Lest anyone think this is a joke, I offer this excerpt from Princeton Golf and Country Club's 50th anniversary program (July 11, 1981):
At this time there had been enough interest generated in golf by Princeton people to enter the talking stage, regarding organization and building of a golf course. The primary interest was in golf, because of our very limited potential for funds, little consideration was given to anything else.
Marshall P. Eldred, then a resident of Princeton, a young attorney just out of law school at Ann Arbor, Michigan became acquainted with Perry Maxwell, a golf architect who was building a course at Ann Arbor when he was a student. He discovered that Mr. Maxwell was born in Princeton and lived here until he was two years of age. Evidently, Mr. Eldred mentioned about there being some interest in golf at Princeton, so Mr. Maxwell volunteered his services to lay out the course when we got ready to build.
By the fall of 1930 there appeared to be sufficient interest in golf to make the effort to organize a club in Princeton.
It was decided to go ahead in this venture, if we could get 100 members at $50.00 as charter members. The membership then to immediately to go $100.00. The one hundred members and perhaps a few more were secured in the latter part of 1930 and January 1931. We agreed to purchase the land and contacted Mr. Maxwell, the golf architect. He came to Princeton in February and the location of the greens were established. We contracted with him for one of his men experienced in building golf courses, to supervise the construction of the greens. We paid him $80.00 per week, considered high wages then.
Interesting that the history also notes that when the club added nine holes in 1968 that on some days as many as 30 youngsters, ages 8-12 reported for work when asked to do so. Their work included sprigging the greens and the course was dedicated to them.
Mike