Moundbuilder's CC story from NYT

[Wayne_Kozun]

Story already posted here:  https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,69607.0.html

[Tom_Doak]

I am blocked from the NYT web site, so couldn't read far enough to hear what's up.


I visited the course 4-5 years ago as part of my travels for The Confidential Guide.  By far my biggest takeaway was that the existence of the golf club had preserved the earthworks for generations in a sustainable way; they were being vandalized before the course was built.  It will be a very poor "thank you" if the club is now evicted from the grounds without the town building them a course of comparable quality.

[Wayne_Kozun]

@Tom - if you use Google chrome then you should install https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome. 

There is also a method to bypass paywalls for Firefox.
The gist is that the native tribes want the course closed down and turned into a UNESCO site.

“We wouldn’t want a country club on the Acropolis,” John N. Low, a citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and the director of the Newark Earthworks Center, said in a recent interview. “We don’t want a country club on the Octagon.”

The $1.7 million amount the state’s representatives have proposed under eminent domain is up from an initial offer of $800,000. But the club wants $12 million. The dispute heads to the Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday.

[Steve Wilson]

I am blocked from the NYT web site, so couldn't read far enough to hear what's up.


I visited the course 4-5 years ago as part of my travels for The Confidential Guide.  By far my biggest takeaway was that the existence of the golf club had preserved the earthworks for generations in a sustainable way; they were being vandalized before the course was built.  It will be a very poor "thank you" if the club is now evicted from the grounds without the town building them a course of comparable quality.

"Gratitude is not a human emotion, but the expectation of it is a very lively one."  C. P. Snow--The Masters

[Chris_Blakely]

I am blocked from the NYT web site, so couldn't read far enough to hear what's up.


I visited the course 4-5 years ago as part of my travels for The Confidential Guide.  By far my biggest takeaway was that the existence of the golf club had preserved the earthworks for generations in a sustainable way; they were being vandalized before the course was built.  It will be a very poor "thank you" if the club is now evicted from the grounds without the town building them a course of comparable quality.

Tom,


I was going to write something similar about this.


I thought I read a story about the course, many years ago and it said basically the same thing.  The golf course be built around and incorporating the earth works saved them.


I played the course in 2008 and went back and looked at my photos and the use of the mounds as hazards, but in a way that has to be considered a respectful way as one of the greens is inside of the mounds which go all around and not disturbed, is a very unique hole, IMO.




Thanks,
Chris

[Josh Bills]

I have played the course a couple times and it is interesting and unique, it would be a shame to see it go.  The early aerials of the course are pretty cool.  Now it is a little crowded with trees, but still interesting.

[Tom_Doak]

A couple of the best holes were just outside the earthworks, where the land falls off abruptly.


The eminent domain offer is woefully inadequate- they should get enough to get a new course and not just a bankrupt course twenty miles away.

[jeffwarne]

It would seem there has to be a middle ground somewhere.
It would be a real shame to destroy the club, which saved the mounds(while other uses did not)and end up with a(perhaps) seldom viewed/used park.
They make the grounds available Mondays and off season, perhaps a little more give/access by the club at appointed times for guided tours.Perhaps there is even a way to reroute a hole or two for shaed use by public and club.Sounds like the club is open to moving, why not a compromise of some sort?
I went on a wonderful course walk  at Myopia(without clubs) at Myopia given regularly by their(now former) Head Professional Bill Safrin.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Maybe this should be a separate thread, but I find Bendelow's bunkering interesting.


First, there are many greens that really don't have the fw connection, surrounded by sand bunkers, or nearly so.


Second, a few greens have what I always called the "Mermaid Wig" bunkering, open front (face) with the long locks coming down from the top and side of head.  I don't know the hole lengths or wind directions, so if anyone can hazard a guess as to why TB used any kind of bunkering when and where he did, it might be a worthy discussion, not even specific to Moundbuilders CC.


Also, in the top photo provided by Josh, what are those parallel lines within the circle?  My first guess would be some kind of french drain system?  Anyone know?


Lastly, those bordering fw bunkers on one interior hole almost look like they were modeled after the iron rails of a train track.  Anyone with knowledge about what inspired some of TB's bunker shapes?

[Josh Bills]

Jeff,


Not sure what the parallel lines are in the circle.  Here is a great survey from 1847 showing the extent of the earthworks. 





It was a racetrack, fairgrounds and numerous other items over the years.  I watched the oral argument and at this point, the argument by club was focused on failure of the State to follow the statute to the tee to even argue for eminent domain, versus the value itself.  If that argument prevails, then the State would have to start over, who knows if that will happen. 


I would tend to think with farmland prices continuing to go up in that area, the offer does seem low.  I personally hope for some shared agreement as well, as at this point they are both fascinating historic venues, even though perceived very differently. 


Here are some photos of other uses as well.  Including a survey showing the racetrack and buildings from 1934.

[Chris_Blakely]

Josh,


Thanks for sharing the aerials.  After looking at these and my pictures I took, it just confirms what I suspected that the greens (except the ones inside the mounds) were drastically altered and not for the better IMO.


Thanks


Chris