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Karl Jensen

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From the first below newspaper clipping we know that Donald Ross visited Alpine Golf Club in early May 1910 and went over the course. I assume that this was a survey of some kind. Just the month before Brookline Country Club's pro Alex Campbell went over the course and the details of his visit are more fully explained in the below Apr 1910 newspaper clipping. The golf course was only a 6 hole course in 1901 and the existing property was to be rearranged, holes added with additional land bought or leased. Donald Ross recommended Oakley's greenskeeper Timothy Sullivan to be Alpine's new greenskeeper. The Alpine GC had a meeting at the end of May 1910 to discuss extending the golf course and the hiring of a new greenskeeper. By Dec 1910 new greens were being laid and new tee boxes were being located for a 9 hole course.


I don't know if Alex Campbell or Donald Ross' remodeling ideas were used but I'm guessing it was Ross' ideas because Ross' recommended greenskeeper Timothy Sullivan of the Oakley Club was hired by Alpine GC.


By 1923 the former Alpine GC was being used by the Fitchburg Sportsmen's Club. Golf and tennis were still being played, but there was also gun ranges on the property. The course was described as only 6 holes again, perhaps due to the gun ranges. By 1941 the former Alpine GC grounds were being developed into a housing project.


The below article link says that former members of the Alpine Golf Club founded the Oak Hill Country Club of Fitchburg, MA. Donald Ross laid out Oak Hill CC in 1917 to 1918.


This is my interpretation of the below newspaper articles. Further insight would be much appreciated.


https://www.telegram.com/story/sports/2020/10/10/golf-course-remains-oak-hills-shining-jewel/42742945/


Donald Ross article, 2 May 1910 Fitchburg, MA Sentinel newspaper, page 2



Alpine Golf Club article, 14 Apr 1910 Fitchburg, MA Sentinel newspaper



Alpine Golf Club description, Google Books, 1901 Harper's Official Golf Guide



Alpine Golf Club article, 23 May 1910 Fitchburg, MA Sentinel newspaper



Alpine Golf Club article, 21 Dec 1910 Fitchburg, MA Sentinel newspaper



Alpine Golf Club article, 21 May 1923 Fitchburg, MA Sentinel newspaper



Alpine Golf Club article, 24 Feb 1941 Fitchburg, MA Sentinel newspaper

Sven Nilsen

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Re: Alpine Golf Club, Fitchburg, MA - A possible Donald Ross remodel
« Reply #1 on: June 19, 2021, 09:04:00 AM »
Alpine had 9 holes by as early as 1908.  Whatever work was done as an extension in 1910 was more along the lines of lengthening the course, not adding 3 holes.


Be nice to see something a bit more concrete on any Ross involvement.  Right now all we have is a best guess.


As for Oak Hill, Ross was involved with the early discussions on laying out the course in 1917, but the actual first 9 holes were done by Wayne Stiles in 1919.  Ross did come in later to add 9 additional holes.



"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

Tom Bagley

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Re: Alpine Golf Club, Fitchburg, MA - A possible Donald Ross remodel
« Reply #2 on: June 21, 2021, 06:59:31 PM »
Karl:
Whatever advice Donald Ross provide to Alpine was quite limited. 


I am in the process of writing the centennial history of Oak Hill CC and have done quite a bit of research into the history of Alpine.  Alpine was officially organized on January 30, 1897, although the local golfers may have laid our nine holes the previous season.  Alpine's first professional, Scotsman David Kay, was unimpressed by the existing course and chose to consolidate the nine holes into "six good holes." Alpine officially became a nine-hole course again on Memorial Day, 1902 when three new holes were opened. It is unclear who was responsible for the new holes, although Alex Findlay had previously played an exhibition at Alpine in 1900 and Alec "Nipper" Campbell and his brother Jack played in an exhibition on May 29, 1901.  Alec Campbell subsequently visited the club in January, 1910 to consult regarding changes to the layout as did Donald Ross in May of that year.  I've seen the newspaper articles you shared regarding Ross' visit to the Leominster golf links and Alpine, and although Ross may have consulted on the Leominster layout, it is unclear as to the extent of his work there.  Bob Labbance and Kevin Mendik's biography of Wayne Stiles has a brief history Leominster's Monoosnock Country Club, which is likely the course visited by Ross.  There was an earlier Leominster Golf Club (1902), whose members founded Monoosnock at a different location from the original club.  Regarding Ross' contributions to Alpine, I have found no proof that the actual changes to the Alpine course at the end of 1910 were recommended by or superintended by Ross.


As Sven mentioned, Oak Hill was founded by Alpine members.  Unlike the Concord (MA) Golf Club, which retained 1895 as its date of establishment when it moved across town and re-organized as Concord Country Club, the Alpine golfers did not retain 1897 as its founding when they established Oak Hill Country Club in 1921.  Similar to the relocation of the Concord Golf Club, Alpine's move to Oak Hill was from leased land to member-owned property. 


Ross was in Fitchburg in October 1917, shortly after the purchase of the Oak Hill property by a few of the Alpine members and was expected to design the new course.  But World War I delayed the start of construction, and when work finally commenced in May, 1919 it was under the direction of Wayne Stiles.


It is unclear as to why Stiles was engaged instead of Ross.  Oak Hill would have been an important commission for Stiles, since it was his second golf course project, following on the heels of the Nashua (NH) Country Club, his well-regarded first effort.  But the Oak Hill connection with Ross was much stronger.  The founding members were very wealthy, well-known in the golf world and very well-acquainted with Ross.  Many were members of Pinehurst, and several were also members of Essex, Oakley, The Country Club, Worcester, Tatnuck and other clubs.  In fact, Alpine member George H. Crocker was Ross' traveling companion on his famous trip back home in 1910 to play and study the best links in Scotland and England.  (I will save my theories as to "why" Stiles emerged over Ross for my book!)


By the end of the club's second season in 1922, Oak Hill club was actively seeking Ross' input on improvements to the nine-hole course and to design an additional nine holes.  Ross' plans for the nine new holes were approved on March 23, 1925 and work proceeded over the next two years.  The 18-hole course opened on July 30, 1927 with an exhibition match between Tommy Armour and Johnny Farrell.  The original nine holes were closed in the autumn of 1928 and were completely re-designed by Ross, although Stiles' routing was retained.  The renovated course opened in August, 1929 and Ross subsequently listed Oak Hill as one of his 18-hole designs in his 1930 course booklet.


As you discovered, after Oak Hill opened, the old Alpine links laid fallow for a while until re-opened by the Fitchburg Sportsmen's Club.  It later became an independent club, surviving as a nine-hole course until World War II. 


Alpine was never a significant golf course, despite the prominence of its early members. It was praised for its turf conditions and putting greens, despite its very rugged, hillside setting.  At best, it would have been considered a "sporty" golf course.  It provided a local option for the early Fitchburg golfers when business demands did not allow them to visit their Boston area clubs or their summer and winter destinations.

Karl Jensen

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Re: Alpine Golf Club, Fitchburg, MA - A possible Donald Ross remodel
« Reply #3 on: June 22, 2021, 06:12:09 PM »
Tom,


Thank you for sharing your research into the Alpine Golf Club and Oak Hill Country Club. Unless something new turns up, there will be no way of knowing if Campbell or Ross' ideas were applied to the Alpine Golf Club.


Thanks for giving me the 1902 date for the Leominster Golf Club. I was quite pleased to find it was Alexander H. Findlay of Wright & Ditson who staked out the course. That course was in West Leominster and judging from newspaper articles the membership was not very happy with the size of the ground and contemplated changing the course for more holes and / or moving to a new property as early as 1904. It finally happened when both the Leominster Golf Club and the Leominster Tennis Club combined as the Monoosnock Country Club in North Leominster. See the below 1902 newspaper article. Findlay not only staked out the Leominster Golf Club but also a Leominster Country Club while he was there. I don't know much about the Country Club at this point. I am very pleased to add another course to my ongoing Findlay list.


Leominster Golf Club article, 16 Apr 1902 Fitchburg, MA Sentinel newspaper

Tom Bagley

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Re: Alpine Golf Club, Fitchburg, MA - A possible Donald Ross remodel
« Reply #4 on: June 22, 2021, 09:33:41 PM »
Karl:
You may be able to find some additional information about Leominster Country Club, Leominster Golf Club and Monoosnock CC in the archives of the Leominster Enterprise, available through the Leominster Public Library.  I have not spent too much time digging through those resources as my focus has been on Alpine and Oak Hill in Fitchburg.


It appears to me that the Leominster GC was the more prominent of the two early golf clubs in Leominster and its leaders were major figures in the community.  Many of the family names of the club founders are still well-known today.  The great-great grandson of the the first president of the Leominster GC is a long-time friend of mine.  Likewise, the organizers of the new Monoosnock CC were also well-established figures in Leominster.  Hamilton Mayo, the first president of the club was the grandfather of one of my former business partners (since deceased).


Several of the leading Monoosnock members subsequently joined Oak Hill Country Club when it was founded and as it emerged as the preeminent club in the area.


Good luck with your research.