Tom,
I believe that you have de cided what must be and are sticking with that, rather than going by what Tilly, Jacobus and others stated about all of these for themselves.
1- I did not pick 140 yards as an arbitrary number. Go back and re-read what I wrotte & you will see I was quoting from an early article written bt TILLINGHAST! He referred to many (not all) D.H.'s as being in that range. His feeling was that the only purpose it served was to punish the duffer; hence the name Duffer's Headache!
2- He wrote about poorly placed bunkers as far back as 1901 when he referred to the "pits" at St. Andrews as such.
3- You keep harping on Bethpage. The Black course does not now and never has had "Duffer's Headache" type bunkers.
The first of the new courses, the Blue, had this written about it when it opened for play in 1935, an exhibition match was played on May 9th. In an article describing the match and the course, the New York Times on May 10th contained this, "In constructing it the builders have kept in mind the purpose to which it is dedicated. It is a wide-open course, giving the fellow who is not a sharpshooter plenty of width through the fairways."
In other words, the duffers could enjoy themselves.
In another article, this one on April 19, 1935, in reference to the Black course that would open one year later states, "the Black Course... will be the equal of any championship links in the country."
As you can see, the courses were designed and built for different levels of play. This was purposeful and planned. Your references to the bunkers at Bethpage are incorrectly used.
It is time that you answer the question I posed to you earlier in this thread and have sidestepped answering until now. Please define what Tillinghast meant when he referred to a bunker as being a, "Duffer's Headache."
I did by using Tillinghast's own definition. Was he not telling the truth?
Several other answers for questions that were raised.
Tillinghast sold off many of his antiques and family valuables over the years. I have a copy of an advertisement from 1922 that lists the auction of rare books from the A.W. Tillinghast library at Christies in New York.
His financial dificulties were caused by several things including an unknown illness at the time. When he lost the house in Harrington Park, it was as much a documentation error and no follow-up on his part as it was financial. This is directly from his granddaughter.
As some may know, I am currently at work on a very in-depth biography of Tillinghast. I have been given access to all of the family holdings and memorabilia. I have interviewed in person and telephone all four survivng grandchildren, each one who has memories of him. Ihave interviewed eleven of the great-grandchildren and even one great-great-grandchild. Rick Wolffe of the Tillinghast Association has kindly given me access to all of their records, and I have spent a lot of hours researching through the PGA library & museum and USGA Library and museum.
I have shared a few startling finds with some already & hope to be able to share more soon. The problem I have is one of time. I am working very hard on finishing it so that my publisher, Classics of Golf, can have it in stores by November.
Now, all of that being said, I do NOT believe that I am the be all and end all expert on Tillinghast. I have no problem with those who disagree with any conclusions that I have or will draw and, not that I would expect it, I hope that no one holds back from gicving it to me when they disagree.
I'd like to share an anecdote that many do not know about. In the early 30's, Tilly had a foreman on a crew who was proving to be very inadequate for the job. For a variety of reasons, including some that most will find highly ironic when they learn the whole story, Tilly finally fired him. He chose to put a man that the entire crew frespected in his place. He was Lonny, and Lonny was black. Lonny felt inadequate for the job, but Tilly had faith in him. When Lonny told him that he didn't know some things and that he couldn't read or write, Tiliy said, "Don't worry, I'll Teach you." When Lonny told him that it was almost time for him to travel down to the Carolinas for his winter job, Tilly said, "No Lonny, you will stay and live with me this winter. You and your wife Mary will live in the apartment in the carriage house. I will teach you everything you need to know this winter."
And that is why young Barbara Worden, grand-daughter of Tilly, woke up one night in the winter of 1931. There was a lot of noise and yelling, and lights were flashing into her room. Scared, she got out of her bed and went into the hallway where her mother was standing by the window looking out.
Not realizing her daughter had awakened and walked up and started to stare out the window as well, they both stood transfixed, as in the fields between the house where the Worden's lived, and the main house where Tilly lived, stood a huge cross on fire, burning away into the night.
The Klan burned crosses in protest iover Lonny all winter.
Tilly never replaced Lonny.