Cirba Part 2
Part Two
[color=blue] Do you believe that CBM designed any of the holes at Merion? [/color] Again, there is no specific record of that, but I do think since he provided “advice and suggestions as to the layout” in the words of Alan Wilson it is probable that he suggested that certain holes (based on their location, topography, and natural features) on the property might be optimized by being adapted after famous holes abroad during his visit in April 1911. It seems far less likely that he was involved in the locating or actual routing of the holes on the golf course as the record shows that “upon our return” from NGLA, Wilson’s Committee stated “we rearranged the course and laid out five different plans.”.
Do you believe he recommended implementation of certain holes, and perhaps locations, which were implemented by the Wilson led committee?[/color] Yes, but most likely during his April 1911 visit as just described.
How important were Wilson's contributions in actually laying out and supervising construction of the course? If by “laying out” you’re referring to routing the golf course and other architecturally related activities as is/was commonly understood, then his contributions were absolutely vital, and everyone who was there at the time said so. Tillinghast, who told he he had “seen the plans” pre-construction, and who spoke with Macdonald about the project, credited Wilson on multiple occasions across three decades, with little or no mention of Macdonald except as advisor. There are many, many direct quotes in my IMO piece indicating that during the time these guys were alive, everyone credited Wilson and no one ever disputed that fact.
I think we make a mistake when in debunking one relatively recent myth (i.e. the idea that Wilson travelled abroad for “seven months” before Merion was routed, the first instance I’ve found that stated is 1950), we put another fallacious myth in it’s place; the idea that Wilson and his Committee needed to travel abroad first before routing the course. Related is the fallacious argument that no one on Wilson’s Committee or any of their friends in the Philadelphia area (such as Findlay and Tillinghast) had any familiarity with the great holes abroad. Indeed, Rodman Griscom of Wilson’s Committee spent a summer with his US Amateur champion sister under the tutelage of Benny Sayers at North Berwick around the turn of the century. Plus, we know that Wilson’s Committee had already seen Macdonald’s drawings, as well as his versions of the great holes at NGLA prior to routing the golf course.
I cover in detail how the early course evolved and the real purpose of Wilson’s trip in my recent IMO piece, and the truth is, none of those contemporaneous writers who wrote glowingly of Wilson’s accomplishments were under the mistaken notion that Wilson had gone abroad before routing the golf course, much less for seven months.
How important were his contributions in adding hazards over time? Fundamentally critical to the greatness of the Merion course we know today and my IMO piece details all of his work in this regard from 1911-24 from contemporaneous sources.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention two things in closing. I do not mean to suggest that Macdonald did not have a major positive influence on the creation of Merion East; he clearly did and Merion was clearly appreciative of his advice and suggestions at critical times.
It could be argued, and I do believe, that the time the Committee spent at NGLA was likely the key turning point in the entire project. From my IMO article;
Evidently, the time spent with Macdonald at NGLA had immediate impact to the group’s ongoing efforts. As recorded in the Merion Cricket Club’s Board minutes from April, 1911, “Your committee desires to report that after laying out many different courses on the new land, they went down to the National Course with Mr. Macdonald and spent the evening looking over his plans and the various data he had gathered abroad in regard to golf courses. The next day was spent on the ground studying the various holes, which were copied after the famous ones abroad. On our return, we re-arranged the course and laid out five different plans.”
As instructors, Macdonald and Whigham seemed equally pleased by the Committee’s final efforts. In early April, Macdonald and Whigham came back to Ardmore for the second and final time to review and advise on the newly developed plans. From the April, 1911 MCC Minutes; “On April 6th Mr. Macdonald and Mr. Whigham came over and spent the day on the ground, and after looking over the various plans, and the ground itself, decided that if we would lay it out according to the plan they approved, which is submitted here-with, that it would result not only in a first class course, but that the last seven holes would be equal to any inland course in the world.”
That plan was subsequently accepted by the Board and construction commenced in the spring of 1911. Others, such as AW Tillinghast shared Macdonald’s optimism when he wrote that spring; “I have seen enough of the plans for the new course as to warrant my entire confidence in the future realization of the hopes of the committee.”
I would argue, simply, that NGLA blew them away. I believe they suddenly saw the audacious potential of what was possible, and that potential was far greater than any of them had previously imagined, which clearly influenced their future thinking and subsequent plans.
Finally, a bit about the timing of events; I believe the evidence, all of it, clearly shows that the bulk of the golf course routing activity, and most importantly, the timing of what we call the “Francis Swap” took place in the time between January and April 1911.
There are multiple indicators, and Richard Francis himself tells us so. We know that Hugh Wilson’s committee was formed in January 1911. Richard Francis later wrote; ”The Committee in charge of laying out and building a new course was composed of Mess’rs Horatio G. Lloyd, Rodman E. Griscom, Hugh I. Wilson, and Dr. Harry Toulmin. I was added to it, probably because I could read drawings, make them, run a transit, level and tape.” If Francis was added to the Committee, it simply could not have been before 1911.
Later, Francis tells us that after he got HG Lloyd to agree (Lloyd technically owned the land, having purchased it in December of 1910) to the land swap, ”Within a day or two the quarryman had his drills up where the 16th green now is, and blasted off the top of the hill so that the green could be built as it is today.” If workmen were out there on the property, it simply had to be sometime after the property was purchased in December 1910.
Beyond simple good manners, common sense, and obvious issues of illegality, there are other reasons Merion wished to keep this on the down low and wouldn’t have done this prior to December. After the success of the East course, the burgeoning membership roles necessitated a second golf course be rapidly built. The MCC Minutes read; “We have gone very fully into the question of…acquiring land available for the purpose in the vicinity of the present golf links, and find there is plenty of land to be had. It will, of course, be appreciated that it was inadvisable to conduct our inquiries in such a way as to show that the club was seeking additional property, which would cause a raising of prices.”
It is a bit silly to imagine that this discreet group trying to keep their business dealings confidential would be out there prancing around the property and blowing things up on land they didn’t own before December 1910.
Further, the curving road drawn on the November land plan is exceptionally misleading, as on first glance it appears to look something like today’s Golf House Road. It is only when one considers that the overall map is drawn to scale, and that the now infamous triangle of land at the top measures less than 100 yards wide and extends much further north than the 190 yards it does today that it becomes clear this is only a conception drawing of what was intended.
A nearly identical similar curving road on the map extending to the west through the proposed housing development accentuates the point that this map simply indicated the desire for something more aesthetically pleasing than a straight line road extending for over 1000 yards along the boundary between golf course and housing.
Hugh Wilson in February 1911 wrote Piper & Oakley that the club had acquired 117 acres, consistent with what the club mailing indicated in November 1910. Yet by April the recommended routing plan required the purchase of 3 more acres than was previously approved (as well as the rental of 3 more along the tracks from the railroad) for a new total of 123 acres.
I think the Committee’s desire to fully utilize the quarry as a great, dramatic hazard on their final holes, and especially the additional width needed to create an alternate route around the quarry on 16 led to them needing more land than they originally believed.
Further, I think the idea that anyone prior had artificially truncated the original borders of the Johnson Farm on the northern end to just 90 yards past the quarry would have been inconceivable, given CBM's June 1910 commendation of this feature, as well as Wilson’s prior experience on golf courses utilizing quarries as hazards.
But wait, I hear you say…didn’t Macdonald “approve” the final routing plan, as if he had the final say? Don’t the Merion minutes tell us that?
I believe this is an inaccurate interpretation, simply because CBM had absolutely no position of responsibility or authority acting for or within the club, or over Wilson’s Committee. Instead, I think the first definition below is clearly the accurate one;
ap•prove] ( -pr v )
v. ap•proved, ap•prov•ing, ap•proves
v.tr.
1. To consider right or good; think or speak favorably of.
2. To consent to officially or formally; confirm or sanction:
In fact, the only reason the golf course was discussed at all at the April 1911 Board of Governors meeting was that the recommended plan required the purchase of 3 more acres than the 117 the club had originally acquired in November of 1910, and again referenced by Hugh Wilson in his first letter to Piper & Oakley in February 1911. They didn't go there asking the Board of Governors to approve the routing plan they wanted; they could do that at the Golf Committee level. Instead, they were there asking them to approve the additional purchase of three acres!
It is very possible that a major reason for bringing CBM back to Merion in April 1911 was simply to get the blessing of his learned opinion that they could then use to help convince the MCC Board of the necessity and wisdom of spending the additional funds.
Finally, and trying not to be too picky, I’m not sure how anyone could tell if a Valley of Sin feature existed on the recently posted 1912 photo of the 17th, as the beginning of the green and thus the start of the Valley of Sin is at least 20 yards past that steep little ridge and outside the range of the photo.
Thanks for the opportunity to respond, Shel. Much appreciated! Mike