Alex Findlay

[Joe Bausch]

Got an e-mail from Phil Young recently that he has given me permission to post here.

Joe,

If you take a look at the brief course evolution history in Tillinghast illustrated on the Tillinghast Association website, you'll find out that SFGC employed Findlay in 1913 to check out a potential site for a new golf course. His several page report basically stated that "the land sucks you'd be crazy to build a course there." He then mentioned that he saw afar off another piece of land that he didn't examine since he wasn't engaged by the club to look at it but he thought that it was perfect for a great golf course.

The land he recommended? The site of today's SFGC & course. The land he said sucked? They just played the U.S. Open on it...

From that perspective, an examination by Alexander Findlay altered forever the history of golf in California, America and internationally...

I've attached a copy of the report and the illustration that went along with it. They currently reside in the Bancroft library at Berkely...

Phil

[David Harshbarger]

Comparing the map to today's map, it looks like Findlay actually said, "of the land you said you thought you could afford, use [what becomes Olympic].  But, over there's some better land, you just said you couldn't afford it.". Looks like where there was a will there was a way.

[Joe Bausch]

One of his courses that I play each year in the Lehigh Valley Am. is Green Pond.  Here is a link to their website:

http://www.greenpondcc.com/Golf.php

Green Pond may not seem like much to a private club player however it is a fun golf course.  The tournament set up for the LVA is always really good.  Making match play is and winning a few matches is great fun.  The greens make the course and while they don't have an abundance of shapping but they do have enough to define and create interest.  No two greens really look alike either.  They each present their own set of requirements.  If you haven't been to Green Pond it is worth a visit.

I played Green Pond last Sunday.  It has some very interesting greens that reminded me a bit of those at Tavistock.  Except they are all rounded now I guess from the mowing practices.  But most of the green space could be easily recaptured IMO, but I'm not a superintendent although I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last year. 

I wonder if anybody that has played the 17th at Green Pond thinks that Findlay might have found inspiration for it from another more famous par 3 17th in the Philly area.     Take a look at the album and take a guess!

https://www.myphillygolf.com/uploads/bausch/GreenPond_2022/index.html

[Mark McKeever]

Joe, the look back to the right hand tee says it all for me!  I will let others guess though!
Mark

[Jim Sherma]

I've been playing the Pond sine 1982 and they have been slowly reclaiming some green size over the last bunch of years. All in all they do a great job there. 11's green used to have a very dramatic upper/back tier, similar to the two tiered green at Lebanon CC (I can't recall the hole) but with sharp drop-offs on all sides. It was so severe that they barely ever used it. It had to be somewhere in the mid 80's or so that they cut it down and built what's there now, the contours are out of character with the rest of the greens, but there are some good pin placements back there. The greens really reveal themselves when they get the speed up in September for both for the Lehigh Valley Amateur and Club Championship. I don't believe tha mounds on 2 and 15 are original but were added at some point to add interest. They definitely make for more decision making than would be needed otherwise and I like them for that reason.