[Michael Whitaker]

Does anyone know anything about Rock Hill Country Club in Rock Hill, SC? According to the Tillinghast Society the original 9 holes at Rock Hill were designed by Tillie. I played there today and was told by the staff that the "old timers" refute the claim that Tillinghast was the designer. They told me it was someone named Hamm. Well, it couldn't be Gene Hamm because he wasn't born when the original nine was built in 1934. 2004 the 50th anniversary of the club and they are working on a history. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Andy Troeger]

Michael,
   Not sure if you're still curious at all since this post is a couple years old, but when I played Rock Hill maybe 10 years ago the scorecard had that Tillinghast designed it (and it was in rather large print...I still have the card somewhere). Not sure if that proves anything, but its a start. Anybody know more?

[John Shimp]

Tillinghast did one of the nines at Myers Park Country Club which is about 20 miles away in Charlotte.  Don't know if checking the date would help figure Rock Hill out or not?

[Phil_the_Author]

John,

From what I have been able to find out, Tilly did Myers Park around 1921 and though I haven't been able to find a date for Rock Hill, there is some evidence that it was done in th early 20's, though I could easily be wrong on that date.

[John Shimp]

Phillip,
Interesting.  Matches the pattern of other golden age guys in the southeast in terms of doing work in bunches in a geography. Ross made a run thru Charlotte in the late 20's to redo/add to Charlotte and Myers Park and to design Carolina Golf Club and Fort Mill.

[Bruce Wellmon]

I was exploring the recent link to the Tufts Archives, when I came to Myers Park in Charlotte, N.C.
Which was always termed a "Ross." Tufts seems to credit the original design to Tilly.
Which I had never heard mention of. Then I found this thread. Just thought that was interesting.

[Nathan Cashwell]

The front 9 of Rock Hill CC is an original Tillinghast that is still fairly intact with good bones.  The back 9 is Porter Gibson routed on land that wasn't quite as good as the front 9.

[Michael Whitaker]

Nathan,

Thanks for the post. What is source of this info? Thanks!

Mike

[Sven Nilsen]

I was doing some research on Rock Hill and stumbled across this thread.


Like one of the posters above notes, I had been under the assumption that the original 9 holes had been done by Tillinghast.  There are three articles from Dec. 1916 noting he was laying out a course in Rock Hill on the north side of the city.  The club's website makes the same claim, although they date the work to 1934.  The Tillinghast Association notes a 9 hole course with a date of 1918 (they use the date a course opened), and do not have the NLE designation used for other works that have gone by the wayside.


Throwing a wrinkle in all of this is an April 17, 1936 Greenville News article discussing a new course in the Recreational park south of town.   This course was designed by Arthur Ham and sits on the site of the existing Rock Hill CC.


So what happened to the Tillinghast course.

[Sven Nilsen]

Here are two of the articles noted above.

Dec. 21, 1916 Charlotte Observer -



April 17, 1936 Greenville News -

[Michael Whitaker]

Sven,

Great find! This matches up with what some of the old timers told me in 2003 about the course being designed by someone named Ham.

What, indeed, happened to the Tillinghast course?

[Jaeger Kovich]

Sven - 2 possible Tillys debunked in one week. Both great and not great. I wish I went to check it out while I was in Pinehurst the last 2 years. I remember getting pms from another gca member years ago about a possible Reef hole template there, but that seems unlikely now.


I have tried contacting the Tillinghast Association a few times over the last year, but really haven't been able to get in touch with anyone. I would love if this great resource found its voice again.

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