Although Gulph Mills Golf Club has been mentioned frequently on this site (home club of former GCAer Tom Paul), I've never seen a thread completely dedicated to the club, nor has there ever been a photo tour.
With the US Open coming to my area soon, many golfers will likely get out to play Gulph Mills so I think this tour will be rather timely. For much of my analysis I am relying upon the excellent "Design Evolution" book penned by Tom Paul and Charles Lighthall (published in 1999).
GMGC was organized in June of 1916 and Donald Ross was contracted to build the course. It opened officially on May 16, 1919.
On the first page of the Design Evolution book, Tom Paul writes the following:
Under the classics axiom, that "an original and unadulterated course is of greater value than a course that has undergone changes", GMGC cannot be considered a Donald Ross purebred. According to The Architects of Golf, (Cornish & Whitten), architectural attribution under the GMGC listing is more numerous than almost any course that can be found. From the 1920s to the present, seven architects have made changes or recommended changes that were adopted. These numerous design changes by no means indicate the course was poor to start with or that is has been adulterated. When the various Green Committees and Boards felt the need to make alterations, their inclination was to contract architects who were at the top of their profession and whose work and inventories have definitely stood the test of time.Here is a summary of the design evolution until 1999, lifted or paraphrased from the Paul and Lighthall book:
1916 - Ross designed and constructed.
1925 - Toomey and Flynn
rebuilt regrassed 17 of the original 18 Ross greens.
1927 - Ross recommended changes on eleven holes in a hole by hole report. Most recommendations were minor tee and bunker alterations. Recommended regrading of greens #2, #8, #16 and #18. Greens #2 and #18 were approved. #8 no longer exists, and #16, although apparently approved, does not appear to resemble Ross' specifications.
1934 - Maxwell reconstructed the 8th hole and relocated the 8th and 10th greens.
1937 - Maxwell reconstructed 11th & 14th holes, relocated 11 & 14th greens and tees (pars were swapped).
1938 - Maxwell reconstructed the 7th hole. Par was likely reduced from par 4 to par 5, relocated and reconstructed green, rerouted fairway, added rear tee boxes and recommended the hole by played from the shorter tees (425-465).
1940 - Stiles made numerous but mostly minor changes throughout the course, particularly with bunkering and tees to holes #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #8, #9, #10, #11, #15, #16 and #18.
1947 - McGovern reconstructed hole #7 (fw and green), and hole #9 (tee and green). Greenside and fairway bunker alterations were made to hole #1.
1956 - William F. Gordon remodeled holes #1, #4, #11, #13, #14, particularly bunkers and tees.
1958 - Gordon enlarged pond on hole #10, and added alternate tees on holes #5, #6, and #7.
1966 - RT Jones sited present practice range on original 10th fairway. Relocated 10th tee to site of original 9th green. Remodeled 9th green in the process of constructing 10th tee above it. Rerouted 10th fairway, appropriated 12th green and the last third of the original 12th fairway and remodeled the 10th green, extending the front of the green to the pond edge. Rerouted second half of 12th fairway (dogleg left) and constructed new 12th green. Sited and constructed present 13th tee boxes, remodeled 13th fairway and routing, constructed left fairway bunkers in place of the berm.
1992 - Tom Fazio recommended mostly minor changes relating to tees, bunkering, cart routing, etc. It appears most of the changes were approved and implemented.
[when I learn exactly what Hanse has done since, I'll update the above]
Ok, here is the original 1916 plan for the course (most figures and pictures here are clickable to obtain a larger size):
I've annotated that original plan with the holes:
Here is an aerial from Penn Pilot in 1937 (rotated about 30° clockwise from the 1916 plan above):
And here is a current (2011) Google Earth aerial with the hole-sequencing shown:
Ok, time to start the photo part of the thread. On this day the lighting was pretty good at times, a bit cruddy on a couple of holes, but overall I think you'll enjoy the pics (all photos are clickable to 1400 pixels wide). The course was in Spring mode with lots of trees in bloom. And with the elevation changes it is quite photogenic, IMHO.
#1. Par 4 (415 yards).
I don't have any hole diagrams, so I'll borrow some from Google Earth:
This hole typifies what I think are many par 4.5 holes at GM. The card yardage isn't long, but the 2nd shot is very uphill and quite demanding due to the green not being so receptive to a long iron.
From the Design Evolution book:
The 1st hole was originally designed as a 437 yard par five.* The rear tee location was approximately the counter of the pro shop. It played as a straight-away par 5, to the present green with the fairway direction somewhat to the right of the present fairway. Although designed by Donald Ross as the 1st hole, it was used as the 18th hole for the first seven to eight years of the club's existence. Mike Smith's house was the original clubhouse, consequently the second hole was used as the Ist hole. Donald Ross recommended in the original design that the GMGC clubhouse be constructed where it is today but it was not completed until 1926.
The original 1st tee became a problem due to sliced shots out of bounds onto Swedeland Road and later as a danger to the newly constructed houses across Swedeland Road. To partially correct this problem the direction of the fairway was moved left to its present location on the recommendation of Wayne Stiles in 1941. A large cross bunker, probably the largest on the course, approximately 100 yards off the original 1st tee, near present practice green, was filled in 1941. A long diagonal bunker on the left side, 140 yards out, was removed in the late 1930s. The right greenside bunker was added and the more rearward, left greenside bunker was grassed over in the 1940s. The original green was perfectly square and remained that way as late as the 1939 photograph. The 1st tee was moved to its present location in 1965-66 and the hole was transformed into a 427 yard par 4.
Tom Fazio remarked in 1992 that the 1st hole is "somewhat strange". The length of the hole and the unreceptiveness of the green to a long iron or wood, due to its height, has made the hole controversial. This hole is a good example of the psychology of par. It has lost approximately 20-30 yards in length from its par 5 days. Other than an altered tee shot angle, the hole is essentially the same as the original. In its first forty seven years as a par 5 it was thought to be a shortish, comfortable, "get into the round" hole. It is now well within par 4 parameters (251-475 yards) but is considered a long, difficult and controversial hole. What happened to the issue of the ball going too far with modern equipment?
The importance of "par" has changed dramatically since 1916. The "Golden Age Strategic Designers" wouldn't understand the controversy. They would probably respond: "How can the expectation of a number change a hole? It is the same hole, only shorter, play it and enjoy it." There is no doubt that the modern expectation of "par", particularly in America, and its influence on how a player responds to a hole, or its approach shot, is valid. In this case, the fact that #1 is viewed as "somewhat strange" does not mean that it is a bad hole, only that it probably "evolved" incorrectly. Maybe it should be shorter still.
This will astound some members, but, Donald Ross was adamant, early on, that all golfers play from the same tee markers. If it took a player two shots to get to the green and another player four shots, so be it. He did provide different tee boxes but believed they should only be used for rotation and differing playing conditions. One can see from this example how much the modern "stroke play" mentality has replaced the traditional "match play" mentality of golf.Elevated tee view:
Very uphill approach shot is next:
I came up short and right of the green leaving this view:
From right of the green:
Well, that was fun! More tomorrow.