California Aerials pre-1942: Then and Now

[Anthony Gray]

 You do see more trees in the current photos. My thinking is that the trees may be necessary to frame the holes and even protect golfers from errant shots since the fairways are close to one another.

[Michael Chadwick]

Dan, amazing photos, thanks for sharing.


Two additions:


Sunset Fields #1 / Bell - 1927 NLE

1927


Sunset Fields #2 / Bell - 1928 NLE
The second course appears in an aerial taken a year later, on land further west of the first course.

1928




Site in Baldwin Village, bordered by MLK Jr. Blvd to the north, La Brea to the west, and Crenshaw to the east

[Bill Seitz]

Did the original California Country Club move to the current location along the 605 just north of the 60, or was it a completely different club?

[Michael Chadwick]

Bill, I think they were two different clubs. California CC in Cheviot Hills changed hands (and names) at least three times, before closing for good in 1951. California CC in Whittier opened in 1956. Shared are name and architect's surname.

Hollywood CC / Watson - 1921 NLE
I've come across conflicting accounts of Hollywood, although past posts by Tommy N. and Sven are in alignment with the aerials below. But there is a Dean Knuth essay that claims Hollywood was built in 1898, and that Watson "designed the Hollywood Country Club near Studio City, California, shortly after his arrival in Los Angeles, but it was quickly built over by developers." Page 8, essay: https://www.sandiegocountryclub.org/Files/Library/WILLIAMWATSONBIOOCT142020.PDF

Hollywood Country Club - Hollywood, CA 1919, 18 holes and added 9 holes in 1921Watson definitely added 9 holes to the project in 1921, and reworked the existing 9 holes at that time.  I have not seen anything linking Watson to the initial work in 1919, although reports indicated the involvement of a number of professionals and architects.

William Watson

•Hollywood Country Club (Now houses and Harvard-Westlake Private School)

Hollywood CC Oct. 3, 1919 Los Angeles Evening Citizen News -

1927. Orientation is rotated to match with routing. Running N/S is Ventura Blvd.



Situated south (east in photo) of Ventura Blvd. on both sides of what is now Coldwater Canyon.
 

[Dan Grossman]

Thanks for posting the aerial of Hollywood CC. I was going to do that later tonight as I’m interested to hear more about the club. The holes in the tight canyon at the top of your picture (east side of course) look very interesting as they almost look crossover like. That’s where I have always heard about the club being, but I’m no expert.


I was also interested in the old Encino CC. I’ve found a picture of the clubhouse, but none of the course. I’ll try to post something, but it looks like the course was only 9 holes. Founded in 1924 and bankrupt by 1929, I think.

[Michael Chadwick]

Westwood Hills / Behr - Date Unknown, NLE

Max Behr
•Westwood Hills Pay As You Play Golf Course (18 holes of Max Behr that is now the Nakatomi Bank Building, (from the movie Die Hard) Beverly Hills High School, Creative Artists Agency's "Death Star" (name for the building) etc. in Century City.)

North of Rancho was Westwood Pay-As-You-Play Golf Course which then became Westwood Hills. (Max Behr)

1927. Photo refers to a portion of property as Wolfskill Oil Field, but golf holes are visible


1928 overview, showing LACC above, Rancho & Hillcrest below


1928 close up


1938. Golf holes still visible but development appears to have begun on what was once the course


NLE by the time of this 1947 image. Also note Rancho in the midst of ruination, and California CC at bottom


Century City

[Michael Chadwick]

Clover Field Municipal Golf Links / Merritt - 1927 NLE
Per Sven, this course may have been previously misidentified as a Watson.

William Watson•Clover Field Golf Course (18 holes located on what is now houses and Santa Monica Airport)

Clover Field Golf Course - Santa Monica, CA 1923 (First laid out by Watson, fully opened in 1928 and George Merritt then was credited).  Name changed to Santa Monica GC.I have not seen anything that links Watson to the project.Here are the two articles discussing Merritt's involvement.April 9, 1927 Los Angeles Times -
July 24, 1927 Los Angeles Times -

1927



1928



1940


NLE by 1947

[Michael Chadwick]

Orinda / Watson - 1924

East Bay CC - Oakland, CA 1923April 9, 1926 Berkeley Daily Gazette -

1928



1940

[Michael Chadwick]

Redlands / Hornby, with consultation from MacKenzie - 1927 (date of 18 hole grass course opening, previous versions/locations date to 1897)


Mike DeVries claims Norman Macbeth was involved, although there's no mention of that on the club's website. Additional context surrounding MacKenzie's involvement below as well.

I help out The Alister Mackenzie Society with research and the whole Redlands involvement by Mackenzie has some question marks against it in our eyes. Here is what we have (which isn't much). Sean Tully of our little research group may care to pipe in. DSH is Doak Scott Haddock "The Life and Work of Dr Alister Mackenzie" while C&W is Cornish and Whitten "The Architects of Golf". Anyone who might have some actual documentary evidence one way or another would be welcome to post it.Listed in DSH as a 1930 revision with Robert Hunter. Hawtree and C&W list as a revision with no date.  Club website: "On February 24, 1926, an additional 55 acres of land was purchased from H.H. Ford and Isaac Ford. The project of preparing the new greens, fairways and bunkers was completed under the prime direction of Club member Raymond Hornby with the counsel of Alister Mackenzie of Leeds, England. Mr. Mackenzie had previously aided in the design for such famous courses as Cypress Point, Pasatiempo in Santa Cruz and the Valley Club in Santa Barbara. There were 32 sand traps on the first 9 holes and 42 on the back 9. The full 18-hole course was opened for play on November 26, 1927; 6130 yards in length, par 70." Opening date inconsistent with date in DSH. Question marks on this.

I have consulted with Redlands for the past 7 years or so.  I did a Long Range Plan for the club and they had a water issue, due to receiving potable water at pressure from the city for many years but is now on a non-potable supply that is not at pressure, so we had to develop a pond to hold the water and pump from that.  The result of that was an impact to holes 14-16 (old routing) and we altered the routing numbering when building the pond to the current sequence.As to the design credit, there was a 9-hole course going back prior to 1900 -- not sure of the designer.  Norman MacBeth was hired for the redesign in the mid-20's.  As far as I can tell, MacKenzie and MacBeth knew each other from England and MacKenzie was going through LA on his way to Australia, wrote his friend about his travel plans (I have no evidence of this, but speculating as to the relationship and friendliness those days), and Norman told him about his project in Redlands.  I believe Alister was on the site for a couple days and critiqued Norman's plans.  The course reflects some of Alister's ideas, but they are not executed very well (for instance, the boomerang green on #17 doesn't allow you to putt around the corner) so I think Alister gave some advice to Norman but it is really MacBeth's design.

P-Thanks for posting your photos of Redlands I have not been there yet and did not expect all of that movement, so I got a kick out of looking at the pics. I have done some limited research on the course trying to see where the credit for the course lies and if MacKenzie was involved in any way. Through mostly internet research, I have not come across any mention of AM's involvement. When we first started looking a little deeper into AM body of work we started with "The Life and Work of Alister MacKenzie" and worked from there. As Mike D. mentioned there is a connection with Macbeth, but there is also another player in the story of the club. In an article from November 6, 1927 the club gives a lot of praise to the work of Raymond Hornby who also happens to be a member. They give him credit for laying out the additional nine holes and also superintending the construction.Would love to see what the course looked like from the late 20's to get a better idea for who had their hands in the remodeling of the course.Tully

1900 Harpers -

At Redlands in Los Angeles MacKenzie and Hunter added 10 new holes and remodelled 8 holes in 1926-27.

At Redlands CC in S. Cal., Norman Macbeth has a marginal one on the 17th (it doesn't shoot balls around as well as it should) -- MacK advised him there to some extent prior to CD.

March 1926 - to southern Cal consulted on Redlands CC (from AM's Cypress Point Club book)

1938, earliest available unfortunately

[Michael Chadwick]

Palos Verdes GC / Bell, Thomas - 1924

Sven has a post of Olmsted plans, but for some reason images won't transfer in the quote box: https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,43053.msg1619380.html#msg1619380


1927


1928

[Michael Chadwick]

Valley Club of Montecito / MacKenzie, Hunter - 1929


Overview: https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,38925.0.html



February 1929, in the midst of construction. A few green sites and bunkers visible



1930. From L-R: 18, 16, 15, 1. Unfortunately no other photos of the course from this flight



1938

[Michael Chadwick]

Potrero Country Club aka Inglewood / Watson - 1919 (?) / Bell - 1925 NLE

Have come across on this site and others two different spellings: Potrero and Portrero. Per a 1932 LA Map the spelling is Potrero.


Watson is credited in Dean Knuth's essay, although Sven referenced a newspaper article possibly amending Watson's involvement or date. Unfortunately the image isn't appearing on any of my browsers, so I'm unsure if it's a confirmation or refutation: https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,69386.msg1667663.html#msg1667663

Daily Breeze article with additional context, although no mention of architects. Opening date is claimed to be 1925. http://blogs.dailybreeze.com/history/2017/03/03/whatever-happened-to-the-inglewood-golf-course/



1927


1940


Image reproduced from Daily Breeze

[Michael Chadwick]

Rio Hondo / Dunn - 1925



1928



1932

[Dan Grossman]

Bill, I think they were two different clubs. California CC in Cheviot Hills changed hands (and names) at least three times, before closing for good in 1951. California CC in Whittier opened in 1956. Shared are name and architect's surname.

Hollywood CC / Watson - 1921 NLE
I've come across conflicting accounts of Hollywood, although past posts by Tommy N. and Sven are in alignment with the aerials below. But there is a Dean Knuth essay that claims Hollywood was built in 1898, and that Watson "designed the Hollywood Country Club near Studio City, California, shortly after his arrival in Los Angeles, but it was quickly built over by developers." Page 8, essay: https://www.sandiegocountryclub.org/Files/Library/WILLIAMWATSONBIOOCT142020.PDF

Hollywood Country Club - Hollywood, CA 1919, 18 holes and added 9 holes in 1921Watson definitely added 9 holes to the project in 1921, and reworked the existing 9 holes at that time.  I have not seen anything linking Watson to the initial work in 1919, although reports indicated the involvement of a number of professionals and architects.

William Watson

•Hollywood Country Club (Now houses and Harvard-Westlake Private School)

Hollywood CC Oct. 3, 1919 Los Angeles Evening Citizen News -

1927. Orientation is rotated to match with routing. Running N/S is Ventura Blvd.



Situated south (east in photo) of Ventura Blvd. on both sides of what is now Coldwater Canyon.
 

I found a ground level photo of Hollywood Country Club as well as an oblique aerial of what is likely the east part of the property.  I still can't figure out how the golfer gets out of that narrow canyon on the left side of the picture.

[Dan Grossman]

Thanks for posting the aerial of Hollywood CC. I was going to do that later tonight as I’m interested to hear more about the club. The holes in the tight canyon at the top of your picture (east side of course) look very interesting as they almost look crossover like. That’s where I have always heard about the club being, but I’m no expert.


I was also interested in the old Encino CC. I’ve found a picture of the clubhouse, but none of the course. I’ll try to post something, but it looks like the course was only 9 holes. Founded in 1924 and bankrupt by 1929, I think.

Not very good photos of it, but I was able to locate a few of Encino Country Club, which was in the hills south of Ventura Blvd on what is now Hayvenhurst Ave.

[Greg Hohman]

Michael, in the California 1930 thread, Pete cites 1938 for Bell's Balboa Park in San Diego. About 10 years ago, I saw 1921 for Balboa, but I don't swear by it and can't remember the source. The Bell routing (see reply 414 in Ed's compilation of routing maps, plans and architectural drawings) does not have a date. The original course, the private San Diego CC, opened in 1897 in City Park (later renamed Balboa). It was located in the present-day Prado area, a short distance from today's course. San Diego CC later moved south to Chula Vista. I am not adept at aerials, but will try again eventually. Perhaps you'll beat me to City/Balboa.

[Michael Chadwick]

Great photos, Dan, thanks for posting.


Greg,


Per this San Diego Union-Tribune article, a 9 hole course did open in 1919, but not until 1933 was Bell's 18-hole grassed layout completed: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/golf/story/2019-04-04/san-diego-golf-balboa-park-100-anniversary


Unfortunately, 1941 is the earliest Balboa aerial in UCSB's database. Similar goes for San Diego CC--no aerial until 1953.


Balboa Park Municipal / Bell - 1933



1941

[Jordan Standefer]

For the life of me, I can't remember where I got this, so apologies if I got it from someone here. This may even be the routing Greg is referring to.


https://imgur.com/Yn3hWiV
https://imgur.com/Yn3hWiV

[Robert_Ball]

San Gabriel...claims to be the oldest club in Southern California occupying the same land.

..., but I'm pretty sure that Victoria Club in Riverside makes the same claim.  I seem to recall Redlands may be older, but moved at some point.  Back when I was in school and Vic was our home course, "1903" was all over a lot of the merchandise.

Hi Bill,
It's tough to know exactly but I think either Redlands or Catalina Island wins the "oldest course at current location" argument in SoCal. The first Redlands clubhouse opened in Dec 1897 and was located on Mariposa and Country Club, near the current 13th tee. Holes ran north-south across the current back 9 holes.


Catalina probably gets the "first golf in SoCal" award with a 3-hole course in 1892. I haven't been able to find anything that tells us where those original holes were.


Riverside likely had the first 9-hole course in 1892, in the hills next to the current UC Riverside campus- four locations later, they'd become Victoria Club, opening as  a 9-holer in Oct, 1903. San Gabriel was founded in 1904. I always thought they claimed to be the first 18 hole course in SoCal, or the oldest 18 at current location. Side note: as a Victoria member, I'm really looking forward to visiting SGCC in our upcoming team play matches...Always a great place to play.

[Michael Chadwick]

Hacienda Golf Club / William Watson 1920 initial 9, 1923 complete 18


Played for the first time today and came away more impressed than I anticipated. I'd guess it's a solid Doak Score 5. What surprised me poking around online afterwards was to see that the routing has remained intact over time, rare in Southern California, but in the 1960s the back nine's severity, particularly landforms along the running La Mirada Creek and barranca, was unfortunately re-engineered to be much softer with less elevation change. On the old aerial I can count about 11 walking bridges! Also note how few bunkers are visible in Watson's original design. Watson's routing, while quirky at times, did not at any point feel contrived, and I have to imagine the layout of the course in its first decade could've been 2 or 3 points higher on the Doak scale. 


Link to higher res aerial: https://mil.library.ucsb.edu/ap_images/c-1183/c-1183_a-49.tif



1930


Today

[Kevin_Reilly]

Seeing an aerial like Hacienda makes me wonder what a course like that would look (and play) like Orinda where cart paths have been removed from most holes (more on the way).  Even though the course is clay-based.  So many courses are narrow unnecessarily with paths down a side of the fairway.


If Orinda can do it (elevation changes throughout, and horrible clay soils), so can virtually every other course.  Even though this winter has been off-the-charts wet, I think the tally of days when carts have not been allowed stands at three...and the course has been open every day except one due to high winds.