Kingston GC and Harmon GC - Tillinghast

[Louis Chanin]

Recently, I went through the thread on North Shore CC Long Island Tillie-Raynor, and was especially interested in the discussion surrounding the Tillinghast 1925 Advertising Brochure and the Tillie courses that may not have been listed.   However, I am more interested in the Tillinghast  golf courses that HE DID LIST – and more specifically two listed under “Nine Hole Courses” as  – Kingston GC,  Kingston, N.Y. and Harmon CC,  Harmon, N.Y.

I’ve been working with the listing in the brochure for over a year in reference to the Kingston GC, so I too played around with trying to make the list “whole.   The listing of BOTH Tillinghast AND Raynor/MacDonald on separate pages of the North Shore website led me to call that Club recently.   They in turn, were nice enough to refer me to the Wall St. Journal article that listed this discussion group. 

In a list that appears to be intended to be comprehensive (and as a minimum, substantially complete), it was confusing why two courses so prominent as North Shore and Mountain View Farm [AKA Dellwood] were not there.   I have information that the 2nd nine at Mt. View Farms was opened in 1922.   Now North Shore is resolved.

The Kingston Golf Club was restructured under the name Twaalfskill Golf Club, while their new course was being planned/designed.  The “Kingston Golf Club” name continued to some extent during the transition.  Tillie lists it as a nine hole course, which it remains today with apparently minimal alteration from the original layout (over 107 years!). 

The story of Worthington grabbing a totally inexperienced Tillie to create Shawnee has become legendary--- but Kingston/Twaalfskill was constructed during 1902 and opened in the Spring of 1903.[/u]   Frank Hannigan has written concerning Tillie during the early 1900s: “It’s not clear what he did between 1900 and 1907 – except play golf and live high – but we can surmise that he talked golf and argued golf courses with his friends,…..” [Golf’s Forgotten Genius, Golf Journal, May 1974]   I believe that Kingston was on his learning curve during this period along with possibly other work leading up to and concluding with his work at Shawnee.  In Kingston, nine holes totaling about 2,900 yards are squeezed into only 34 acres of extreme rolling rocky terrain utilizing turn-of-the-century golf course construction.  The layout of the holes is as random as can be expected.  [Each hole is distinct. The tees and [steep greens are well placed.   There are a few elements that would be considered unusual for today’s layouts, but not necessarily for that time.  Almost all the greens were originally rectangular.  The 9 holes include three par-3's of varying length, two par-5's -- one very long (580 yds.over extreme rolling terain) and one very short – and four par-4’s. 

Another nine hole course listed is the Harmon Country Club, with a location of Harmon, N. Y.  The brochure also lists Croton Point, Harmon, N. Y. as a site examination and report location.  There is no indication that a nine hole course was ever built on Croton Point or Harmon, NY.   Cornish and Whitten (1993) list it as Harmon CC, Lebanon , New York, A. W. Tillinghast.   But Lebanon is a very rural town in upstate New York about 5 miles southwest of Colgate University in Hamilton.    There is no indication that a nine hole course was ever constructed in Lebanon, NY either.   A search of the web leads one to the Harmon Golf Club, Lebanon, Ohio. 
The Harmon course initially consisted of a single loop of five holes constructed in 1912 as part of the 88 acre Harmon Park, in Lebanon on land donated by the philanthropist William E. Harmon.   Later, around the year 1919, four holes were added.   Mr. Harmon, born in Lebanon, was a noted real estate developer in New York City (his work including Forest Hills Gardens).  Stay away from the Wikipedia on Harmon GC – its wacked out.  I’m asking the Club to correct it.

The overall length today measures about 2,900 yards with #9 as a 130 yd. par-3, and 3,040 yards with #9 as a 267 yd. par-4.  The greens are generally small and steeply sloped.  The four holes of the later (1919) loop are for the most part, slightly shorter, tighter, and with smaller greens than the loop of five.  Overall, one par-5, 2 par-3’s (including #9), and six par-4’s

I believe both of these courses to be Tillinghast.   Not a full presentation of materials here; just intending to get the ball rolling. 

[Phil_the_Author]

Hello Louis! Good to have you aboard Mr. Newbie!

For those who don't know, Louis is a big fan of Tilly, a long-time member of the Tillinghast Association and loves a good architectural history challenge.

Lou & I have been discussing Tilly's work at these clubs for several years now and he is correct; Tilly distinctly listed them as nine hole courses that he designed in his 1925 brochure. They were listed there as "Harmon Country Club, Harmon N.Y., and Kingston Golf Club, Kingston, N.Y.

Lou is of the opinion that Tilly designed the Kingston/Twaalfskill Golf Club that opened in 1902 and would therefor replace Shawnee as his first design by some 9 years. The problem with this, and it is something that I have shared with him, is that very week that Kingston/Twaalfskill was being laid out and designed, Tilly is reported in Philadelphia by Outing magazine participating in his weekly club shooting tournaments [gun club]. Tilly simply can't be in two places at once.

His work on both courses most likely took place sometime during the years 1912-1915.

I know that Lou & myself would both love any other information that can be found on these two little known Tilly designs...

[Tom MacWood]

Here a little blurb on Harmon in the NY Times (12/9/1916). I think it is unlikely Tilly designing anything in 1902...especially around NYC.

[Louis Chanin]

Here a little blurb on Harmon in the NY Times (12/9/1916).

Tom --

Thanks for your reply.  This only confirms the Report/Examination that Tillie has on his 1925 Brochure list.   Do you have anything from the NY Times or any other source about the club opening, or any play there or any listing of it as existing at any time?  Do you have it shown on a map?  Possibly this was a real estate ploy or wishful thinking.  I looked at a map of Hamon from 1914 and there appears to be no viable location for a course --- swamp land and industry -- electric power plant for the Railroad.

Lou

[Louis Chanin]

Tom --

Attached is a gov't map of the Croton Pt. & Harmon area surveyed in 1938.  There is no indication of a golf course or club.  The Croton Point Park is mostly marsh.  It can be seen more clearly if you go to Google and search Historic USGS maps unh -- its the first website listed -- docs.unh.edu/nhtopos/nhtopos.htm.  The mapping of the Harom subdivision that I've seen from 1914 shows only a few house built and no viable area for a golf course.  How do you think "Cornish and Whitten" came up with Lebanon?  Must have seen it somewhere.

--Lou

[John Nixon]

Interesting.


I grew up in Lebanon, Ohio. Late 50's until I went off to college fall of '77. Golf was not on my radar through those years, and my parents didn't take up the game until I was in high school. Harmon was a private course then anyway, so they spent their time on the area public courses. The closest I came to setting foot on the course was the years I spent playing baseball on the adjacent ball fields at Harmon Park. 


The Harmon website ( https://www.bestgolfmanagement.com/h-home ) doesn't appear to mention any connection to Tillinghast, and a newspaper article on the club's centennial does address the still-unsettled question: https://www.journal-news.com/news/local/harmon-golf-course-celebrate-100th-anniversary/aTKAghDLYXo85I9xchpBNL/


The club's website does  have a few photographs of the course, so if they're of any use to anyone more expert on Tillinghast than me in deciphering things have at it.


I hadn't thought about the Harmon course for years - I recently did start wondering who might have designed it. I didn't know exactly how old it was, but I do recall the atmosphere around the place; it always felt well-established and, well, old. I was going to start a thread to ask if anyone had any information on the course but a search turned this one up. Sorry I don't have any great new info, but maybe something's come to light in past few years.

[Tom Buggy]

I am new to what appears to be an unresolved question of whether Tillinghast designed the Kingston Golf Club (which became the Twaalfskill Golf Club, incorporated in May 1902 and supposedly opened for play in the spring of 1903). Is there anything new on this question? I ask because I am preparing history material about Twaalfskill and believe the Tillinghast aspect is of interest, whether it's true, possibly true, or not true.

From what I understand, the Kingston Golf Club course is listed as one of Tillinghast's courses in one or more of his advertising bulletins, and is also listed as a Tillinghast course in the Tilllinghast Association's list of courses (albeit with question marks - (??) - and no date). I've also seen what appears to be Phil Young's dismissal of a Tillinghast involvement based on a claim that Tillinghast wasn't at the club for its opening, a claim which I find dubious and unsubstantial. So, again, is there anything new? Thanks.

[Karl Jensen]

With author Phil Young's permission, below is an excerpt concerning the Kingston / Twaalfskill Golf Club from his upcoming 4-book series The Tillinghast Chronicles. This and other surprises will be coming out before the end of the year.


Phil Young's Kingston Twaalfskill Golf Club OD, page 1



Phil Young's Kingston Twaalfskill Golf Club OD, page 2



Phil Young's Kingston Twaalfskill Golf Club OD, page 3



Phil Young's Kingston Twaalfskill Golf Club OD, page 4

[Tom Buggy]

I have conducted research in an attempt to find contemporary corroborating evidence about who designed the Kingston Golf Club golf course of 1902-1903. (The Kingston Golf Club became the Twaalfskill Club during 1902). The research included exhaustive searches via the Internet; in newspaper archives in all of digital, microfilm and paper forms; in club meeting minutes for the years 1902 through 1904; in a trove of club history material prepared by a longtime club historian, now deceased.

The research was limited by two situations. First, for whatever strange reason, there are no copies in any form of the 1902 editions of the Kingston Daily Freeman Newspaper. I know from a 1903 index of 1902 articles that there were three articles about the founding and formation of the Twaalfskill Club in May, 1902. Secondly, the club meeting minutes do not contain detailed information about the golf course and club finances. The chairmen of the corresponding committees prepared written reports that were filed after reading and discussion in annual meetings. We have the minutes, but the reports are long gone, most likely lost in a 1920s clubhouse fire. The 1903 Annual Meeting minutes say that the report of the Grounds Committee contains detailed information about the work on the golf course in 1902 - a lost primary source.

The bottom line of all this is that I have not found any definitive information that clearly establishes who designed the 1902golf course.

I could make "possibility cases" for each of Board member Judge John G. Van Etten, golf course architect Lawrence Van Etten, and A.W. Tillinghast (and perhaps even the 1901 golf course superintendent of the Kingston Golf Club). The only local documented information about the design of the 1902 course is a later newspaper article that says "Judge John G. Van Etten helped in setting up the Twaalfskill layout." Who he "helped" is unknown. An interesting discovery in the research is that Lawrence Van Etten was the brother of Judge Van Etten. Lawrence was born in Kingston and is buried there, although he spent most of his adult life in New Rochelle NY. He designed the Knollwood CC and the Deal G&CC during the 1890s, and the Wykagyl CC in 1904-1905. While in New Rochelle he maintained a membership in the Twaalfskill Club and represented the club in Hudson River Golf Association (HRGA) tournaments, at least through the early 1900s. (He was a medalist in an HRGA tournament in 1903.) It is reasonable to believe that Lawrence would have played a role in the design of the 1902 golf course. However, confirming evidence that he did play a role has not been found.

So, where are we? I'll say that we're at the same place things were a dozen or so years ago, except for a new interpretation by Phil Young and the injection of Lawrence Van Etten as a possibility.
Tom Buggy

[Tom Buggy]

A Kingston archivist has located the original paper versions of the 1902 Kingston Daily Freeman newspapers and thus provided access to several March 1902 articles about the formation of the Twaalfskill Golf Club. Not unexpectedly, most of the articles do not contain information about the design or construction of the golf course. However, a May 22, 1902 article does provide a"hint" of sorts. It mentions that the club has had forty men at work putting the new links in proper shape and then says: "The Scotch expert who is superintending the work says he knows of no other links in the country commanding finer views than do these."
Who might the "Scotch expert" be? Other than somebody out of the blue that we know nothing about, I can think of three possibilities:
-- H.W. Mitchels. He was the greenkeeper at the previous Kingston Golf Club course of 1901. The historian at North Berwick who maintains a list of Scottish pros/greenkeepers who emigrated to America has no record of the Mitchels name (or Mitchell). My search of immigration records yielded only a boy from England who was 14 years old in 1883 and listed as a laborer.
-- Lawrence Van Etten. He was the brother of Twaalfskill Grounds Chairman Judge John Van Etten and a golf course architect (Deal, Knollwood, Wykagyl). He was not a Scot. Although he was a Twaalfskill member and represented the club in HRGA tournaments, I have found no information that ties him to the Twaalfskill golf course of 1902. Given his club and local connections, I would think he would have been mentioned by name if he was involved with the course.
-- A.W. Tillinghast. Also not a Scot, but somebody who had traveled to Scotland, met with Tom Morris, and studied Scottish courses in the 1890s. He had a reputation in Philadelphia and the northeast as both a fine player and someone knowledgeable about Scottish courses. He had also laid out a rudimentary course in Philadelphia's Frankford Park in the 1890s.
One more time in this Twaalfskill/Tillinghast saga, no definitive conclusions to be made. But, an interesting new wrinkle.