Is there a reason that Tillinghast, assuming he was both, wouldn't have just written the same articles instead of changing the wording slightly? If the magazines had a different target audience, then why wouldn't he have just written the same articles for different mags?
Unless plagiarism was just no big deal back then, I just don't see how it could not possibly be AWT. That being said, there must be some reason why Phil just doesn't believe it...
Sean,
I believe the reasons for the slightly different slants, wording, and focus are primarily the same as any good writer; simply, knowing your audience.
In the case of the Philadelphia Record news article, he was writing for a general localized Philadelphia readership and it's more to the point, shorter and with a Philly focus. He begins;
"Last week I had the pleasure of playing the new Merion course. Since plans were announced the golfers of Philadelphia have waited for the course to develop and open for play. From the start it was apparent that a great effort was to be made to provide this section with a course of real championship calibre and in view of that which has been done already I predict that this ambition will be realized."
He closes with more rah-rah words for the local faithful, although to be honest, I'm not sure he's truly impressed with the overall course all that much at this point;
"It would be foolish to attempt a more detailed criticism at this time. Let me sum it up in a few words: Merion shows all the earmarks of a great course - and when we consider the comparatively few great courses in the country today, it gives us considerable satisfaction to anticipate that
we will have one in Philadelphia."
Let's compare that to his January 1913 review in the American Cricketer. While it was a small, focused national publication primarily dealing with the sport of cricket and other recreations of the rich like lawn tennis, polo, and even golf, it did still have a Philadelphia bent as I believe it was published here and was actually trumpeting itself for sometime as the voice of the Golf Association of Philadelphia.
For this magazine, Tillinghast steps back a bit from a purely cheerleading role and offers something more in the way of philsophical wranging as a critic;
"The critic who reads a book or sees a play and then immediately sits down and attempts to review it is rather unfair. If he permits his subject to soak in, devoting thought to it, and regarding it from all angles, he is then qualified to offer an honest, intelligent criticism. Frequently he must read the book or see the play a second time before he is ready to take up his pencil."
"Before winter came down on us I visited Merion to play over the new course for the first time. I liked it then, but I permitted weeks to pass before I attempted to put my impressions on paper. It must be remembered that the golf course is unlike a book or the play, for it is not a work tha tis finished and to be judged as it is. As a matter of fact, a golf course is never completed, and Merion is at present in a very early stage: consequently we must regard it as the foundation from which there will gradually rise the structure of the builder's plans. To attempt an analysis of some of the holes today would be manifestly unfair, for they are not nearly so far advanced as others, and yet some day the very holes which now are rather uninteresting and featureless may be among the best of them all."
Clearly a bit more guarded for a bit more of what was clearly a more sophisticated reading audience. Still, he does seem overall positive, or at least optimistic as he closes;
"Summing up my review, I wish to say that I believe that Merion will have a real championship course, and Philadelphia (note he doesn't use the term "we") has been crying for one for many years. The construction committee, headed by Hugh I. Wilson, has been thorough in its methods and deserves the congratulations of all golfers."
Finally, writing for what is clearly the national cognescenti of the game in "American Golfer", Tillinghast almost reaches a level of poetry in waxing philosophically and with almost classical mythology in describing Philadelphia's great new course to a national audience of his fellow golf afficianados across the continent;
"A number of years ago your correspondent was a passenger on a crippled ocean liner, and for nearly a week we had been making but little headway under sail. For several days we had lost our bearings and a fog that could almost be cut with a knife had settled on us. At last it lifted and we found that we were quite close to the Newfoundland coast, and we finally made the harbor of St Johns for repairs. I shall never forget that harbor. Rocks, gray and forbidding, on each side came down to the beating surf, but between them in the distance nestled the little port in the green lap of the Newfoundland hills."
"When for the first time I saw the sixteenth green on the new Merion course, a brillant patch of color just beyond the opening in the dark walls of the old quarry hole, like a flash my thoughts flew back over twenty years and once again I was standing by the rail, joyfully regarding the welcome haven of St. Johns."
"Ever since golf was introduced in Philadelphia, the city has been in great need of a course such as Merion has produced, or, I should say, is producing, for the work is still in its early stages. I had heard much of the plans and reports of the progressing work, but not until a. month ago did I find the opportunity of seeing it. Two years ago, Mr. Chas. B. Macdonald, who had been of great assistance in an advisory way, told me that Merion
would have one of the best inland courses he had ever seen, but every new course is "one of the best in the country" and one must see to believe
after trying it out. I had hoped that it was as good as reported, for it appeared to be the one great chance to provide Philadelphia with a real championship course. Fortunately I had as my first guides two of Merion's best golfers: Mr. Howard W. Perrin and Mr. Hugh Willoughby, and my two rounds there that day were delightful. It required but a glance and a few steps on the turf to convince me that the quality was there and the putting greens were excellent, considering their age. Everything indicated careful, intelligent preparation and painstaking development."
Stepping back fully and portraying himself as something of an outside, impartial observer, he concludes;
"Merion has a real course in the making—there is no doubt about that —and with a continuance of the intelligent handling which is evinced by its present condition, the club and the city will have every reason to be
proud."