Architects who were Veterans

[Dave McCollum]

I don't think that's a painting.  It looks more like a hand tinted photograph. 

[Neil_Crafter]

Neil W
Thanks for this, I had previously found a photograph of Solomon, and he looks nothing like the image you posted. I couldn't see him in that photograph at all. In fact that painting is actually by Solomon, rather than of him and is titled Portrait of a Young Officer. Solomon was born in 1860, so by the time WW1 came about and the Camo School established he was 56 years old. Here is a photo of Solomon below.

By the way, the officer that you said looked the same as the portrait could indeed be the subject of Solomon's painting, quite feasible that he asked one of his officers to sit for him.

But that's definitely not Solomon in the photograph.
cheers Neil

[Neil_Crafter]

And while I think of it, Niall referred to one of the Three Majors, being Major C K Hutchison. The other two Majors were Guy Campbell and S V Hotchkin, both of whom  served in WW1. Hotchkin in the Leistershire Yeomanry, and Campbell served in both WW1 and WW2.

[BCrosby]

H H Barker served in the British army during WWI, returning to England from Birmingham, Al. in 1914 to enlist. He was wounded, survived until he died from his wounds in the early 1920's. As I recall, he served in the air corps.(?)

Was Barker the only architect to die from his war wounds?

If any one can provide better or more complete info on Barker it would be most appreciated.   

Bob

[Lester George]

Was Barker working in Birmingham?

Lester

[BCrosby]

Barker spent a lot of time in Atlanta with George Adair between 1911 and 1914 desiging or consulting on golf courses in the SE. But as far as I can tell he actually worked out of the Roebuck Golf Club in Birmingham until he returned to England in 1914. The Roebuck Club either closed shop or was renamed later.

Bob

[Lester George]

He did the first course at Country Club of Virginia which opened in 1910.  Interesting. 

Lester

[Lester George]

By the way, thanks Ian Andrews for starting a post on Vets.  Very cool stuff!

Lester

[BCrosby]

I received an email from Phil Young correcting me on the name of the Birmingham club at which Barker was the pro. It was "Roe Buck Springs Club". Apparently Barker also designed the course.

Does anyone have the skinny on what became of the club? I seem to reall that it still exists but under a different name.

Bob

[Ian Andrew]

Herbert Heyden Barker

Born in Yorkshire in 1883
Took up golf relatively late - around eighteen or nineteen - and under the tutelage of Alex Herd
He won numerous events including the Yorkshire Am in 1904 and 1906 and the Irish Am in 1906
In 1907 he turned professional taking a job in America at Garden City GC
His turning professional and moving to America was a very big story on both sides of the Atlantic. 
Once in America he immediately began assisting Walter Travis in the redesign GCGC
That experience at GCGC started a whirlwind of design and redesign activity
He was assisted by Travis through introductions to clients
Over the next seven or eight years he designed/redesigned around thirty golf courses from coast to coast
He left GCGC in 1911 to position at Rumson CC
Barker suffered from poor health and resigned from Rumson late in 1911
Went back to England to recover his health
Returned to be pro at Roebuck Springs in Birmingham, Alabama (better climate was the draw)
Heath never improved and he eventually returned to England for good in 1915
Entered the RAF during WWI
Died in 1924 from a heart ailment

Current list of his Design and Redesigns

1907 GCGC
1908 GCGC, Newport, Philmont, Bedford Springs, Atlantic City
1909 CCof Virginna, Spokane, Waverly, Mayfield, Arcola, Rumson, Columbia, Youngstown, Williamsport, Springhaven
1910 Skokie, Detroit, East Lake, Druid Hills, Brookhaven, Grove Park Inn, Merion
1911 Pocono Manor, Roebuck Springs
1912 Birmingham CC, Myers Park (never built)
1913 Indian Hills, Tallahassee, Somerville
1914 Palm Beach, Idle Hour, Huntington CC putting green, Westhampton

[Niall C]

Bob

I accumulated a number of clippings from mags and newspapers regarding Barker and sent them to Tommy Mac. A lot of it alluded to his amateur career before going to Garden City and his infrequent returns. Happy to dig out info and send on. As Ian suggested, his turning pro was quite a big thing in the UK at the time as he was considered as being one of the main challengers for the Amateur Championship. The only thing I would quibble about Ian's run down is the bit about Sandy Herd coaching him. Even though Herd was pro at Huddersfield where Barker was a member, I seem to recall reading that he never got lessons or played any golf with Herd but then that could be my dodgy memory.

Niall

[Niall C]

One from the north of Scotland;

John McAndrew - was pro/greenkeeper at Cruden Bay betwen 1908 and 1923 except for 1915 to 1918 when he served in the army. McAndrew, who was originally from St Andrews but spent some time in Glasgow as pro at North western Club before he went to Cruden Bay. Not sure if he designed anything in this earlier period but he designed Inverurie and Huntly (I think) amongst others at his time at Cruden Bay. He also was credited with designing the holes that went into the dunes, including the par 3 4th, at Cruden Bay as well as the par 3 11th.

After he left Cruden Bay, he opened up a golf shop in the centre of Glasgow where he also gave lessons and indeed published a golf book. At around about the same time he also did a programme on BBC radio (which incidentally is 90 years old today !). Also around this time he redesigned the Machrie in Islay including 6 new holes. He did his designs using plasticene models which he was happy to put in his shop window. All in all he sounds like an interesting character.

Niall

Edit: Should have said that McAndrew redesigned 6 greens at Machrie. He also redesigned Newburgh on Ythan.

[Niall C]

Another from the north of Scotland;

George Smith - served with the Gordons in WWI, being wounded with shrapnel to the leg and receiving ashell shock which deprived him of his hearing. After the war he as pro at Moray GC in Lossiemouth and in 1922 won the Scottish Professional Championship. As a designer he laid out Royal Tarlair, redesigned and lengthened Strathlene, laid out the original holes at Elgin and worked on the finishing detail at Buckpool in conjunction with Taylor & Hawtree. He might also have designed Inverness's course from what I remember and also is credited for making minor alterations at Murcar during the 1930's.

Niall

[erichunter]

Don't know if it was active duty, but Dr. Michael Hurdzan is a veteran.

According to Bob Lang, Hurdzan's service helped him win the Erin Hills assignment:

Hurdzan and Lang are the same age, but Hurdzan was a Green Beret in Vietnam while Lang stayed home and worked as a teacher. "He went to 'Nam, and I didn't," says Lang. "I respected that. I wanted to give him a piece of property that he could use to make a name for himself."

http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/2010-01/golf_erin_hills_ginella_0125#ixzz2CEg1Fk6D

[BCrosby]

Niall -

I would love to see what you have on Barker. There were a number of references in the mags of the time to him turning pro and how rare it was for someone a good track record amateur events to do so. In the category of 'the past is a foreign country', it's very hard for us moderns to get our heads around the amateur - professional divide in Victorian and Edwardian golf. It was a chasm. Barker was one of the few to cross over to the pro side. It was impossible to cross over in the other direction.

On a slightly different topic, Ian's biographical sketch suggests that Barker died of natural causes. I had read somewhere that he died from war wounds after the war. Did you find anything on that?

Were Barker's health issues a euphemism for drinking problems?

Bob

   

[Niall C]

Bob

I tried to send you an email the other night and failed miserably. I'll try again. I'm not sure the mention of Barkers passing went in to any detail but given that it was several years after the war then I can't imagine it was primarily because of any war wounds.

Niall

[Nigel Islam]

Larry Nelson designed a course

[Sven Nilsen]

Bob and Niall:

Here's a quick summary (incomplete) of Barker's life and work from the Raritan Valley website:

http://www.rvcc1911.org/files/hhbarker.pdf

The write-up suggests his death was the result of lingering war injuries, but I certainly wouldn't consider this a first hand source.

One interesting omission from the list of work is Waverley (1909) in Portland, OR.  The only place I've seen this attributed to Barker is on the back pages of this site.

Sven

[Sven Nilsen]

Here's a photo that identifies a Harold Barker and a Herbert Barker (on the right) from WWI.  Not sure if its the same guy, but perhaps someone can drag up another image to do a compare.  (Photo taken from this site:  http://empirecall.pbworks.com/w/page/11620205/Barker%20H%20A%20%20Pte%2043



There's another photo of a Herbert Barker who joined the RAF:

[Niall C]

Sven

Many thanks for that. I have a few photos of Barker playing golf which I'm happy to pass on. Perhaps you could ping me your email and I'll send them on.

Bob

Yet another technological failure yesterday. Hopefully get the info to you on Monday.

Niall

[David_Elvins]

Mackenzie was a Civil Surgeon attached to the 4th Somerset Light Infantry in the Boer War, so despite not actually fighting he would have been dealing with the casualties. In South Africa he formulated the germ of his camouflage thinking.

Fascinating photo, Neil.  It looks like MacKenzie served with Capt Edmund Blackadder (back left)? An interesting historical tidbit. 

[Neil_Crafter]

David
My thoughts exactly and I made the same comment in an email to our Mac research team. No sign of Baldrick though....