Fellows,
Can we now finally at least ALL agree that there is no way in God's green earth that the golf course at Merion was routed by November 15th, 1910? I keep hearing people hedge their bets with terms like "rough routing", which is ridiculous, because the same person argued that Merion secured EXACTLY the land they needed before the end of 1910 based on the routing already being completed.
So, you can't have it both ways. It was either routed before the end of 1910 or it wasn't, and the reason why is very clear when one reads Francis' account.
First, Francis tells us that they were working within land constraints of an already secured property, not creating a routing and then buying the land that supports it. Listen again to his words;
Francis tells us that while they were working on the routing, or "layout";
1) The land (already secured) was shaped like the Letter L, indicating definitive borders.
2) It was not very difficult to "get" (or fit) the first 13 holes into the upright position of the L, with the help of "a little ground" (likely the 3 acres of rail property) on the north side of Ardmore Avenue.
3) But the last five holes were another question. In other words, they still couldn't fit them correctly in the land that remained.
Fit them to what? To the existing boundaries of the property in question, which is surely the 117 acres secured under Lloyd's name in December 1910, along with the 3 acres of railroad land.
So, I think it's indisputable that they were working on routing the course within the confines of land already secured (which happened in late December 1910), not routing the course and then securing the land. In fact, if they had routed the course first, there would have been no need at all for the "Francis Swap" because they would simply use whatever land they needed for their routing and then secure and purchase it, but that is NOT what Francis tells us happened. Are you listening Jim Sullivan? 
Second, Francis tells us that his contribution came at the END of the routing, not midstream. He tells us that his brainstorm permitted the LAST five holes to be located or put into position on the land, provided that they swap land they weren't using "along Golf House Road", which is clearly the land across the street from the clubhouse extending up #14, and swapped it for land up near the quarry, specifically naming the area of the 15 green and 16th tee. We also know from the minutes and the deed that Merion ended up purchasing 120 acres, not 117, so this was likely a result of reshaping these borders, as well. The final course measured just over 123 acres, given the leased 3 acres of railroad land.
So, we know that what Francis did FINALIZED the routing that was ultimately approved, and allowed Merion to move forward.
So, was the course routing FINALIZED on November 15th, 1910, and then specific land secured based on that completed routing, as some have argued?I would refer for your consideration the following letter from the Merion Cricket Club minutes, copied from "The Nature Faker", by Wayne Morrison and Tom Paul;
The following letter from Thos. DeWitt Cuyler, Esq., was ordered to be spread in full
on the minutes, viz.,
Philadelphia, December 21, 1910.
Mr. Allen Evans,
President, Merion Cricket Club,
Haverford, Pa
My dear Sir:
Re Merion Cricket Club Golf Association,
In accordance with Mr. Lloyd‘s request, I enclose herewith letter from the Haverford
Development Company of November 10th and copy of your reply thereto showing the
terms of the agreement to purchase the land for the golf grounds. I also enclose copy
of my letter to you of November 23rd. As I have duplicates of these three papers, I
would thank you to return them or copies of them to me.
I would report that proceedings for the incorporation of the Merion Cricket Club Golf
Association are underway with a slight modification of the details of my letter of
November 23rd.
In regard to the title of the property the boundaries of the land to be acquired being as
yet uncertain owing to the fact that the golf course has not been definitely located, it
was found advisable that the Haverford Development Company should take the title in
Mr. Lloyd‘s name, so that the lines could be revised subsequently. I would thank you
to let me know as soon as the boundaries have been determined upon. (bold & color for emphasis mine)
I understand that as no cash will be needed for some months, the issuance of the
second mortgage bonds can be postponed until after the boundaries of the property
have been determined upon.
I should be much obliged if you would at your convenience let me have a copy of the
lease of the Cricket Grounds from the Haverford Land and Improvement Company in
order that the lease of the golf grounds may conform therewith.
Yours very truly,
(Signed) Thomas DeWitt Cuyler
It is moved, seconded and carried that the Board organize, and that the present
Committees continue for the present until the next meeting of the Board.
It is moved, seconded and carried that the Secretary postpone ballot.So, gentlemen, can we finally put to rest this notion that the golf course was routed by November 15th, 1910?? It seems to me that if we can't accept these very basic facts as reality we'll never get anywhere, and it's clear that the design of Merion happened starting in 1911. What say ye? Having said that, let's move back to the June 1910 timeframe when both Barker and then CBM & Whigham came to view the property.
First of all, do we even KNOW exactly what HDC property they were looking at specifically at that time, or what land was used on Barker's routing? We don't.
The land of the Dallas Estate, which makes up 21 acres of the existing East course was not under the control of the Haverford Development Company until FIVE MONTHS later. There is no mention of the need for HDC to acquire additional parcels in the July 1910 internal club records that talked about Connell bringing in Barker or CBM's and Whigham's visit. None.
Instead, we learn that HDC is offering at the time "100 acres, or whatever is needed" for the golf course from their existing holdings. We also know that Merion, likely as a result of conferring with CBM and Whigham, felt they would need to purchase "nearly 120 acres" instead, which is consistent with Macdonald's writings.
We can also safely assume that some of that land would be needed near the farm house on the property, up along the quarry, and along the creek, as related in the CBM letter. However, we don't know for certain the entire holding and it's even possible that the entire property looked at during that time was all north of Ardmore Avenue.
So, while we know that Barker submitted a routing on some HDC land for Connell, we don't know where it was, or if any of it was used in the final routing. We do know that no one at the time saw fit to credit him.
We also know that CBM did NOT submit a routing based on his one-day visit, but instead wrote a very general letter which has been reproduced here countless times.
Hopefully, such useless and unsupported speculation such as what's taken place over the past day won't go on (i.e. the secret relationship of Raynor and Francis, or the idea the Merion stole Barker's routing yet never credited him), but I won't hold my breath.
In any case, the facts are becoming clear, finally.