Midlothian Country Club, H. J. Tweedie Original , 1914 US Open (Photo Tour)

[Dan Moore]

Here is one I had the good fortune to play recently, photos to follow.  

Green Book 1901


1930's


Today

[Phil McDade]

Elderly trees of a certain (dying) type?

Property and several hole configurations, along with clubhouse location, look vaguely similar...

[C. Squier]

It certainly doesn't look like that today....

[PCCraig]

I stared at this long and hard last night and was pretty stumped. Curious to know where it is.

[Dan Moore]

Clint,  you mean all the "persimmon" lining each hole.

One of the holes was on George O'Neil's greatest holes list in the teens.

[Dan Moore]

Shivas,  I'm Open to that as well as Amateur views of Western thought circa 1901. 

With Halloween coming the clubhouse may be viewed as a haunted version of its original self that Casper the friendly ghost never saw in  69 or 73. 

[Jeff_Brauer]

I haven't played there since, well...about the late, no make that Mid 80's.  I loathe going back to see the changes....

Well, that's not really true. I looked at the changes and from the air, many of them make a lot of sense.

[K. Krahenbuhl]

Kind of sad to see that go to this...

[Jim_Kennedy]

Kyle,
That's what happens when a club sits around Tweedling their thumbs.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Yeah,

I never liked lakes on both sides of the fw.  Nugent didn't mind them so much, and I think Bob Lohman has done a few of these, too. It may come from Harris, as Larry Packard had some at Innisbrook.

[Ed Oden]

One of my good friends is the head pro there, so be gentle.

Ed

[Bradley Anderson]

If the aerial wasn't B&W but rather in Green, I thinking judging from the Acres in this photo, this course has changed a lot over the years.

[Dan Moore]

Midlothian Country Club, the 4th 18 hole course in the Chicago area, opened for play in 1898.  The first four holes were ready first having served as grazing land.  The rest having been used for crops needed more work.

Course hosted the 1901 Western Open and Amateur, the 1914 US Open won by Walter Hagen, the 1917 Western Amateur won by Franscis Ouimet who had finished 4th in his defencse of his 1913 US Open win at Midlotian in 1914, and the 1969 and 1973 Western Opens both won by Billy Casper (the friendly ghost).  The original clubhouse, one of the grandest of its time, was torn down and replaced with a modern version in the 1960's.  A third clubhouse debuted in 1999 for the Club's Centennial and featured a return of the columns that had made the original so identifiable.

The original course was laid-out by H.J. Tweedie and his original routing remains remarkably intact today.  The only major change involved breaking the long 14th into a short par 4 and a par 3 which eliminated 3 long holes in a row and reconfiguring the old 16th and 17th into a longer par 4 which eliminated the par 3 17th.  Both of these changes were made prior to the 1930's aerial.  Within the last 10 years course received a complete bunker redo courtesy of Bob Lohman which appears very consistent with the 1930's aerial and judging by photos in their 1999 centennial book a big improvement over the flat ovals they replaced.  A few retention ponds have been added over the years on 12, 14, and 18.  

I have added the original green book routing from 1901 and a current day google to the first post.  I'll start on the photo tour later tonight.  

[Tom MacWood]

Dan
Do you know who was responsible for the bunkering in your older aerial?

[Dan Moore]

Not specifically, do you?  I suspect its a combination of Tweedie originals, work by the local committee/greenskeeper and work done at the request of the USGA by Ross prior to the 1914 Open. 

A number of greensites have been moved since the aerial as well. 

[PCCraig]

The bunkering in the first aerial looks awesome!

[Tom MacWood]

I don't who was responsible but I'm interested in finding out.

[Sean_Tully]

Dan

Here is another routing map from 1901 that shows an additional 9 hole course for the ladies and junior members.

Also included are the hole names and yardages. Interesting is the 13th is named the alps although the feature is off of the tee and not at the green. Also, never paid too much attention to bogey and what not but interested in the two bogey 3's on the back with three bogey 6's.

Tully




1.Bon voyage 350 bogey 5
2. The dell  190 bogey 4
3. The summit 357 bogey 5
4. heart of Midlothian 353 bogey 5
5. The Gate  425 bogey 5
6. High Ball 377 Bogey 5
7. Long game 533 bogey 6
8. Brookside 297 bogey 4
9. The growler 367 bogey 5        3249 out bogey 44

10. The midway 386 bogey 5
11. Ben Nevis 400 bogey 5
12. Ben Lomond 105 bogey 3
13. The Alps 475 Bogey 6
14. Easy street 550 bogey 6
15. Paresis 486 bogey 6
16. The Moat 310 bogey 4
17. The teaser 158 bogey 3
18. Home 281 bogey 4               3133 in bogey 42

                                              Total  6382 and Bogey of 86

[Dan Moore]

Sean,  Thanks.  I cropped out the other 9 for clarity of comparison.  The range is now located north of my aerials views.  

Note the distance of the course.  6,382 in 1898 pre-rubber core ball.  A huge course and one of the reasons Tweedie's work has stood the test of time and is still relevant today.

Let's start the photo tour.  I'm going to give 4 yardages.  Original Course/1914 US Open/1973 Western Open/Tips Today.  

It was cloudy dark day so unfortunately my photos reflect the conditions.  
Holes 1-3 represented a strong start to the course and a introduction to the character of the course.  Long 1st hole with a very severe green tilted from back to front, a long par 3 2nd to a well guarded green and a shorter par 4 with a large bunker blocking one's view of the green.    

The tidy routing shows the 1st tee adjacent to the clubhouse where it has been since 1898


Plaque next to 1st tee Commemorating Billy Casper's Western Open Wins at Midlothian with 9 and 18 greens in background.


Close-Up


#1  Bon Voyage  350/300/411/419
1st Fairway From Tee  While Trees have reduced original width of course the fairways were still fairly generous.  Creek as seen in the Green Book routing has been piped under the 1st fairway and reemerges to the left of the fairway today.  


Look Back from landing Area


2nd Shot


Look back


Similar Shot from 1998 Centennial Book Showing extent to which new tree plantings have narrowed this hole corridor.


View of 1st and Clubhouse from 4th FW


#2  Dell 190/196/204/208
Tee Shot on 2nd. This was the hole cited by George O'Neil as one of the best 18 in the Country in his Chicago Tribune survey in the Teens  From the aerial it appears the green was moved to the left after the 1930's so this is no longer the original green location.  This view is from the tee on the right which is also a later addition.  Original hole would have started from left of this view to a green to the right of the present green.  


Closer View of 2nd


Shot of 2nd From 1998 Showing Former Bunker Style


#3  The Summit  357/359/369/374
3rd from Tee  A fairly common theme on Tweedie courses to use a small rise to have the landing area hidden from view.  Note fairway bunker in view on right.


View from over crest of hill.  1st Bunker not visible from tee.


Large Bunker Short of Green as seen in aerial hides the green surface  A Ross bunker???


Looking Back from Green

[Dan Moore]

The 4th commences a string of 3 medium to long par 4's that play back and forth over a slight ridge.  The smallish green on 4 is nicely ticked an angle to the right with a bunker short right that plays with the perception of distance.  Trees on the right hand side of this hole appear out of place.

The Heart of Midlothian 353/338/385/407






The 5th is slight dogleg left around the trees to narrow landing area pinched on both sides.  The second is blind and downhill over the ridgeline.  A solid hole that nicely uses the available terrain.

The Gate 425/390/403/407






The 6th calls for a blind drive over the ridge. Hole has been lengthened since Tweedie's time and the green has been moved to the right away from the road.  Similar to the 4th the green is tucked off to the right and fronted by a bunker 30-40 yards short of the green.  named High ball perhaps for the need to carry the ridge with your drive, no mean feat when the course was opened in the era of the gutty.  

High Ball  377/390/457/433






The 7th is the fronts only par 5 is only 1 yard longer today than when it opened.  Hole flows nicely to the north.  A large bunker short of the green not unlike the rampart shown on the original Green Book plan sets up the best angle of play from the far left.

Long Lane  533/538/530/534








The 8th is a fine long par 3 with the creek running along the right hand side.  Tweedie's original hole was a short par 4 of 297 that crossed the creek and which had been expanded to 346 yards for the 1914 Open.  Later played at 244 for the Western Open in 1973 hole has been shortened to a mere 218.  Another bunker well short of the green surface provides visual interest.  

Brookside  297/346/244/218




The ninth is a very difficult finish to the front nine.  While well and interestingly bunkered the real test lies at the green which is sloped dramatically away from the clubhouse.  This slope is compounded by the existence of a pair of large bunkers up the left hand side which preclude a long run in shot that uses the slope.  The green may very well be a Tweedie original which exists as an extension of the large lawn fronting the clubhouse that also serves the 18th green.  

The Growler  367/412/434/439

[Tom MacWood]

I found this little blurb from 1918.

[SL_Solow]

Nice pictorial Dan.  The pictures show what the comments do not; the basic nature of the course was changed by the greens committee sometime in the 1980's.  When I first played the course with my Dad in Midlothian's annual Pater Filius tourney in the 70's it was an attractive parkland course with relatively wide fairways and interesting  green complexes.  Now, almost every fairway is lined on both sides by 1 or 2 rows of trees giving it a much more claustophobic feel off the tee.  It also limits strategic play as there are very few choices left and eliminates angles of approach.  It remains a fine club to visit and an enjoyable place to play but there is a better course awaiting a chain saw.

[Adam Clayman]

Dan, It seems odd that a hole that was once chosen as one of the best, would be altered so significantly. Could you chronicle for us the major changes to the hole O'Neil said was one of the best?

Did the USGA request changes to open venues way back then too?

[tlavin]

I've enjoyed the dozen or so times that I've played Midlothian.  They have a great set of slick greens and the interesting feature of the connected 9th and 18th greens.  There are a lot of challenging golf holes out there, but there is no question that the course would benefit greatly from the removal of hundreds of trees and hopefully some reshaping of the fairways to put some angles back in the golf course.  The addition of the retention ponds was a bit of a travesty, the kind of well-meaning idiocy that occurred with incredible frequency in the 60's, 70's and 80's.  This course is not quite the equal of nearby Flossmoor, another Tweedie gem, but it would be a lot closer if they bit the bullet and started chopping.

[Dan Moore]

First with respect to the trees I did not feel claustrophobic on the course and did not notice too many places the trees interfered with play.  I think they added to the playing characteristics of the par 5's by helping define the proper route of play and strategy. 

Adam, regarding the 2nd hole I don't know when or why it changed.  Regardless it is still a very fine and testing long par3 that requires exzceptional play to get a 3.  The multi-tiered green is quite good and a rather small target.  It may like some of the old school finesse required in the original but is still nothing to scoff at.  In fact all 4 par 3's are quite good at Midlothian. 

Here are some crops of the hole showing then and now and O'Neil's article withn a diagram of the hole much like it apperas in the 1930's aerial.