Walter Travis and his Impact on H.H. Barker and Donald Ross

[Jim_Kennedy]

At this rate I won't need to research and write anything as minds seem to be made up already.   


Merry Christmas, GCA maniacs.   

Mike,


Is this something that you are doing in your role as the historian of the Walter Travis Society?

[SL_Solow]

I am in for the dual visit.  Bring it on


    Shel

[SL_Solow]

Mike Y,


  As to your last post, I will stipulate that we often over complicate this subject.  But I suggest that when you read some of the literature from the early days, there was a lot of  the same going on.  The difference was that, for the most part, they were better writers and the subject was brand new.  What you call beard pulling today was ground breaking then.

[MCirba]

At this rate I won't need to research and write anything as minds seem to be made up already.   


Merry Christmas, GCA maniacs.   

Mike,


Is this something that you are doing in your role as the historian of the Walter Travis Society?

Jim,


I'm not doing this in any official capacity for the Travis Society but out of interest in investigating the relationship between Travis and Barker and their architectural overlap.   

[Mike_Young]

I am in for the dual visit.  Bring it on


    Shel

   you asked for it...

[Mike_Young]

Mike Y,


  As to your last post, I will stipulate that we often over complicate this subject.  But I suggest that when you read some of the literature from the early days, there was a lot of  the same going on.  The difference was that, for the most part, they were better writers and the subject was brand new.  What you call beard pulling today was ground breaking then.

I'm not into conspiracy theories but the "beard pulling of today" has been a part of the scam that has cost clubs millions for no reason in so many cases.  In twenty years much of it will be considered factual and the worst part is how often it has generated credibility to basic inexperience.  Lots of young guys doing good stuff right now but rarely do I see them as the beard pullers... 
To be clear...my bitch is with the BSers not a Barker or Travis. 

[Sven Nilsen]

Here's one of the articles on Merion, CBM, Whigham and Barker I mentioned earlier.

Nov. 30, 1910 Brooklyn Times Union - 

[MCirba]

Sven,


Never saw that.  Wow, thanks!

[Sven Nilsen]

It probably makes sense to go through each of Barker's projects and note which ones (a) have a record of Travis involvement, (b) which ones would make sense for Travis to be involved, and (c) which ones were most likely Barker on his own.  I'll try to do this chronologically the best I can.

Garden City GC -

Certainly Barker's first work in the U.S.  Prior to Barker's arrival in the fall of 1907, the wheels had already been put in motion to further improve Garden City.  While Travis was undoubtedly the driving force behind the changes, Devereux Emmet was still serving on the Greens Committee and he and others would have had a say and perhaps a good bit of input into the proposed plans.

Oct. 14, 1906 Boston Globe -



There are some interesting questions that arise in contemplating the hiring of Barker.  Who exactly was responsible for bringing him in?  Was this meant to be a long term engagement?  Did the club have any inkling of Barkers links course knowledge when they hired him?[

In any case, Barker and Travis seemingly worked side by side on the course.  Both men were playing a lot of golf between 1907 and early 1911, and with Barker's other obligations as pro this work would not have been measured as a full time job.

Feb. 1908 Golfers Magazine -



Aug. 1909 Golf Magazine -



Jan. 7, 1911 Brooklyn Times-Union -



Barker would leave GCGC for Rumson in the Spring of 1911, drawing an end to the working relationship here.

[MCirba]

Sven,


The only thing I see somewhat inaccurate in that article is the purchase of "300 acres".   That  particular newspaper is where I've been collecting most of the information on Barker.   If there are other articles you found relaying similar info I'd love to see them, thanks! 

[MCirba]

Just saw your most recent post, Sven.


While this thread may preempt the need for me to write an IMO, other courses off the top of my head this morning where Travis and Barker overlapped include Youngstown, Arcola, Rumson. Columbia, East Lake, and likely a few others but I had planned to do what it looks like you are proceeding to do and working through them one by one.  All good.

[MCirba]

Almost forgot Atlantic City...almost certsin there are others.

[Sven Nilsen]

Atlantic City CC -

I'm guessing here that Barker was involved when mentions of the changes started appearing in the press in early 1909.  Although I have seen no mention of Travis being connected with the actual work, it would make sense.

Jan. 1909 Golf Magazine -





Sept. 1909 American Golfer -

[Sven Nilsen]

Waverley CC -

How Barker received this commission from across the country remains a matter of speculation, but I'd doubt that Travis had anything to do with the work that actually done while Barker was in Portland.

May 1909 American Golfer -





[Also see the Sept. 1909 American Golfer article above.]

[Sven Nilsen]

Spokane CC -

A similar story to Waverley.

March 6, 1909 Spokane Press -

[Sven Nilsen]

CC of Virginia -

Another one where I have seen no Travis involvement.

March 1909 American Golfer -



April 1909 Golf Magazine -





April 25, 1909 The Times Dispatch -

[Adam Lawrence]

It probably makes sense to go through each of Barker's projects and note which ones (a) have a record of Travis involvement, (b) which ones would make sense for Travis to be involved, and (c) which ones were most likely Barker on his own.  I'll try to do this chronologically the best I can.

Garden City GC -

Certainly Barker's first work in the U.S.  Prior to Barker's arrival in the fall of 1907, the wheels had already been put in motion to further improve Garden City.  While Travis was undoubtedly the driving force behind the changes, Devereux Emmet was still serving on the Greens Committee and he and others would have had a say and perhaps a good bit of input into the proposed plans.

Feb. 1908 Golfers Magazine -

Cop bunkers?

[Sven Nilsen]

Rumson CC -


Rumson is a bit of a confusing story.  If anyone has additional source material here (or on any of the other courses), please feel free to add it in.  At first, the course was to be laid out by Willie Norton.


Dec. 1908 Golf Magazine -




By the Spring of 1909, Barker was noted as the architect.

May 1909 American Golfer -



Reports from a couple of years later muddy the waters a bit.

Feb. 25, 1911 Brooklyn Times-Union -



March 25, 1911 Brooklyn Life -



April 23, 1911 Washington Post -

[MCirba]

Sven,


I'm visiting family in AZ til Sunday but will pitch in anything you don't have as I'm able, thanks

[Sven Nilsen]

Columbia CC -

I'm not going to delve into this one too much as the history of Columbia has been covered in great detail around here.  The early press reports from Aug. 1909 on note (a) a Barker layout or (b) a Barker and Ross layout with Travis involved later on.

By the sounds of the article below, it doesn't appear that Travis had seen the land prior to the layout being completed.

Oct. 26, 1909 Washington Times -

[Sven Nilsen]

Arcola CC -

Barker was undoubtedly referred to Arcola by Travis, and it appears that Travis held a supervisory role on this project.  How involved he was remains unclear.

Sept. 11, 1909 The Record -



Dec. 18, 1909 Brooklyn Times-Union -



Jan. 28, 1911 Brooklyn Times-Union -

[Sven Nilsen]

Mayfield CC -

Barker's involvement here was first reported in the Sept. 1909 American Golfer article posted above.  Mayfield should receive particular attention in Barker's resume, as the acclaim it received was revelatory.

I have seen nothing to indicate Travis had any involvement here.  As with all of the courses covered in this thread, there is undoubtedly more out there that may reveal more of the story, including club archives that might provide a good bit more insight to the involvement of Barker with or without Travis.

Dec. 1, 1909 New York Tribune -

[Sven Nilsen]

Bedford Springs GC/ Philmont CC/ Springhaven CC/ Newport CC -

The source I have for the work here is the Sept. 1909 American Golfer article posted above.  I have not seen anything for any of them that note any involvement by Travis.

[Sven Nilsen]

Williamsport CC/ Youngstown CC -

The main source I have here is the article in the Mayfield post above.  I'll wait for Mike to fill in the information he has on any Travis connections here.

To clarify, I'm more interested in reports of Travis taking on a role in the design process than I am in reports of Travis referring the club to Barker.

[Sven Nilsen]

Merion GC -

Barker was here in the summer of 1910 and produced a routing based on his preliminary examination of the site (see the article earlier in the thread or any of the copious Merion threads in the archives).

In response to Mike's request regarding additional articles noting the referral by MacDonald and Whigham, I went back through my files and the Times Union article posted is the only one mentioning this connection.  This article was printed subsequent to a series of other articles in other papers covering the same ground, all of which note Barker saw the site, but not that he was referred to Merion by M&W.  Reading all of the articles together it would seem like the author of the Times Union piece was privy to additional information, as opposed to some kind of mistaken paraphrasing from the earlier articles.

Here is one of the other articles.

Nov. 28, 1910 Newark Evening Star and Newark Advertiser -