St. Davids/Main Line Golf Club

[Joe Bausch]

I'm guessing somebody here can satisfy my curiosity of the remains of the Main Line golf course that was located on both sides of Lancaster Avenue where the current Radnor Hotel and Genuardi's are located.  I practice at the Radnor range off Iven Avenue, and there are the remains of a golf green tucked up in the corner of the range near the beginning of the eastern edge of the Radnor Trail.  Was this a par 4 coming down the hill, and perhaps another hole ran back where the baseball fields are located?

[Walt_Cutshall]

What a blast from the past. I lived in an apartment across the street from a couple "hole fragments." This was a good 40 years ago (OMG!) when I was a young lad. Neither the Radnor Hotel nor the restaurant existed then. I used to go hit balls around these "holes." Sorry I can't remember much about them (or anything else these days ) but I am interested in any information that others can provide.

[wsmorrison]

Joe,

Cricket was king in Philadelphia, and maintained its position in Philadelphia with baseball unlike other east coast cities where baseball became the number one sport.  An article in today's Philadelphia Inquirer mentioned that Philadelphia's open policy towards cricket participants helped popularize and maintain its position as the first city of cricket in the United States.  It wasn't until early in the 20th century that baseball finally eclipsed cricket.

Jim Finegan determined that St. Davids GC got its start as the St. Davids Cricket Club with golf first organized in 1897.  In the beginning golf was played on a rudimentary course on the estate of Francis Fenimore.  With the sale of two lots on the Fenimore estate, the club moved to the area you refer to in 1899.  An 18-hole course was built and the club became the sixth member of the Golf Association of Philadelphia.  The outward nine was 2478 yards with a par of 34.  The inward nine was 3138 yards with a par of 38.  Five holes on the inward nine were more than 400 yards long.  George Crump was a captain of the club and his right hand man at Pine Valley, James Govan, was the club professional.

The club moved to its present site on land owned by Tom Paul's family.  Ross laid out the course and it opened for play in 1927.  

Sorry, I don't know the particulars of the old layout.  Perhaps an old railroad map will show the routing.  The old routing of Merion's Haverford golf course can be seen in the Pennsylvania RR maps.

[Dan Boerger]

Mike Trenham would know lots more than I, but I recall a great aerial shot of both a "Main Line" golf course and a new St. Davids course in the St. Davids clubhouse. Really fascinating shots.

[Joe Bausch]

Wayne, that's good info. Thanks.  After reading your post I did some Google searching and found a couple of articles from 1949 that I think people might enjoy.  They are here:

http://www.waynepa.com/History/documents/ytmt/1949/04/22.html

and

http://www.waynepa.com/History/documents/ytmt/1949/05/13.html

[wsmorrison]

Great articles, Joe.  Thanks for the links.  I just played golf the other day with Mike's father, Pete Trenham, longtime head professional at St. Davids.  We're due to speak again soon, I'll see what he comes up with as he is an outstanding historian currently documenting the history of the PGA in Philadelphia.

[Mike_Cirba]

There was also a Main Line Golf Club that C&W attributed to the Gordon's, circa 1960 or so.

Does anyone know if this is the course that was later known as Malvern Golf Club?   Mike Trenham...are you around?

The course was located on the west side of route 252, just south of Lancaster Ave. (rte 30).   I played it back in high school.   It wasn't too bad...basic public golf.

It's now a housing development.  

[Mike_Trenham]

It's been a long day.  Maybe I can post more on Thursday.

I'll get out my Dad's draft of the club's history.  

Course was on leased property, our second location, property owner was upset when she saw golfers out early every sunday and drinking on the ground.  When we moved the club operated it under their lease as a public course for about two years after the move to the current location.  Not sure about the association with cricket.  The founders played golf at Devon and got hooked.

Herman Wendel who was highly involved in the founding and building of Pine Valley was a founder of St Davids and oversaw the construction of this course I belive.  I'll get my facts together and post more later.

[Craig_Rokke]

Mike-
I believe that Tredyffrin CC straddled rt 252 in Paoli
@ Rt 30 (Findlay). Malvern Golf Club, where I first broke
150 as a 13 year old, was to my knowledge a Gordon course formerly known as U M L CC. Now it's a housing development in Malvern @ King Rd, almost across from Immaculata Univ.

[Mike_Cirba]

Mike-
I believe that Tredyffrin CC straddled rt 252 in Paoli
@ Rt 30 (Findlay). Malvern Golf Club, where I first broke
150 as a 13 year old, was to my knowledge a Gordon course formerly known as U M L CC. Now it's a housing development in Malvern @ King Rd, almost across from Immaculata Univ.

Craig,

You're right...I was mistaken about the location.

and you're also correct that the name of the course I'm looking for is Upper Main Line CC.  

Does anyone else recall this course and did it later become Malvern GC?

Thanks!

[Craig Disher]

The original St. David's course existed as late as 1937. Two holes were located on what is now Encke Park, 4 or 5 more at Radnor Station and the rest between E Lancaster and the Penn Central railroad.

Dan Wexler identified the course as Radnor GC.

[TEPaul]

Mike:

I remember that course. I played it a few times years ago. It wasn't on Rte 252 in Paoli, though. It was on Rte 352 in Malvern. I doubt it would've been called the Upper Main Line CC because it was pretty far to the west of the Upper Main Line. I think I remember it as the Malvern GC.

Matter of fact, when I first got here about 30 years ago if I ever played I think I played there and at Edgmont GC. I think I went over there with my mother a few times.

At that point I used to go down to Florida and I started playing with my Dad. One time at Seminole my Dad and I were playing against Ogden Phipps and some other guy.

I didn't play enough to have a handicap and my Dad just said I was probably about an 11.

So we played Ogden who was about the most competitive person I've ever seen and Dad and I basically beat the shit out of him.

After that round Ogden Phipps got furious and said I had no right playing with an arbitrary handicap and so on the ride home my Dad simply said;

"Tommy, I think you need to join a golf club and get a handicap."

Since my grandfather started GMGC he told me to call up my uncle and ask him about getting into GMGC.

And so I did. My uncle, A.J. Drexel Paul, was a Philadelphia lawyer and a man of few words. He said he'd take care of it. I asked him if I should call him about it like meeting people and stuff. He said, no, don't call him or anyone else and that he'd take care of it.

So about five months went by including the summer and I never heard anything from my uncle or GMGC and I didn't dare call him or anyone else.

Then one day in September I got a mildly irritated letter from the office of GMGC asking me why I hadn't payed my bill. That was the first time I heard from GMGC.

Those were the days, BOYS!!  

[mike_malone]

 Tom,

   You're losin' it. You told that story before. Give us a new story, please.

[TEPaul]

"Tom,
You're losin' it. You told that story before. Give us a new story, please."

I tell all my stories numerous times. There are new people on here all the time. The trouble with you is you've been on here too long.

But if you've heard my stories before you can always 'run for the bus', as it were.

Have you ever worked in a political camaign?

If so, you will know you hear the same story over and over again simply because there are always new audiences.

The 'run for the bus' phrase apparently came from Bobby Kennedy's campaign for president.

He would almost always end his speeches with the same quotation and the press corps had heard it so many times as soon as he would start with the quotation they would all cut and run for the bus to get the best possible seat.    

Apparently, Bobby would only think to change his closing quotation when it became difficult for him to find a seat on his own campaign bus. Once his campaign bus left when it was full and left him behind. When they got to the next campaign stop everything was cool except there was no candidate to cover. That's when he definitely changed his closing quotation to a new and totally fresh one.

By the way, Bobby's stock quote that left him missing the bus and stranded was;

"Some people see things as they are and ask why. I dream things that never were and ask why not?"
 
 

[TEPaul]

By the way, Mayday, who in the hell is St David, anyway? And furthermore why in the hell is that golf course named after him?

Since the present St David's golf course is on land belonging at one time to my great grandfather or grandfather (I've never known which) and since Saint Katherine Drexel is only the fourth American saint and my great great aunt, I hereby propose that in respect to her and the history of the land their golf course is on that St Davids golf club should hereinafter be renamed St Katherine Drexel golf club.

I think that's more than appropriate and anything less is a total denigration of history, don't you Mayday?

Matter of fact, there has been a border dispute for years and years along the left side of the 14th hole between St. Davids GC and my family who still live there. It's become so convoluted and generational there seems to be no solution.

My cousin lives there now and seems to have no interest in resolving it thereby improving the 14th hole (and perhaps even his own view).

I think I will propose to him that he solve the border problem in favor of the club and course but only if they rename the club St Katherine Drexel GC.

Failing that, and as I have SAID BEFORE on here in another of my stories, I will get a slick New York shyster lawyer who will find a loophole in the old transfer of land between my grandfather or great grandfather (I still don't know which) and I will thereby OWN St David's GC. If that transpires my very first act will be to rename it St Katherine Drexel GC.

Wait a minute! Why would I name any golf club after a Catholic Saint, even one who was my great great aunt?

I can't bear the Catholic Church as I view the whole thing as a bunch of money hording opportunists who prey on poor peoples' guilt to keep themselves solvent. Not to mention too many of them are child molesters and perverts. What else would one expect from a group of people who aren't allowed to get married and get properly laid now and again?

I say: "Power to the People" and the hell with this fantastically ridiculous notion of "The City of God" as represented by the Vatican and perhaps the greatest collection of art on Earth.

[Dan Boerger]

Hey, I like Tom's stories. I saw "Apollo 13" the other day (I once dated the lady that asked the "bathroom" question at the start of the movie) and knew how it ended, but was still on the edge of my seat.

And, Tom, isn't the land dispute mostly to the area left of 13, not 14 at St. Davids?

If you ever get the chance to view the aerial photo of that course (taken in the mid 30's I think) you can't help but be amazed at the size of the greens, how they seem to be squared off, and just how few trees there were on that course back then.

[mike_malone]

 Well, I achieved my goal to get another story. Priceless!

[Dan Herrmann]

Talking about Philly and its cricket/baseball heritage...

Here's an 1875 painting from Thomas Eakins of Philadelphia that (to me) shows how cricket and baseball were intertwined in the early days of baseball:


There was a great article on this painting in the Philadelphia Inquirer earlier this summer that explained why the players look to be cricket players.

[Mike_Cirba]

Tom Paul,

Well, after hearing about Seminole, your introduction to Gulph Mills, the property dispute, and your affinity for the Catholic church, I say we should start a drive to raze all of those houses on route 352 and see if we can't restore Malvern Golf Course to its rightful prominence.  

I only played it once, but there was some real architecture there.  

Seriously, I'm a bit out of my element, but isn't the "Upper Main Line" the area of Berwyn, Paoli, and Malvern?

[Mike_Trenham]

TEPaul:

I found this in the draft of the club history being assembled by my father.

       On April 18th the board presented a plan to the membership for the purchase of 129 acres in north Wayne at a reasonable price. The members were told that the move would cost each of them $500 and there wasn't one dissenting vote. As it turned out negotiations had been going on for over a year. The club's directors had had plenty of opportunity to inspect the ground under various weather conditions. They found that the property drained so well that play would be possible virtually all year round. Donald J. Ross had been retained at the course architect and a course routing plan had been completed. Miss Martha Brown and Mrs. Chew came forward with an offer of a ten year extension to the present lease but the directors had found what they had been looking for, the chance to own their golf club.
        The property in north Wayne, at one time the John Henry farm, was now two farms. One farm consisting of 82+ acres, a stone farmhouse and barn lay on the south side of Upper Gulph Road. Paul D. Mills and his wife Ellen Drexel Mills owned the property. The other farm, which was on the north side of Upper Gulph Road had 47+ acres and was owned by A.J. Drexel Paul and his wife Isabel. On July 31st St. Davids Golf Club purchased the 82-acre parcel from the Mills couple for $98,500. The club didn’t have to make settlement on the 47-acre tract until April of the next year.  
        Work then began clearing the ground but it did not have to be rushed since there was still a period of six years left on the Lancaster Avenue lease. The lease did not run out until September 31, 1931. In October a bent grass nursery was planted. In September 1926 the bent grass stolens were taken from nursery and plugged into the green sites. The green chairman Frank Mahan and F.A. Canizares, a construction company president, supervised the construction of the course.
   On April 26th, 1926 SDGC purchased the 47 acres across Upper Gulph Road from A.J. Drexel Paul and his wife for about $20,000. Even though Mr. Paul had founded Gulph Mills and was a member of Merion he was still a member of SDGC and on the board of directors in 1940.
            On Saturday October 1, 1927 the new course had an unofficial opening and 200 played it that day. One of the buildings had been made ready to use. The course was 6,484 yards in length. Par for the men was 71 and par for the ladies was 84.
        The club still had four years left on their lease on the course on Lancaster Avenue so it was decided to open it to the public. Special concessions were made to the members who choose not to move to the new location and arrangements were made for them to stay on as members at the old course. The course was renamed the Main Line Open Golf Club.

[Craig Disher]

Mike,
So the course at Lancaster and Iven did NOT become Radnor GC. Any idea where or if it existed? Perhaps MLOGC became known locally as just the Radnor GC.

[TEPaul]

MikeT:

Thanks for that detail about the beginnings of the present St Davids GC. In his history of the Philadelphia PGA your dad has done some wonderful research that laps over into a lot of other areas of interest.

DanB:

You're right, it's to the left of the 13th, not the 14th.

[RE Blanks]

The last time I was in Philadelphia I played there at St Davids.  Maybe 3 years ago.  I remember players warming up by hitting balls over the 18th fairway.  They were also doing some construction on the course.  

A very strange sidenote.  About a year ago I was at my home club in Athens GA and I was finishing up my 9th hole.  The pro shop is a two story building the stands close to the 9th green and 10th tee.  I went into the restroom under the proshop and there was a picture of a golf hole that looked familiar.  It was a picture of I believe the 9th hole (downhill par three heading back to the clubhouse) at St Davids.  I have absolutly no idea how that got there.

Also, I wanted to throw in my favorite drinking/sandwich spot in the area.  Anyone ever been to the ALE HOUSE?  Roast Beef and Provolone.  Very good.  

[TEPaul]

RE:

St Davids now has a bone fide range and to get it they reconfigured the 17th and 18th holes.

The ALE HOUSE is an old standby around here for years.

[Dan Boerger]

I played St. Davids today. It was a real treat. IMHO, this course doesn't get the recongnition is deserves. Some really fine holes there -- particularly the 3rd, 7th and 12th.