Construction techniques - circa 1920’s

[Thomas Dai]

For some time I’ve been trying to find footage of the kind of equipment that would have been used in constructing courses in the circa 1920’s period, especially courses built on not perfect terrain.
This Aussie video isn’t golf specific, it’s actually about road building, but it indicatively shows the kind of equipment that was available and in use at the time. Highly labour intensive and plenty of horses involved. Steam shovels too.
The most interesting bit in relation to golf course construction starts at around the 7 minute mark and lasts until about the 13 min 30 sec point.
See - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc0F2zq4_Zk
Enjoy.
Atb

[Jeff_Brauer]

That was interesting to me.  I wonder how anything ever got finished at that rate, and as you mention, golf courses were noting compared to roads, or more so railroads, who couldn't exceed 2% slope, even in rugged country.


At a Pinehurst ASGCA meeting several years back, Danny Maples brought some of the old Ross equipment and had pictures of them building courses with horse and scoop.  He mentioned that none of us knew the "joy" of riding a scoop, hitting a rock, and getting thrown right into the horse's behind. 


Of course, I had to add that you can still run into some real horses' asses even constructing a modern golf course with bulldozers.....


 

[SL_Solow]

Jeff, nothing compared to the practice of law

[Thomas Dai]

Interesting points Jeff. Amusing too:)
Reviewing the sorts of equipment available in times now well gone by and considering the physical and logistical aspects of its sourcing, transportation, maintenance and use ought to highlight why certain features on courses were built as they were. For example, from studying how steam shovels operated and viewing photos it should be possible to appreciate how bunkering, mounding and green complexes on certain courses are shaped as they are and why some areas are left seemingly untouched. Big time work .... imagine say the process of modern day sand-capping of fairways on clay based terrain but undertaken not with today’s equipment but with sort of equipment available way back then! Nah, maybe not!
Highly labour intensive too what with potentially a couple of hundred men on site and loads of horses. Standards of living and expectations were way different in times gone by so on a big job would the labourers have been mainly sourced and lived locally or would some have maybe been somewhat nomadic and perhaps lived even in tents nearby?
And in relation to the horses, the water and fodder and shoeing and overnight livery requirements. I’ve read a couple of accounts of several horses dying during golf course construction.
And for the machines delivery to site, maintenance and spare parts and if steam powered then sourcing coal/wood and water too. Use of dynamite perhaps? That must have been fun!
Overall quite a complex operation .... and that’s even without having to deal with the likes of irrigation and cabling plus the delights of dealing with committees and club politics! Oh well, I guess permitting was probably not as exacting back then!
Atb

[Jeff_Brauer]

"I’ve read a couple of accounts of several horses dying during golf course construction."
[/size]
[/size]And I thought those were buried elephants under some of those greens.....

[/size]As to construction, many say that it was a slower process, so an architect or foreman had more opportunity to change contours or add details as work progressed.  Or, if you had a dumb and/or stubborn horse who dropped the load wherever they wanted, maybe a lot of it was a bit more random.  Don't really know, but I will say with some certainty that the idea of balancing cut and fill close by was even more important then, sometimes from only one side of a bunker or green to the other, which influenced designs.  The slow rate of production had to influence design as well.

[Tom_Doak]

As to construction, many say that it was a slower process, so an architect or foreman had more opportunity to change contours or add details as work progressed. 

I have never understood that argument, TBH.  You are only able to add details the days you are on site.  The faster the process, the more you can change in a day.  That is why I've opted for shapers who can work fast; I can edit a bunch of holes in a matter of a few days.


The slow and meticulous process only helps if you are living on site and not moving back and forth between jobs and home.

[Ronald Montesano]

Didn't Mark Mungeam build a course in the midwest, using horses and plows from yore? Some time in the past 20 years, I recollect.

[Adam Lawrence]

Didn't Mark Mungeam build a course in the midwest, using horses and plows from yore? Some time in the past 20 years, I recollect.

Paul Albanese. See [size=78%]http://golf-designs.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/HorseArticle_coverandbodyg.pdf[/size]

[Thomas Dai]

A most interesting and insightful article (and project). Thanks for posting it Adam.
Atb

[Thomas Dai]

Constructing courses with machinery like this including all the logistics and support that was needed to operate efficiently like coal, water etc etc would have been interesting and likely pretty arduous too -
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yw9UYqtkDiE
Anyone fancy having a go at shaping a green with one?

Atb

[Joe Bausch]

This video of Aronimink under construction is really cool:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNwsXPP5Qn4