I'm curious if anyone here knows much about Bredemus and his courses. The man was obviously prolific in Texas, but I don't think many have even heard of him outside the state. His name generally gets lost when Colonial gets brought up because of Maxwell's Horrible Horseshoe. Harvey Penick talks briefly about him in his Little Red Book. Do we know much about the man and his courses? How is his body of work viewed by those who do know him? What are some of his best examples? Was he known for any particluar design traits?

Jeff, do you know how your course, Ratliff Ranch, is doing? I'm going to be in the Odessa/Midland area at the end of the month and I was thinking of checking it out?

Thank you Sebastien. Very interesting.

Reading the linked thread, I had forgotten about Bred's NY connections.  I will try to find that article, but don't hold out hope. Here is an even brief synopsis of Whitten (which is a synopsis of Trimble)

John Bredemus (1884-1946)

Born in Flint, MI, raised in South Bend, IN. Dad Died, moved NE, apparently to relatives with some wealth.

Went to prep schools, including Dartmouth for a year and finishing at Princeton.

Was all around athlete, and was awarded Jim Thorpes AAU medals (not Olympic medals as widely reported) after JT was stripped of them for playing semi pro baseball in 1913.

Was a math professor and athletic director after college in Stamford, CT.  Took up golf and became a golf champion around NY City.

Moved to San Antonio after WWI, and was a high school principle until offered a chance to design a golf course in Del Rio, TX in 1920.

He co-founded the Texas PGA and Texas Open, which was part of a tour that became the Tour eventually.

Ralph Plummer came on board near end of career.

Had a reputation of being odd.  Moved to Mexico, perhaps in an IRS dispute. (Perhaps explaining why he didn't make site visits later in his career!)  Designed 6 Mexican courses and did return to Texas for his last course (which appears to be the NLE Pine Forest Golf Club, by Whittens dates) in 1946 and died in Big Spring Tx of a coronary that same year.

If I recall the Trimble article correctly, he died poor and alone.  Supposedly, he never showed those medals, and rumor was they were found in a box in his house after his death.  I might be wrong about that.

Funny that you should mention those 2 Jeff, my bro-in-law is a member at both I'll be playing them. Mission Dorado is where I first learned to play. It's alot of fun.