Query for Mike C:
Prior to the Depression (and especially during Wilson's life), did the rest of the Philadelphia School see Flynn merely as an extension of Wilson and his work as purely derivative?
I appreciate that Flynn was widely respected etc., but even so, he was not a member of the club so to speak.
Rory (and Mayday),
Really interesting question as we spent a lot of time during the presentation discussing the dichotomy between amateurs and professionals during that time, as well as the "class" implications.
Perhaps early on when Flynn arrrived with his brother-in-law Fred Pickering to work on the construction of Merion East around 1911/12 Flynn might have been subject to some of that as a 22 year old Boston-bred Irishman of the working class. However, due to his precociousness, intelligence, creativity, athleticism, rugged good looks and proven talent it seems it wasn't long before the top brass at Merion took him under their wing, and he and Hugh Wilson were particularly close and worked together hand in glove, particularly after Pickering was let go during construction of the West Course and Flynn took over in 1913. Wilson was so fond of Flynn that he bought them an Airedale puppy after Flynn's first child was born and later bought Mrs. Flynn a horse and carriage so she could visit him onsite at Merion.
We all know about Wilson's two-month trip to GB&I to study, sketch, and photograph the great classic courses but in 1915 during the construction of Cobb's Creek (where Flynn worked as the shaper and almost certainly contributed ideas) he returned to his native Massachusetts where
"In the past week or so he has visited Myopia, Essex County, the Country Club, Braeburn, Woodland and several other leading courses of the State, seeking ideas." As we discussed, it was extremely unusual for an "amateur" like Wilson to be involved in architecture at clubs where they themselves were not a member, and his early work at Seaview, North Hills, Philmont, Cobb's Creek, and likely Phoenixville before the end of 1914 probably had him walking a fine line in terms of how that work was viewed by the USGA mavens. After Wilson and Flynn made major changes to Merion in 1916 to prep for the US Amateur that year, WWI and the Spanish flu intervened from 1917 - 1919 and it was a down time for course construction and maintenance, with a shortage of available workers.
It wasn't until after the war, and the death of George Crump, where the membership of Pine Valley asked Hugh & Alan Wilson to help them complete the last four holes (12-15) and almost certainly to assist with the troublesome agronomy issues they'd experienced since inception. Once again post-war America saw Wilson and Flynn working closely on that project, as well as additional clubs/courses such as Kittansett, Marble Hall, a proposed Bryn Mawr CC that never came to fruition, the recreation of holes 10-13 at Merion once new land south of the creek was purchased in 1922, and possibly others.
I suspect that Wilson encouraged Flynn branching out on his own, as well, particularly where the course/club was some fair distance from Philadelphia in places like Harrisburg, Lancaster, the Poconos, and others but even in those venues I'm thinking that the two men would at least compare notes.
By that time, in the early to mid 1920s, the rise of the professional golf architect as a respected profession began its ascent due to the work of Donald Ross, Walter Travis, Tillinghast, Seth Raynor, and others whose work began to be viewed as artistry, as well as craftsmanship, and some of the class distinctions began to diminish. Flynn also had the advantage of living in Philadelphia, which has always viewed itself as a blue-collar town where hard work and Quaker common-sense and industriousness were highly valued and Flynn certainly fit right into that cultural aspect.
From an architectural perspective, there is no doubt that both men shared many of the same ideas regarding blending with nature, use of natural landforms, variety in lengths, half-par type holes, bunker stylings, and defense of the golf course through diagonals and protection of the greens. I also think Flynn was not only a disciple of Wilson's style, and learned much in working with him, but also had his own ideas and architectural evolution, particularly as he had the opportunity to work in different environments from Long Island to Florida throughout the 1920s and beyond after Wilson's death in early 1925.