From Fields to Fairways: Classic Golf Clubs of Minnesota

[Rick Shefchik]

I just signed a contract with the University of Minnesota Press to write a book entitled "From Fields to Fairways: Classic Golf Clubs of Minnesota." It will feature 200 archival b&W photos from the early days of golf in Minnesota. It will focus on clubs and courses: Town & Country, the Minikahda Club, White Bear Yacht Club, Interlachen, Golden Valley, Northland, Rochester G&CC, the Minneapolis Golf Club, Edina CC, Keller, Hazeltine and others. It will have approximately 100,000 words of text, and be published in the spring of 2012.

I wanted to mention it to the discussion group because I'll be delving into the origins of these courses, hoping to be as definitive as possible about who organized the clubs, who designed the courses and how each club contributed to the history of golf in Minnesota and the United States. To that end, if any members of this board have suggestions or tips for me as I further my research, I'll be gratefully receptive. I expect to be contacting a number of individuals on GCA for their knowledge of specific architects -- Philip Young on Tilly, George Bahto on Raynor, Brad Klein on Ross, etc. -- but I know there's a wealth of knowledge among discussion group members, some of which might be specific to Minnesota golf history.

It's been a privilege to learn as much as I have from the members of this discussion group. I hope, with this project, I can contribute to that widening pool of knowledge.

[Phil_the_Author]

Rick,

That is terrific news! I have a good deal of information for you that I'll begin putting together now to send you.

[Phil_the_Author]

Rick,

Here's a start. The following are the clubs Tilly visited in Minnesota and the dates he was there on his PGA Course Consultation Tour.

May 1-3, 1936 – Rochester, MN
On the 1st, Tilly was very ill and checked into the Mayo Clinic.
Rochester G&CC – CE. Tilly planned course.

May 5, 1936 – Minneapolis, MN
Golden Valley CC – CE; planned course 10 years before.
Westwood Hills CC* - CE; new 13th green.
Superior Golf Course* - New 15th green & “forking” for greens.

May 6, 1936 – Madison, WI
Black Hawk CC – CE; new 1st green.

May 7, 1936 – Sheboygan, WI
Jamesville CC – CE.
Sheboygan CC – CE.

May 8, 1936 – Racine, WI
Herbert Fisk Johnson Park – CE.

October 10-17, 1936 – Minneapolis, MN
Hillcrest GC – CE.
Keller GC – CE, “quite unique.”
CC of Minneapolis – CE.
South View CC – CE.

October 18, 1936 – Rochester, MN
Rochester CC – CE.
Had another physical examination at the Mayo Clinic.

If you go to the Tillinghast Association website, www.tillinghast.net, you can look up the actual letters that refer to each visit. If you need actual copies of them email me and I'll send them toy ou.

[Rick Shefchik]

Thanks so much, Philip. What a great start. Your input will be invaluable -- and duly credited!

[Phil_the_Author]

Rick,

There is another person in Minnesota who may of invaluable assistance for you. She is the archivist at the Minnesota Historical Society and Monica happens to be Tilly's great-granddaughter. I'll email you her contact information.

[Morgan Clawson]

Put me down for a copy!

[Jeff_Brauer]

Rick,

I recall visiting Golden Valley and seeing original Tillie plans in the maintenance building.  Ron Forse or the current super (was named Olsen, but its been a while) would probably have them.  As you probably know, there is a White Bear plan in the CH there and it would be easy to get a copy. I think Brad Klein put one in his book, so a digital copy is around somewhere.

I can help with three courses if you want to backdate them and elevate them to classic status.....

[Rick Shefchik]

Jeff,

This would probably be a good time to mention that the final chapter of the book will be devoted to Minnesota's new "classics," and your work at Giants Ridge and Fortune Bay is already scheduled for inclusion. (I might even be forced to mention that I held the course record at the Quarry for a few hours...)

[Gary Slatter]

is that same ex-detective in it?

[Matt Vandelac]

Rick:
Congratulations!
Put me down for a copy.  Should be some interesting stories.
Just seeing the record of site visits Tilly had made, it would be interesting to see what impact he might have made.
Minnesota Valley recently did quite a bit of work to come to the conclusion they were able to claim Raynor did the work.  Hopefully members and patrons of these great courses develop more of an appreciation of how it came to be and what they have.

[PCCraig]

Rick:

Congrats on the new project. I'm sure it will be a fantastic read and one that I know I'll pick up.

When I was up there this last weekend for Thanksgiving visiting familiy I actually stopped at a few of the clubs you mentioned and drove by some clubhouses for fun. Not that I could see anything under 8" of snow!

I would love to see some information on the Raynor courses in the city, Midland, Minnesota, & Somerset (I think those are the 3 he did there). Specifically I would like to see what they looked like in their early years before the trees grew in and years of improper maintenance.

Best of luck on the book.

[Rick Shefchik]

Thanks, Matt and Pat,

I've come across some great photos of the early days of Minnesota Valley and Midland Hills that I hope to have in the book. The pickings are slim for Somerset, at least as far as what's publicly available, but I'm hoping their historic reticence for publicity might ease a bit when they find out about the scope and intended quality of this project. This will be a celebration of Raynor's work in Minnesota.

Gary, the only detectives involved in this book are the ones who poke through old newspapers and photo archives. Sam Skarda is taking the winter off.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Southview CC 1919
West St. Paul
Some question about the designer but evidently Wm Langford did some redesign work there.

[Rick Shefchik]

Tommy, their official history says Langford, but my research says Tom Vardon was given design credit back in the 20s. That's one of the issues I'm hoping to clear up.

[Jason Topp]

Rick:

Congratulations!

The U of M Map library has the best collection of aerial photographs I have found. 

Also - the Minnesota Historical Society digital archive is on line and if you do a search under "golf" you will find a number of interesting photographs that you may want to either use (not sure of the rules on that front) or use as clues for uncovering information.  A number of pictures are from tournaments in the 20's and 30's with Minikahda and Interlachen getting the most coverage

There is a White Bear Lake thread on here with a contact from the club that participated in a debate over that history that would be useful.

I also can email some research I did that provides brief background on a number of clubs.

I can help with Oak Ridge with whatever I have. (Aerial photo history, notes from earlier superintendants, some club materials).

Town and Country seems to have done a good job documenting its history in its clubhouse (probably associated with its centennial) but I do not have a specific contact there.

It will be an interesting challenge to do this book in a way that is both accurate and entertaining.  A murder would sure help.

[Jeff Shelman]

Rick,

This is great news. I know the pro at T&C reasonably well (he was an assistant at Mendakota when I was there). I would be happy to help in whatever way that I can.

Jeff

[Ash Towe]

Rick,

Congratulations and well done.

Good luck with this project.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Tommy, their official history says Langford, but my research says Tom Vardon was given design credit back in the 20s. That's one of the issues I'm hoping to clear up.

Rick, I checked Whitten and Cornish's Architects of Golf.  The list Gerry Pirkl, Donald Brauer with Dick Phelps adding 7 new holes.   

[Doug Wright]

Rick,

Sounds like a great project and you're the right man for the job! If you need it I can probably put you in touch with folks at Minikahda and Golden Valley, perhaps Minneapolis GC. Send me an IM with what you are looking for and I will forward it to my contacts.

[Dan Kelly]

Tommy, their official history says Langford, but my research says Tom Vardon was given design credit back in the 20s. That's one of the issues I'm hoping to clear up.

Rick, I checked Whitten and Cornish's Architects of Golf.  The list Gerry Pirkl, Donald Brauer with Dick Phelps adding 7 new holes.   

Architects of Golf is not definitive. It lists, for example, the University of Minnesota course as a Raynor design -- which it was not, as Rick demonstrated in our newspaper years ago.

There are plenty of issues to clear up. Go get 'em, Rick.

[Rick Shefchik]

Tommy, their official history says Langford, but my research says Tom Vardon was given design credit back in the 20s. That's one of the issues I'm hoping to clear up.

Rick, I checked Whitten and Cornish's Architects of Golf.  The list Gerry Pirkl, Donald Brauer with Dick Phelps adding 7 new holes.   

Architects of Golf is not definitive. It lists, for example, the University of Minnesota course as a Raynor design -- which it was not, as Rick demonstrated in our newspaper years ago.

There are plenty of issues to clear up. Go get 'em, Rick.

Good to know, as I just ordered a used copy on Amazon. As with every reference work, I'll consider it one source, but not definitive.

[Bruce Leland]

Congrats Rick!  Looking forward to a good read.  I have historical information about Alexandria Golf Club and the Resorter's Tournament including numerous old photos if you are interested.

[Patrick Hodgdon]

This is great news Rick!

I have a copy of the 100 year anniversary book of Interlachen I would be happy to loan you. I am also good friends with the author who is a 3rd generation member and spent a lot of time researching at the Mpls Public Library reading through countless old newspapers looking for info on ICC.

I also recall that in the Interlachen chapter in the book "Grand Slam" there was a pretty in depth history of how the club started.

Lastly my dad is a member out at Minneapolis GC and I would be happy to help facilitate finding and helping you get in touch with the right person there. I do recall Tom MacWood making an argument for MGC not being a Park/Ross but rather a Bendelow desgin IIRC. Of course there wasn't any info provided to backup that claim at the time but might be worth looking into.

Can't wait to see what you put together!

[Rick Shefchik]

Patrick, the curious thing about Minneapolis Golf Club is that Ross did not list it among his Minnesota courses, though the club says they hired Ross to do a complete redesign -- with some re-routing to accommodate the new clubhouse -- in 1919.

That would seem to satisfy Ross's criteria for listing a course among his credits, but he never did. I hope to find out why.

[Morgan Clawson]

From the Minneapolis Golf Club website: 

"Our timeless course still bears the signatures of its original architects, Willie Park Jr. and Donald Ross, two of the most preeminent golf course designers of the early twentieth century. We recently completed a project to restore the course to its original, classic-era perfection, making today's MGC one of the most beautiful, rewarding, and playable courses in the region."

This dual designer credit kind of makes sense to me, as some holes feel like a Ross and others do not.  I can not imagine Donald Ross approving of that steep side hill/wall on the left/back side of the 8th green.

With a few exceptions, most of Minneapolis' greens do not have the dramatic contours that White Bear, Woodhill, Northland, Interlachen and Minikhada enjoy.