Thanks Sven,
Dura Den might be only 8 miles from St Andrews but it is a good bit closer to Cupar. Sometimes search engines will tell you St Andrews for a place of birth which can sometimes mean the St Andrews area rather than the town. I'd have thought that William would have been born at home (I don't think they had maternity hospitals back then but again could be wrong) so do you know if the family were living in St Andrews at the time or were they already encamped at the Laurels in Dura Den ?
At the end of the day it's not really a big point but at a time when many reasonably good golfers with a Scottish accent were looking to get a gig as a professional in the US, it probably paid to play up the home of golf angle to give himself an edge over the competition. What I find interesting is that here's a guy who is relatively mature compared to the average golfing emigrant as well as being a very experienced manager and businessman, and he's looking to make a living out of golf. Given his background in manufacture and production it's perhaps little wonder he moved from teaching to course design and construction etc.
As for the Cupar GC angle, the club were playing out of Ladybank at the time Watson was there although towards the end before the family upped sticks to the US, the club sometimes shared the Hilltarvit club's course in town and eventually the two clubs amalgamated. The club website suggests this happened 1895/1896 (from memory) and at about that time redesigned the course.
Given Watson was one of the club's best players if not the best player, and that he was a prominent member, I wonder if he had a hand in that redesign ? Haven't found anything to suggest he was and just speculation on my part.
Anyway, carry on all, I'm enjoying finding out what he got up to in the US.
Niall