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Chris Buie

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The Ghost of Montevideo
« on: April 18, 2013, 11:32:38 AM »
This was one of the grander visions in a land with no shortage of such. Alas, another victim of the Depression.
One of the interesting points here is that this was apparently the one and only design by Donald Ross's collaborator Frank Maples. Nobody was closer to Ross than Frank. Ross was the godfather to his son Ellis (who was a quite a good designer in his own right). Frank knew golf courses in and out so it would have been interesting to see him have a go at being in charge of design. I'd always thought he never got to do the design - but according to the article he actually did get to lay out the course.
And so we have another ghost story. There are several ghost links in the area - the Barber course, Weymouth course and Ross was to design 45 holes (plus a "miniature course") at SPGC.
There are a few remnants of Montevideo to be found in the area - an entrance and pillars along the underrated town of Aberdeen. But that's it...

(click on image for larger version)



« Last Edit: April 18, 2013, 11:54:52 AM by Chris Buie »
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Sven Nilsen

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Re: The Ghost of Montevideo
« Reply #1 on: April 18, 2013, 02:57:45 PM »
Chris:

Do I surmise correctly that the course was never built?

As an aside, there was a 9 hole course known as Montevideo CC in Montevideo, MN built in the early 20's.  The course exists today as The Crossings at Montevideo with 9 holes added around 1994.

Sven

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Chris Buie

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Re: The Ghost of Montevideo
« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2013, 04:10:38 PM »
Hi Sven, well the article says an 18 hole course 'has been laid out by Frank Maples'. That's all I know. From that it seems likely that he went through the land and chose the routing, tee and green sites etc. Beyond that it is pure speculation. It could be they cleared some of the land but I've never seen one word about the course being played so I would guess it was never developed to the point where it was playable. But it is possible it was actually playable at one time. The article is from 1927 - ie. 2 years before the Depression.
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Steve Lang

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Re: The Ghost of Montevideo
« Reply #3 on: April 19, 2013, 01:34:42 PM »
 8) Chris,

I've been in Aberdeen/So Pines 2 dozne times.. seems I've seen the pillars...  I'm  thinking along Midland Road??? is 22 the old St Hwy 50?  With Boulevarde?
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Chris Buie

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Re: The Ghost of Montevideo
« Reply #4 on: April 19, 2013, 04:25:31 PM »
"The [fourth floor] roof garden plans embrace a stage, projecting booth, buffet and dance floor...the unobstructed, panoramic view which extends in every direction..."

Dancing under the stars with a panoramic view of an idyllic village sounds like a pretty good way to spend a Saturday night. A pity it didn't come to fruition. From that noble point of the natural world you can now cast your eyes upon a panoramic view of Burger King, Golden Korral, and Wal-Mart. Yep. Well, at least most of the area is still appealing.

Steve HWY 22 runs between the 2nd and 3rd holes of Pine Needles. That's the line at the top of the map. The circle indicates where Montevideo was supposed to be. Not sure where HWY 50 was.
If you go to Google maps street view you can see one of the entrances on the corner of 4th and Poplar in Aberdeen.
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