Wilson began discussing the preparation of the fairgreens and fairways in February and March; he did not wait until the Autumn of 1911. He submitted the contour map to P&O in February 1911, which presumably had the plan on it. He never mentioned or alluded to another plan or mentioned a need to change the plan at any point. If he was focused on routing he sure kept it hidden from Oakley. What evidence do you have that there was a final routing made after P&O were sent the contour map?
Tom,
As I mentioned, I don't discount that there may have been a plan on either the first contour map that Wilson sent Oakley in early February, or on the second one in late March, but I don't see any proof of it, nor do I think it was a prerequisite.
I would think the value of a contour map to a agronomist, or whatever fancy title held by Oakley at the time would be simply to see areas of heavy slope, areas near water, etc., and to give them common reference points for samples taken from various portions of the property, which Wilson designated with an alphabetic scheme.
Why I say I see no proof of a routing is very simple. Although they talked in conceptual terms about fairgreens and putting greens, not once in the numerous letters they sent each other during this phase did either of them actually refer to a specific golf course feature....not once. Not once did Oakley write, "the soil down where you propose putting the 6th hole putting green is very inconsistent...", or even, "the fairgreens on the north side of the property could use a bit more manure". Nothing.
Given that Oakley already had been working with Macdonald, even if he wasn't a golfer I'm sure he had a conceptual idea of what each was, and what it needed from an agronomy standpoint. It was a given that something being prepared and later planted was going to be a golf course, and thus had certain fundamental features and requirements. Oakley even speaks to that early when he compares the soil issues Wilson is dealing with to Macdonald's very sandy soil, saying they have much different requirements.
Did he request a soil analysis in preparation of routing the golf course or constructing the golf course?Clearly they were talking about analyzing the property overall, Tom, at that phase, and as mentioned, were turning over (plowing) the entire plot less the 25 acres mentioned. Oakley also mentioned that it all needed liming, and later we know that not only the greens and fairgreens were seeded, but also the roughs.
That was the phase they were in during spring 1911...preparing the grounds for a golf course that they were both planning and building.
You'll also notice that Oakley at one point talks about putting greens, but then says, "but I understand that's not as big a concern to you right now", and you're more interested in getting your fairgreens in shape", or something to that effect. I think that indicates two things...1) No course features were under "construction", or "shaping" yet, and 2) they were still at the early stage of just making sure they could get a good, consistent strain of grass growing on the property and doing whatever they could to the soil to ensure that result.
I also think it's possible that they were using the term "fair green", as defined in the rules of golf as "through the green", but I really think we can both do without more word parsing and made up definitions on the fly here, so let's just stick to the common usage.
Given the need to at least turn over the entire property (less the 25 acres), given the need to treat the entire property with lime, (and knowing the entire property was later seeded in the fall) and given that they wanted to begin that work as soon as possible after the snow melted, I see no reason why this preparation of the land couldn't have run parallel with the seemingly lengthy routing and design effort, and I think the MCC Minutes that I paraphrased here the other day clearly indicates that they did run parallel.
Given what they were talking about at that time period...simply preparing the property to grow consistent short-leaved grasses (the exact same seeds were planted in the roughs as the fairways, only presumably cut less often), I see no reason Wilson would have mentioned any of his design efforts to Oakley, nor am I sure Oakley would have cared much if he did. These men were focused on soils and samples and sod, and it really didn't matter much to Oakley I'd gather if the sample in question was from where Wilson was going to put his 3rd green or his 14th fairway.
It was the strength of the seed mixture that varied by location, and that was a good six months away.
One question for you, Tom. Now that you know what the MCC Minutes say in regard to the course design efforts, the committee's NGLA visit, as well as M&W's one day visit on April 6th, as well as the land swaps mentioned, do any of your theories or time frames change based on that document?