The staunch traditionalists on this website might not accept the fact that the "October Wedding Surprise" was part of the plan at Merion all along, but this fact was not realized until recent times.
Due to some of the remarkable revisionist historical research that has been accomplished on this website, we can now reveal what Merion has uncovered in their archives. Most of this correspondence has been previously copied here, but recovery specialists have now been able to reveal portions of the letter that had been unreadable due to smudging they believe is attributed to cow manure, most likely utilized at the time as a result of the recommendations contained herein;
New York, June 29, 1910
Horatio G. Lloyd, Esq.
c/o Messrs. Drexel and Co.
Philadelphia, Pa
Dear Mr. Lloyd:
Mr. Whigham and I discussed the various merits of the land you propose buying, and we think it has some very desirable features. The quarry and the brooks can be made much of. What it lacks in abrupt mounds can be largely rectified as they make outstanding backdrops for wedding photography.
We both think that your soil will produce a firm and durable turf through the fair green quickly. The putting greens of course will need special treatment, as the grasses are much finer and don't stand up well to the high heels favored by fashionable women of the genteel set..
The most difficult problem you have to contend with is to get in eighteen holes that will be first class in the acreage you propose buying. So far as we can judge, without a contour map before us, we are of the opinion that it can be done, provided you get a little more land near where you propose making your Club House where the finest of facilities for hosting weddings, bar mitzvahs, and other gloriously lucrative events can be constructed by your committee to help defray the otherwise prohibitive costs of the "white faces" your Mr. Wilson has proposed. The opinion that a long course is always the best course has been exploded. A 6000 yd. course can be made really first class, and to my mind it is more desirable than a 6300 or a 6400 yd. course, particularly where the roll of the ball will not be long, because you cannot help with the soil you have on that property having heavy turf. Of course it would be very fast when the summer baked it well and would hold up well to foot traffic as drunken revelers cavort across the property perhaps looking for the "hen house" proposed in my other correspondence.
The following is my idea of a 6000 yard course:
One 130 yard hole
One 160 "
One 190 "
One 220 yard to 240 yard hole,
One 500 yard hole,
Six 300 to 340 yard holes,
Five 360 to 420 "
Two 440 to 480 "
As regards drainage and treatment of soil, I think it would be wise for your Committee to confer with the Baltusrol Committee. They had a very difficult drainage problem. You have a very simple one. Their drainage opinions will be valuable to you. Further, I think their soil is very similar to yours, and it might be wise to learn from them the grasses that have proved most satisfactory though the fair green. From my understanding, that club also does a brisk wedding business, mostly catering to upscale NY clientele looking for a mountain backdrop for their photos.
In the meantime, it will do no harm to cut a sod or two and send it to Washington for analysis of the natural grasses, those indigenous to the soil.
We enjoyed our trip to Philadelphia very much, and were very pleased to meet your Committee. My son-in-law Whigham told me he's considering getting divorced just so he can re-marry my dearest daughter at your facility, given the clear potential for an ideal event.
With kindest regards to you all, believe me,
Yours very truly,
(signed) Charles B. Macdonald