worked together at Ekwanok in 1899...so who knows. I thought I read that Travis gave advise to Ross when he redesigned Essex County around 1911+. Ross and Travis advised Chevy Chase around that time as well.

[Gerry B]

Last time i was at Myopia one of the members told me that Leeds did in fact have a hand in Essex. Myopia opened prior to 1900 as it hosted the 1898 US Open - the first of 4 that it hosted prior to World War 1. I think Myopia opened in 1896 - which makes sense.

[SPDB]

Tom -
I was hoping you would chime in. As you note, the timing does coincide with Ekwanok, so it seems plausible. I would definitely like to know more about Travis's course, if it indeed existed. I was hoping that another Tom (Doak) would also weigh in with some thoughts, since I know he's done work at Essex. Travis work at Garden City began around '01, right?

Gerry B.
Myopia did open in 1896, but it was only a 9-hole course at that time and did not add another 9 until after the Open in '98, and reports are that it opened for play shortly before the next Open held there in 1901, so there is some room for another 18 to have opened at Essex prior to the full 18 hole complement at MHC.

The history of Bass Rocks GC in Gloucester (also a Leeds design), cites Leeds as the designer of Essex (which it also says was modified by Skip Wogan). There's an interesting story afoot on Essex that I'm very curious about.

[T_MacWood]

According to the club history (as told in the Ross biography) Essex County began as a nine holer around 1896 designed by local pro--Tom Bruntal. The course was expanded to 18 in 1900--desgner unnamed, maybe Leeds; maybe JD Dunn; maybe someone else.

I do know Horace Hutchinson visited the course in 1910 and was very critical of the routing--too much hill climbing and far too many blind shots. Starting the next year Ross began completely redsigning the golf course.

[wsmorrison]

The Country Club in Brookline was expanded to 18 holes and opened for play in 1898.

[Brad Tufts]

Skip Wogan was the longtime pro at Essex after Donald Ross left to spend his years at Pinehurst and the summer home in Rhode Island, so his modifications to the course (if anything substantial, most likely just maintenance issues) would be after the Ross influence.

Eugene "Skip" Wogan was responsible for several courses in New England while he was the pro as Essex, including the original 18 at Tedesco (see "My Home Course"), Blue Hill (site of 1950 PGA) and Webhannet in Maine, among a couple others.  He is also the recognized founder of the NEPGA.  His son Phil Wogan still practices architecture today, although George Sargent has taken over much of the business in Mr. Wogan's semi-retirement.

[Brad Tufts]

Oakley and Belmont still both exist, although at least Oakley has been heavily modified.  The original Wollaston lies somewhere underneath the current President's golf course in North Quincy, which can be seen just east of Route 93 traversing a large hill.

Apparently the former Wollaston was where Francis Ouimet used to practice for the British Open and Amateur, as he felt the windy conditions and varying terrain prepared him for overseas golf.  The club moved to its current George/Tom Fazio course in the mid-70's (site of US Junior in 1992), and the original course was turned over to the city of Quincy.  The course was subsequently redesigned for public play, including a water-surrounded (and perhaps ill-advised) showcase par five built into a marsh.  The course is short at 5670, par 70, but still has some interest in its severely sloping greens, and good test of the wedge game.  

Recently, the course has been revamping each hole, one by one, as the course had gotten a bit tired over the years.  Every year the course hosts the Norfolk County Classic, the unofficial kickoff to the year's Massachusetts Amateur golf circuit.

[wsmorrison]

Wollaston was also next door to the Flynn residence.  Flynn caddied there and learned to play there as well.  

Wollaston had a full 18 holes open on October 6, 1900 at 5336 yards.

[MCirba]

Digging up this old thread to see if anything has surfaced in the past 13 years as evidence that Walter Travis, John Duncan Dunn, (with a possible assist from Herbert Leeds) revised the original 9 holes and added nine holes to Essex County, circa 1899, opening in 1900?

I ask for a few reasons.   First, it's listed as Travis/Dunn (prior to the Donald Ross revisions in the teens) in both Cornish/Whitten books, Golf Digest lists that same attribution in all of their Top 100 literature, and the club itself seems to promote that attribution.

It is clear that Travis and Dunn did some work together at that time at both Ekwanok and Flushing, but I've yet to verify the Essex County attribution through any contemporaneous source.   

Strangely, the 1993 Centennial History books says that "the architect is not recorded, but Herbert Leeds, creator of the Myopia course, John Duncan Dunn, and Walter J. Travis may all have been involved.", and then goes on to describe the difficulties of construction on the rocky, hilly, wooded site, one of the first to use dynamite (interesting note is that Dunn's uncle Willie was one of the first to use dynamite at Ardsley Casino in NYC).

Why  the name drop without any sourcing is beyond me?   I'm hopeful that the club (or others) perhaps discovered more information over the past 25 years such that they confidently assert it in their online information.

What is known for sure is that Walter Travis did indeed make revisions to the course in 1908 during a visit in which he won an event there.

Help!!

[Jim_Kennedy]

.

[Jeff Schley]

I won a charity round here to be played this summer and can inquire with the head pro if you don't hear before then.

[MCirba]

Thanks, Jeff.


I hear the course is very special.

[John Ezekowitz]

For those of you with the handicap and the inclination, Essex is a US Amateur qualifying site this summer. $175 for 36 holes at Essex seems like a bargain!


The Mid-Am qualifier in Eastern Mass is at Charles River, and there is a Mass Open qualifier at Eastward Ho! Not a bad summer for tournament qualifying in Massachusetts.

[MCirba]

For those of you with the handicap and the inclination, Essex is a US Amateur qualifying site this summer. $175 for 36 holes at Essex seems like a bargain!


The Mid-Am qualifier in Eastern Mass is at Charles River, and there is a Mass Open qualifier at Eastward Ho! Not a bad summer for tournament qualifying in Massachusetts.

Wow, if that isn't ample motivation to practice like Walter Travis! 

[Sven Nilsen]

I won a charity round here to be played this summer and can inquire with the head pro if you don't hear before then.

If Mike doesn't know this by now, I doubt the head pro will.


For what its worth, there are a number of articles discussing the extension to 18 hole, but no mention of who did the work.  The 1900 Harper's credits Joe Lloyd with laying out a 9 hole course in 1895 and notes the course was being extended to 18 holes at that time.  Lloyd was still working at the club at that time, so even if others (Leeds/Travis/Dunn) were involved the extension, he probably had a hand in whatever happened.

[MCirba]

Sven,

The interesting thing to me is that both Cornish/Whitten were the first to make the attribution, and even today the Golf Digest site maintains that attribution.   I believe Cornish was pretty familiar with the club and I'm wondering if something didn't turn up sometime after their last history book written in 1993. 

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/essex-county-club

Of course, it wouldn't be the first time their attribution would turn out to be in error given the scope of their efforts but generally for the most prestigious courses those errors have since been corrected by others.   But it also seems that the club itself has accepted that attribution, as seen in the link below.

There were actually 3 or perhaps 4 variations of the original nine hole course built before 1899, looking something like this;

1893 - A. R. Campbell
1894 - Willie Campbell (after his arrival in the spring of that year)
1896 - Joe Lloyd

I think one of the keys to understanding some of these first courses is that they were very temporary, mostly a location of tees and a mowed area for a cup.   I always believed that's why all the arguing about the earliest attribution at Myopia was silly in retrospect; I think both stories are true in that the members designed nine holes and then Willie Campbell designed nine holes, some of which Herbert Leeds then incorporated into his later adaptations, but I don't want to stir that one up.

Some of the Essex attributions mention Leeds, along with Dunn and Travis, which would make a lot of sense that Leeds would have been involved.   But I'm not sure that Travis even played golf in Massachusetts prior to 1902?   

https://tclf.org/landscapes/essex-county-club

***EDIT***  I should note that I have found contemporaneous evidence (which others likely have, as well) that Travis recommended changes to that original 18 hole course in 1908 that were implemented by the club.   

[Jeff Schley]

Enjoyed a great round here yesterday with my dad, brother, and a stowaway Mike Cirba!!!!! 


Greens were challenging and their grounds crew had them in top shape as they are qualifying site for US Amatuer next week. The front 9 is pretty flat, but the back is pretty up and down with 17 being a stairway to heaven.  18 is a really nice panoramic view where you can even see some buildings from downtown Boston.  The highest point on the property.


I’ll let Mike comment more, but the greens couldn’t be much faster or they would be close to unplayable.  Dont’ let the USGA get a hold of this course that is for sure.


We had 2 pro caddies we are lifers there and were awesome.  Had history of course, rounds played, famous players and just the right amount of banter. 


BTW Mike had 3-4 wonderful recovery shots from absolute no mans land!  Well done Mike.

[MCirba]

Thanks Jeff!


Had a great day with Jeff, his brother, and dad.


Essex County was superb in every respect with a set of beguiling greens that have to be among Ross' finest.   They put pressure on the golfer all the way back to the tee as an approach from the wrong position has virtually no chance to get within 30 feet of the hole.


The recovery shots i hit were the result of a bad day with the driver and instinctual survival tactics to not hold up my group of new friends.   


I alao cannot imagine how the course was constructed in 1900 -1917 on such rugged, rocky topography, particularly the back nine.


Concur with Jeff on the excellence of the caddies who added greatly to the enjoyment of the day and our understanding of Essex County Club.


Thanks again, Jeff!