Letter Colt, MacKenzie and Alison

[Dale Jackson]

Obviously something went seriously wrong the first time I tried this so here we go again. I found this letter while researching some archives yesterday. I am sure it is a form letter received by most clubs in North America but thought some might find it interesting.

I have a higher resolution version if anyone wants one.

[Jeff_Mingay]

Dale,

Growing up in Windsor, Ontario, my mom worked in Detroit. The Penobscot Building is one of the most famous downtown addresses in Detroit; and thus, I've long been fascinated by the Colt, Mackenzie & Alison office address in Detroit during the Roaring 20s (when Detroit was one of the world's major centers).

Which club is Alison's letter addressed to? Do you know?   

Curious,

[Tom MacWood]

Dale
A wonderful find - thank you for posting the letter. I agree with you, based on the timing and the lack of specificity, this was probably a letter broadcasted to many clubs.

I had always wondered why some people referred to Alison as Captain Alison, I knew he was a Captain during the war, but I didn't know he referred to himself that way.  

If its not too much trouble I'd like the higher resolution version.

[Jeff_Mingay]

Good point, Tom (and Dale).

This letter was probably a "mass mailing" to "Chairman(s) of the Green Committee(s)". Makes sense.

[Ian Andrew]

I just checked the two reports I have from him and I noticed neither are signed.

Did he ever sign anything?

[Dale Jackson]

Dale,

Growing up in Windsor, Ontario, my mom worked in Detroit. The Penobscot Building is one of the most famous downtown addresses in Detroit; and thus, I've long been fascinated by the Colt, Mackenzie & Alison office address in Detroit during the Roaring 20s (when Detroit was one of the world's major centers).

Which club is Alison's letter addressed to? Do you know?   

Curious,

I found it in Royal Colwood's archives.

Dale
A wonderful find - thank you for posting the letter. I agree with you, based on the timing and the lack of specificity, this was probably a letter broadcasted to many clubs.

I had always wondered why some people referred to Alison as Captain Alison, I knew he was a Captain during the war, but I didn't know he referred to himself that way. 

If its not too much trouble I'd like the higher resolution version.

Tom, it is on its way to you.

Use of the Captain title, after retirement from the forces, might be more common in the UK and colonies, and was certainly more prevalent in former times.  I have read a lot of material from the UK and it is a common practice.  I remember Darwin using the practice in his writings.  My father-in-law was a career naval officer (Canada) and frequently used "Commander" when traveling. 

[Neil_Crafter]

Dale
Nice find. An interesting letter from Alison, and I'm interested in the courses that he listed.
I too would like a higher res version if possible. Thanks.

[Tom MacWood]

Ian
I've seen his signature on numerous letters, which lends even more credence to the idea that it is a form letter.

[Jeff_Mingay]

Dale,

If this letter is in the Royal Colwood archives, I think this certainly proves it was most likely a "mass mailing"; perhaps every reputable golf club in North America received this same letter! 

Very interesting.

If the powers-that-be at Colwood made him aware, I'm sure Macan "got a kick" out of this letter 

[JC Jones]

Was he the most prominent GCA to ever make his office out of Detroit?  Why do more Detroit clubs claim Colt and not the team of Colt & Alison?

[Tom MacWood]

Dale
Nice find. An interesting letter from Alison, and I'm interested in the courses that he listed.
I too would like a higher res version if possible. Thanks.

Neil
It looks like a combination of Colt and Mackenzie courses - the Turnberry mention stands out to me.

[Dale Jackson]

Dale,

If this letter is in the Royal Colwood archives, I think this certainly proves it was most likely a "mass mailing"; perhaps every reputable golf club in North America received this same letter! 

Very interesting.

If the powers-that-be at Colwood made him aware, I'm sure Macan "got a kick" out of this letter 

My assumption is that every club did receive such a letter, it would have been fairly easy to have a secretary use The American Annual Golf Guide to put together the mailing list.

Jeff, I doubt Colwood ever showed it to him, I might be wrong.  But I bet Victoria GC received the same letter and he may have seen it there.  Based on what we know of Macan's temperament, my guess is his reaction would have been "interesting".

[Tom MacWood]

Was he the most prominent GCA to ever make his office out of Detroit?  Why do more Detroit clubs claim Colt and not the team of Colt & Alison?

JC
I have to believe he was the most prominent. The Detroit clubs are not alone in claiming Colt, most of the N. American club's claim Colt. Colt designed the courses in 1911, 1913 and 1914; the courses built in the 20s for Colt & Alison were Alison's. Alison is responsible for Plum Hollow, CC of Detroit (the new course), Kirtland, Timber Point, Century, Sea Island, North Shore, Bob O'Link, Davenport and Burning Tree among others.

[TEPaul]

Dale:

That is an interesting letter from Alison; particularly the timing of it. By that I mean he had been involved with Pine Valley right around that time (late 1920 and early 1921) essentially creating for them a hole by hole master plan to finish off the course and improve a number of greens (about 5-6 in all). I call it the "1921 Advisory Committee" and Alison was apparently even a member of it. Perhaps the most vocal member of it was W.C. Fownes. Hugh Wilson had met with Alison in late 1920 and the Committee met in early March 1921 at Pine Valley and created a list from Alison's plan of work approved, to be considered for later, and the remainder as not approved. The committee mentioned it would be best to do the work as quickly as possible if it could be done under the direction of Alison but that it probably wouldn't be possible as he might not have the time. Apparently he didn't have the time as he mentioned in that letter you posted he would be back in Detroit ready for business on March 18.

It seems like William Flynn and the greenskeeper Jim Govan did the work perhaps in conjunction with some other members such as Hugh Wilson and George Thomas. Flynn was also a member of PV, by the way, as was his present or future partner, Howard Toomey.

In some of those "agronomy letters" Hugh Wilson mentions to Piper of the US Dept of Agriculture that Hugh Alison was an awfully attractive person and he asked Piper about a contract in Washington D.C. that Alison was interested in. I seem to recall Flynn got it.

Also around this time, Hugh Alison actually suggested that he and Flynn go into business together but Hugh Wilson mentioned that he didn't think that would be necessary for Flynn.

[Bill_McBride]

Dale
Nice find. An interesting letter from Alison, and I'm interested in the courses that he listed.
I too would like a higher res version if possible. Thanks.

Neil
It looks like a combination of Colt and Mackenzie courses - the Turnberry mention stands out to me.

http://www.turnberrygolfclub.net/html/history.html

No mention of any architects in this history.

[Tom MacWood]

I've always wondered why C, M & A set up their HQ in Detroit as opposed to NYC or even Chicago. Could the easy access to Canada have been a factor?

[JC Jones]

I've always wondered why C, M & A set up their HQ in Detroit as opposed to NYC or even Chicago. Could the easy access to Canada have been a factor?

I would assume that given the state of the auto industry at the time, there was probably some serious money there.  I'd sure like to find out though.

[Sean_Tully]

Guys as to the larger format... just click on the version on your screen and it gets much bigger!!

The part I find interesting is that he goes with the upper case "K" in MacKenzie. This is in 1921 so an early use of the "K."

Tully

[Neil_Crafter]

Sean
I noticed that too! Seems like it was interchangeable, but the earlier mentions seem to have it with a small 'k' while later ones are more likely to be with a big 'K'.
Tom
Yes, Turnberry was the one that interested me, as was the one in Birmingham that I hadn't heard of before. I wonder if it was Colt or Mac at Turnberry? certainly have never had Turnberry come up on our Mac radar before.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Dale I'd like a copy too please.

I have often wondered about the addresses given by these archies.  I think Mackenzie listed 222 The Strand.  I'm guessing these were early serviced office's that conferred solidity but the guys rarely visited just having post forwarded via the building.

Another mention of the Addington.  Tom what can you tell us re Turnberry?

[Sean_A]

Yes, I too was intrigued by the Handsworth reference, a long forgotten oasis buried in the urban jungle of Birmingham.  

It is no surprise to me that Alison would set up office in Detroit and specifically in the Penobscot Building.  I don't think the building was finished at this time, but it when completed I think it was among the tallest in the world - maybe the tallest outside of the two skyscrapper giants, NYC and Chicago, but I don't know for sure.  In any case, Detroit was a hotbed for architecture (buildings) riding on the back of car companies and new systems for building steel framed factories which A Khan helped to develop.  There are a load of terrific buildings in Detroit!

Also,  Detroit was centrally located for many of the courses Alison had already completed and with the car industry boom there was no reason to think Detroit wasn't going to continue growing and building courses.  Michigan Central Station had not long been open and the rail tunnel under the Detroit river to Canada was in full blast.  Detroit was a city on the go.  Unfortunately, the MCS was ging to slowly slide into the decay we see today once the depression hit and the use of cars became king in Detroit and the US in general.  The building's fate is still in the balance - hopefully it can be saved or its another chunk of the city (in this case Corktown) which has little hope of being revitalized.

Ciao

[DMoriarty]

Dale, If you could add me to the list, I'd appreciate it.

Interesting that Allison not only listed "courses designed"; but also listed a few clubs they "advised."   Pine Valley is on the "courses designed" list, not the "clubs advised" list.

[Neil_Crafter]

Sean
Do you mean Louis Kahn the Chicago architect and the father of the modern skyscraper?
Studied him as part of my bachelor of architecture degree.

As for Handsworth, Cornish & Whitten have it as a redesign by Colt from 1912 and 1919. Seems a rather obscure course to pluck out for a promotional letter like this one.

[Sean_A]

Sean
Do you mean Louis Kahn the Chicago architect and the father of the modern skyscraper?
Studied him as part of my bachelor of architecture degree.

As for Handsworth, Cornish & Whitten have it as a redesign by Colt from 1912 and 1919. Seems a rather obscure course to pluck out for a promotional letter like this one.

Neil

No, two different chaps.  Albert Khan gained his fame from designing factories, but he did cross over and design other terrific buildings - including a load at University of Michigan.  He is immensely famous in Michigan and ironically in Russia.

It always amazes me how these archies listed courses.  There are always a few which raise questions as to why, how and when. Anyway, I played Handsworth a few years ago and it is an interesting course mainly due to its proclivity of bunkers, but I believe some changes were made in the mid-seventies. 

Ciao

[Neil_Crafter]

Thanks Sean
Had not heard of Albert Khan.