The most important U.S. influence on the Philadelphia School...Pinehurst

[Mike_Cirba]

...was Pinehurst. 

During the years from 1901 through the mid teens a small but consistent and constantly growing number of Pennsylvania men would venture south for a few days up to a few months, and included men from virtually every club in the city and state, from Billy Fownes to Howard Perrin, from Howard Toomey to AW Tillinghast.   Virtually everyone in the golf would congregate there for the big late winter/early spring tournaments from Walter Travis to Chick Evans to Donald and Alex Ross.

A March 11th, 1911 Philadelphia Press article titled "30 Quakers Tramp Pinehurst Links - Philadelphians Help Swell Army of Golf Enthusiasts at Southern Resort to 800" was but a sample of the type of ongoing enthusiasm and consistent support for the "winter tour" among the well-to-do golfing enthusiasts of the city.

From the article;

"The number of Philadelphians who come here yearly is increasing steadily as there is no place in the South which compares to Pinehurst when it comes to golf.  At one of the hotels there are more than 400 golfers quartered and it is safe to say that oever the three courses more than 800 golfers may be found any bright day."

"The Spring tournament, which ended today, was responsible for the second largest entry list in the history of golf.   The entries numbered 241 and this was beaten in only one tournament - the Transmississippi at Denver a few years ago.   Here, 228 actually played, which is a new record.  This is remarkable in view of the fact that the weather was down to freezing and a stiff gale blew across the course."

"There are three distinct, great eighteen-hole courses here, which is true of no other place in the world except the R&A Golf Club of St. Andrews, Scotland.   A fourth has been staked out and will be in readiness next Spring.   The most famous of these courses is the No. 2 course, laid out by Donald Ross and Walter J. Travis.  They did not plan it together, but each coincided with the other's suggestions.   The only change suggested by Travis and which was adopted was the omissions of cross bunkers.   The ground is rolling and the grass on the fairway is Bermuda grass, the only kind that is possible in most golf resorts in the South."

"The putting greens are of clay foundation and covered with sand.   The greens are flat and as there are no worm casts, perfect putting is always possible.   The greens are watered for a radius of a few feet from the hole and men are employed to do nothing else but water the greens and drag a roll of carpet over them to remove all traces of heel marks."

While this article and architectural attributions are noteworthy to point out the popularity of Pinehurst during these early years, it doesnt speak necessarily to the architectural sophistication that was found there.

However, the following article from the May 1912 American Golfer does;

"After one of the most unprofitable—from a golfer's point of view—winter, Philadelphia extended a warm greeting to spring. It has been years since the links of the Quaker City have been so unplayable as the period from Christmas until the latter part of March.  An occasional day was the only respite from weeks of the worst possible sort of weather."

"One thing will be noted by visitors from other cities whether they play over such excellent eighteen hole courses as Huntingdon Valley and the Philadelphia Cricket Clubs as representing the larger organizations or the two dozen or more courses of nine holes and that is the growing tendency to improve in a more scientific manner the courses around Philadelphia. "

"Time was when changes were made in a sort of a hit or miss manner. Today every trap or pit that is constructed means something definite and with it all has come the scientific construction of bunkers and hazards.  Time was when the green committee built courses on a broad principle of the greatest good to the greatest number and as the greatest number in every golfing organization is the dub or indifferent player, the really good player suffered.  As the chairman of the green committee of one of the largest courses recently expressed himself: "A few years ago we used to post the changes proposed. This met with so much opposition that we were forced to take a couple of days in the week when we were sure that the bulk of the players would not be on the course and then we started to construct a course that would help the good player and do no great injury to the poor player.  Nowadays, fortunately, we are able to make changes without feeling that we would be subjected to the severest sort of criticism.""

"There is no doubt that the Southern courses have done wonders for golfing conditions around Philadelphia.  It is not so many years ago that very few players took two weeks off in mid winter to play golf in the south.   Where one player went South five years ago, twenty go now.  Pinehurst, in particular has worked wonders. Hundreds of men who have always played a rather indifferent game have gone to Pinehurst and have been confronted with golf courses constructed on scientific principles where traps and pits have been placed in spots because good golf demanded their presence there."

"The result has been that the indifferent, careless player found that every shot he made demanded study and care and the golf there brought out the best in him. When he got back to the home heath he began to realize that one of the reasons he had not been playing better golf was because his own course was constructed on rather slip shod lines, on the one hand, or built on lines to suit him and scores of other players who insisted that the course should not be made any harder than it was. He realized for the first time that his wild shots were not penalized, that many of his approaches should have been punished but were not. The realizing sense finally came to him that he had not been playing golf but had simply used the paraphernalia of the game in a very bungling fashion."

"As a direct result scores of the indifferent players who have received their real golf education in the south have gone to the green committees and frankly and freely confessed that their theories were all wrong and asked them to stiffen the course. They now realize that it is impossible to play good golf over an inferior course and that a good course does not hamper their game but actually helps it."

"At any event, the golfing renaissance in Philadelphia has actually begun and before many years we shall have courses which are a credit to us and not a mark of good natured chaffing of others who  know what constitutes a good course."  - "Far and Sure" - May 1912

[Adam_Messix]

Mike--

I think this leads to a couple of questions: 

1.  Why don't greens on Philadelphia courses look more like Pinehurst No. 2?  At this point, you could say that the Pete Dye idea is right that the greens  at Pinehurst 2 have become significantly crowned over the years and were not originally.

2.  Why do Philadelphia courses like Pine Valley, Merion, and the Flynn courses tend to at least from a hazard placement and style standpoint appear more similar to Colt's work in the heathlands?

[David Stamm]

2.  Why do Philadelphia courses like Pine Valley, Merion, and the Flynn courses tend to at least from a hazard placement and style standpoint appear more similar to Colt's work in the heathlands?

In Warner Shelley's history of Pine Valley, he cites an article in the Philly newspaper (Inquirer?) saying that Crump called upon Colt because he was in town at the moment visiting Seaview and Merion. We may never know what Colt was doing exactly nor the impact, but it does raise a question to your point Adam, IMO.

[Joe Bausch]

2.  Why do Philadelphia courses like Pine Valley, Merion, and the Flynn courses tend to at least from a hazard placement and style standpoint appear more similar to Colt's work in the heathlands?

In Warner Shelley's history of Pine Valley, he cites an article in the Philly newspaper (Inquirer?) saying that Crump called upon Colt because he was in town at the moment visiting Seaview and Merion. We may never know what Colt was doing exactly nor the impact, but it does raise a question to your point Adam, IMO.

David, this is the article that Shelly may have been referencing (from the an early 1925 issue of the North American), as early on it says pretty much the same:

http://darwin.chem.villanova.edu/~bausch/golf/NA/PV_1400.jpg

[Jim_Kennedy]

Adam,
I don't think you can create interesting and bold contours in sand greens(which would have been found in the south at that time), so copying them wouldn't be an appealing idea. Here's a photo of the fifth green at Pinehurst #2, in 1935
 

[TEPaul]

Adam:

In my opinion, you are exactly right particularly in your #2.

First of all, if the guy writing the last few paragraph's in Mike Cirba's post under the name "Far and Sure" in 1912 is not Tillinghast, I'll eat my hat. Tillinghast's articles then and latter were just riddled with and chocked full of that very same description----eg "Scientific" architecture or its synonym by him "Modern" architecture!

Tillinghast was also by far the biggest proponent, certainly in print around here back then that Philadelphia needed some good courses if their competitive players were going to get better on the national and regional scene.

But, again, I completely agree with you that some of the seminal "great" courses around here such as Merion and Pine Valley did not have their architects going to Pinehurst to study and understand really good architecture, particularly really good INLAND architecture (that was so rare INLAND over here back then); They had them going abroad to study what was over there certainly including the linksland but particularly the heathland. And why the heathlands back then? I think because they felt it was the first really good INLAND architecture in the world at that time (other than those very few over here such as Myopia). But where did Leeds go in 1902 to check out how his course stacked up? He went to the Heathlands. Maybe Leeds went to Pinehurst that early but I'm not aware of that and have never heard that once or anywhere.

[Adam_Messix]

I'm going to have to look at the book now...but I'm wondering when Leeds made his first appearance in Aiken, SC and whether or not his train route took him through or near Pinehurst/Southern Pines. 

[Adam_Messix]

I've found my answer as far as Leeds goes from "Palmetto Golf Club:  The First 100 Years":

"In 1895, on land Mr. (Thomas) Hitchcock purchased from W. C. Tibbetts, an additional five holes were added.   The layout and construction of the revised nine-hole course was a joint venture of Mr. Hitchcock, Mr. H. C. Leeds, and Jimmy Mackrell."

Also, according to the book, the course was expanded to 18 holes in 1897 by the same three gentlemen. 

The original premise of my questions is not to lessen Pinehurst's impact on gca but more in trying to figure out why the style used by Ross (and perhaps Travis) at Pinehurst 2 wasn't used more elsewhere.

[Mike_Cirba]

Fellows,

A couple of things...I said "U.S. influence".

There is no question that Colt, the linksland, and heathland courses abroad had a significant influence as well.

Here, I'm talking about strategic golf...bunker placement, interesting challenges from a strategic or "scientifific" standpoint.   Not so much about looks, and certainly not so much about green internals, although the green surrounds that Ross created were very sophisticated and challenging very, very early on.

[Mike_Cirba]

"The new or number 2 eighteen-hole course, opened last winter, and which awakened such universal discussion throughout the country, has now been perfected even to the minutest detail and the completed result from the expert's standpoint, is a "wonder." Some idea of the difficulties to be encountered may be gained from the fact that the total number of hazards is one hundred fifteen, spread out in the following order, 8, 4, 4, 6, 5, 6, 7, 6, 4, 10, 6, 6, 8, 7, 6, 7, 7, 8, and yet, there is not a transverse bunker or pit on the course, penalty coming only through poor play or lack of judgment. "

"These hazards range all the way from the deadly "whisker" (wire grass) bunkers and traps to equally deadly trouble makers in the form of mounded pits and other unique devices and the "rough" bordering the course and lying in wait for topped drives in front of the tees. Illustrative of just what is in store for the careless player is the accompanying sketch of the traps on the short seventeenth hole."

"First criticized very severely, as Mr. Walter J. Travis predicted, it has now come to be regarded as standing practically alone, "unique in this country, if not the world; a modern course for the modern ball. You have got to place, not bang anywhere, and you have got to think, a distinct value being given to a particular shot on each hole."

"In this connection it might be emphasized that the impression existing in some quarters that Pinehurst is all competitive or tournament golf is at least three-fourths wrong, for of the two thousand or more players who
annually gather here only about five hundred of them are attracted by
the tournaments. A great many, to be sure, participate in some or all of these tournaments, but this is merely incidental, by no means the end, for the great majority is made up of the lovers of the game who follow it just as
a yachtsman does the sea, the equestrian the horse and so on down the long line."

American Golfer - December 1909 - "Special Correspondent"

[Mike_Cirba]

I don't know...perhaps it's just me but I simply had no idea until digging into some of this stuff exactly how prominent and immediately renowned both Pinehurst and the #2 course were so very early on.    I had previously assumed that it wasn't until the 30s with grass greens, etc., and the constant evolving and tweaking by Ross that made it what we know today, but I have articles where Walter Travis and others are raving about it very early on, prior to 1910.

Given the volume of play from folks around the country, I can't imagine that it didn't have greater influence than is currently understood or generally accepted.    For instance, the Fownes father-son would go down for weeks at a time, as well as many other prominent golfers.   We often ask what Fownes's influences were, but perhaps we should be looking at Ross for some of that answer.

It was also interesting to see the name of Howard Toomey, playing out of Whitemarsh Valley, in one of the articles as spending a vacation there.   Heck, I wasn't even sure if Toomey played!

[Andy Hughes]

Some idea of the difficulties to be encountered may be gained from the fact that the total number of hazards is one hundred fifteen, spread out in the following order, 8, 4, 4, 6, 5, 6, 7, 6, 4, 10, 6, 6, 8, 7, 6, 7, 7, 8, and yet, there is not a transverse bunker or pit on the course, penalty coming only through poor play or lack of judgment. "

Mike, I know Pine Valley does and did have 'transverse' bunkers (I like that phrase!). Did Merion?  Any idea if Wilson joined the other Philadelphians in Pinehurst?

[BCrosby]

This is great stuff guys. Yet more evidence that what we thought we knew about the history of golf design was just dust jacket blurbs to the real history.

Don't mean to interrupt. Keep on rollin' on.

Bob 

[Mike_Cirba]

Mike, I know Pine Valley does and did have 'transverse' bunkers (I like that phrase!). Did Merion?  Any idea if Wilson joined the other Philadelphians in Pinehurst?

Andy,

I like the word too, but I don't know what it means! 

When I look for synonyms I see both "oblique" and "crosswise" listed, which to me are too different things.

I'll take it to mean something like the old cross bunkers for discussion purposes.   In that regard, Merion really didn't have much in the way of fairway cross bunkers, except on today's #4, and one was proposed for #15 but wasn't built to my knowledge.   However, for approach shots there were a few such as #8 that required a direct carry.   

However, there are many, many more strategic bunkers at Merion, even very early on, than what would be termed penal bunkers that had to be addressed by every level of player.

One of the fun things about digging into the winter tournaments at Pinehurst in various accounts is seeing what names pop up.   For instance, George Crump was there in 1915.   However, I've really only just begun to dig and given that almost all of it is Philly newspapers on microfilm, it's likely to be a long process.   I haven't come across Hugh Wilson yet, although one mid-teens article mentioned that he had played all of the best courses abroad and in the United States, so it's very possible that he would have ventured down.   Howard Perrin of Merion and others also made it.

[Kyle Harris]

Cirba,

Of all people on this board - you should recognize all synonyms for the Coal Region term "Biatny" when you seem them!

Now, will you please extol us on the virtues of the Biatny Bunkering at Joe Valentine's Exeter Golf Club?

[TEPaul]

Mike:

This is a very interesting connection you seem to be trying to make here with Pinehurst being a strong connection to and influence on early American golf architecture, particularly to the so-called "Original Philadelphia School of Architecture."

By the way, we probably need to be somewhat careful of the terms we use including the term "Philadelphia School of Architecture." I don't really know who first coigned that term but I have this odd (and maybe sinking) feeling it may've been me who coigned the term "ORIGINAL Philly School of Architecture." I first saw the term "Philadelphia or Pennsylvania School of Architecture" in Geoff Shackelford's book "The Golden Age of Golf Design." A few years later I wrote an article for the Philadelphia GAP magazine and I think the title and theme was "The ORIGINAL Philadelphia School of Architecture." My recollection is that I inserted the word "ORIGINAL" to distinguish it from the work of later Philadelphia architects such as Gordon and others. I remember Ron Forse said he thought I should include him and others. But my concentration was only on Wilson, Tillinghast, Flynn, Thomas, Crump (and sometimes Fownse with which I called it the "Pennsylvania School" as Shackelford had) as well as the interesting fact that at least 3/5 of the "Philly School" architects were these so-called "amateur/sportsmen" types. I then sort of retooled that GAP article I think using the same title for an article in the 2005 US Amateur Magazine primarily concentrating on Merion rather than Pine Valley which the earlier GAP article had concentrated on. My point is if we are only talking about what I referred to as "The ORIGINAL Philadelphia or Pennsylvania School of Architecture" (Wilson, Tillinghast, Flynn, Thomas, Crump and Fownes) that was probably sort of winding down by the end of the 1920s. If Pinehurst really was a significant influence on them then we sure better figure out the actual state of the architecture of Pinehurst, particularly #2, early on.

At the moment it seems to me Pinehurst might have been significant simply because it was the site and place that was generating so much interest and popularity for the game of golf, at least in the winter months, not necessarily as an influence on the architecture of other areas but just on the generating of the popularity of the game of golf in America. At least this seems to be what Ross implied in his manuscript.

But if its architecture was a real influence on the times and the architecture of other regions that fact seems to be somewhat lost in time and tide for sure.

Personally, I feel if that was true it couldn't have been the greens or green ends of Pinehurst (#2---ie pretty bland sand greens) but perhaps new methods of architecture from tee to green, probably mostly new ideas on bunkering and bunker schemes. There is no question the world of architecture had been actively dabbling with and debating seriously that aspect of golf architecture for quite a time and certainly would continue to in the years to come. By the way, Ross himself did explain that when they finally figured out how to grow grass greens and tees at Pinehurst (Bermuda in 1935) he completely redesigned and rebuilt all the greens and approaches.

What we also need to do is to track the use of this term "Scientific" architecture (synonym "Modern") and who was using it and how early. I sure do know that Tillinghast was using it in his writing and we have an article by Boston's Lynde Fowler who used it prominently to describe the new architectural methods of Flynn (Wilson) at the new course of Kittansett in 1922.

I assume you know what they really meant by the term "Scientific" or "Modern" architecture in those articles and debates. In my opinion, it was their way of applying the idea of accommodating all levels to play their own way and their own routes along holes and it would be what was generally referred to as "strategic."

[Mike_Cirba]

Tom,

I'm just starting to dig into this, but it seems that the Fownes families vacationed at Pinehurst for weeks/months at a time beginning very early on around 1901/02.   Travis basically lived there all winters and seemingly felt he had as much to do with the early architecture of #2 as Ross did.     

[TEPaul]

Mike:

W.C. Fownes did indeed spend a lot of time in Pinehurst. He had a house there and Marino Parisenzo (really good Pittsburgh sports writer) goes into that pretty prominently in his new history book on Oakmont. Fownes loved bridge and he basically hired world reknowned bridge expert Goren to come and stay with and play with him. It seems, however, he forgot to inform Mrs Fownse of this and when W.C. was out playing golf one day Goren essentially conned Mrs Fownse and her gaggle of woman players out of a ton of money (she had no idea who he was in the world of bridge). This prompted Mrs Fownes to call a taxi and tell Goren to leave and never come back (even though she did write him a check for their loses). When W.C. got back he could see that the Missus was so pissed at Goren and at him that the better part of valor was to just not bring up the subject of bridge at all. 

By the way, Mr. Kyle Harris, you better get that Oakmont history book back to me or I'm going to start charging you usery rates (ie Mob rates) on it. If you're going to continue working on golf courses you're gonna need your kneecaps!

[Kyle Harris]

Mike:

W.C. Fownes did indeed spend a lot of time in Pinehurst. He had a house there and Marino Parisenzo (really good Pittsburgh sports writer) goes into that pretty prominently in his new history book on Oakmont. Fownes loved bridge and he basically hired world reknowned bridge expert Goren to come and stay with and play with him. It seems, however, he forgot to inform Mrs Fownse of this and when W.C. was out playing golf one day Goren essentially conned Mrs Fownse and her gaggle of woman players out of a ton of money (she had no idea who he was in the world of bridge). This prompted Mrs Fownes to call a taxi and tell Goren to leave and never come back (even though she did write him a check for their loses). When W.C. got back he could see that the Missus was so pissed at Goren and at him that the better part of valor was to just not bring up the subject of bridge at all. 

By the way, Mr. Kyle Harris, you better get that Oakmont history book back to me or I'm going to start charging you usery rates (ie Mob rates) on it. If you're going to continue working on golf courses you're gonna need your kneecaps!

Tom,

We're trying to eliminate our mob image to outsiders. This doesn't help. Will you be around later today? I can get it to you sometime this afternoon.

[TEPaul]

"Tom,
We're trying to eliminate our mob image to outsiders. This doesn't help. Will you be around later today? I can get it to you sometime this afternoon."


Sure, I'll be here. I'm manning the GCA "Action Central" War Room. If you come by right around 3pm you might see the inimitable and ineffable Jeff Silverman. If you've read that A.J. Drexel book bring that too; but if you haven't then keep it a while.

[Dan Herrmann]

Do you think Fownes had any influence on PHL-area golf (or vice-versa)?  Would Fownes have mingled with PHL-area golf "kings" at Pinehurst?

[TEPaul]

Dan:

As a member of Pine Valley, W.C. Fownes had a large say in what happened with that course following Crump's death. W.C. was on the so-called "1921 Advisory Committee" and he was very vocal. The archives included some of his letters on what should and shouldn't be on some of the holes at PV.

[Phil_the_Author]

Tom,

In 1915 Tilly published an advertising booklet titled "Planning A Golf Course" wrote, "The Creation of a thoroughly modern course cannot be accomplished by the haphazard methods of the past. Each bstep must be considered carefully and scientifically with a knowledge of the demands of the game..."

I am fairly certain that he wrote about scientific methods in course design earlier than this and am also pretty certain that others both wrote and advertised using "the scientific method of design" far earlier as well.

Question, in early GOLF magazine advertisements, there is one for a "Fownes golf glove for men and women." Is this the Fownes of Oakmont or a relative?

[Jim_Kennedy]

Philip,
I can't say whether or not they are related, but the Fownes Bros. Glove Co. is headquartered in NYC and was founded in 1777, 60+ years before the steel-business Fownes' showed up in Pittsburgh.

[TEPaul]

Philip:

I believe when Tillinghast (and perhaps others) wrote about this same philosophy and architectural application that we're calling "Scientific" that they also tended to refer to it almost synonymously as "Modern" and so we need to look for that word or description too when we can see some of those early writers are essentially trying to explain the same thing.