Niall Carlton,
I apologize for not addressing your post earlier. I thought I had but was thinking of a similar question on another thread. Unfortunately, these posts come at me fast and furiously, and sometimes the most worthwhile questions get missed.
I've been dipping in and out of the various Merion threads and while I wouldn't pretend to follow all the discussions, am I right in saying that you believe MacDonald and possibly Whigham were involved in the design of Merion ?
Yes, they were involved in the design, but were certainly not the only ones. For just one example of their involvement in the design, they determined the final routing. This alone indicates they were involved, don't you think?
That is to say, designing the routing and possibly individual hole designs based on models of other holes such as the Redan etc, rather than merely passing on generalknowledge about course design and his thoughts on specific model holes.
While a good question, it is also an incredibly broad question and goes well beyond what I can answer here. That being said, I'll outline a few main points off the top of my head. .
1. At end of 1910 or the beginning of 1911, Merion's Board announced to the members that experts
were at work preparing plans for the course. - It is not clear that Wilson had even been appointed yet, and he was by his own admission a complete novice in this sort of thing.
- The only three experts involved up until this point were Barker, CBM, and HJW.
- While the record is somewhat ambiguous regarding Barker's potential continued involvement,
the only two experts that were definitely still involved in this project at this point were M&W.
- At this point M&W had already inspected the property, noted that the Quarry and creeks had great potential for first class golf holes, provided approximate hole distances, and recommended the addition of the area behind the clubhouse.
But they could not tell Merion if the course they had envisioned would fit on the land without a contour map.
- Merion got a contour map, and sometime before February 1, 1911 the there was a blueprint of the course, presumably created or recommened by the "experts" who were planning the course.
2. The timing and events surrounding the NGLA trip indicates that Merion's specific lay out and construction primary topic.
- The meeting occurred shortly before Merion was to begin building the course.
- The committee had been trying unsuccessfully to come up with precise course when they went to NGLA to meet with M&W.
- Whatever happened at NGLA allowed them to come up with five variations to show M&W a at their visit a few weeks later.
- M&W were brought back to Merion to determine the final routing.
- Hugh Wilson's 1916 essay M&W taught the committee how to apply the classic principles
onto the land at Merion.
4. The RR land behind the clubhouse was used in the routing at M&W's specific suggestion (both in June and again in March) even though the land was not even part of the land first considered for a golf course.
5. The Ag letters indicate that Wilson and Macdonald were corresponding from the time Wilson became involved through the planning process.
- Given Wilson's insistence on getting the best advice possible, it is impossible to believe he did not consult with CBM (who had seen the course) about hole locations.
- Given Wilson's lack of experience and M&W's expertise, it is highly unlikely that Merion wouldn't have insisted that CBM be as involved in the planning as possible.
- The explicit mention in the Minutes that M&W were brought in to approve of the plans indicates that it was important to Merion that M&W were involved in the design.
I'm struggling to see how this could be the case given the ongoing activity of Wilson and his colleagues and the listing of M&W as giving advice rather than giving them billing as course architects/designers.
1. This was a transitional/revolutionary time for golf course design in america, and the concepts of golf course designer and golf course architect were just developing. Consequently they were all struggling to find the terms to describe what was going on. As far as I can tell, the title "golf course architect" was scarcely used back then. There are a few mentions here and there, but for the most part the concept was a not really yet defined. So I don't think we can draw any conclusions for their failure to use modern descriptions of what was going on.
2. Sources with first hand knowledge, Hugh Wilson, Lesley, and Whigham, noted that CBM was involved in planning the layout. Other second hand sources like Tillinghast and Alan Wilson did too.
3. At the time, those who actually arranged the course on the ground and built it were the ones most credited (especially if they were a club member.) I have no evidence that M&W were directly involved in the construction or additions that took place after the course was initially built, so it was pretty easy for the rest of the world to think of it as a Merion creation.
Again, Niall, this is just a brief oultine of the answers to your questions. There is more, and much more detail, but that should start to give you an idea of where I am coming from.