Highland Country Club (NLE) in Meriden/Middletown, CT

[Bret Lawrence]

Anthony,

Thanks for the comments.  I should have mentioned that New Haven Country Club is now a Willie Park Jr. design.  
I will give Paul Smiths a call tomorrow.  I didn't really have time to look into these new additions outside of reading the articles, so any more information is greatly appreciated.  

Bret

[Sven Nilsen]

Bret sent me the following images of Watertown (after Raynor showed up), which I am posting side by side.  If anyone has the ability to splice these together, please let us know.



Each of the images separately:

[Sven Nilsen]

An assortment of articles and photos on a number of the courses noted in this thread.

New Haven GC -

Golf Magazine March 1908





New Haven CC -

Golf Magazine Oct. 1904





Golf Magazine May 1905



Race Brook -

Golf Magazine May 1913



Golf Magazine May 1915

[Sven Nilsen]

A couple of early articles on Meriden.

May 1898 Golf Magazine



Oct. 1900 Golf Magazine

[Sven Nilsen]

One more on Norwich:

Sept. 9, 1911 Norwich Bulletin

[Sven Nilsen]

One question mark for the list having to do with Wyantenuck.

The following Jan. 1915 Golf Magazine blurb suggests that the course was extended to 18 holes by the club's professional.  This doesn't disprove Pryde's involvement, just a notation of someone else doing work around the time he is noted as being involved.

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

There was a New Haven Golf Club, which i think Pryde might have designed, and a New Haven Country Club, which still exists.

[Sven Nilsen]

There was a New Haven Golf Club, which i think Pryde might have designed, and a New Haven Country Club, which still exists.

I listed them separately above.  Here's an early plan for each.

New Haven GC (1899)



New Haven CC (1900)



Also in New Haven, I'm almost positive that Alling Memorial was referred to in the 1929 and 1931 Annual Guides as the New Haven Municipal GC.  The 1929 Guide notes the course as under construction.  I've seen other sources (which I can't find right now) which attribute the course to a "McDonald."

Sven

[Bret Lawrence]

Sven,

Thanks for all the information, it is much appreciated!  The article you have on Wyantenuck is from 1915.  Wyantenuck had another site prior to their current site.  I believe it was nicknamed Brookside.  

To my knowledge the current course was designed by Robert Pryde in 1918.  As I mentioned earlier, 4 holes were redesigned by Charles Banks and a few more in-house.  The only proof I have of this is through word of the long time pro, Tom Sullivan and a brick on the club's patio and of course, The Architects of Golf (but no year is given).

I just realized that they have a pretty extensive book on their history, so maybe they will let me take a look next time I go up there.

Thanks again for all the articles.

Bret

[Bret Lawrence]

Also in New Haven, I'm almost positive that Alling Memorial was referred to in the 1929 and 1931 Annual Guides as the New Haven Municipal GC.  The 1929 Guide notes the course as under construction.  I've seen other sources (which I can't find right now) which attribute the course to a "McDonald."

Sven

Sven,

The CSGA website has McDonald listed as the architect under the club profile.  There list is not very well compiled, so I do not really trust it's validity.  I think some of the websites that list architects will sometimes take their info from the CSGA site, thinking it is correct.

I'm trying to help them out with it, but it will take some time.

A member of the CSGA I have talked to several times is Tom Lane.  He was Robert Prydes neighbor for 19 years, as he grew up on Racebrook Country Club.  He didn't really know a lot about Robert Prydes design history, but the courses he mentioned were Racebrook, Orange Hills, Pine Orchard, Alling Memorial, New Haven Golf Club, New Haven CC, Wethersfield and Wyantenuck.

I am still looking for information on Orange Hills, Alling Memorial, Pine Orchard, Hunter and Wyantenuck that would solidify it.

Bret

[Bret Lawrence]

These write ups are from the 1900 Connecticut Magazine. 

[Tim Martin]

There is a lot of information about Pryde in Golf at Yale by John Godley and William Kelly which was written in 2009. It is nearly impossible to quantify Pryde's contributions to Yale/Connecticut golf from approximately 1895 through 1950. That is some great resource information that both Bret and Sven have provided. Thank you.

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

I'll check on Pine Orchard but I believe it is a substantial renovation by members of a Pryde design.

[Bret Lawrence]

I mentioned that Tom Lane didn't know a lot about Robert Pryde's design history, but he did know a lot about his involvement with the CSGA and Yale.  He also had a keen knowledge of his golf club making and greens keeping abilities. I just wanted to clarify my earlier post.

[Tim Martin]

I mentioned that Tom Lane didn't know a lot about Robert Pryde's design history, but he did know a lot about his involvement with the CSGA and Yale.  He also had a keen knowledge of his golf club making and greens keeping abilities. I just wanted to clarify my earlier post.

I don't know if your friend Tom is the same Lane whose name appears to be on every board in the grill room at Racebrook? There is at least one Lane who won just about everything a pile of times.

[Jim_Kennedy]

This site has several photos of the Paul Smith's

http://nyheritage.nnyln.net/cdm/singleitem/collection/paulsmiths/id/10894/rec/6

Something about the course from the Devereux Emmet thread

St Regis clubhouse:


  
 The St. Regis Golf Club was on Keese Mills Road in Otisville. It was a nine hole course constructed by Paul Smith some time after 1858 for the guests of Paul Smith's Hotel. There had been an earlier hotel golf course that was located on Osgood Pond, but was too sandy and too far from the hotel to be satisfactory. The golf house located at Osgood Pond was used by local boy and girl scouts in 1932.
   Local residents remember seeing boats from the camps on the St. Regis Lakes coming down the St. Regis River and stopping at docks near the seventh green; the golfers would blow their horns and the caddies would leave the clubhouse and go and haul the players' golf clubs up the hill.
  In the winter, local children used the golf course for a ski area; the number two green had a hill that came down to Keese Mills Road that was their favorite place to ski.
  Madaline Jaquis’s husband Bob caddied at the golf course in the late 1930s to early 1940s, especially for Mr. Davies, one of Marjorie Merriweather Post's husbands. And Ralph Blanchard caddied at the golf course in the 1940s for Mr. Davies and for Bob Hoe.
  Emil Block, a pro golfer, ran the golf course and taught golf. At the clubhouse there was a bar and a pro shop. There was a nice golf house there at one time, that has recently been torn down by Paul Smith's College.
  At one time they started to build an 18 hole golf course that was later abandoned. A large pump brought water up from the St. Regis River to water the course.
  The golf course was in use for 54 years; it was closed in 1949. When it closed, the college built a ski tow at number two green that was still running in the late 1940s that was run by Ralph Blanchard for two or three years. Later, the ski tow was moved to Jenkins Mountain; the road to the Visitors Interpretive Center is the road led to the ski tow.

Source
•Donaldson, Deborah J., Adirondack Daily Enterprise, October 20, 2009.

The Taft photo, click 2ice to embiggen

[Jim_Kennedy]

edit: The course was near the junction of the St. Regis river and Keesville rd. (per Donaldson's article} and that location is on the western edge of the college property.

[Ronald Montesano]

That Taft Course is stunning. The athletic center is where that green just beyond the dorms sits in the photo. Beautiful school, Taft. Shame about the golf course.

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

Not that much of a shame about the golf course. Seth Raynor was not there during construction and I think it pales in comparison to what he designed. It is the most indistinct Raynor course I think I have ever seen.

[Bret Lawrence]

I should mention the Taft aerial from 1930 is courtesy of the Leslie D. Manning Archives at the Taft School. 

Jim, thanks for splicing the pictures together for me.  My intention was to post it under the Taft thread, because it was one of two aerials I found that predates the 1934 aerial. 

Anthony is correct, I never found any information that proves Raynor was there for construction and many changes took place immediately after this course was built.  From what I have read, I still feel this design was not finished until 1925.  By the time they took the 1934 aerial, the third hole had been changed, a fourth hole added and the 6th green (just north of the track) was abandoned all together.  In this aerial you can still at least make out those holes, but some of the new greens are also included in the frame .

I thought it was cool to look at regardless of who built it, so I thought I would let everyone else have a look too.


Ronald,

There are five large trees to the left of the 9th fairway that still exist on the property today.  I found these trees to be a good reference point when you try to match the layout to today's aerial.

Tim,

I honestly don't know if that is Tom Lane all over the trophy boards.  I will have to ask him more about his own accomplishments next time I run into him.  He has been a member at Racebrook since the 1940's, so if I had to guess, I would say it is probably him.

[Jim_Kennedy]

I should mention the Taft aerial from 1930 is courtesy of the Leslie D. Manning Archives at the Taft School.  

Jim, thanks for splicing the pictures together for me.  My intention was to post it under the Taft thread, because it was one of two aerials I found that predates the 1934 aerial.  

Anthony is correct, I never found any information that proves Raynor was there for construction and many changes took place immediately after this course was built.  From what I have read, I still feel this design was not finished until 1925.  By the time they took the 1934 aerial, the third hole had been changed, a fourth hole added and the 6th green (just north of the track) was abandoned all together.  In this aerial you can still at least make out those holes, but some of the new greens are also included in the frame .

I thought it was cool to look at regardless of who built it, so I thought I would let everyone else have a look too.


Ronald,

There are five large trees to the left of the 9th fairway that still exist on the property today.  I found these trees to be a good reference point when you try to match the layout to today's aerial.

Tim,

I honestly don't know if that is Tom Lane all over the trophy boards.  I will have to ask him more about his own accomplishments next time I run into him.  He has been a member at Racebrook since the 1940's, so if I had to guess, I would say it is probably him.

You can also use the mash-up site found here:
 http://magic.lib.uconn.edu/mash_up/1934.html
to compare any '34 aerials to their modern counterparts.

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

Reading the Taft school newspaper clips about the Raynor course, it appears he was never on site for construction, which is the only case I know of that happening. I think there was lots of meddling going on with his design. According to the paper, construction is underway in October of 1923. Significant alterations, according to the paper, happen in September of 1924 and then again in October of 1925, which is the last time the course is mentioned for a while.

[Jim_Kennedy]

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

Whoa! Where did you find that?

By the way, the 12th and 13th are on private property. Also, if you look at the aerial in comparison to the drawing, the 12th and 13th look to be flipped.

Anthony

[Jim_Kennedy]

Anthony,

Yes, 12 & 13 are flipped around.

I posted the drawing to Ed Oden's 'compilations' thread a while ago. The original was on another computer that crashed and burnt, now if I can only remember where it came from...