Chicago Golf Heritage Society event -- May 15

[Andrew Lewis]

For those who live in (or plan to visit) the Chicago area, the Chicago Golf Heritage Society is holding a meeting and golf outing on May 15 at Olympia Fields Country Club.

Play is on the South Course; the meeting agenda is included below.

If interested, please contact GCA's very own Rick Holland (Rick.Holland711@gmail.com) for details.


Agenda: May 15

9:00 -­‐ Registration and Continental breakfast ($15).
9:30 -­‐ Call to order and brief business meeting.
9:45 -­‐ Club member Dr. Robert Topel, OFCC historian: Early history of the club, famous personalities and golfers.
10:30 -­‐ Ten minute break
10:40 -­‐ Brian Morrison, director of golf: Major golf events that have shaped the history of the club, with anecdotes.
11:00 -­‐ Sam MacKinzie, course superintendent: Architectural history of the two courses and course set up for the U.S. Amateur Championship, August 17-­‐23.
11:15 -­‐ Adjourn to visit the History Room (upstairs).
12:00 -­‐ Lunch on own (credit card or reciprocal club charge). “Men only“ in 73rd Hole grill room.
1:00 -­‐ Tee times begin. Greens and cart fees (credit card only): $100, plus $25 for cart. Also: $20 cash per player in a cart for forecaddie. Walking caddies available by request.

[Jeff_Brauer]

With a bit more time to plan, this would have been a possible trip for this former Chicagoan.

Is there info on joining the group, or getting info on future meetings?

[Jud_T]

I just decided to get the stitches removed from my finger a couple days earlier in order to try to make this event (Cinco de Mayo guacamole making mishap).  One of the only area courses I still have yet to see.  Now if I can only access whore my way onto Evanston I will have a fully notched Chicago belt, but who's counting?  Seriously, sounds like a great day at a great club that in my view got the bum's rush for Mother Nature's conditioning issues during their last Open on the big course.  Besides, Sven swears by the South so who am I to argue?  Of course there is the potential post-mortem guilt issue of bankrupting Lewis and then having to endure his passive aggressive whiny humor at the 19th (or 73rd) hole.  

[JJShanley]

I would love to have joined you for this, but I have a dissertation chapter that needs finishing by the end of the month.  I hope you get better weather than we've gotten in the Chicagoland area these last few days.

[John McCarthy]

Jud:  after my sister put a steak knife through her palm making guac, she learned a trick:  bisect the avocado, put pitted half on the counter, take a kitchen knife and chop into the pit so the knife gets stuck.  Grasp avocado then rotate the knife and out pops the pit.  A bit late but now you know. 

[Terry Lavin]

Jud:  after my sister put a steak knife through her palm making guac, she learned a trick:  bisect the avocado, put pitted half on the counter, take a kitchen knife and chop into the pit so the knife gets stuck.  Grasp avocado then rotate the knife and out pops the pit.  A bit late but now you know. 

Great technique, one that I've seen Rick Bayless do a lot on TV.

[Jim_Kennedy]

For the klutzes among us,  , also works great on a mango.

http://www.californiaavocado.com/blog/why-you-should-peel-avocados

[Jon Heise]

Would also be interested in hearing about future events.  I've got something I can't miss this weekend, or I'd be totally in for Friday!!

Jon

[Jud_T]

This was a great event!  In particular the speech by Dr. Robert Topel, OFCC historian, was fantastic.  A very well researched and detailed history of the club and it's intimate connection with early University of Chicago athletics. This was followed by presentations by the clubs super Sam Mackenzie and Brian Morrison, the director of Golf and a tour of the Historical Archives of the club.  Then on to lunch and a round on the South course, which might now be my favorite Bendelow track (although the presence of the creek on 11 holes might drive me to strong drink if indulged on a regular basis).   

Any and all Chicago area GCAers need to get involved with the Chicago Golf Heritage Society IMO.  The next event is at Exmoor on 9/15 which dovetails nicely with the Golf Collectors Society trade show at Pheasant Run on 9/17, followed by a hickory event over the weekend I believe.  Be there or be square...

Shivas, white courtesy phone...

[Drew Groeger]

Could someone post contact/website info for the Chicago Golf Heritage Society? I'd be interested in this, i tried the Google, but got nothing.

[Jud_T]

Drew,

As far as I know they don't have an online presence yet.  That's one of the reasons they've reached out here.  I'll post any updates as I have them but you should try to make the meeting/outing at Exmoor if possible.

[JReese]

Could someone post contact/website info for the Chicago Golf Heritage Society? I'd be interested in this, i tried the Google, but got nothing.

Agreed.....any additional information would be greatly appreciated. 

[Tim_Cronin]

e-mail me at illinoisgolfer (at) earthlink.net and I'll be happy to provide info or pass along to the leadership.

[Sven Nilsen]

Dave:

Here's a quick synopsis of some of what the rags had to say about Exmoor from 1901 on -

March 1901 Golf Magazine notes 9 new holes added making a 6,005 yard course. 
April 1901 Golf Magazine notes course being extended to 18 holes and extra ground being cleared. 
Aug. 1901 Golf Magazine notes new 5,800 yard course laid out by H. A. Towner, Jr., R. H. McElwee and W. A. Alexander last fall and work begun last November was finished recently. 
GB01 notes 9 holes were added last season and that course was laid out by R.H. McElwee, W.A. Alexander and H. Towner. 
Jan. 1904 Golf Magazine notes club approved plan to acquire new land and move to a new location. 
Nov. 1904 Golf Magazine notes plans to move to a new site and lay out a new course. 
Jan. 1905 Golf Magazine notes plans to move abandoned and will instead try to purchase its land and adjacent propety and lengthen the links.
March 1906 Golf Magazine notes club has purchased its land with plans to buy additional property to the south to lengthen the course. 
Jan. 1908 Golfers Magazine notes extensive changes and rerouting by Stewart Gardner, including addition of new holes on newly acquired land.
Jan. 1916 The American Golfer notes Jack Croke superintending extensive changes. 
June 1918 The American Golfer notes Croke doing work on the Ross creation. 
Dec. 1920 Golfers Magazine notes course was reconstructed by Jack Croke. 

Curious as to why you discount the McElwee/Alexander/Towner addition of 9 holes, and why you think Gardner and Croke would have been involved earlier than they were.

[Jud_T]

I just want to once again bask in the glory that is the curling bar. 

[Jeff Shelman]

If Shiv is paying for the Schlitz, that might be worth a trip from MSP.

[Sven Nilsen]

I either misread your previous post or you wrote it in such a way to suggest that Gardner and/or Croke was involved in the 9 hole 1901 addition.  I see what you meant now.

[Dan Moore]

Gardner should be given extensive credit for the Exmoor routing.  He completely rerouted the 1901 course while retaining only 4 holes (today's 10th, 16th, 17th and 18th holes). With the exception of several modified holes (2 holes were combined and 2 were made longer and the old 9th was eliminated) and 2 new holes added on new land to the SE by Nugent in the 1960's today's routing more than anything else reflects the rerouting of the course by Gardner between 1908 and 1910.

It does not appear Ross changed anything with respect to the Gardner routing.  In fact there is little evidence of what Ross did at Exmoor.  He may have done a plan to modernize the bunkers and greens. If so that plan was implemented by Jack Croke whose work on the course between 1915 and 1921 is some of the most interesting looking work done in Chicago during that time period. 

[Dan Moore]

Dave, The 1908 article is quite detailed as to what Gardner did to the course that existed before the new land was acquired to the SW so I think you need to be more specific. 

[Sven Nilsen]

Dan:  why do you think there isn't a lot of evidence of what Ross did?  I have my theory.  What's yours?

Somebody obviously did a lot because if you ever see any of the old pictures of the 1908 through 1914ish course vs. the post-Ross course, it's as night and day as the 2002 course vs. the post-Prichard restoration.  

By the way, because our greens are shut until Saturday, inspired by the Reverse Jans, I played the course backwards last week so I played a lot of the old Whigham/CBM routing and the 1901 routing.  So many of the corridors are the same, it was pretty easy.  Certainly easier than the police-cruiser dodging necessary for a proper playing of the Reverse Jans.  I got a few screwy looks, but most folks just chuckled.

Here's the best article I have on the Ross/Croke changes.  As the article notes, Ross made suggestions, Croke implemented them and made his own additional changes as well.

Chicago Tribune - Dec. 11, 1915

[Dan Moore]

Dave,  Sven just posted the best article I have on what Ross proposed-modernized greens and bunkers.  It doesn't appear Ross changed the core routing Gardner put in place much at all other than perhaps moving the location of some greens and tees slightly to add some yardage.  That's all there is on Ross unless the Club has more on what Ross did or we find some more info as we continue to dig deeper. 

There is also the construction drawing in Brad's book showing the changes in progress but its unknown who drew that plan and I'm told the Tuft's Ross authorities don't think it was drawn by Ross.  I'm not sure I agree.  Of course we both think Colt may have visited as well but that doesn't look like a Colt plan to me.   

I feel the implementation of the plan is just as important as the plan and it appears Croke did an amazing job.  The bunkers Croke built were unique, not like what we typically associate with Ross.  George O’Neil reported on Croke’s work at Exmoor in another 1918 Chicago Tribune article where O’Neil stated “Croke’s architectural work at Exmoor is second to none.”  O’Neil went on to state the work was “the subject if very complimentary remarks by Donald Ross during his recent visit to Chicago.”  So it appears Ross visited Exmoor again in 1918 to look over the work being done by Croke. 

I'm not at all suggesting Ross shouldn't get credit, I just think the story is a more complicated than that, and in the end much more interesting as Exmoor is a great example of what I call an evolved course that has had significant contributions from many people including CBM and Whigham as you mentioned.

[Sven Nilsen]

You get a pretty good idea of how the course was changed by Gardner from this Jan. 1908 Golfers Magazine article.




For reference, here's the early 18 hole routing, the Ross document Dan noted and an image of the course today.

[Dan Moore]

Between 1908 and 1910 some additional changes were made as well that aren't mentioned in the 1908 article.  By 1910 the routing that can be seen in the 1930's aerial was in place.  That routing was unchanged until the Club brought in Nugent when they obtained more land to the SE.  The google earth aerial shows the new Nugent par 3 holes to the SE. Nugent  also combined two Gardner holes into 1 hole and lengthened two holes.  So today's routing contains 3 original Nugent holes and two holes modified by Nugent.  A couple from Whigham/Macdonald, maybe one from the 1901 plan and the rest from Gardner. 

[Sven Nilsen]

Dan:

There are still a few things I am curious about:

1.  If the committee members didn't do the actual original 9 hole addition, then who did?

2.  How involved was Gardner in the Ross changes?  I have not seen anything that suggests that he was, at all.  If anything, it almost seems like Alexander wanted fresh blood when he brought in Ross and Croke only a few years after Gardner had just rerouted the course.

3.  What was incorrect about the 1901 drawings?

4.  What happened to the holes to the north and east of the clubhouse?  They are included in the 1901 map, disappear in the description of Gardner's new course, and then reappear in the Ross drawing (unless I missed something in my read).

5.  Who made changes in the routing to Gardner's course, which is evident in the descriptions of the holes at the southeast of the property?  (I'm guessing those are the changes you suggest were made between 1908 and 1910.)

Sven

[Dan Moore]

Dan:

There are still a few things I am curious about:

1.  If the committee members didn't do the actual original 9 hole addition, then who did?

2.  How involved was Gardner in the Ross changes?  I have not seen anything that suggests that he was, at all.  If anything, it almost seems like Alexander wanted fresh blood when he brought in Ross and Croke only a few years after Gardner had just rerouted the course.

3.  What was incorrect about the 1901 drawings?

4.  What happened to the holes to the north and east of the clubhouse?  They are included in the 1901 map, disappear in the description of Gardner's new course, and then reappear in the Ross drawing (unless I missed something in my read).

5.  Who made changes in the routing to Gardner's course, which is evident in the descriptions of the holes at the southeast of the property?  (I'm guessing those are the changes you suggest were made between 1908 and 1910.)

Sven

I know the answers (as best I can at least given the limitations of the evidence) but you'll have to wait for my book to find out!