Langford and Moreau: besides Lawsonia

[Craig Moore]

We have been working on bringing back the L&M features up here in Marquette on our Heritage course.  Poor tree plantings, ridiculous mow line adjustment and filling in bunkers all took place over the years.... but like most clubs up north they never had the $ to really destroy the bones.  It is a work in progress up here to fix the changes that happened by the hands of the naive membership of the past; they never really understood what they had and ego driven changes took place.  My passion for L&M has fueled the changes slowly up here since 2003 and the membership is gaining an interest; you show them some potential and greatly increase the quality of the turf they begin to see the magic of the landforms.  It has been fun and I’m glad they are now on board. 


Iron River up here in the UP is indeed a sweet L&M 9-hole course with loads of potential as the bones still exist.  IR is another fine example of a naive membership that has no clue about their history and what they actually have.  You will see zero mention of L&M at their course; on 3 occasions I have tried to educate the employees about their property because they had no knowledge of the history behind the design.  It is amazing how they continue to find $ and time to plant trees on the course further degrading the golf when they need to spend every last penny on proper turf management and tree removal.  A lack of financial support has created complete agronomist malpractice that must be overlooked when playing it; embrace the lost strategy the beautiful green pads and think of what could be or what it was 80 years ago. 


Riverside in Menominee also has no mention of L&M but definitely has their signature in the green complexes on 9 of their holes.  Hard to ignore the 10th green as you drive in and think it is anything but L&M.  Conditions at Riverside are always good as the keeper has turf knowledge and membership support; they just need to embrace their history more, work on mow lines and proper tree planting for golf strategy. 


3 more reasons to Visit the wild UP!!

[Mike Hendren]

Curious if anyone has played Clarksdale (MS) CC.  Listed as 1921 Langford & Moreau.  I would think given the location the membership might have lacked the ambition and resources to ruin the original work.

Mike

[John Connolly]

Bryn Mawr in Chicagoland has been GREATLY improved by a Jim Nagle restoration about five years ago. It’s not a dramatic piece of land but they have a collection of challenging half-par holes that are very fun to play. The routing is solid and the tree removal has exposed the great bones of the golf course. We had a gca play day there a couple years ago that was well received and I’m sure I could get some traction for another if there’s interest. It’d be fun to see Ira come back and see the changes.

+1. Wonderful green surrounds with runoff areas galore. Welcomes both grounders and fly balls.

[John Kavanaugh]

That's why Vincennes remains original. It has always been my contention that the fact that L&M designs consistently can not generate revenue is an indicator of the quality of their work. When no one knocks on your door it could be because nobody is home.

[Rees Milikin]

That's why Vincennes remains original. It has always been my contention that the fact that L&M designs consistently can not generate revenue is an indicator of the quality of their work. When no one knocks on your door it could be because nobody is home.

Could be because they built a significant amount of courses in relatively rural areas. 

[John Kavanaugh]

I wish I knew why my friends and I would not drive 10 minutes to play a L&M but would drive an hour to play French Lick. Conditioning were equal and Vincennes was free. The only possible excuse was that French Lick hosted a major. Only excuse besides it's like a million times more interesting. Was Ross that better at sales?

[Don Mahaffey]

The front 9 at West Bend CC is incredible, and the perfect place to learn the game..

West Bend is so cool! #3 green!!!


West Bend makes me think of an era when designers weren’t afraid of raters or whiny golfers.  I can see why growing up playing there could create an interest in golf design.

[John Kavanaugh]

As a ruralite myself it does seem that Bendelow had a better understanding of his market.

[Chris_Blakely]

If Oakland Hills CC, IN is Langford, it was redone and not much if anything resembling his work remains.


The following courses that I have not seen mentioned are also by Langford & Moreau:


1.) Kankakee Elks GC, Kankakee, IL
2.) Maxelton GC, Syracuse, IL

3.) Keweenaw Mountain Lodge, MI has green sites that resemble the L&M courses I have played, but have not found any documentation that this WPA course was designed by him.

Chris

[Kalen Braley]

Barney,

I admit, i'm intrigued by this statement.  Can you elaborate...

"When no one knocks on your door it could be because nobody is home."

[John Kavanaugh]

Barney,

I admit, i'm intrigued by this statement.  Can you elaborate...

"When no one knocks on your door it could be because nobody is home."

It's a simplistic word play on the ole cat in in the box paradox. I can't get the wiki link to work so...
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.iflscience.com/physics/schr%25C3%25B6dinger%25E2%2580%2599s-cat-explained/

[Nigel Islam]

I wish I knew why my friends and I would not drive 10 minutes to play a L&M but would drive an hour to play French Lick. Conditioning were equal and Vincennes was free. The only possible excuse was that French Lick hosted a major. Only excuse besides it's like a million times more interesting. Was Ross that better at sales?

Perhaps because the back nine is so criminally bad that no one pulls subject themselves to 90 minutes of that?


I hadn't played there in 10 years until last month and was kicking myself for not coming back.....until I hit 11 & 12

[John Kavanaugh]

Did you hit a ball in my yard on 10?

[mark chalfant]

Thank you for all the great responses.


Blythefield in MI has a nice routing over some dramatic land. Both the greens and the bunkering have been compromised.



Clarksdale in MS is a pleasant walk over mild terrain. It has several vintage greens that are well preserved.


 One of them(#10 or 11)  is among the best I have ever seen.  It has 4 levels all tied in beautifully with surrounds !


Wakonda is a splendid routing over tumbling terrain.  Wakonda is in dire need of tree deportation but still has a plethora of interesting shots

[Nigel Islam]

Did you hit a ball in my yard on 10?

No I threw a club in your pool......


Front nine is a true hidden gem though. The back nine probably wasn't as bad before those trees grew. For the record the back nine came long after Langford.

[Peter Flory]

Here are a few Chicagoland NLE Langford's that I colorized and added the hole numbers and routing lines. 

Acacia:  Joliet and Wolf (near I-294).  Scroll to see it all.  West is up in this image. 

#14 really is reminiscent of Skokie CC.  #13 is like a mirror image of 14 at Spring Valley. 

Mid-City GC (near Western & Addison).  This was after the south parcel was developed and Langford had to jam in a bunch of par 3s and make it a 4,500 yard par 63 course.  North is up. 

He had to shorten some of the original holes to fit more holes in.  The double green on 16/17 is very unique.  It's an awkward flow, but it's an interesting case because Langford designed both the original and this compromised version. 

[Jeff Schley]

Kankakee Elks is still sitting there like a valued antique hiding in someone’s attic waiting to be dusted off and valued.

[Kurt Everett]

Milburn CC here in the Kansas City area is a great L/M design from 1917.  I think it's a top 3 course in our metro area.


Here is also a article and list done by Andy at The Fried Egg


https://thefriedegg.com/langford-moreau-profile/

[Bill Seitz]

Kankakee Elks is still sitting there like a valued antique hiding in someone’s attic waiting to be dusted off and valued.

Craig's quote above probably said it best with regard to Kankakee and Spring Valley.  If you could never even find the money to fill in the bunkers, you probably didn't have enough money to screw the place up.  If I could win the lottery....