Tom--The first nine holes of the Stafford CC Travis design opened on July 1, 1922. The construction of that nine, plus clubhouse, roads, bridges, pump houses, and irrigation was as much as their financial resources could manage, at the time. However, four years later, construction of the Stafford CC second nine was begun, with the building of what is now the first and ninth holes. The remainder of that second nine was completed over the next couple of years with the full 18-hole Travis design formally opened in 1929. The nines were reversed from Travis's original design. Travis was well-aware that only nine holes would be completed in the beginning. Travis was suggested for the project by a close friend of his brother-in-law, by marriage, who lived in Buffalo, NY, and was one of the prominent founders fo the CC of Buffalo. Travis and his wife often traveled to Buffalo to visit her sister and husband.
I have conducted a detailed search of every newspaper database I can find to identify what Thompson/Jones did at Stafford CC in 1930. Among the founders and early Governors of Stafford CC were the owners/publishers/editors of the two major newspapers in Genesee Country, Batavia's The Daily News, and the LeRoy Gazette-News. As a result, both of those papers were very generous in covering every detail of the club's early years. I'm amazed that they mentioned nothing about Thompson and Jones. I talked with Roger Rulewich, at RT Jones' office, and he confirmed that their files listed Stafford CC for RT Jones and Thompson in 1930, but indicated that any record of what they might have done is buried in a massive collection of project files. I spent quite a bit of time with RT Jones, Jr, about 5 years ago when he was a guest at Stafford. Talked with him before and after he went out on the course. He knew his Dad had been there. After playing, he would not venture any guess as to what they might have done. As far as his father's involvement, the most he would say was that, given where his father was in his career, he was probably more of an observer.
As I look at our course, it is apparent to me that some of our tee pads are very different from the early design, or pictures from early 1920s. So, I'm guessing that they might have done tee work. But, not having anything to go on other than the Cornish/Whitten listing, and what I learned in my contact with the RTJones office, there's not much to talk about. So, I guess I wouldn't say that we "underplay their involvement". It's just that we have nothing to say other than that they were at Stafford CC in 1930. There is nothing to point to and say, "That's what Stanley Thompson and RT Jones did here in 1930". It is apparent from a 1928 map that was drawn by a local engineer, that the original Travis design was completed as he had planned, with the exception of our par 3 fourth hole where the tee needed to be moved because of space problems. With the exception of that minor modification the routing as shown on the original Travis map, the 1928 map, and today's is identical to what exists today; exception being that the original 278 yard, par 4 8th hole was reduced to a 199 yard par 3 hole, by moving tees up. That was done in the late 1950s, with no architect involved.
If you check
www.travissociety.com, you'll find the original Travis map posted.
BTW--in at least one other ad---and, though I have the ad hanging on the wall next to me, I can't tell you right now where and when it appeared--where Travis listed Stafford CC. And, he included it in a list he submitted to Dr. Nilsen of Sunapee, NY, but not in a letter to Mr. Clarence Clark in regard to Philadelphia CC. Both letters written in 1924. To try to read his mind, as to why he listed it in a couple of places but not in a couple of other places is beyond me.
There is a mystery that I would invite you to investigate, if you will. In both his letters to Clark and Nilsen, he mentioned Westchester Hills G.C. as a course he designed. The folks at WHGC, and other sources, insist that it was Pete Clark who designed it. Do you have anything different?
Glad we got the Longue Vue question resolved. I have not spent much time about that course. We have an interesting aerial image of the area where the course was located, but it doesn't show much. We have an image of a 1926 postcard that shows the entrance into Longue Vue, referring to it as "New York's Most Fascinating Suburban Resort. Naturally Beautiful. Beautifully Natural". And, we have pictures of the main building, and other materials, none of which say much about golf.
Ed