So there it is. Hole #2 is due north, #3 the "strongest" Strong hole that wraps around the pond, #4 undergoing modifications, #5 the MacRaynor that looks oh so much different now. (I'll post a comparison picture.) The hole with the so-called Emmet cross bunkering is #15, right below #3, and now, too, nothing like the original.
It is acknowledged that the course committee -- but primarily Harvey Murdoch -- laid out the course in 1899. From the beginning, the bunkering was criticized for being too artificial. (See Travis,
Country Life in America, 1906; Calkins,
American Golfer, 1909 f.i.) Cops and chocolate mounds and right angles.
With the appearance of the Haskell in 1901, the club was also pressured to lengthen the course but did not have the means to buy more land.
Eventually the course was lengthened from 6000 to 6500 yards, with two interrim layouts at 6200 yards.
A Redan hole appears between 1913 and 1914 and is listed on the club scorecard as hole #13.
Two different cards appeared subsequent to this one, April 1915 (printed in the NY Telegram), and May 1915 (in the Brooklyn Eagle).
Four holes were lengthened and one new hole was created, plus significant bunkering and mound alterations took place at the same time.
The club made changes to the 5th and 6th holes the following year.
Devereux Emmet was hired in 1920 "for the improvement of the links" but was hindered by club finances from a full redesign. And his budget would cover about a 1/4 of the costs for the modifications to the original course up to this point. He primarily worked on the then #8 and #14 and a few other holes.
The club refinanced two years later and purchased another 22 acres to the north of the course. They hired Herbert Strong to change Holes 6-9 according to recommendations of the Golf Committee.
To be continued ...