Northland Country Club -- Bendelow?

[Rick Shefchik]

Any Tom Bendelow experts out there? Cornish and Whitten credit Bendelow with remodeling the original nine holes (1899) and adding a second nine at Northland Country Club in Duluth in 1912. Though an informal club history written in the '50s confirms that this work was done in 1912, Bendelow is not mentioned, and no one at the club today has any knowledge, evidence or documentation that Bendelow did it.

It makes sense that Bendelow was there; he worked on a number of Minnesota courses in that era, including Minikahda, Golden Valley and Edina. Donald Ross redesigned the entire course in 1927, so almost nothing of the 1912 work exists anymore, but if possible, I'd like to pin down Bendelow's earlier involvement for the book I'm working on.

[Tyler Kearns]

Rick,

I'de look-up Stuart Bendelow, a former (?) poster on GCA. He wrote a book on Tom Bendelow, which I have at home. I'll take a look at it when I get home, and report back any information it may have on Northland CC.

It is no surprise that Tom Bendelow was not mentioned in the history, while it is pure speculation, clubs like to be associated with Donald Ross, and often, course design credit will start and stop with him. It may be hasty to assume Bendelow's work has vanished at Northland. At the time he was employed by Spalding Bros., and was criss-crossing the continent routing courses to help popularize the game, thus, enabling Spalding to sell clubs and balls to all the new golfers. Therefore, his design work was probably fairly rudimentary in terms of hazards and green contours, but the routings may still exist. I spent a lot of time researching the architectural history of Pine Ridge in Winnipeg, and similarly, Bendelow routed the course, and a decade or so later, Ross was hired primarily to bunker the course. He re-built a handful of greens, but left the original routing fairly intact, only amalgamating 4 holes into 2, allowing his to build two new par three holes.

TK

[Dan Kelly]

Any Tom Bendelow experts out there? Cornish and Whitten credit Bendelow with remodeling the original nine holes (1899) and adding a second nine at Northland Country Club in Duluth in 1912. Though an informal club history written in the '50s confirms that this work was done in 1912, Bendelow is not mentioned, and no one at the club today has any knowledge, evidence or documentation that Bendelow did it.

It makes sense that Bendelow was there; he worked on a number of Minnesota courses in that era, including Minikahda, Golden Valley and Edina. Donald Ross redesigned the entire course in 1927, so almost nothing of the 1912 work exists anymore, but if possible, I'd like to pin down Bendelow's earlier involvement for the book I'm working on.

He worked on a *lot* of Minnesota courses, if this list is accurate: http://turfweb.lib.msu.edu/starweb/servlet.starweb?path=FACILITIES/architects.web&id=facilities&pass=12LI&search1=archc%3Dbendelow,%20thomas&format=bendelowtname

Can't help you with your question, but have two thoughts:

(1) Did Duluth have a society/golf magazine, like "Golfer & Sportsman"? Or: Does Duluth have a historical-society museum? Or: Might there be anything in the News-Tribune archives?

(2) How do you know that "almost nothing of the 1912 work exists anymore"? I thought that wonderful uphill No. 2 seemed much more like Bendelow than Ross. (Kidding -- as you know. But my question is a serious one.)

[Rick Shefchik]

Thanks for that information, Tyler. I should say that the original 18 is largely gone, since Northland abandoned the property below Superior Street when Ross redesigned the course.

For those familiar with Northland, Bendelow(?) did use the land on which holes 1, 2, 3, 15, 16, 17 and 18 now occupy, but the club bought a large parcel of land above that property, on which Ross laid out 11 new holes. I know Ross moved the 18th green, but beyond that I couldn't say exactly what he did to the rest of the original holes in his redesign. Without an aerial from before 1927, we'll probably never know the answer to that.

[Rick Shefchik]

Thanks for that list, Dan. I hadn't seen it. Northland is included, though I still would like to see some kind of documentation -- especially since Minneapolis Golf Club is also on that list, and no one at MGC has mentioned Tom Bendelow in my discussions with them about their course history. They did find a Donald Ross drawing of their new (1919) layout mislabled "Minneapolis Country Club" in the Tufts Archives in Pinehurst, but so far as I know, MGC was an unbroken handoff from Willie Park, Jr., to Ross.

[Dan Kelly]

Maybe Tom Bendelow is the Forrest Gump of American GCA.

Or the Zelig.

[Brad Klein]

Where's (Northland superintendent) Chris Tritibaugh when we really need him?

[Chris Tritabaugh]

Where's (Northland superintendent) Chris Tritibaugh when we really need him?

I was just summoned by email.

Rick and I had a short conversation about this at the club last month. I haven't heard anything of Bendelow having done the original course at Northland but I stop well short of considering myself an expert on Northland's history. What we do have is the original Ross routing plan showing his design to be virtually what we have today. How much of the original course might have carried over to the Ross course is uncertain. I have heard that Ross intended to use the 18th green from the original course for his 18th and thus the routing plan shows the 18th green at the bottom of the hill on which the current 18th sits. However, a few years ago Sean Tully sent me a photo from a 1931 edition of the American Golfer (?). The photo shows 18 green in 1931, just 4 years after it opened, being on top of the hill as it is today.

The question of whether or not any Bendelow still exists is a good one. I have no hard evidence either way but we have had several site visits from Ron Prichard and he has never mentioned anything suggesting those holes are anything but Ross. I will send Ron an email tomorrow and ask his opinion. There is also a photo of the old course hanging in the clubhouse. It is taken from the vantage point of the bluff above today's tennis courts. This photo gives a good look at the holes of the old course, which sat on today's lower holes. Its not obvious but none of the holes in that photo seem consistent with today's holes.     

[Patrick Hodgdon]

Thanks for that list, Dan. I hadn't seen it. Northland is included, though I still would like to see some kind of documentation -- especially since Minneapolis Golf Club is also on that list, and no one at MGC has mentioned Tom Bendelow in my discussions with them about their course history. They did find a Donald Ross drawing of their new (1919) layout mislabled "Minneapolis Country Club" in the Tufts Archives in Pinehurst, but so far as I know, MGC was an unbroken handoff from Willie Park, Jr., to Ross.

I want to say Tom MacWood was arguing a while back, I think in a White Bear Yacht thread, for MGC to be a Bendelow design and neither a Park nor a Ross. Be curious if he had some more info behind that thinking,

[Rick Shefchik]

Thanks for jumping in, Chris. I hope you'll report back if Ron Prichard has any further information. By the way, I don't recall seeing the photo from the bluffs. Is it scanable? (Sorry, Dan -- it seemed necessary.)

Patrick -- There's no doubt that MGC was originally a Willie Park, Jr. One of the club members found all of his original blueprints in the offices of the civil engineering firm that did the construction. There remains doubt that Ross was ever on sight for the 1919 redesign, but the routing map in the Tufts archives makes it pretty clear that he gave them a plan -- maybe based on topographical maps -- and that his field guy, Walter Hatch, likely oversaw the work.

As to why Ross never claimed MGC as one of his courses, my guess is that it was either his lack of physical participation in re-designing less than half the course from his office, or the fact that the plan he drew up got misfiled as "Minneapolis Country Club" and eventually forgotten amid all the other courses he did.

[Patrick Hodgdon]

Thanks for jumping in, Chris. I hope you'll report back if Ron Prichard has any further information. By the way, I don't recall seeing the photo from the bluffs. Is it scanable? (Sorry, Dan -- it seemed necessary.)

Patrick -- There's no doubt that MGC was originally a Willie Park, Jr. One of the club members found all of his original blueprints in the offices of the civil engineering firm that did the construction. There remains doubt that Ross was ever on sight for the 1919 redesign, but the routing map in the Tufts archives makes it pretty clear that he gave them a plan -- maybe based on topographical maps -- and that his field guy, Walter Hatch, likely oversaw the work.

As to why Ross never claimed MGC as one of his courses, my guess is that it was either his lack of physical participation in re-designing less than half the course from his office, or the fact that the plan he drew up got misfiled as "Minneapolis Country Club" and eventually forgotten amid all the other courses he did.

Yep found on one of the threads where TMac admitted he had the Bendelow at MGC confused:
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,41570.msg882984.html#msg882984

I thought this part was interesting from Tom's post and maybe Brad Klein can fill in more on what he thinks about Ross and MGC:

As far as Ross and MGC, the Ross Society, Klein and Whitten do not list Minneapolis, but strangely the late Pete Jones did list it as an original design in 1920. Jones devoted years of research into compiling a list of Ross golf courses and was consider the authority on his  work for the Ross Society before he passed about a decade ago. I'm not sure why MGC does not appear on the official list today. The fact that Ross himself did not list it makes me wonder how comprehensive his work was there, if in fact he was involved.

[Steven_Biehl]

I'm not sure if this is new information for you or not, but I thought I would share.  I did some research on Bendelow about a year ago while researching some club history and remember coming across Northland Country Club a few times.  After seeing this thread I tried to track down some of the info again.  In the Duluth News Tribune archives there is an article that mentions Bendelow being at the club and is referred to as "the local expert." (8/17/1909 and 8/20/1909).  There is another article from 1909 that mentions members beginning play on permanent greens.  Then later, another article announces the official opening of the new 18 holes on June 19, 1913.

With the official opening being in 1913, it would make sense to me that Bendelow could have designed the holes while he was there in 1909.  At that time it took much longer to grow-in grass, and even more so in Duluth.  At Naperville Country Club, which is the course I was doing research on, the charter members build 9 holes in 1921.  Bendelow designed an 18-hole routing in 1922, but all 18 holes were not in play until 1927.

[Rick Shefchik]

Many thanks, Steven. I was able to find those articles you referenced. While not definitive proof that he did the work, the articles prove Bendelow was at Northland, and seemed particularly chummy with the club members. At the time he was one of the best-known and most prolific golf architects in the business. It's hard to see why they wouldn't have asked him to draw up their new nine holes.

[Chris Tritabaugh]

Thanks for jumping in, Chris. I hope you'll report back if Ron Prichard has any further information. By the way, I don't recall seeing the photo from the bluffs. Is it scanable? (Sorry, Dan -- it seemed necessary.)

Patrick -- There's no doubt that MGC was originally a Willie Park, Jr. One of the club members found all of his original blueprints in the offices of the civil engineering firm that did the construction. There remains doubt that Ross was ever on sight for the 1919 redesign, but the routing map in the Tufts archives makes it pretty clear that he gave them a plan -- maybe based on topographical maps -- and that his field guy, Walter Hatch, likely oversaw the work.

As to why Ross never claimed MGC as one of his courses, my guess is that it was either his lack of physical participation in re-designing less than half the course from his office, or the fact that the plan he drew up got misfiled as "Minneapolis Country Club" and eventually forgotten amid all the other courses he did.

Rick,
I forget exactly where that photo hangs. Its a panoramic photo but I don't see why it would not be able to be scanned. 

[Tyler Kearns]

Rick,

Here is the list of courses Bendelow worked at in Minnesota, as found in the book "Thomas 'Tom' Bendelow: The Johnny Appleseed of American Golf" by Stuart Bendelow;

Country Club of Minnesapolis, Minneapolis (1919)
Detroit CC, Detroit Lakes (1917)
Edina CC, Edina (1915)
Golden Valley CC, Minneapolis (1916)
Lafayette Club, Minnetonka Beach (1915)
Mankato CC, Mankato (1921)
Minneapolis GC, Minneapolis (1916)
Minnetonka GC, Shorewood (1916)
Northland CC, Duluth (1912)

The author also lists the sources for all these courses, in the case of Northland, he cites a publication called "Golf Courses by the American Park Builders" from 1926 by American Park Builders.

I'll scan through the book tonight to see if any specific mention is made of his association with Northland or any Minnesota courses for that matter.

TK

[Tom MacWood]

I don't know about Northland, but I do know Ross did not include Minneapolis GC in his pamphlet of designs.

In 9/1916 it was reported (American Golfer): "Tom Bendelow, the Chicago expert, has been engaged to lay out 27 holes for the new Minneapolis GC at Golden Valley. Elwood Queen, assistant to George Sargent at Interlachen, has been engaged as professional. A temporary 9 holes was opened last month."

In 12/1916 it was reported (AG): "The Minneapolis GC has decided to abandon the property on which it had an option at Golden Valley and has purchased a 500-acre tract at Richmond. Willy Park will lay out the course."

Park never listed MGC as one of his designs, which I assume meant there was a change in direction. MGC hired William D. Clark as their new professional in March of 1917. Clark was a pretty good golf architect in his right, designing golf courses in the Midwest and Florida. I would not exclude him as a possibility.

From what I understand the temporary nine at Golden Valley became GVCC, and was remodeled and expanded by Tillinghast.

As far as Ross and MGC, the Ross Society, Brad Klein and C&W do not list Minneapolis, but strangely the late Pete Jones did list it as an original design in 1920. I believe the course was actually built in 1917. The fact that Ross himself did not list MGC makes me wonder how comprehensive his work was there, if he was involved.

Back to Northland, William Watson laid out a course in Duluth in 1920 called Ridgeview, I'm not sure if it was ever built. Watson was very active in Minnesota.

[Rick Shefchik]

Tom, Thanks for that info on Watson and Ridgeview. I had suspected it might have been a Tom Vardon course, since he designed so many layouts in Minnesota during that time. But Watson makes perfect sense. The course has been redesigned a number of times since then, but still exists.

As to MGC, it's definitely a Willie Park, Jr., original. The Minneapolis morning Tribune reported in Jan. 1917 that the course had been"mapped out" by Willie Park, Jr. A few years ago MGC member John Crowley found the Park blueprints at the offices of Egan, Field and Nowak, the civil engineering firm that did the work.

I think we can call MGC a Ross redesign, even if Ross didn't include it among his courses. MGC voted to build a new clubhouse in 1920, moving it from near the current 3rd and 15th tees to the opposite side of the course, which necessitated a partial rerouting to have holes 9 and 18 end at the clubhouse. It was major work for a club that had considered it important to bring in a first-rate architect like Park just four years earlier, so it follows that they'd want a highly-regarded architect to do the redesign.

The Morning Tribune reported on June 24, 1920: "J.A. Hunter, president of the club, state that Donald Ross, golf course architect, will be in Minneapolis in September, and will make suggestions for the rearrangement of the course to harmonize with the proposed location of the new clubhouse."

The re-routing eliminated two of Park's par-three holes. The Ross "Minneapolis Country Club" routing map found in the Tufts archives is the identical layout played today.

[Sean_Tully]

Chris-

I had these for a while and was reminded of them with this thread.
Suspect some of your members might get a kick out of the last one.
Enjoy.

My best.
Sean

[Bradley Anderson]

This news clipping is from November 27, 1904.

[Tom MacWood]

Sean
What is the date on your article?

Rick
Willie Park produced at least two very comprehensive lists of his course in the 1920s, as comprehensive as any list I've seen from an architect, and neither one lists MGC. There is no doubt Park was involved early on, but I suspect there is more to the story.

[Rick Shefchik]

Back to Northland -- Sean's posting of the H.B. Martin piece from 1914 says Alex Smith did the design of the new 18-hole course, not Tom Bendelow. I find that very surprising, as I've never seen Alex Smith's name brought up in any Minnesota golf context. Did Smith design courses elsewhere? He has no courses listed in Cornish and Whitten's book. He was obviously a fine player, but I'd think a prominent club like Northland would be more inclined to go with a known architectural quantity like Bendelow than an inexperienced man like Smith. If they hired him for his name recognition, it certainly didn't stick.

[Rick Shefchik]

Rick
Willie Park produced at least two very comprehensive lists of his course in the 1920s, as comprehensive as any list I've seen from an architect, and neither one lists MGC. There is no doubt Park was involved early on, but I suspect there is more to the story.

Tom,

I found this article from the Nov. 26, 1916 Minneapolis Morning Tribune:

Willie Park, well-known golf course architect, arrived here yesterday to lay out the course of the Minneapolis Golf Club.

Mr. Park went over the club’s property near St. Louis Park in the afternoon and today he will start the work of mapping the full 18-hole links. He plans to stay here at least two weeks and will supervise the early work of construction.

It is planned to rush the construction work so that the course will be ready for play by the middle of next summer. Until the new course is ready the temporary nine-hole course at golden Valley will be used.

There could be more to the story, but it would have to be something rather extraordinary to have kept Park from finishing this job, and something that never became public. Seems like his failure to list MGC was an oversight.

[Sean_Tully]

Back to Northland -- Sean's posting of the H.B. Martin piece from 1914 says Alex Smith did the design of the new 18-hole course, not Tom Bendelow. I find that very surprising, as I've never seen Alex Smith's name brought up in any Minnesota golf context. Did Smith design courses elsewhere? He has no courses listed in Cornish and Whitten's book. He was obviously a fine player, but I'd think a prominent club like Northland would be more inclined to go with a known architectural quantity like Bendelow than an inexperienced man like Smith. If they hired him for his name recognition, it certainly didn't stick.

Rick-

I have some info on Alex, but nothing that gives him the respect that he deserves. I have been interested in the Smith family for quite a while as they were quite busy here in California.  Alex is probably the more forgotten of the Smith family after MacDonald and Willie and yet he won two US Opens. Willie died way to early and MacDonald couldn't win a major.

I do have Alex listed as the man responsible for laying out the Wawashkamo Golf Club on Mackinac Island in 1898, so he does have some experience laying out courses. Sure that with some more digging there is more info on his other courses that he had a hand in laying out.
 
Sean

[Dan Kelly]

It is planned to rush the construction work so that the course will be ready for play by the middle of next summer. Until the new course is ready the temporary nine-hole course at golden Valley will be used.[/b]

Rick -- Do you know where that "temporary nine-hole course at Golden Valley" was?

At the site of the current GV G&CC?

Or possibly: At the site of the current Brookview?

Dan

[Rick Shefchik]

It is planned to rush the construction work so that the course will be ready for play by the middle of next summer. Until the new course is ready the temporary nine-hole course at golden Valley will be used.[/b]

Rick -- Do you know where that "temporary nine-hole course at Golden Valley" was?

At the site of the current GV G&CC?

Or possibly: At the site of the current Brookview?

Dan

Dan,

It's not clear from what I've found, but I don't think it's Brookview (which used to be known as Superior, and didn't come into existence until a few years later.) I think they're referring to the makeshift course that was built at the current site of Golden Valley Country Club, which the esteemed membership of MGC had recently abandoned. Apparently the members of MGC were counting on the generosity and forgiveness of the 40 members they left behind at GV to allow them to play their course until Park could finish his work at Minneapolis. That's my read, anyway.