This came out of the blue from someone on a farm in Pennsylvania.
A participant on GOLFCLUBATLAS.com said about the topo maps of Pine
Valley:
“If the stick routing was superimposed on the topo circa March 1913, then
we know it had to be done on or subsequent to March 1903. The question
remains, WHEN was the stick routing superimposed on the March 1913 Topo ?”
To the question above an observer would like to offer the following:
The surveyor/map-maker date on the so-called Crump stick routing says
"Topographical Plan of the Property of George A Crump, Camden County, New
Jersey, March, 1913"
Therefore that map was probably in Crump’s hands at some point in March
and at least by the beginning of April. That gave Crump (et al) seven weeks
to two months to work on a routing with it before Colt first arrived.
Colt arrived in the end of May or beginning of June 1913 and stayed at PV
for a week (mentioned in various reports. I also believe that Colt and Mrs
Colt stayed with Mr and Mrs Hugh I. Wilson in Philadelphia before he spent
that week with Crump at Pine Valley and that Colt looked over Merion and
Seaview. I also believe Wilson stayed with Colt when touring England for
architecture in March/April 1912. My source for deducing that is a letter Colt
wrote to Wilson in the early 1920s).
The reason I believe Crump worked on that initial stick routing and
probably finished it and then put it away when Colt arrived are these:
1. Tillinghast described a few of the first holes of Pine Valley in a
periodical in the May 1913 issue, which means to me that Tillinghast
derived his information and then wrote his article in April 1913.
2. Colt apparently always drew with a light blue pencil and there are no
light blue lines on
that initial stick routing, at least I am quite sure there aren’t but I
will be going back down there to check that item.
1. I believe when Colt arrived a fresh copy of the March 1913 topo
map was used and that was what Colt began to put his blue line Pine Valley
routing on.
The Crump stick routing shows the first four holes are as they were built.
#5 was from the present tee to a green in the hill side to the left of
today’s hole approximately where the driveway turns left to go up to the cl
ubhouse. It was a shortish drop shot par 3.
From that spot there were two iterations on the map for #6. One went from
about mid #5 up over the ridge (right about over Ewing’s house because it
was not there and neither was the road) to a green about where #6 is today;
It may’ve been a par 5 concept. The other iteration for #6 was from a tee
near that shorter left #5 green up over the ridge to the left of #18 to a
green approximately where #10 green is today; a par 4.
#7 was from a tee to the right of #10 green to a green approximately where
John Ott’s house is to the left of today’s #9 fairway; a par 4.
#8 was today’s #6; a par 4.
#9 was essentially today’s #7; a par 5 probably.
#10 was essentially today’s #12 except it was slightly to the right and
appears to have been a quite long par 3.
#11 was from a tee around or slightly behind today’s right #13 tee to a
green to the right and well short of today’s #13 green.
#12 came down over the ridge to a green approximately at the beginning of
today’s #15 fairway; a fairly long par 3.
#13 went back up and over the ridgeline between today’s #13 and #15 to a
green quite near today’s #12 green; a medium length par 4.
#14 came back down the ridge parallel to #13 to a green on today’s #15
fairway about 300 plus yards off today’s #15 tee; a medium length par 4.
#15 was from a tee somewhat less than midway up today’s #15 to a green
approximately where today’s #11 green is and probably a bit to the right of
it; apparently a very long par 4.
#16 was a long par 5 from a tee to the right of today’s #11 green to a
green site at approximately today’s #16 green or perhaps slightly farther on.
#17 was today’s #17 except perhaps slightly to the left (its green seemed
to be pretty much directly behind today’s #10 green) and at 385 longer than
today’s #17 probably because the tee was behind today’s waterworks behind
#17 tee because at that point the waterworks was not there because the
lake on #14, #15 and #16 was not there.
#18 was today’s #18.
Did Crump do this routing perhaps with some help and collaboration from
his friends and new members? Well if you believe, as I do, what the following
note says and means, I think any logical or reasonable mind (which frankly
GOLFCLUBATLAS.com has many of these day although not all) it is hard to
conclude that this stick routing was not Crump or Crump completely in control
or holding the editorship of this project and its routing, design and
development. Don’t forget, at this point, George Crump owned the property
himself, and for the rest of his short life he owned most of the rest of it
through his anonymous bond purchases!
To wit-----Crump’s notation on the top of this early stick routing
superimposed on top of the original topo map of March 1913:
“Am not sure if the greens are marked on this map
Where I marked them on the ground”
GAC
That note is in Crump’s handwriting. I believe it says and means that at
that point he probably wasn’t very good at using a topo map or figuring out
how to specifically correlate the contour lines on the topo map with the
same spots on the ground (this writer commiserates with that dilemma having
spent about two years and about 1,000 hours routing and designing a course
in Philadelphia and never being very comfortable with the use of his topo
contour map). By the way, the contours lines are five feet elevations and I
think the map is in 1”=200 ft scale or close to it.
I believe when Colt arrived at the end of May or the beginning of June
1913 Crump put away this topo map stick routing with his iterations and
changes on it and broke out a fresh copy for Colt on which Colt put his routing
on it in light blue pencil using a number of Crump’s holes and coming up
with some of his own iterations.
I think the major changes Colt made was to create the much longer version
of the famous #5 (which I believe was one of the keys to unraveling some of
the previous routing Crump had with his original stick routing), to slide
the green for #7 well short and to the left of Crump’s iteration, to create
the short par 4 #8, the long par 4 #9, the short par 3 #10, the par 4 #11
in its present position, a longer version of #12 than is there today with a
tee just short and very close to today’s #11 green, a shorter version of
#13 (280-300 yards), a shorter version of #15 and a version of #16 that may’
ve been a par 5 in the position of the present #16 but which was a much
shorter tee version of Crump’s stick iteration of #16 which was a long par 5
(by the way, according to his friends, at the very end Crump was struggling
with what to do with #15 and also wanted to go back to his original par 5
#16; there is a totally unique and remarkable balance and variety structure
Crump seem to get into later (around 1914) which I will try to explain and
describe some other time). I think Colt’s #4 may’ve been a shortish par 5
and it was routed slightly to the right of the present hole because Colt’s
2nd green was approximately 30 yards left of today’s #2 green and almost
into the left side of today’s 4th fairway which according to one of Crump’s
friends Crump said ‘No Good” (about the left placement of #2’s green). By
the way, Crump’s favorite holes, according to his friends, were #2 and #18.
Colt’s 3rd tee was just about in the middle of today’s 2nd green.
And then Colt left never to return to Pine Valley. Following his visit
Crump began to change the holes and put his red lines on the “Blue/Red Line”
topo map (and some other lead pencil lines on the map) for close to the
next four years.
That “Blue/Red Line topo map hung on the wall in the clubhouse for what
could be up to 90 years now but not until about 2001 did someone begin to
figure out what the blue lines meant and whose they were and whose the red
lines and others were and when, and the routing and design puzzle between Colt
and Crump began to be revealed and the architectural attribution between
the two became more clear.
Colt also left a hole by hole flip-top booklet of the individual holes of
his routing with some text instructions on them. The holes of that booklet
almost perfectly match the blue lines on the “Blue/Red Line” topo and they
both match the so-called Pine Valley course map of July 1913 that says on
it “as suggested by Harry Colt.” I believe Crump gave his map maker the
blue line topo and the Colt hole by hole booklet and asked him to make that
map. That’s the map we bought on EBay about 2005. It was found some years
ago in a flea market sale in Clementon and bought for $56. We bought if from
the EBay seller about five minutes before the gavel for 15 grand and turned
it over to Pine Valley were it now hangs in copy.
When Crump died on Jan 24, 1918 only fourteen holes were in play. #12-#15
were in one state of development or another and they would not come into
play until 1921 when the full Pine Valley 18 hole course would be completed
eight years after it began.
Before that the club played and 18 hole course by playing 1 through 11,
then #16, #17 and #18 and then #1 through #4 over again and you were right
back at the clubhouse.
That’s my version of the stick routing and some other maps of 1913 that
were used to create the routing and much of the course. The story will be
done in far more detail both hole by hole and otherwise. I plan to devote a
chapter to each hole and its conception, creation and entire evolution in
real detail using the timeline of all the remaining chronological details
available to the club at this time.
I firmly believe this will assign and explain the complete and
historically accurate evolutionary architectural attribution of Pine Valley and hole
by hole to those who conceived of them and created them. The real story of
Pine Valley is remarkable in its time-span and effort and particularly in
its collaboration amongst Crump and friends and the fact that if ever there
was a “Walden Pond” experience with a golf architect, creator, editor etc,
this one IS IT!
And of course it is just so interesting that early on and right on along
it has been considered perhaps one of the greatest golf courses and arguably
the greatest golf architecture in the world.
THERE’S MORE-----but that will be for Pine Valley only for now!