[MCirba]

Came across this earlier today from November 13th, 1936.   

[V. Kmetz]

That's an excellent find MC... I just am circumspect about any more reports getting past the surface truth we all know... that Tillinghast was definitively secured for some form of "consulting" on the Bethpage courses... it's the as yet unresolved depth and detail of that consulting that keeps the plain facts of who designed what/built what when in the limbo that Whitten inauguarated going on 20 years ago.

[Jeff_Brauer]

All I know is I am going to recommend the name of Starving Mother GC to my next client.  Would love to know the history behing that name!

[MCirba]

I like this one even better from my friend John Y. because it was published in February 1935, over a year before the Black Course was even opened.
In that regard, it's amazing how quickly three courses got built and a 4th modified from the time the land was acquired by the State of New York in 1932 to the opening of the Blue & Red courses in 1935 to the opening of the Black in 1936.   I guess the wonders of WPA labor were certainly a huge factor.

[Mike Sweeney]

Came across this earlier today from November 13th, 1936.   

Mike,


Nice find. In 1936, the US Economy grew 12.9%, and Jessie Owens dominated the Berlin Olympic Games:

https://www.thebalance.com/us-gdp-by-year-3305543

That had to be an amazing time to be alive in the USA:




Obviously that growth rate was NOT sustainable, but the confidence of the USA was amazing/unbelievable/obnoxious...

However, with Tiger's win at Augusta, Bethpage for the PGA in two weeks, US Open at Pebble, and The Open at Royal Portrush, I believe this season has the potential to be the GREATEST in Golf Major history.   

[Brian Ross]

All I know is I am going to recommend the name of Starving Mother GC to my next client.  Would love to know the history behing that name!

Jeff,

The park is actually called Hungry Mother State Park, just north of Marion in southwest Virginia. As far as I know, there was never a golf course built there. If there was it didn't last very long.

The "official" legend behind the name is that a band of Native Americans destroyed a settlement on the New River sometime during the early pioneer days, taking a group of captives, including a woman named Molly Marley and her child. Molly and her child escaped and ended up wandering for several days through the woods in the area where the park is today. Molly eventually collapsed and died and her child wandered down to a creek where they found help. Supposedly the only thing the child could utter was "Hungry, Mother." The highest point in the park is known as Molly's Knob and the stream is Hungry Mother Creek.

There's also a more gruesome version where the child dies and the mother eats the child in order to survive. That one is definitely not the version you'll find online but is what we always heard growing up in that area.

[Wayne_Kozun]

Did Tillinghast really design and build 300 courses?  Or is that the number or courses that he consulted on for the PGA?

[Mark_Fine]

Wayne,
No he did not.  Less than 100 I believe. 


My favorite quote about Bethpage Black came from a discussion I had with Pete Dye.  When asked who he believed designed the course he said to me, "Mark it doesn't matter anymore.  It is now a Rees Jones special".

[Jeff Schley]

Did Tillinghast really design and build 300 courses?  Or is that the number or courses that he consulted on for the PGA?

I wish he did, but I think the figure is maybe courses he saw or talked with clients about.

[MCirba]

From H.B. Martin's "Fifty Years of American Golf", published in 1936 the year Bethpage Black opened;

[Kyle Harris]

"The Tillinghast type of green...."

What, Cirba, what!?

Talk about burying the lede. 

[MCirba]

"The Tillinghast type of green...."

What, Cirba, what!?

Talk about burying the lede. 

"The Tillinghast type of green was inspired and formalized after many years of Tilly studying Joe Burbeck's classic golf holes."   

[David_Tepper]

Lengthy discussion of Tillinghast & his work on the current State of the Game podcast:

https://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2019/5/8/state-of-the-game-93-aw-tillinghasts-pga-tour-with-the-pga-of-americas-bob-denney-plus-other-vital-stuff

[MCirba]

January 3, 1934, Brooklyn Daily Eagle.   I happened to notice that this article were previously clipped from newspapers.com by one "rwhittengd" in November 2016. 

[Tommy Williamsen]

All I know is I am going to recommend the name of Starving Mother GC to my next client.  Would love to know the history behing that name!

Name change to Hungry Mother state park.
Wiklipedia
The Legend of Hungry Mother[edit]It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.[/size][3][/size] A legend states[4][/size] that when the Native Americans destroyed several settlements on the New River south of the park, Molly Marley and her small child were among the survivors taken to the raiders’ base north of the park. They eventually escaped, wandering through the wilderness eating berries. Molly finally collapsed, and her child wandered down a creek. Upon finding help, the only words the child could utter were "Hungry Mother." When the search party arrived at the foot of the mountain where Molly had collapsed, they found the child's mother dead. Today, that mountain is Molly's Knob (3,270 feet), and the stream is Hungry Mother Creek.[/size][/font]

[Tom_Doak]

All I know is I am going to recommend the name of Starving Mother GC to my next client.  Would love to know the history behing that name!

Name change to Hungry Mother state park.
Wiklipedia
The Legend of Hungry Mother[edit]It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.[3] A legend states[4] that when the Native Americans destroyed several settlements on the New River south of the park, Molly Marley and her small child were among the survivors taken to the raiders’ base north of the park. They eventually escaped, wandering through the wilderness eating berries. Molly finally collapsed, and her child wandered down a creek. Upon finding help, the only words the child could utter were "Hungry Mother." When the search party arrived at the foot of the mountain where Molly had collapsed, they found the child's mother dead. Today, that mountain is Molly's Knob (3,270 feet), and the stream is Hungry Mother Creek.

Yikes!  Not exactly the kind of history I'd want to use as marketing material.

[Sven Nilsen]

A few additional articles on Bethpage that I haven't seen posted before.


The first is an article published in Tillinghast's Golf Illustrated that includes some of his own words on the project.


April 1934 Golf Illustrated -









The second, published prior to the completion of the Black course, notes some of the concerns the designers had in mind regarding pace of play and the difficulty of the courses.


May 27, 1935 Brooklyn Daily Eagle -





To be fair to those that defend Burbeck's involvement, the press did report his involvement and credited him as the "designer" of the courses.


Aug. 4, 1937 Brooklyn Daily Eagle -








There is an interesting corollary between some of Burbeck's thoughts on the Bethpage architecture as noted in the May 27, 1935 article above and Tillinghast's theories on oblique design as covered in an article he wrote for Golf Illustrated in 1932. 


April 1932 Golf Illustrated -








A little while back photos of a model of the planned property were posted on another website:


http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/mystery_friday_foto_27_can_you_identify_this_image


It would go a long way to settling some of these questions if a date for the model could be found.

[Mark Fedeli]

Brilliant stuff, Sven. Thank you for posting. Particularly love the bit about Burbeck not liking the "older" penal school of golf design, with its straight-and-narrow fairways with bunkers on each side. The more things change...

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