TEPaul,
Topographical Survey Maps shouldn't go out of existance.
I know that you've insisted that they worked off of a TSM, but, to date, that TSM hasn't been found.
Weren't TSM's initiated by the United States Geological Survey starting in 1879 ?
Shouldn't they be inventoried and available as part of the USGS archives ?
I know that you and others have indicated that you found it difficult to fully comprehend Topos.
Do you think these novices were skilled at reading topos and interpolating and transposing architectural design onto them ?
I doubt it.
I think they were probably foot walkers, observers of the land who understood golf, and not skilled architects capable of transposing architectural concepts onto the topos.
I can't recall seeing any design schematic layed out on a topo in the very early part of the 20th Century, can you ?
These fellows weren't Tom Doak's equal, they were novices, unskilled, untested amateurs in an arena that they were unfamiliar with, namely, GCA.
I've stated, many times that I'm fascinated by Raynor's alter ego, Francis, an engineer who might have understood the topos, who worked IN THE FIELD on the golf course.
I've always wondered how much of the design and construction work he was responsible for.