Alex 'Nipper' Campbell

[Jeff Bergeron]

On the recent Moraine CC post by Phil Young a question was raised about the architect Nipper Campbell. I came across this bio recently.




Alex “Nipper” Campbell


The mere [size=0.75em][/size]mention of the famed Brookline Country Club in suburban Boston brings to mind that Alex Campbell, a native of Scotland, had served as head pro there before he settled in Dayton and designed the golf courses at Moraine Country Club, Meadowbrook Country Club, Madden Park, Miamisburg and Eaton.
Campbell was 19 years old in November of 1898 when he came to the United States to become head pro at Brookline.
Only minutes after their boat arrived in Boston Harbor, the five foot five Campbell and his brother, Matt, walked into a saloon. “Two beers!” Nipper said to the bartender. “We don’t serve minors,” the bartender replied.
“Damn it, mon,” Nipper countered in his heavy brogue, “I’m no miner, I’m a golf professional.”
[/size][size=0.75em][/size]Campbell was head pro at The Country Club for 16 years. He is credited with urging one of his students, 20-year-old caddy Francis Ouimet, to enter the 1913 U.S. Open held at The Country Club.  Ouimet won the tournament in an 18-hole playoff with famed English golfers Harry Vardon and Ted Ray. Ouimet’s stunning victory is said to have been responsible for moving golf from the society pages to the sports sections of U.S. newspapers.
Campbell, who was an excellent player, finished only nine strokes behind the leaders in 1913.  He missed qualifying for the Open only four times over a span of 34 years.
Campbell had an excellent chance to win it in 1907 when it was played at the Philadelphia Cricket Club.  He was being paid to use a “silk pneumatic” golf ball that had just been introduced by the Goodrich company. It was filled with compressed air.
About the silk pneumatic golf ballCampbell was six shots off the lead going into the final round, but he moved quickly to the front when the third round leader faded.  According to an article written in 1933 by James Reston, Campbell knocked the air out of his ball when he hit his drive on the fourth hole.  The ball fluttered into a trap, and the rules at the time only allowed golfers to change balls between holes.
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It took Campbell seven strokes to complete the relatively easy par 4 hole.  Shaken by his misfortune leery of the stability of the other balls in his bag, he bogeyed the next two holes before settling down to shoot 74.  He finished third, three strokes behind winner Alex Ross, brother of golf course designer Donald Ross.
Campbell moved from Brookline to Baltimore Country Club in 1915 and moved to Losantiville Country Club in Cincinnati four years later.  In 1925 he went to Dayton to work at Miami Valley Golf Club, which had a course designed in 1919 by Mr. Ross.  Campbell’s first move was to rebuild all of the greens.
He supervised the construction of nine holes at Meadowbrook in 1927 and worked on the city-owned Fairmount (Madden) course at the same time.  In 1929 he was hired to design the Moraine Country Club course, which has holes patterned after holes at Troon, Prestwick and the The Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland.
An old edition of The American Golfer recounts some funny anecdotes about Campbell.  It stated that:“He recently distinguished himself by affording President Taft great amusement and then by making a round of the Myopia course, in a wind which was not favorable to low scoring, in 77.  For a partner he had Mr. George F. Willett and they played a four-ball match with Mr. Wolcott Tuckerman of Washington and John Jones, the Myopia professional.  Before they started John Jones called to Alex Campbell that somebody wanted to speak to him and it proved to be the President, who was about to play a round with his son, Charley Taft.”
“Good morning, Alex,” said the President.
“Good morning, Mr. President,” said the Nipper.
“How do you feel this morning?” asked the President.
“Oh, pretty good,” said Alex.  “You see, Mr. President, they can’t kill a Scotsman in this country, with all the bad whiskey they make.”
“Ah!” returned the President, “You had better keep away from that tanglefoot,” and the President seemed much entertained.
“I wish you’d drive the ball for me,” said the President.
“If I were as big as you, Mr. President, I’d wallop it over the green,” (240 yards away up hill) declared the Nipper.
Then Alex proved of real service to President Taft, for the latter’s grip was slippery and Campbell had some chalk ready for him.  The President started with a fine drive.
Alex Campbell was so pleased at the friendly way the President had treated him that he stepped up to his ball and drove it over the first green.  He holed in 3.  He was very good all way around, but John Jones was after him and Campbell and Mr. Willcott only won 3 and 1.  Alex shot a 77 that day.
President Taft has taken delight (the article concludes) in playing Myopia links, where he has been able to play his game in peace.  Rumors constantly have come from the links that the President broke 100, but usually they have been traced to Captain Archibald Butt, whom the President once termed, “the loyal liar of the links.”
Campbell’s obituary reads:
Alex (Nipper) Campbell, who came to this country from Troon, Scotland, in 1896 to become pro at the Country Club of Brookline, Mass., was found dead in his room at Dayton, Ohio,early in the morning of Dec. 16. He was 65.
Francis Oiumet after winning the 1913 US Open. Campbell is below the horseshoe without a cap.He was one of six pro golfer brothers—Jack and Jimmy in Philadelphia, Andy at Wilmington, Dela., Matthew in Boston, and Dave, formerly a pro in Scotland but now in the British army, where he served during World War I. He is survived also by his wife, two sons and three daughters.
At the time of his death The Nipper was engaged in war work at a Dayton plant.  After spending almost 20 years at Brookline, where he developed among others Francis Ouimet, Campbell went to Losantiville at Cincinnati; then, in 1935, to Dayton as pro at Miami Valley. In recent years he had been with the Moraine club at Dayton, then with Meadowbrook, Northmoor, Madden Park and Miamisburg.
The Nipper was an uncanny judge of potential golfing talent. He was one of the game’s most colorful characters and, during his earlier years, one of its great players. When he was 15 he won the Scottish national title. In the 1907 U. S. National Open he was giving the winner, Alex Smith, a close race until Campbell’s ball exploded on the next to last hole, causing him to finish in third pace. As an architect, The Nipper has been responsible for many excellent courses.
There never was a dull moment when the 5 ft. 5 in. Nipper was around. His recitations of Burns’ poetry enlivened many a session and he was the source of many of the merriest anecdotes about the early days of American golf.  His passing takes one of the liveliest historic figures from American golf, but The Nipper’s memory will be kept green by the many hearty laughs he contributed to his thousands of friends and the game in general.
Courses Alex Campbell designed include:
Basin Harbor Club – resort in Vergennes on Lake Champlain in VermontDales at Community Golf Course – in DaytonForest Park Golf Course – in Baltimore, MarylandHills at Community Golf Course – in Dayton, OhioMeadowbrook Country Club – in Clayton, OhioMoraine Country Club, The – in Kettering, Ohio

[/color]http://nwhickoryplayers.org/2015/04/stewart-sf-alex-campbell-mashie-niblick/This sturdy smooth face mashie niblick is from the former collection of Ralph Livingston and likely dates to 1910 or so.  I purchased it at a tournament in Arizona along with the D&W Auchterlonie smooth faced irons featured on this site.  The set of four clubs was auctioned with Mr. Livingston’s estate at Mid Pines in 2013.  The stampings are particularly attractive and bold, and – of course – the affiliation of Alex Campbell is well known; he was the head pro at the Country Club of Brookline when Francis Ouimet set the world on fire by winning the U.S. Open there in 1913.
This club is part of my smooth face set, although not truly a gutty golf club, per se.  Like so many Tom Stewart irons, it has a lovely heft to it and I am grateful to Ken Holtz for most generously affixing a nice vintage shaft to the head, as it had clearly been obtained originally as a collector’s piece when purchased by Ralph.  I estimate the loft on this club to be around 47 degrees.  It very well may make it into my regular hickory set as a sturdy, reliable and estimable vintage iron that makes its steward feel a kinship for a peak era in the ‘modern’ game of golf.
– Rob Birman




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[Niall C]

"and, during his earlier years, one of its great players. When he was 15 he won the Scottish national title"

Jeff


That's a nice story but I think they are over egging it with the above. In the early 1890's when he was in his mid teens he was far from being a leading player. I could be wrong but I also don't think there was a Scottish national title until the early 1900's. The Open served as that, or at least it did until the English and the Channel Islanders started muscling in on the act  .


Anyway, thanks for posting, sounds like a character indeed.


Niall

[MCirba]

Jeff,

Thanks for the terrific information on "The Nipper"!

I've played the Forest Park municipal course in Baltimore that he designed and it's very sound and enjoyable, although like most vintage public courses it's been affected by changes of neglect over the years.

I also strongly suspect, but have never been able to document, that Campbell was part of the fairly extensive changes that took place at The Country Club (Brookline) with G.H. Windeler around 1899.   Perhaps Sven has more info on that one?

Hoping to get out to Moraine some day...it looks terrific.

[MCirba]

Jeff,

Sorry for the multiple posts.   I did go back and found this brief mention of Alex Campbell's role in the most recent "The Country Club" history book by John de St. Jorre, which received the 2009 Herbert Warren Wind literary award.

http://www.johndestjorre.com/countryclub.html

"The stage was set for the further addition of holes when eighteen and a half acres, bounded by Clyde and Newton Streets, were purchased in April 1898, the clubs first acquisition since the purchase of the original 105 acres in 1896.  (During the first four years of the club's existence, the land had been leased).   The 1898 purchase allowed TCC to build an eighteen hole golf course, although Willie Campbell wasn't available to help, as he had left in 1896, moving to Franklin Park because of his interest in promoting golf to the public."

"The hiring of Campbell's successor, Walter F. Stoddard, was announced in an 1897 notice to members...Like Campbell, Stoddard also had a brief stay, 1897-1899.   Next was another Scot, and another Campbell, though no relation to Willie other than tribal.   This was Alexander "Nipper" Campbell, and as new terrain became available, he would be pressed into service as a course designer."

"It is not clear what part the Golf Committee, now consisting of George Cabot, G, Herbert Windeler...had in the conception of the new layout, but given the previous committee's involvement, it is safe to assume that these members were active participants.   The new eighteen hole golf course was officially opened in October, 1899."

 - The Story of Golf at The Country Club, _ John de St. Jorre.

[Richard Hetzel]

Madden GC and Meadowbrook CC (now public) are fairly fun courses to play but suffer from poor maintenance practives/low maintenance budgets. I played Meadowbrook on a whim last spring and the bones are there, but you ould tell it was a club that run down and had seen much better days. The owner deeded it to the Dayton suburb of Clayton. Miamisburg is now called Mound GC and it is a neat 9 hole course with some really cool holes. Let me dig up some pictures....

[Richard Hetzel]

Mound GC (formerly Miamisburg)

[Richard Hetzel]

Madden GC (this is the course that is owned by the City of Dayton and could use some TLC)

[Richard Hetzel]

Meadowbrook CC (now owned by the city of Clayton, Ohio)

[Jeff Bergeron]

For the record, Moraine was fantastic before Foster arrived and I suspect it will comfortably rival ANY course in Ohio when it reopens this summer. Yes, it's that good!

[Sven Nilsen]

Jeff,

Thanks for the terrific information on "The Nipper"!

I've played the Forest Park municipal course in Baltimore that he designed and it's very sound and enjoyable, although like most vintage public courses it's been affected by changes of neglect over the years.

I also strongly suspect, but have never been able to document, that Campbell was part of the fairly extensive changes that took place at The Country Club (Brookline) with G.H. Windeler around 1899.   Perhaps Sven has more info on that one?

Hoping to get out to Moraine some day...it looks terrific.

Mike:


I don't have anything on who actually did the expansion to 18 holes, other than the 1898 article in the Massachusetts in 1927 thread that notes it was done by Willie Campbell.


No need to revisit that conversation unless some new information has come to light.


Sven

[MCirba]

Thanks Sven, not much new.   

I did come across this June 18, 1899 Pittsburgh Daily Post article (it's large so I've reproduced only part of it here) that claims at that time Alex Campbell had been brought to this country "about six months ago" to be the pro at The Country Club.   The club's first 18 hole course opened for play in October of that year.   




Also, it seems that very little of the original nine was used for the 18 hole course from this November 17, 1899 Chicago Inter-Ocean article.




That seems to be somewhat the case, but not totally based on this drawing that shows the first nine hole course drawn atop the first 18 hole course.   Perhaps they were using temporary winter greens?

[MCirba]

There was also this September 29th, 1899 article from the NY Herald Tribune, shortly before the course opened for play that was discovered about a year after that discussion had run its course.   I believe the additional acreage that permitted an 18 hole course was purchased in January of 1898 after a number of failed prior attempts.

[noonan]

Meadowbrook:
Probably has 2 of the worst finishing holes on any golf course.
17 has a cone for a green surrounded by water.
18 is 4 iron wedge and your stance after you hit a the fairway is never flat. Blind uphill shot with not much reference for where to aim besides the stick. When I played there last summer there were multiple balls careening through the parking lot.
The rest of the course is much tougher to score on than most people will admit. It is just not easy to get the ball in the hole at Meadowbrook.


Madden:
The holes on top of the hill have much better green complexes then the holes in the valley. It suffers from poor maintenance like stated above. The par 3 #2 might be the toughest 130yd. par 3 in the world. Many of the holes there are enjoyable but equally as many are forgettable.


Moraine is Nipper's best work by far. 

[Niall C]

Jerry

You are of course assuming that what you see now is all the work of Nipper and not some later revisions ?

Niall

[MCirba]

Plans for the 18 hole course at TCC had been drawn by March 1898 so unless they were markedly revised the input Alex had to that new course was likely the construction and later expansion phases.  Apparently it was rough terrain not easily adaptable for golf so it took about 18 months to open, a huge timeline in those days when concept to open was usually just a few months.

[noonan]

Jerry

You are of course assuming that what you see now is all the work of Nipper and not some later revisions ?

Niall

True.


I cannot imagine that the 18th at Meadowbrook has been changed any. The 17th could have been tweaked.