...along with his My Home Course entry on Glen Echo Country Club.

For many of us, golf course architecture is like a big puzzle, with a lot of the fun to be found in trying to understand how the different pieces fit together.

For instance, who did Macdonald influence? Who influenced Macdonald? How about Donald Ross? How did golf course architecture spread from the UK to the US and elsewhere? Once golf course architecture took hold in America, how did it then evolve?

Such questions and the permutations of answers are almost endless and thus, the subject matter of golf course architecture never seems to grow stale. If one remains open-minded, much can be learned. For instance, for me, key pieces have been added to the mix in the past 24 months including Tom MacWood's research showing the large shadow of Horace Hutchinson and Geoff Shackelford's uncovering of the timeless wisdom of Max Behr, whose shrewd words and thoughts remain as potent as ever.

And now comes along the Foulis brothers as captured in both Jim Healey's Feature Interview as well as his My Home Course entry on Glen Echo Country Club. In just the past couple of weeks since my introduction to Jim, I have gained a GREAT appreciation for this golfing family and what they meant to golf in this country during those very important first few decades of the 20th century. In his Feature Interview, Jim addresses the links/connections that the Foulis brothers had to many of the golfing greats, specifically relating for the most part to issues of golf course architecture.

Also, though I have only spoken with him by telephone, several people have told me how lucky we are to have Jim and his writing on this web site - I will take their word that Jim is one of the nicest guys in a game that seems to have the uncanny ability to attract such people.

All in all, hope you enjoy reading this month's Feature Interview and My Home Course entry as much I did in posting them.

Cheers,

Jim
Great job. What do you know of the connection between Willie Watson and the Foulis brothers? Watson is a fairly mysterious fellow, did you uncover anything new on him?

Jim,

As you know, I haven't played any Foulis courses   so I'm on thin ice here but in general, many architects like Ross and Bendelow had exposure to The Old Course at St. Andrews. Yet until Macdonald and NGLA in 1908, none of them built wild greens in the States (wild being defined as wild interior contours ala the 2nd, 12th, 14th etc. greens at The Old Course at St. Andrews).

Instead such men as Fownes and Leeds built greens with pitch in them (including the great front to back greens at Oakmont of course). Still, the lessons of wild interior green contours at St. Andrews didn't seem to travel well to the States.

In your Feature Interview, you note that the Foulis brothers built pitched greens as well as several multi-tiered greens and crowned greens. What would you say is their 'wildest' green? Are maintenance concerns being the relative lack of wild greens in the States from the 1890s through to 1908?

Cheers,

Jim,

As you know, I haven't played any Foulis courses   so I'm on thin ice here but in general, many architects like Ross and Bendelow had exposure to The Old Course at St. Andrews. Yet until Macdonald and NGLA in 1908, none of them built wild greens in the States (wild being defined as wild interior contours ala the 2nd, 12th, 14th etc. greens at The Old Course at St. Andrews).

Instead such men as Fownes and Leeds built greens with pitch in them (including the great front to back greens at Oakmont of course). Still, the lessons of wild interior green contours at St. Andrews didn't seem to travel well to the States.

In your Feature Interview, you note that the Foulis brothers built pitched greens as well as several multi-tiered greens and crowned greens. What would you say is their 'wildest' green? Are maintenance concerns being the relative lack of wild greens in the States from the 1890s through to 1908?

Cheers,

Ran:

Perhaps the wildest green(s) would fall into two categories; those was slopes and those with tiers.  Glen Echo and Normandie both have holes with tiers that are in the 2-3 foot range which run across the middle of the surface.  Regarding the slope greens, Lake Geneva's 13th, 5th and 6th, the 1st, 6th, 8th and 13th at Glen Echo and the 5th, 7th, 11th, 12th at Normandie all have fairly severe slopes.  From the back or middle of the greens, with the pin down below, it can be difficult to keep the ball on the green without the most delicate of touch. In Foulis' defense, most of these were designed before closely-cropped bent greens. Like many of Ross' greens, these challenge you to put your approach in the right location or pay the price. Second putts of 6-15 feet, thought usually uphill, are commonplace on many greens.

I would hesitate to call them wild, but they are rather challenging.  For those who have played Pinehurst, the uphill par-4 13th, is similar to a few of the Foulis' greens. Other greens at Pinehurst, like many of the Foulis',  have crowns that make your first putt a real adventure.

Jim,

Holland 'the imfamous GCA member'  He is a world class lurker here as I don't think he has ever posted!

Anyway I'm mad at him.  He called me last night at my hotel to tell me he wasn't coming to the Santa Fe GCA outing!

JC

Jim
I haven't uncovered much on Watson, and what I have makes me wonder about the 1898 date. He is a mystery man.

I found a mention of a William Watson pro/greenskeeper at Nairn--a former asst. at St.Andrews.  7/1908

In 1911 an advertisement Willie Watson (formerly of St.Andrews) at the Hotel Raymond in Pasadena.

5/1912 Watson arrives in the US to redesign Westmoreland in Chicago. (I wonder if he made periodic trips back and forth like Willie Park)

12/1913 Bernard Darwin criticizes Onwentsia and the club hires Watson (the California expert) to redesign the course.

1913 Aleck Bauer mentions that in reconstructing Ravisloe he used the able advise of William Watson. He also thanks Watson for allowing him to use the drawings of famous British holes--he evidently had the copyright on these drawings that also appeared in Golf Montly (UK).

I suspect Watson arrived well after 1898 and that his involvement in Minnesota was after 1908.

Jim
I've read conflicting reports on Minikahda. I believe a recent club history states the nine hole course was built in 1899, designed by R.Foulis and Willie Watson. And that Watson was the first pro. It also says that Bob Taylor was the pro from 1900 to 1944. And that he assisted Foulis in 1907 when the 2nd nine was built. It seems strange to me that Watson was there only one year...I guess its possible. Is there any record of him in the states from 1900 to 1908? I wonder if his involvement at Minikahda would have been later around the time he was active at Interlachen and down in Chicago.

I don't know where he died...is he dead?! Just kidding. Michigan seems to be his last known location.

Jim-
Wanted to give you a plug for your book 'Golfing Before The Arch' which this group would find very interesting, especially the section from 1896-1930.

Re: Glen Echo, I think GE is a very under-appreciated gem of a golf course. It is a terrific member's course that can appeal to players of all abilities and never gets boring.

I have seen the map you posted in the My Home Course section before but looked closely and wondered if you could comment on a couple things.

1.The map shows maybe 100 trees on the course itself, any idea if that's accurate? There are probably that many trees today one hole #1.  Is there any talk of bringing it back to that state? Currently Glen Echo is very over-treed and would improve immensely from a removal effort such as what's been posted here recently at Philadelphia CC in my humble opinion.

2. Any talk of bringing back the cross bunker on what's now #4 or adding any fairway bunkers? It seems related to having too many trees and by opening up the course and taking some of the trees out fairway bunkers could be added to great effect.


Thanks,
Buck