Walter J. Travis Society newsletter-kudos to Jim Kennedy and Joe Bausch

[Ronald Montesano]

In the mail today arrived the December (??) 2010 WJTS newsletter, with an entire page devoted to an expression of gratitude for Jim Kennedy and Joe Bausch.  It is nice to see the research efforts of two of our membership recognized in an important GCA society newsletter.  I still don't know what GCA has to do with chemistry professing, but that's another story for another day.

The most interesting bit for me, found at the end of the piece and attributed (as I read it) to neither Jim nor Joe, concerns Wanakah in Hamburg, NY.  Long known for suggested attribution to certain golden-age architects, the WJTS suggests that Travis was retained there for consultation.  Let's hope that more is revealed.

[Jim_Kennedy]

                                                    Wanakah -1900

[Ronald Montesano]

So it has changed a bit, huh?  Where did you discover this?

ADD...http://www.wanakahcc.com/

If you read the paragraph, it suggests a need to emulate.  The Travis design must have been the "weekend" golf course.  The extent to which Donald Ross was involved is uncertain; the Donald Ross society does not list it among his courses.  This is one of our great mystery courses in western New York.

[Kevin Lynch]

No mistaking the sharp-cornered parallelogram shape of Wanakah - makes it one of the easiest to pick out from the Airplane.

Thanks for the Map - I will be very interested looking at it later compared with the current layout. 

Like Ron, I would be glad to see any information on the design evolution of this course. 

If you happen to hear anything about one of its neighboring courses (Brierwood), that would be great as well.  I think it's currently listed as designed by "Anonymous."

[Jim_Kennedy]

The diagram came from the 1900 Buffalo Morning Express. 

[Ronald Montesano]

The consensus is that David and William Gordon, from eastern PA, did Brierwood.  They were the in-house architects for the Bethlehem Steel company of the mid 1900s.  I believe that they did other courses for the company.

First paragraph here (http://www.brierwoodcc.com/welcom/about/) tucks the notion into bed.