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Sven Nilsen

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Oklahoma City G&CC Hole Drawings
« on: November 16, 2022, 11:12:28 PM »
From June 25 to July 11, 1939, the Daily Oklahoman ran a series of drawings of each hole at Oklahoma City G&CC.  Here they are.














"As much as we have learned about the history of golf architecture in the last ten plus years, I'm convinced we have only scratched the surface."  A GCA Poster

"There's the golf hole; play it any way you please." Donald Ross

Sven Nilsen

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Re: Oklahoma City G&CC Hole Drawings
« Reply #1 on: November 16, 2022, 11:16:08 PM »








"As much as we have learned about the history of golf architecture in the last ten plus years, I'm convinced we have only scratched the surface."  A GCA Poster

"There's the golf hole; play it any way you please." Donald Ross

Sven Nilsen

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Oklahoma City G&CC Hole Drawings
« Reply #2 on: November 16, 2022, 11:20:10 PM »











"As much as we have learned about the history of golf architecture in the last ten plus years, I'm convinced we have only scratched the surface."  A GCA Poster

"There's the golf hole; play it any way you please." Donald Ross

Sven Nilsen

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Oklahoma City G&CC Hole Drawings
« Reply #3 on: November 16, 2022, 11:24:07 PM »











« Last Edit: November 16, 2022, 11:27:13 PM by Sven Nilsen »
"As much as we have learned about the history of golf architecture in the last ten plus years, I'm convinced we have only scratched the surface."  A GCA Poster

"There's the golf hole; play it any way you please." Donald Ross

Sven Nilsen

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Oklahoma City G&CC Hole Drawings
« Reply #4 on: November 16, 2022, 11:28:35 PM »




"As much as we have learned about the history of golf architecture in the last ten plus years, I'm convinced we have only scratched the surface."  A GCA Poster

"There's the golf hole; play it any way you please." Donald Ross

Mike Bodo

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Re: Oklahoma City G&CC Hole Drawings
« Reply #5 on: November 17, 2022, 10:43:16 AM »
Great find, Sven! The illustrator, L.P. Thompson, did an amazing job capturing the details, nuances and shot strategy for each hole on the course. This type of illustration is a lost art for sure, but what a great piece of history you unearthed.
"90% of all putts left short are missed." - Yogi Berra

Matt_Cohn

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Re: Oklahoma City G&CC Hole Drawings
« Reply #6 on: November 17, 2022, 11:16:45 PM »
It's funny how many course guides from past decades specify the iron you'll hit to the green: "After a good drive, a 7-iron is all that remains to a closely guarded green" or something like that!

Phil Young

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Re: Oklahoma City G&CC Hole Drawings
« Reply #7 on: November 18, 2022, 01:47:09 AM »
Sven,

This is a nice find showing the holes as designed and built by Perry Maxwell. The club's original course was elsewhere in the city  and was redesigned by Tilly in 1920-21. One hole in particular stands out to me, the par-3 third hole. The caption describes it as the "remodeled par-3 third." This appears to confirm that the changes Tilly recommended to the club on January 14th, 1936, the day he stopped at the club as part of his PGA course consultation tour. That night, in his letter to the PGA, he wrote: "This morning I visited the course of the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club. With [P.G.A. member Francis] Scheider I went over every hole of this fine course. As a matter of fact there was so little to criticize, as he asked me to do freely, that I was only able to help him in one instance. This involved the Third green (149 yards), which was wrongly contoured and with much wasted space. Almost in the center of the green was a prominent hummocky undulation, which obviously introduced a large element of luck, particularly in view of the fact that this green is reached properly with a lofted iron, which might end anywhere, depending entirely upon the particular slope of the undulation it might strike upon. Conferring over this with both Scheider and Frank Bristow (Governor of the Club) [both] entirely agreed with me and it will be corrected."

Further corroborating this, Bob Burkes' 2012 history of the club states: "In late 1935, directors of the club asked renowned golf course architect A. W. 'Tilly' Tillinghast to visit the course and make recommendations for improvement...Calling it a 'truly fine course,' he found fault only with the third green. Club officials agreed with Tillinghast's findings and gave instructions to remedy the problems."
« Last Edit: November 18, 2022, 01:48:40 AM by Phil Young »