Would anyone build this hole today?

[Dan Kelly]

No. 1: 215 yards, across railroad tracks and a river?

I think my thread-title question is rhetorical. Really, I just wanted you to take a look at a spectacular picture of J.H. Taylor, teeing off in New Hampshire: http://www.shorpy.com/node/14073.

Be sure to click View Full Size.

[Tom Ferrell]

I really wish we were looking toward the green!  Cool pic.

[RJ_Daley]

Well, it might be a heck of a hole, beyond the train tracks.  

But the thing that strikes me in the full size view is not one of the spectators has a genuine smile or expression of joy on their face.  





Most of the women look like they are constipated.  Sun dresses didn't have plunging necklines in that era, I guess.  It is amazing that tribe of folks procreated.

And, who is responsible for relaxing the dress code for spectating at ye olde country club after this era?  Did all those gents take off their flat straw hats when they entered the club house?  Where did they put all those cumbersome flat straw hats?  Did they have a specially made hat rack?

Where did it all go wrong?  

[Jud_T]

Who's the hot babe on the steps showing her stockinged ankles?

[Mark McKeever]

Does this course still exist today?

Mark

[Dan Kelly]

Does this course still exist today?

Mark

From the website of the Mount Washington Resort, at http://brettonwoods.com/activities/golf/mountpleasant_course:

The 9-hole Mount Pleasant Course first opened in 1895, and has been host to generations of golfing enthusiasts from New Hampshire and beyond. Greats like U.S. Pro Golfer Gilbert Nicholls, Golf Course Designer Alex Findlay, British Golf Champions Harry Vardon and J.W. Taylor, and U.S. Open Golf Champion Willie Anderson have all played this historic par 35 course. In 1989, the course was restored and upgraded by Cornish & Silva Golf Course Architects, with advice from world renowned golfers Gene Sarazen and Ken Venturi, and now offers players a more challenging round alongside the NH's scenic Ammonoosuc River.

---------------- No hole over the river. No hole anything like 215 yards. Scorecard: http://brettonwoods.com/pdfs/mpc_scorecard.pdf#view=fitV

[Phil McDade]

Golden Valley G&CC!

[Mark McKeever]

Does this course still exist today?

Mark

From the website of the Mount Washington Resort, at http://brettonwoods.com/activities/golf/mountpleasant_course:

The 9-hole Mount Pleasant Course first opened in 1895, and has been host to generations of golfing enthusiasts from New Hampshire and beyond. Greats like U.S. Pro Golfer Gilbert Nicholls, Golf Course Designer Alex Findlay, British Golf Champions Harry Vardon and J.W. Taylor, and U.S. Open Golf Champion Willie Anderson have all played this historic par 35 course. In 1989, the course was restored and upgraded by Cornish & Silva Golf Course Architects, with advice from world renowned golfers Gene Sarazen and Ken Venturi, and now offers players a more challenging round alongside the NH's scenic Ammonoosuc River.

---------------- No hole over the river. No hole anything like 215 yards. Scorecard: http://brettonwoods.com/pdfs/mpc_scorecard.pdf#view=fitV

Dan,

Could it be that little par 3 8th hole down by the river??  You can see how the original shot could have come from on the other side of the tracks and the river!  Is that were the hotel used to be?

There are some very similar shots over train tracks at the original LaCrosse Country Club in Wisconsin...


Mark

[Dan Kelly]

Could it be that little par 3 8th hole down by the river??  You can see how the original shot could have come from on the other side of the tracks and the river!  Is that were the hotel used to be?

I don't know. Could be! Check this post card, showing the Mount Washington hotel from the vantage point of the Mount Pleasant House: http://www.cardcow.com/275971/presidential-range-from-mount-pleasant-bretton-woods-new-hampshire/?rec

Some interesting history (and photos) here: http://whitemountainhistory.org/Mt._Pleasant_House.html

[Mark McKeever]

There looks to be some clearing in the trees where the grand hotel would have been.  I think we have it spotted!

Mark

[Dan Kelly]

There looks to be some clearing in the trees where the grand hotel would have been.  I think we have it spotted!

Mark

Looking at Google maps:

The place where the railroad tracks are closest to the river is right across from that 8th green.

But I don't see a clearing near there for a big hotel.

[Mark McKeever]

Dan, its not completely clear by any stretch, but there is a thinner area on the other side of the tracks that could be where the hotel was?

Mark

[Dan Kelly]

Scorecard: http://brettonwoods.com/pdfs/mpc_scorecard.pdf#view=fitV

If Mark McK is right, that 8 green was originally 1 green, there is a very natural routing that brings us back near where the old hotel must have been.

original 1 = current 8 (but from across the river and the RR tracks)
2 = 9
3 = 1 (but as a par-4)
4 = 2
5 = 3
6 = 4
7 = 5
8 = 6
9 = 7

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Mount+Washington+Hotel,+Mount+Washington+Hotel+Road,+Bretton+Woods,+NH&hl=en&ll=44.254314,-71.443834&spn=0.010067,0.01869&sll=44.271026,-71.305528&sspn=0.010064,0.01869&oq=Mount+Washington+hotel,+NH&t=h&hq=Mount+Washington+Hotel,+Mount+Washington+Hotel+Road,+Bretton+Woods,+NH&radius=15000&z=16

[Mark McKeever]

Dan that was exactly the routing I had in mind.   Think about how cool the original 9th would have been if those trees against the river were gone and the hole played hard up the bank of the river!   

Has anyone played there and possibly have any pictures??

Mark

[Dean DiBerardino]

I really wish we were looking toward the green!  Cool pic.

Here's another image from Shorpy.com as well as the link which looks like it could be the reverse view. I'm not sure I would want to walk across that bridge with all of those clothes on....

http://www.shorpy.com/node/11895

[Wayne_Kozun]

Who knew they celebrated Movember way back then!  And in September.
 
It looks like the photo is posed and is not an action shot of the swing since you can see blurring in the flags plus the kid who moved right by the sign. 

[Dan Kelly]

See it full-size here:

http://www.shorpy.com/node/11895?size=_original#caption

[ward peyronnin]

Flinty New Englander Yankees. Sheesh what a vacation

[Mark McKeever]

Based on the reverse angle, Id say we nailed it!  It looks like a lot of the area short of the green from the original shot has long been washed away.

Mark

[BDuryee]

The history states that a motel sits on the old Mt. Pleasant property. Based on that I would think the hole started at the "lodge" on the google maps image and went in the direction of the current 5 and 6th hole. The bridge in the photo looks to be in the same spot as the bridge crossing the river in the scorecard.

[Mark McKeever]

Burr, where did you pull that tidbit from about the motel?  The motel could have been built on another spot on the property.

Mark

[BDuryee]

Burr, where did you pull that tidbit from about the motel?  The motel could have been built on another spot on the property.

Mark

Mark, It was at the very end of the history link included above. Also there was an older discussion on GCA that said the work done was not a redesign but a completely new layout.

[Mark McKeever]

Interesting.  I wonder what the layout used to look like..

Mark

[Dan Kelly]

The history states that a motel sits on the old Mt. Pleasant property. Based on that I would think the hole started at the "lodge" on the google maps image and went in the direction of the current 5 and 6th hole. The bridge in the photo looks to be in the same spot as the bridge crossing the river in the scorecard.

Were there TWO rail lines then -- one in front of the hotel and one behind?

The rails run behind the lodge now.

[Sven Nilsen]

Here are the hole numbers and yardages as of 1901 for the Mount Pleasant House Golf Club:

1. 215
2. 175
3. 260
4. 340
5. 365
6. 160
7. 195
8. 245
9. 280