The original Biarritz

[Bryan Izatt]

Patrick,

As usual I have no idea what you're blathering about.  Feel free to carry on.

As for Streamsong, I should be there the day after tomorrow.  I'm sure I'll finish all the holes, although most probably the round will not be totally compliant with all the rules of golf.   So, no doubt I would have found a way to finish Biarritz too.    

[Bryan Izatt]

Final try at positioning the 14th hole based on the stick routing.  Although barely visible in this image, the 14th goes straight up the cliff more or less parallel with the coastline.




The hole was 80 yards long so I've placed it on the Google aerial as below.  The green site fits the "blue" description David posted.  There is cliff in front and also behind.  It also turns out to slope away from the line of play as described in the "blue" article.  First the aerial with the hole marked; then a view looking up from the road (where an 80 yard tee would be); and then an image to the right of the green and behind.  The benches and the person standing on the point may both have been on the green.  Note that the land slopes away to the back.  The tee in this picture would be down the cliff to the left side of the picture through the bush.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Bryan, again that is stunning thank you for all the hard work.



Just to be clear the green is half way up the cliff and then you walked up the rest of the way to the 15th tee?

Today the elevations are
Land just off beach 9m   (most likely the level before development?)
Car Park 17m   (where you have the tee)
Green  18m
Top of Cliff between approx. 30 to 39m.

[Ally Mcintosh]

Tony,

Not that Google Earth elevations are that accurate… But having had a look, I see the holes configured as follows:

Cliff Hole plays up a few metres elevation to about 23 or 25m (maybe Bryan's green site is a little too far left looking at routing map?)…. then walk up hill (not cliff) only to about 28 or 29m for 15th tee…. Then 15th hole plays straight uphill along the side of the ridgeline to about 40m at the green site. This hole would likely have had a slightly blind tee shot.

Well done Bryan – you’ve pinpointed the cliff hole location from the routing map we have, at which point it was hole 14. Now that routing map needs to be dated and other configurations around that time need to be identified I guess… Is there any info to do this?

Incidentally - I'd be surprised if that green (14th) and tee (15th) were not somewhat identifiable by anyone examining the location.

[Bryan Izatt]

Tony, Ally,

I don't think the Google elevations are that accurate on the microscale. I'd estimate that the green site is on the top plateau aand is maybe 60 feet above the parking lot.  A later iteration of the hole might have had the green on a ledge part way up as per one of the pictures David posted.  I'll have to look tonight and see if I can place that.  Ally, you may be right and the green might have been a little right of where I put it.  I think the 15th tee was probably near where the picture from behind the green was taken from.

David thinks the routing map is about 1893.  I think it is somewhere between there and 1897.  David has previously posted some info about previous configurations but nothing definitive that would locate/relocate the 3rd, 12, or 14th.

[DMoriarty]

I think Bryan probably has the date of the map about correct. Dunn expanded the course to 18 holes around 1892 or 1893, but I don't think the holes were added in the Chambre for a few years after.   The parts of the map with contours (the Grouse Moor and the Chambre) represent the areas that were added (or changed as was the case with the Grouse Moor) in the mid to late 1890s.

Ally, as for the holes in the Chambre, the quick and dirty of it as that originally the 11th played down, and the 14th played out, as shown on the map.   At some point before 1904, the course was changed again, so that No. 9 played down, and the 14th played out.  In other words, two holes were added down below.  CBM saw the course in early 1906 and according to a February 1906 Golf Illustrated article, No. 9 played down, and No. 14 played up the Cliff.    At some later point, the layout changed further, so the the 8th played down and the 13th played out.  There may have been other variations as well, but if the GI article is to be trusted, then when CBM was there in 1906. the ninth played down and No. 14 was the Cliff hole.

Bryan,  I am pretty sure that other green built into the side of the cliff was from later, after the Colt changes.   I've seen a map that shows a hole playing from the bottom of the Chambre to a point next to or just below the sharp bend in the road down, and this green seems to match that location.   The later date would also help explain the heavy engineering present in the photo.  

[Bryan Izatt]

One more current photo of the 14th Cliff hole location, this one from 90* to the line of play.  It matches up nicely with one of the old ones David posted, except that the teeing area has been flattened and turned into a parking lot.

David,  I can't place where that other iteration of the 14th green was on the current map.  That part of the cliff is now covered in bush that hides any ledges or plateaus that might be there.  Or the cliff may have eroded in that area.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Bryan,

I'm having a difficult time matching up the aerials in # 176 with the ground level photos in 181.

They're just not right.

The angle and what's depicted in the ground level photos don't correlate to the aerials

If the ground level photos were taken from the area of the white vans in the parking lot, then the sheer white cliffs behind the golfer don't match up.

In addition, your statement that the sheer cliff is covered in bushes is beyond speculative, it's wishful thinking to support your conclusions.

The other unknown is that we don't know if the "as built" matches up with the schematic.

[Ally Mcintosh]

David,

Thanks for the approximate timeline. That makes it a little clearer....

So by the time Macdonald visited, there were effectively two extra holes inside the chambre... That must have been when the hole depicted on Alfonso's photo dates from for that land must have been used if 5 or 6 holes were crowded down in that area....

Got me thinking whether the heavily engineered plateau on a retaining wall green site (the first example of modern day target golf design, perhaps?) shown in post 159 was actually a later iteration of the "cliff" hole out of the chambre or whether it was actually another hole that kept the play within the low flats... Certainly seems to be in a different location to the early iteration that Bryan posted above which ties with the routing plan....

[Patrick_Mucci]

Bryan,

If we assume that the golfer in the upper picture is a lefty, look at how he's positioned on his follow thru.
Also note where the caddie and spectator appear to be looking.
None of them, neither the golfer, caddie or spectator are looking toward the cliff.

They're all looking straight ahead, away from or parallel to the cliff.

When you match up the aerial with the ground level photo, it leads me to believe that perhaps the "cliff" hole was built other than as it's depicted in the schematic.

The other thing that I noticed is that # 12 lists as 300 yards and # 14 as 80 yards, but, when I measure # 14 it appears to be about 1/3 the lenght of # 12, not approximately 1/4, so, again, I have to question the accuracy of the schematic.  You're good at measuring, so how did # 14 and # 12 compare for you.

Lastly, the schematic seems to indicate that the 14th ran parallel to the steep/sheer cliffs.

One has to wonder, if in fact the photo showing the green perched on the walled plateau, wasn't the original green.

Since you'll have very little to do at night at Streamsong, this should keep you occupied.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Patrick,

As usual I have no idea what you're blathering about.  Feel free to carry on.

As for Streamsong, I should be there the day after tomorrow.  I'm sure I'll finish all the holes, although most probably the round will not be totally compliant with all the rules of golf.   So, no doubt I would have found a way to finish Biarritz too.  

Bryan,

It was in the teens again last night.
Rumors have it that it's in the 80's and 70's at Streamsong.

Just let us know how many dozen balls you go through on # 7 Blue.

Also, just for the fun of it, when no one is looking, tee up a ball in front of the green on # 7 Blue and try to hit it back to the 7th tee and let us know how many more dozens you go through.

Enjoy sunny Florida and the golf at Streamsong and report back to us. 

[Sven Nilsen]

I've tried to follow this thread, and commend Brian, David and others for the information they've put forth.  Unfortunately, it reads as a bit of a muddled mess, mostly due to the sidetracks, obfuscation and (un?)intentional distraction that has been put forth of late.

What started as an examination of the current state of the ground that once housed the the roots of the word that has become synonymous with a certain style of par 3 hole has devolved into an indecipherable overload of information.  If we are truly trying to figure out what CBM had in mind as the inspiration for the Biarritz template, I think it is important to lay out what he would have experienced during his potential visits to the site in 1902, 1904 or 1906.

I'd like to put aside the photos and non-contemporaneous schematics for now.  I'm going to present a series of contemporaneous accounts of Biarritz from the years leading up to 1902.

I apologize if this is repetitive of ground already covered, but I'm aiming for completeness of the record over the cherry-picking key facts.  If you feel that this doesn't belong here at this point in the conversation and you'd like me to move this to another separate thread, I'd be happy to do so.

To start, here is an early description of the course from 1890:

December 5, 1890 – Golf, A Weekly Record of the Royal and Auncient – Letter to the Editor from C. de Lacy-Lacy

http://books.google.com/books?id=IIwXAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA185&dq=biarritz+golf+chasm&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KvexUpveNKWIyAGnrYGIAw&ved=0CEQQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=biarritz%20golf%20chasm&f=false

“Our club, which is getting on for three years old…The hazards are numerous and varied – the Bay of Biscay being one of our largest….for although this is a sea-side place, our links are more of the nature of an inland course, being situated high up, many feet above the sea level….Our resident professional, Willie Dunn, late of North Berwick, is always on hand to give lessons…

The following is a brief account of the nine holes…:

1st Hole – The “Pigeon Hole,” so called from its being near the pigeon-shooting house.  A fair drive brings you to the edge of some rough, broken ground, covered with clumps of sedge grass.  160 yards from the tee; a cleek, or brassy shot will easily carry the rough ground, which is about 80 yards in extent, and a short iron shot will be probably wanted to reach the green, which is 300 yards from the tee.

2nd Hole – The “Sea Hole.”  A good drive will get you on towards the corner of the road, which is 200 yards from the tee; from here a full iron shot will reach the green.  A careful approach is wanted here, as the hole is on a strip of turf, 30 yards wide, between the road and the edge of the cliff; a ball pulled round to the left will go over the cliff into the Bay of Biscay, a ball sent to much to the right will drop out of bounds into some cultivated land, which entails loss of stroke and distance, while too gay a shot in the right direction will land you in some whins beyond the hole.  The hole is 260 yards.

3rd Hole – The “Chasm Hole.”  “Long lines of cliff breaking have left a chasm,” as the Poet Laureate says, and on the edge of this chasm is the teeing ground for the third hole.  The chasm is 80 yards across to the further edge, so you must loft that much.  If you top your ball and go down, you tee another and play three, as there is no playing out of the chasm.  The caddies, however, can get down and recover balls, so let not the golfer who has a frugal mind be deterred from coming here on that account.  The green is 120 yards on from the further edge, so it may be reached easily in a drive and an iron shot.

4th Hole – The “Long Hole.”  Ten yards in front of the tee is a large and “hairy” hedge, then comes a skittle ground and then a corner of a cultivated field, which is out of bounds, so a topped or foozled ball entails the loss of stroke and distance.  But 60 yards clears all these impediments, and after the teed shot there are no formidable hazards to be encountered, only a disused road with a small ditch on each side, which runs parallel with the line to the hole for some distance.  This hole is 480 yards.

5th Hole – The “Punch-bowl Hole.”  Any drive over 120 yards will clear a bank and narrow land, which crosses the line to the hole; a good brassy shot will then bring you somewhere near the Punchbowl, a deep circular pit, with nearly perpendicular sides and about thirty yards in diameter.  This hazard is in the direct line to the hole, and some 300 yards from the tee, and 80 yards in front of the hole.  The green may be reachin in two good drives and an iron shot, and is 400 yards from the tee.

6th Hole – “Shand’s.”  A fair drive of 160 yards brings you to the edge of “Shand’s Ravine,” called after our President, Lord Shand; a cleek or brassy shot will take you over, but the lies are not bad if you get in, and a short approach shot will lay you on the green.  This hole is 320 yards.

7th Hole – The “Hole Across.”  This is an iron shot of about 115 yards across what used to be a maize field, and if the ball drops on the green this hole may be done, and often is, in two.

8th Hole – The “Dell Hole.”  This hole is also a short one, being about 160 yards, a foozled ball is punished by bad lies, and in front of the hole is a deepish dell about forty yards across, but which is easy to play out of if you drop in, as many do.

9th Hole – The “Home Hole.” – This wants an accurately directed teed shot, as there is the Punchbowl on the right, and the Dell on the left, both about 130 yards from the tee; but having avoided these hazards, you have good lying ground for 200 yards, then a narrow lane, with deep banks to cross, and 80 yards to the hole.  This hole is 360 yards.”

Not only are the hole names wonderfully descriptive, they are remarkably reminiscent of the names of other famous holes around the world.  

So what does this tell us.

1.  The course opened with 9 holes and had 9 holes three years into its existence.

2.  All of the holes were on the cliff top level, with no holes located in the Chambre D'Amour at this time.

3.  As of 1890, Willie Dunn was the resident professional.

4.  The original version of the Chasm Hole played around 200 yards (an 80 yard carry, plus another 120 to the green) and seemingly as a par 4 (or at least a hole where two shots to the green were not out of the ordinary).  Whether or not the hole played directly over any water is a question, as caddies could retrieve balls that did not make the carry.  

More to follow...

[DMoriarty]

A bit more information on the date of that map.  The golf club purchased the Chambre d'Amour in August of 1894, so I'd expect the map to be from sometime around then.   One thing interesting about the map is that there appear to be all additional lines, marks, and erase marks both in and out of the chambre, as if changes were being made and on the map as they were being made on the course itself.  

Ally,

As for the holes in the chambre when CBM was there, it looks as of there was the one hole down (the 9th), then four in the bottom (10-13), then the Cliff hole (14) out.

As for the the heavily engineered green with the retaining wall, I am pretty sure that this hole was part of the changes made in the mid-1920's pursuant to Colt's suggestions.   Here is a map from around 1931 showing No. 6 playing from down in the chambre up to that location.  It might roughly correspond to the photo posted earlier that you thought was looking back up the hole playing down into the Chambre.  It is definitely a different location than the earlier Cliff hole.

[DMoriarty]

Good idea Sven.  

As for the timing of CBM's site visit(s) he discussed playing the course on his 1906 trip with Whigham, but makes no mention of having played it before then.  

One problem you might run into is that many of what was written seems to be by Hutchinson, and it is largely repetitive of what he wrote after having been there in 1893.

[Sven Nilsen]

Next, a series of accounts from a few years later:

April 1, 1893 – The Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science and Art – article entitled “Continental Golf”

http://books.google.com/books?id=O4w_AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA344&dq=biarritz+golf+chasm&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KvexUpveNKWIyAGnrYGIAw&ved=0CE0Q6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=biarritz%20golf%20chasm&f=false

“For, to say nothing of the hazards of the first hole, the second needs a loft, well pitched over a road with a bank on either side, and the ball must not be allowed to run, or it will go down the steepest of steep places into the sea, and never be recovered….Next hole, more horrible still, there is a chasm of precipitous sides, whose flooring is the thundering Atlantic, which he mush needs drive over from the tee….The lies at Biarritz, especially on the new holes, are rough, shockingly rough.”

Oct. 1894 – Blackwoods magazine – Horace Hutchinson

http://books.google.com/books?id=Y_kKxB7PPDkC&pg=PA557&dq=biarritz+golf+chasm&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KvexUpveNKWIyAGnrYGIAw&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=biarritz%20golf%20chasm&f=false

“[Discussing the 2nd hole] And you dare not harden your heart and resolve to be past, for if you are much past – five-and-twenty yards past – you are over the edge of a tremendous sea-cliff hundreds of feet high, and both ball and hole are irretrievable.  When you have putted out on this hole successfully, you tee off on the edge of the chasm which is a famous feature of Biarritz links.  The sea thunders away at the chasm’s floor, and across it, from brink to brink, you must go, for disaster is fatal, and there is no way round – no way, at least, that is worth the going.  But, after all, the chasm should be appalling only to the very faint-hearted, or the very feeble.  A stout half iron-shot would send the ball across.  It is only the frowning aspect of the sheer cliffs that makes it terrible, and in point of difficulty it is not a circumstance to the approach to the second hole.  

In the inception of golf at Biarritz, nine holes were the extent of the course.  Latterly it has been enlarged to eighteen, and the new nine are still a little “in the rough.”

…he will find in Willie Dunn a very obliging and fairly efficient clubmaker…

[Comparing St. Jean de Luz to Biarritz]  One tee-shot presents features like those of the Biarritz chasm.

Here, we learn:

1.  New holes were built on the course, extending it to 18 holes.

2.  These accounts suggest the Chasm hole played over the Atlantic, adding some color to the angle of the drive.  The hole is still described as a shorter carry, with a "stout half-iron" being enough club to make the traverse.

3.  Willie Dunn was still the pro.

[DMoriarty]

This is where we might get into some trouble.   If one looks at the Saturday Review article and the Blackwood article, they both seem to have been written by the same guy - Horace Hutchinson.   Hutchinson was there in 1893, but i don't think he was there in 1894, so I don't know that we can treat the information from October 1894 as a new account of the state of the course.  

[Sven Nilsen]

And more from 1898 and 1899:

1898 – The Golfing Pilgrim on Many Links – Horace Hutchinson

http://books.google.com/books?id=ufYXAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA82&dq=biarritz+golf+chasm&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KwKyUpatL-mQyAGblYDgCQ&ved=0CCwQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=biarritz%20golf%20chasm&f=false

“When you have putted out this hole, you tee off on the edge of the chasm which used to be a famous feature of Biarritz links.  The sea thunders away at the chasm’s floor, and across it, from brink to brink, you had to go, for disaster was fatal, and there was no way round – no way, at least, that was worth going.  But, after all, the chasm should have appalled only to the very faint-hearted, or the very feeble.  A stout half-iron shot would have sent the ball across…In the inception of golf at Biarritz, nine holes were the extent of the course.”

December 8, 1899 – Golf Illustrated – Horace Hutchinson

http://books.google.com/books?id=Qs0aAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA236&lpg=PA236&dq=biarritz+golf+chasm&source=bl&ots=I7RRTb-w1c&sig=zCYHpeRmAGPo80fQ23FhuXlkFO0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=HfCxUp-dN8LOyAHGloHQCQ&ved=0CEAQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=biarritz%20golf%20chasm&f=false

“In the last few years there has been an alteration in the disposition of the course, so that there are now three holes on that lower ground known as the chamber d’amour….The first of the illustrations shows a very well-known player on the Biarritz green preparing to drive down the cliff into this lower ground of the chamber d’amour….A principal feature of the Biarritz Golf course has been its Chasm.  The Chasm hole is not quite as it used to be.  It used to mean a drive off from a spot near where the putter in the second illustration is addressing his ball, and the hole lay at the other side of the yawning gulf which may be understood to lie beyond the present green.  As things are today, that putter has approached the present green with an iron shot over another and a shorter chasm.  The penalties of a foozled shot are no less heavy than they used to be, but the iron will now reach the hole which the driver would seldom reach before….The little series of illustrations, it will be seen, gives a good idea of what the new holes at Biarritz are.  The rest of the course is much as the visitor of three years ago and previously will remember it.”

Our takeaway:

1.  Hutchinson describes the Chasm Hole in the past tense.  Its almost a word for word recitation of his earlier description, but now his language has been changed to tell us the hole is no longer.

2.  The 1899 account clearly notes the changes to the course, including changes to the Chasm Hole, including it seemingly changing from a par 4 into a par 3.

3.  We get the first mention of holes (3) located in the Chambre.  

4.  The 1899 article has a few photos of the course as referenced in the writing.  I believe a few of them have been posted previously.  If I can match them up from earlier threads, I'll try to attach them here.

Edit:  This is the "second illustration" referenced in the 1899 article.  Here's the text describing it (copied from above):  "A principal feature of the Biarritz Golf course has been its Chasm.  The Chasm hole is not quite as it used to be.  It used to mean a drive off from a spot near where the putter in the second illustration is addressing his ball, and the hole lay at the other side of the yawning gulf which may be understood to lie beyond the present green.  As things are today, that putter has approached the present green with an iron shot over another and a shorter chasm.  The penalties of a foozled shot are no less heavy than they used to be, but the iron will now reach the hole which the driver would seldom reach before."

[Sven Nilsen]

This is where we might get into some trouble.   If one looks at the Saturday Review article and the Blackwood article, they both seem to have been written by the same guy - Horace Hutchinson.   Hutchinson was there in 1893, but i don't think he was there in 1894, so I don't know that we can treat the information from October 1894 as a new account of the state of the course.  

David:

I agree that knowing when the various authors (mostly Hutchinson) were on site is important.  However, for this exercise I think the key point is the change in his description from the early 1890's to later in the decade.

Sven

[Sven Nilsen]

Finally, two excerpts taken from after the turn of the century:

1902 – The Golfing Annual

http://books.google.com/books?id=5M5LAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA123&dq=biarritz+golf+chasm&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KvexUpveNKWIyAGnrYGIAw&ved=0CEgQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=biarritz%20golf%20chasm&f=false

“The course of eighteen holes (par, 68), abound with hazards of every description, a large chasm by the sea being the principal feature.“

1903 – Pearson’s Magazine – Bunkers I Have Visited – Horace Hutchinson

http://books.google.com/books?id=PbERAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA79&dq=biarritz+golf+chasm&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KwKyUpatL-mQyAGblYDgCQ&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=biarritz%20golf%20chasm&f=false

"The most magnificent and terrifying thing in the nature of a water hazard that ever has come within the experience of the present scribbler undoubtedly is the “Chasm,” as it used to be called, at Biarritz.  By bad luck and owing to the encroachments of the French equivalent for the jerry builder, we have to write of this place in the past tense.  It still exists, but for the golfer it is no longer.  There are houses both on the side on which he used to tee, and again on the side on which he used to putt.  But still the Bay of Biscay comes thundering in up the chasm, and the golfer of to-day can look and wonder at the fearful terrors that awaited those of former times who had any habit of topping off the tee.

The length of carry from one side to the other of the chasm was quite inconsiderable – a half-iron shot or so would have compassed it – but there was a hideous moral effect and terror in the Atlantic tumbling and rumbling at the foot of the high precipitous cliffs.  You cannot measure these effect by material feet and yards.  They take a more subtle gauge.  

A little further on in the present Biarritz course there is a hazard of unusual nature.  This is a cliff face opposing you, up which you have to loft the ball sixty odd feet in the air, with a full mashie shot, or something of that kind.  There are many Biarritz golfers who have played there steadily yet never have ascended that giddy height – that is, never have persuaded their golf ball to mount it – and it is certain there are many who never will.”

Conclusions:

1.  Unless CBM showed up before 1902, the ground that contained the original Chasm Hole was covered with housing.  While not conclusive, this casts a large shadow over the thought that his inspiration was in any way connected to layout of the original version of the Chasm Hole.  The focus of any investigation should be entirely on the new version of the hole, as it was played over the second chasm as referenced in the 1899 article above.

2.  Unsurprisingly, the accounting of the original hole is in accord with the earlier descriptions.

3.  We get a reference to the Cliff Hole, but that is a conversation for a later time.

4.  The description in the Golfing Annual provides little guidance.  It could be an outdated account, or it could be in reference to the new version of the Chasm Hole.

[Sven Nilsen]

The club's website (http://www.golfbiarritz.com/en/parcours/parcours-1896) has an image of a map of the area of the course with a date of 1896.  I don't think I've seen this image elsewhere, and unfortunately it is too small to really be useful. If anyone else has a larger version, please post it.

[Sven Nilsen]

One final point for now.  I've seen references to a "winter course" and a "summer course" at Biarritz.  One wonders if the holes were possibly reconfigured for some reason during the different seasons.

This could possibly be the cause for the confusion regarding the numbering of different holes in many of the photographs contained in the thread.

Sven

[DMoriarty]

Here is the 1896 map. I believe it just shows the land the golf club owned (shaded) at this point.  (Note that the Chambre seems to be shaded.)  Trouble is that they also were still using leased land to connect the various plots.  

[Sven Nilsen]

David:

I have a hard time reconciling the various photos of the old version of the Chasm Hole with the coastline and cliff edge as portrayed in that 1896 map.  My guess is that the map was lacking in detail.  

By my reckoning, the hole should have been near the turn in the coastline just above where "sud" appears on the compass.

Sven

[Sven Nilsen]

So where does this leave us?

Before getting to the descriptions of the influences from Biarritz as described by CBM and Whigham, I wanted to point out a couple of things.

First, as Brian smartly pointed out earlier in the thread, the schematic of the hole noting three tee boxes from different eras playing to the same green is flawed.  The hole that CBM may have seen played to an entirely different green than the original Chasm Hole as laid out by Willie Dunn, and from an entirely different tee location.  Perhaps much of the confusion lies in the relative similarity of the yardages of the original Chasm and the as-built Biarritz templates on this side of the pond.  Perhaps not.

Second, I find no references to the original Chasm Hole being numbered as the 12th hole, a hole number often thrown out as the number for the hole that served as CBM's inspiration.   It would make sense that 3 would become 12 if the nines were reversed, but I have yet to read any accounting of this having happened.  Not ruling it out, just haven't seen it.  (Note:  the winter/summer course delineation I described above was from 1920, and probably had no relation to the early versions of the course.)

Third, the version of the course in existence from 1902 to 1906 (using a broad range of time for CBM's visit) contained the holes in the Chambre D'Amour.  Whether it was 3 or 5 or 6 holes that played into and out of the Chambre at this time is something I have not yet verified.

I'm going to search for the various descriptions by CBM and Whigham of what they saw at Biarritz, but if anyone has them handy I'd greatly appreciate you adding them in.

Sven

[DMoriarty]

See Post 83.