Since we'll be hearing this name quite a bit this coming up week (at least I hope we do), I thought I'd present a short bio if you will of the man responsible for the course we will be seeing this U.S. Open. Of course, Rees Jones name will be mentioned as well, but much of what you will see next week is the work of a man many in California are familiar with, William Francis Bell, also known as William Bell jr.





William Francis Bell (1918-1984) was the son of William Park Bell (1886-1953) and was born in Pasadena, CA. His father, born in Canonsburg, PA, got his start as a caddiemaster at Annandale CC after moving to California in 1911. He later became superintendent at the Pasadena Golf Club (now Alta Dena GC). Bell sr served as construction superintendent for Willie Watson on a number of courses before striking out on his own in 1920. He later formed a partnership with George C. Thomas, jr. and together they produced not only some of the greatest courses in California, but in all of the golden age of design. Bell sr also had a brief partnership with AW Tillinghast during the Depression and produced a handful of courses with him. Bell also served as turf consultant to the Army Corps of Engineers during WWII. It was after the war that Bell jr joined his father in the design business.


   Together, they worked on about a dozen designs together, such as Yuma G&CC and North Ridge CC. They were again to work together on the Torrey Pines project, when Bell sr. died in 1953. Bell jr carried out the work and the courses opened in 1957. Bell jr continued to design courses until his death in 1984, all the while keeping the name of the firm, William P Bell and Son in his fathers honor and has been responsible for some of the most recognized courses in California. Sandpiper (1972), Industry Hills (Ike and Babe, 1979) and Bermuda Dunes CC (1960), Bell jr designed or redid nearly 200 courses in California, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and did a course on Guam, Windward Hills G&CC. Combined with his father, they are responsible for work on approx. 400 courses throughout the west, hence garnering the unofficial title of "California's First Family in Golf".


   While most agree that WFB was not as skilled as his father (a rumor is that after Sr died Jr's routings were done by his mother), WFB nevertheless proved to be a capable, if not stylish, designer. Some have argued that he has had better pieces of property to work with than his father and in some cases, they were a lost opportunity. While one could never confuse his bunker style with his illustrious father, or his seaside efforts such as Torrey Pines, Sandpiper and Los Verdes with Pebble Beach or Cypress Point, Jr's courses are very playable and rarely offend. I myself have played close to a dozen of his courses and have never walked away feeling cheated. His designs are solid overall and provide a good and fair test.

   WFB had helped to spawn the career of other architects such as William Johnson and William Neff who went on to fine careers. The following is a presentation of some of William Francis Bell's work in California.


The par 3 6th at Torrey Pines North



The 10th at Sandpiper







The 11th at Sandpiper



the 13th at Sandpiper



The 5th at Sandpiper



The 18th at Sandpiper


Malibu CC







Los Verdes



Industry Hills (Ike and Babe, prerenovation)
















Other courses of note:

Hesperia
Country Club of Rancho Bernardo
Rancho Bernardo Inn
Mesa Verde
El Camino
Saticoy


William Francis Bell enjoyed a successful career and left a indelible mark on the West coast. While never the best of his time, he was very good at what he did do, which was produce solid no nonsense tests of golf that all levels of golfers have enjoyed for many years. In the end, I think his father would have been proud of his son's achievements and the fact that the last project that they started together will be playing host to our nations championship.

Bravo.

David,

Quite a wonderful thread; I know I've never been disapointed spending 4 hours on any Bell course, father or son. My memories of playing Palos Verdes are a signiifigant part of my golfing memory; starting my wife off in golf by putting there began her 20 year love affair with this geat game. Although the father produced more compelling fields of play than the son he has kept many golfers in So Cal happy to wack a ball on a truely functional muni.

During my junior high and high school years, I lived about a mile from the Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course, out in the San Francisco Baylands.  I didn't play golf back then, but I played the front nine many times in an industrial twilight league after college, about 20 years ago.

My source says the course was built in 1956, and designed by William F. and William P. Bell.  Perhaps Billy Sr. designed the course before he died.  The course is relatively long (~6800 yards) and simple, except that the wind really blows out on the Bay in the afternoons.  The holes use the wind quite well, and I found playing the course to be enjoyable for that reason.  The wind factor would have been even better, had they not planted the course with the dreaded eucalyptus trees.  The world's messiest tree.

My parents moved from to the Bay Area around 1956, and my father's parents followed from Buffalo, NY in 1958, settling in Palo Alto, in a small home near the corner of Embarcadero Rd. and Louis Rd., also about a mile from the golf course.  I was born in October, 1958, the apple of my grandmother's eye, according to family accounts.

My grandfather and grandmother were Scots.  My grandfather was the oldest of 10 children.  He left the Clydebank area of Glasgow for America in 1919 and never returned.  He played soccer and golf, and was good enough to be selected for the Scottish national "B" team as a young man.  He taught my father to play golf, and they played regularly at Cazenovia Park in south Buffalo.  Grandpa possessed a very unusual swing, standing a very long way from the ball and lunging forward to strike it, his theory being that he could not slice the ball from that position.  He was a reasonably good player, perhaps a 10 handicapper.  I have a picture of him standing with a trophy that says, "1937 Golf Champion, Worthington Iron Works", a tournament in which he shot a 75.  He looks a lot like me.

I also have another trophy, a wooden stand in the shape of a "1" with a Dunlop golf ball mounted on the front that says, "Dunlop Hole-In-One Award, Bill Kirk, Palo Alto M.G.C., February 26, 1959".  He aced the long 14th hole, a 230 yarder, his one and only ace.  My father has three aces and I now have two, three generations worth.

While looking at the trophy this morning, the February 26, 1959 date caught my eye, as it could not have been more than a month later that my grandmother, Agnes Mercer Kirk, suffered a massive stroke and died unexpectedly.  My heartbroken grandfather met and married his second wife Lois within six months, and lived with her in the same Palo Alto home for another 29 years.

John Mercer Kirk

Dan,

Is that the only Bell, Jr., course that you have played? If so, please don't judge his entire body of work by one bad experience. I grew up five minutes from Industry Hills, and I hardly ever played there.

A little history of IH. When the course was being built, I remember reading that the owner told Bell to make it as hard as he could (especially Ike) with the thought that it would land him a U.S. Open or other such top-tier event. Obviously, that wasn't to be the case. The site is a former landfill and doesn't present the best opportunity for a great golf course. If memory serves, the LPGA played an event there for either one or two years in the early 1980's and the players hated it so much that the event never came back.

Allan Long writes:
Is that the only Bell, Jr., course that you have played? If so, please don't judge his entire body of work by one bad experience. I grew up five minutes from Industry Hills, and I hardly ever played there.

Playing most of my golf in California, I've played a great number of Bell courses -- but being in Northern California, more senior than junior.

• Ancil Hoffman -- no big shakes. Decent enough course in a very nice setting.
• Calvada -- Okay, not great, but what do you expect in Pahrump.
• Industry Hills (Ike) -- Hated it!
• Green Trees -- No big shakes either way.
• Hidden Valley -- At one time the only decent course in Reno.
• Kern River -- Nothing to like or dislike.
• Los Verdes -- One of my favorites on this list.
• Malibu Country Club -- Decent course on a small property.
• Marina at San Leandro -- Can be fun when the wind is tough, otherwise, very boring.
• Modesto Dryden -- Another muni with very little to get you to come back.
• Newport CC -- Nice setting for uninspired course.
• Torrey Pines -- I like the courses, but still seem like a missed opportunity with their location.
• Olivas Park -- Hated it!
• Palo Alto Muni -- I liked this course. Can't blame Bell for the geese.
• Pine Mountain Lake -- My one and only ace was on this course many years ago. Otherwise, nothing worth writing home about.
• Ranch Course at Alisal -- Membership prouder of this course than they have a right to be.
• Sandpiper -- Used to play here on trips between Norcal and socal, until I discovered La Purisima. Seems like not the best use of the land, like Torrey South.
• Chuck Corica (Jack Clark) -- No there there.
• Tony Lema -- Only thing of interest was the pics of Mr. Lema in the clubhouse.
• Valley Hi -- Totally forgetable.

A little more than 20 courses that I can remember. I'd say the courses of his I played are easily walkable, but generally uninspiring. I think it isn't hard to imagine better courses on some of the land he had to work with. He built a large number of munis, probably because he was building when munis were at their peek and because he was reasonably priced.

Cheers,
Dan King

After a golfer has been out on the circuit for a while he learns how to handle his dating so that it doesn't interfere with his golf. The first rule usually is no woman-chasing after Wednesday.
  --Tony Lema

Did you steal my photo of 11 at Los Verdes? 

Has there been an architect for whom critical reception is as universally lukewarm as WB2 who has gotten more oceanfront sites?

I am not going to speak for David, but I don't think his intention in posting this was to say that Bell, Jr., was one of the greats of the profession, or that his courses have been unjustly overlooked for their quality.

As David Kelly said, the courses that came out of that era certainly couldn't be considered the second-coming of the Golden Age. However, I don't recall anyone saying they considered Bell's work genius, just enjoyable.

I think Dan is absolutely correct that Bell could have gotten more out of some of his courses, and he probably did get a lot of work because he was reasonably priced (and the Bell name didn't hurt either.)

However, if one is going to compare the work of basically a regional architect to that of the C&C's, Doak's , MacKenzie's and Tillinghast's of the world, you will be sorely disappointed. But for many, Bell, Jr's., courses were and are affordable and fun in a market where affordability isn't always the case, and where tee times can be scarce. For many daily-fee players, when those are the options that you have, you make the best of it.

David Stamm,

Thanks for the writeup.

I've too have enjoyed some of Bell's courses.  At least they are walkable, but then I guess almost all were from that era. 

My frustration with WFB is that his work is often confused with that of his father, and while this has bolstered WFP's reputation, in my opinion WPB's reputation may suffer from the association.  (DavidS I know you are not confusing or interplaying the two, just pointing this out generally.)

On the other hand, I used to look at Torrey and wonder what could have been, but now that I have seen what Rees Jones did to the place it makes me appreciate WFB's contributions a bit more. 

DM
 

One time in a dream Bell came to me and said this about the design of Torrey Pines..."My own thought is that when you have a setting like this it would be stupid to build anything which attempts to compete with that setting."  Except he had more hair back then.

So excited to have another opportunity in SB county when Alisal River first opened. But my, what a disappointment and from what I gather quite a departure from the original Alisal.

Thought I'd never have to see Alisal again until I think it appeared on the big screen in Sideways - 14th hole it looked like to me.

Quote from: R_Paulis on June 02, 2008, 04:53:30 PM

So excited to have another opportunity in SB county when Alisal River first opened. But my, what a disappointment and from what I gather quite a departure from the original Alisal.

Thought I'd never have to see Alisal again until I think it appeared on the big screen in Sideways - 14th hole it looked like to me.

I'm not sure how you could tell them apart (14th from some of the other holes).  The only interesting / quirky part of the course was that little loop near the end with the short par 4 and short par 3.  Otherwise, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

I assume it's Alisal River 14th has a fairway that is elevated above the others. In the scene shot at Alisal, the endlessly frustrated Paul Giammatti and Thomas Haden Church are playing the hole and are hit into from the group behind. Giamatti hits the ball right back at them causing a confrontation. So, you get multiple views of the hole.

I was forced to play the boring Alisal River (also described as uninspired by Rex Pickett, the writer of Sideways) a few times. The only memorable experience was a 300+yd drive on 18, almost entirely due to the 40+mph wind.

david...do you know what role william bell played in the design of stanford golf course with george thomas...if any...?? les