Timelines are indeed valuable things when trying to reconstruct events...
When we last left off some were requesting to see an "alternative" timeline related to Merion, and while I have neither the expertise and internal knowledge of either Tom Paul or Wayne Morrison, I do wish to put my thoughts together in what I hope will be a constructive manner towards a greater overall understanding for all of us.
Over the break, I went back and re-read some of the materials including the personal account of Merion Committee-member Richard Francis and now believe I can prove that both the “Francis Land Swap” and the final course routing took place BEFORE C.B. Macdonald came down to visit on April 6th 1911 and helped the committee pick their best plan..
Why is this important? Simply, to conclude that Macdonald and Whigham actually routed and designed the holes of the golf course at Merion they needed both motive and opportunity. We know they were onsite at Merion only twice; first for a single day in June 1910 to inspect the property and then ten months later on April 6th, 1911. We also know that their initial visit simply resulted in a one-page letter that recommended creation of a rote, 6000 yard “sporty” course, along with some agronomic suggestions. Likely because the 117-acre property under consideration was questionable in size for even that modest goal, they also recommended the purchase of an additional 3 acres (owned by the P&W railroad) adjacent to the clubhouse and along the upper part of the lovely creek and bordering railroad tracks.
I will also show that there would have been no need on April 6th, 1911 for Macdonald to reiterate his July 1910 recommendation that Merion buy those 3 acres because that land was already included in at least one of the Merion Committee’s layout plans, including the one approved on that day.
We will also see through clear evidence that the design and routing of the golf course took place AFTER the property was purchased in January 1911 and that it was designed and routed by Hugh Wilson’s committee which was formed that month.
Why do I say that? Well, I think a close reading of the timeline of events described in the MCC Minutes along with Richard Francis's account clearly tells us. I’ve also included the accounts of both Hugh and Alan Wilson that are corroborative.
"Your committee desires to report that after laying out many different golf courses on the new ground, they went down to the National course with Mr. Macdonald and spent the evening going over his plans and the various data he had gathered abroad in regard to golf courses. The next day we spent on the ground studying......" - MCC Minutes April 19th, 1911
“We spent two days with Mr. Macdonald at his bungalow near the National Course and in one night absorbed more ideas on golf course construction than we had learned in all the years we had played. Through sketches and explanations of the correct principles of the holes that form the famous courses abroad and had stood the test of time,
we learned what was right and what we should try to accomplish with our natural conditions.” – Hugh Wilson 1916
"On our return,
we re-arranged the course and laid out five different plans. On April 6th, Mr. Macdonald and Mr. Whigham came over and spent the day… “ - MCC Minutes, April 19th, 1911
“Those two good and kindly sportsmen, Charles B. Macdonald and H.J. Whigham…twice came to Haverford, first to go over the grounds and later
to consider and advise about our plans”. – Alan Wilson 1926
Let's add to our understanding with the personal account of Richard Francis;
“Except for
many hours over a drawing board, running instruments in the field and just plain talking, I made but one important contribution to the layout of the course.”
“The land was shaped like a capital “L” and
it was not very difficult to get the first 13 holes into the upright portion – with the help of a little ground on the north side of Ardmore Avenue – but the last five holes were another question. “
“I was looking at a map of the property one night when I had an idea. Not realizing it was nearly midnight, I called Mr. Lloyd on the telephone, found he had not gone to bed, got on my bicycle and rode a mile or so to see him. The idea was this: We had some property west of the present course
which did not fit in with ANY golf layout (caps emphasis mine). Perhaps we could swap it for some good use?”
So, from Francis's perspective, his brainstorm happened while there were still multiple golf plans or "layout"(s) being considered, so it HAD to be before MacDonald’s April 6th return. We know this because he doesn’t refer to “the” layout as something singular, already defined and determined, but refers to “any” golf layout they were still actively considering at the time, which by definition would be more than one.
Also, he tells us that BY THAT TIME they also already had the first THiRTEEN holes in place "with a help of a little ground on the north side of Ardmore avenue".
It has been awhile since I read Francis’s account and vaguely recall thinking previously that perhaps this was something he had incorrectly recalled....all those starting holes except number one being on the south side of Ardmore Avenue.....and Francis states that they had a pretty easy time with that part of the routing.
However, read carefully, he’s saying they actually had the first THIRTEEN holes routed and in place (using the additional 3 acres Macdonald had recommended they purchase back in July 1910) and that by the time he came up with the Francis Land Swap idea the Committee were only struggling with the location of last five holes, which his late-night idea helped solve.
I believe the following two illustrations are helpful in visualizing the land under consideration, as well as what they eventually conceived and built;
The property Merion initially purchased (drawn to scale) with picture running south to north, left to right in the “L-shape” as Francis described
The course as originally laid out, running in the same left to right, south to north orientation. The green line (compared with the original property map above) shows my rough approximation of the original purchased property line and one can see how the Francis Land Swap altered that by looking at the final configuration of Club House Road, which “borrows” land-width on the north side to fit holes15 and 16 by “giving back” land down by hole number 1 and the clubhouse. The red line indicates the 3-acre area originally recommended by Macdonald & Whigham in July 1910, and which was utilized in the final plan to “get the first 13 holes into the upright portion – with the help of a little ground on the north side of Ardmore Avenue” as Francis described . It is also likely that this event took place sometime after the committee’s visit to NGLA which Tom Paul tell us took place the first week or so of March, 1911. The reason I say this is because we know Francis rode a “mile or so” on his bicycle at close to midnight, which would have likely been extremely cold in January or February. Indeed, in April of 1911, A.W. Tillinghast reported;
“The lingering of winter in the lap of spring has seriously interfered with the opening of the courses, none of which have been really fit during the month of March, and indeed the middle of April finds them all very backward.”In any case, it is now clear that this was all done PRIOR to Macdonald's April 6th return. Whatever Macdonald and Whigham did on April 6th, 1911 it is clear that they did not route the first 13 holes that day, nor did they route the final five holes that day, nor did they need to re-recommend additional purchase of 3 adjacent acres along the railroad on that day of their final visit to Merion.
Instead, as Alan Wilson stated, it seems that on April 6th, 1911, Macdonald simply “consider(ed) and advise(d) about our plans”. Of course that makes perfect sense and is consistent with Macdonald’s bold exclamation during his one-day visit April 6th, 1911 when he stated that the last seven holes would be equal to any inland course in the world. If Francis had not already solved the riddle of how to place these final holes prior to Macdonald’s visit that day, then how could Macdonald and Whigham have judged them to be of such high potential quality?
In all, I think it’s clear from the timeline, and from Richard Francis’s words that;
1) That at least the first 13 holes were laid out prior to Macdonald's final visit to Merion April 6th, 1911.
2) That the “Francis Land Swap” that solved the problem of locating the last five holes also happened prior to Macdonald’s final visit (while there were still multiple layouts under consideration).
3) That the 3 acres Macdonald had suggested they purchase back in July 1910 were already in at least one of the Merion Committee’s developed plans before Macdonald’s April 1911 return, including the ultimately recommended and implemented plan.
Coupled with the timelines of the MCC Minutes, we now also know;
1) That the Merion Committee laid out “many different courses” between January 1911 and early March 1911.
2) That the Merion Committee visited Macdonald and Whigham at NGLA in early March and spent the evening “going over his plans and various data he had gathered abroad in regards to golf courses”, and the next day was spent touring and “studying” the NGLA golf course.
3) That after their visit to NGLA, the Merion Committee “re-arranged the course and laid out five different plans.”
4) That Macdonald and Whigham came down to Merion approximately a month after the Committee’s visit to NGLA, where they considered the various plans the Merion Committee had laid out, and recommended one in particular, of which they stated the last seven holes would be equal to any inland course in the world. That plan then went to the Board for final approval on April 19th, 1911 and led to the ultimate construction of the original Merion East course.
C.B. Macdonald and H.J. Whigham originally visited the Merion property in June of 1910 and advised as to the suitability of the land for a golf course. We know that their recommendation included a generically described 6,000 yard “sporty” golf course, the purchase of an adjacent three acres owned by the railroad, and they also recommended Merion take additional steps related to determining the suitability and adaptability of their inland soil.
We also know that the Merion Committee visited NGLA in early March 1911 and both Hugh Wilson above and the MCC Minutes indicate how they spent the evening and the next day. Of course, one could try to suggest that Macdonald and Whigham spent some part of that evening creating a routing for the Merion course, but that would beg some logical questions;
1) Why is there no mention of any Macdonald/Whigham routing for Merion in either the Merion minutes or the account of Hugh Wilson that both describe the events of that visit? For that matter, why is there no mention of any Macdonald/Whigham routing for Merion at any time, in any club, personal, or reported accounts of the time?
2) Why would the Merion Committee have “re-arranged the course and laid out five different plans” in the month between their NGLA visit and Macdonald’s April 6th return if they already had a routing from Macdonald in hand? Why would they have “laid out many different courses” prior to the NGLA visit if they already had a routing from Macdonald in hand?
3) We know they spent the evening of their visit going over Macdonald’s sketches of holes abroad and the next day touring and studying the NGLA course; when exactly would they have time to create a routing for a course on land in Pennsylvania they had only seen one previous day nine months prior?
4) We can also confidently surmise that their trip to NGLA had some very beneficial impact, as the evidence suggests that whatever they learned they seemingly felt it was important enough to revise their plans accordingly, but again, is this creative authorship deserving architectural attribution or did they simply provide valuable consulting advice as the Merion records have always contended?
Macdonald and Whigham came back for the last time on April 6th, 1911, and now thanks largely to Richard Francis’s account corroborated by the MCC Minutes and Alan Wilson, we also know exactly what they spent their time doing; “consider(ing) and advis(ing)” regarding multiple proposed “plans” the Merion Committee had authored, re-arranged, and “laid out” for their new golf course.