Tom MacW:
It seems to me back in that day (pre 1920s) at a few noted clubs, certainly PVGC and NGLA, the tendency among those creating the clubs was to say that a good deal of people took an interest in the architecture, made recommendations and collaborated. The early records of both clubs are virtual laundry lists of people mentioned collaborating----and almost every one of them was an amateur architect. The same is probably true of Merion East, also built in that early era.
There may be a very good reason for this. Firstly, both Crump and Macdonald and Wilson (Fownes, Leeds etc) were basically into their first major quality efforts and they were also amateur golfers. Basically none of them had a reputation in golf architecture when these clubs were organized and going under construction (NGLA in 1907, Merion 1912 and PVGC 1913). In that day, and until 1921, you definitely had to be an amateur architect if you were interested in continuing to play amateur golf as almost every one of those men mentioned seemed to be interested in doing. The list of the architects from those clubs mentioned, and others like them, many now very famous, who never took a fee for architecture is long. This is true until the rules on amateur status and golf architecture payment was finally altered obviously allowing these men to take a fee although even after that many of them never did on principle, including Macdonald. Emmet did eventually though, but probably not as early as NGLA. The only exception of architectural professionalism, I’m aware of from those clubs in that early era was Colt.
Unfortunately, because most all that was done architecturally in those particular clubs seemed to be collaboration amongst amateur architects who were friends and fellow golfing companions there seems to be very little record left of who did what and where or when. Obviously with that kind of early modus operandi there were no contracts, few real professionally drawn plans (again Colt at PVGC being a notable exception). Things just sort of evolved and so we’ll probably never really know exactly who did what such as Dev Emmet at NGLA. The plans and drawings of courses like NGLA, Merion, PVGC, GCGC etc that exist today are generally “as built” drawings that in most cases were done some years after the course was done and in some cases by people who were not there during creation and construction.