Mike,
Is it possible that the October articles were either premature, and/or reported a basic outline deal, with the paperwork taking another month and a half to complete finally? It wouldn't surprise me. As I have mentioned, I think we all have "time compression" issues when looking at the detailed issues of history.
Jeff,
I think I know what's bugging me about that explanation, and possibly why I'm having a hard time believing those October 15th, 1906 accounts were about the land of Sebonac Neck at all, and it's this;
In his book, CBM almost describes the land of Sebonac Neck as something of a consolation prize, and clearly not his first choice, although it may very well have been superior in the long run to whatever he was looking at initially. After all, the proof in the pudding is pretty powerful in that regard.
Nevertheless, one of the things he tells us rather specifically in terms of timeframe is that he and Whigham rode over the course for 2-3 days on horseback and decided that it was what they wanted if they could get a fair price. He doesn't state if those 2-3 days were concurrent, but one might imagine that's likely.
Then, he tells us the seller agreed to let them purchase 205 of the 450 acres and left open the exact placement, as CBM was given the opportunity to place it to best serve his purposes.
Then, he tells us they went back to "earnestly study" the land, looking for places where his classically derived holes might best fit, and so on, prior to actual purchase.
Sooo....for those October stories to be about the course on Sebonac Neck, they would have had to do a lot more prior to seller agreement than just 2 days of horseback rides.
The articles tell us the property had been mapped and then maps sent out to various foreign golf luminaries, and all sorts of planning activities had already taken place, all seemingly prior to getting seller approval.
Do we think CBM romanticized his own story a bit about the horseback ride? I really don't. That part to me sounds like it's pretty concise.
And let's not forget that a full two months later, CBM now is securing the Sebonac Neck property where the exact boundaries were still not secure.
That December activity sounds much more like what CBM describes in his book as the seller agreeing to sell him the property under the assumption that he could place it wherever best suited his needs.
***EDIT*** A bit of housecleaning on an earlier question. CBM tells us he originally drafted his Founders Agreement in 1904 in SG, so that's the source.