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Tillinghast "Cliff Notes" Summary

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Mark_Fine:
For what it’s worth, I will attach in my next post, a “Cliff Notes” type summary on A.W. Tillinghast.  I posted one earlier on William Flynn.  There are always exceptions, but this is basically an overview of what I feel are some of the most important attributes of Tillinghast’s design style/philosophies gathered from playing and reading about his courses.  

I've done a number of these kind of summaries for my own personal use (many of you probably have your own versions).   I find them useful when I just have a few minutes to update myself on a particular architect (rather than pulling out all my Tillinghast articles, books, and scorecards/notes).  Hope others find this useful as well!

Mark
              

Mark_Fine:
Here it is:

                 A. W. Tillinghast Overview

• On Trees:
o      Tillinghast had a love for trees and incorporated them into his design schemes often.  He felt trees added beauty and could contribute to the distinction and charm of a golf hole.
o      He used trees to help mark the true line of play and felt outstanding specimens could be used advantageously in helping to “to chart the channel of the hole, so to speak”.   However, he believed that trees placed too close to the proper line of play, particularly in front of greens, can not be condoned.  
o      He also used trees for deception as well making the judgment of distances more difficult for the golfer.  
o      He recognized that trees offer comfort from the sun on a hot summer day particularly around teeing grounds.  His love for them might also have been a result of the fact that he liked to direct the efforts of his construction crew from the shade of a tree “with bottle in hand”.  
o      He understood that trees could restrict air movement around green and tee surfaces causing turf problems.  He often suggested that evergreens were a desirable neighbor for putting surfaces.
o      As with all his design features, he believed none of them should be over used or over done.

• On Variety:
o      Probably the most unique aspect of Tillinghast’s designs was that few, if any, of his courses looked the same.  He was a master of variety.  
o      He believed every hole should be unique and was a strong advocate of naming his golf holes for some novel characteristic that they possessed.   He felt every hole should be “worthy of a name”.
o      At the same time he made the famous quote that, “a round of golf should present eighteen inspirations, not necessarily eighteen thrills” as spectacular holes can be sadly overdone.  
o      Moreover, Tillinghast was a strong proponent of “beautiful” golf courses and ones that were a pleasure to play.   He felt there is a human tendency to admire things that are beautiful and golf courses should help placate this inner craving.  He also believed there was no reason that a course could not be beautiful and testing at the same time.  

• On Greens:
o      Tillinghast believed that the greens were the faces of the golf course.  No matter how good the rest of the course was, he felt a course would never be noteworthy if its greens were not impressive.
o      Tillinghast’s greens were almost always tightly guarded as he believed a controlled shot to a well defended green was a sure test of a man’s game.
o      He felt nothing could supply a green more character than bold undulations.  However, those undulations needed to be receptive to the type of golf shot he expected to be played to that hole.
o      Many of his greens were raised in the back and often had one side tilted above the other.  This encouraged accurate approach play and made recovery shots around his greens all the more demanding.  They also helped insure good surface drainage.  
o      As wild as many of his greens were, Tillinghast had a sense of “fairness” in him.  He designed his greens to help a properly played shot finish close to the hole.  This may have been a result of his feeling that putting was given too much prominence in golf and its value too great compared to other shots.
o      He liked to think his greensites “approached” nature very closely and were in harmony with their natural surroundings.  Any holes that “had to be manufactured” needed to blend in and “hold their heads up in polite society”.  
o      Tillinghast had little tolerance for blind greens.  He believed visibility of the green from a properly placed tee or approach area was important.  He said the relationship between a properly placed shot to the fairway and the following one to the green is one of the most important considerations in the design of a golf course.  \

• On Bunkers:
o      Tillinghast had a flare for strong intimidating hazards that would dictate and direct the line of play.  
o      He believed that shallow traps were of little value either as hazards or as impressive design features.  
o      What was most interesting about Tillinghast was that his bunker styles ranged all over the map from grass faced/flat bottomed to dramatic flashed sand faced designs.  His bunkers were almost always artistic creations and designed for the site at hand with most having a rugged less tended look.  
o      He heavily defended his greens with bunkers particularly on the sides and forward portions of the greensites.  
o      One of the attributes of a Tillinghast green is that if you miss one with your approach, you generally have to contend with sand vs. a chipping area.
o      As Tillinghast progressed in his career, he advocated the removal of bunkers at dozens of courses around the country including many of his own.  The driving force was apparently to reduce “unnecessary maintenance costs and make the game more fun and appealing to golfers”.  His famous cross bunkers were something he no longer approved of in his later years.

• On Tees:
o      Tillinghast, like many of his contemporaries, believed tees should blend in with their surrounds.   He did not like built up tee boxes and felt they only added to maintenance headaches and took away from the beauty of the course.
o      He also believed that multiple tees should not be laid out in a straight line as it looks artificial and robs the hole of variety.  He felt there is great satisfaction in playing to the fairway or greensite from different angles.  
o      He believed his courses should have elasticity and tees should have room to be lengthened should the need arise in the future.  
o      When playing into fairways with pronounced slopes, he would set his tees such that the golf shot would play into the slope rather than with it.  

• On Fairways:
o      Tillinghast advocated “beautiful” playing grounds and felt that straight lines were not often found in nature.  He was a strong advocate of contoured fairway lines and felt they added to the beauty as well as improved the playing characteristics of the golf hole.  
o      Most Tillinghast fairways are wide but they have a right side and a wrong side.  A carefully placed drive is rewarded with an easier shot to the green including the option of playing a run up shot.  
o      To reiterate, he was a strong advocate of risk/reward options.  He encouraged courageous play that awarded a very distant advantage if you successfully negotiated his carefully placed hazards.
o      His opinions on “rough” were similar to others of his time.  He believed rough should be a prominent feature on every golf course but should be maintained to extract a penalty “but not a loss of golf balls”.  
o      He despised parallel fairways and twisted his holes with doglegs and elbows and irregular shaped contours.  
o      He liked diagonal hazards and used a wide assortment of bunkers, mounds, rough, swales, etc. to challenge golfers and reward their successful efforts with a better angle of approach.    
o      He advocated clearing of brush and debris a considerable distance off the fairway under trees to allow the chance of a recovery shot.

• On Water:
o      Tillinghast felt water was used too frequently as a hazard.  However, he realized that water on a course was highly popular and he would have to incorporate it into his designs.
o      He fully realized the need for water from a maintenance standpoint but felt ponds created for this purpose almost always looked artificial.   He felt with a little creativity, this problem could easily be corrected and/or not happen in the first place.
o      Tillinghast felt use of water as a diagonal hazard was the best as it gave players an option to play safe or to bite off as much as they could handle.   The “make the carry or get wet concept” was not his preferred design method.

• On Approaches:
o      Tillinghast was very concerned about the design of approaches to greens and felt this was a much underrated aspect of good design.  He said the contours in the ground are of utmost importance and care must be taken in their construction to encourage the ground game.

• Other thoughts:
o      Tillinghast was probably the most eccentric of the Philadelphia school of designers.  His courses seemed to reflect his mood at the time (or maybe they were just a function of the amount of alcohol he consumed during the construction period).  
o      Tillinghast realized that the best way to attack a golf hole was not always directly at the hole.  He designed his holes such that the ability of a golfer to reason with their mind was just as important as their physical ability with the golf club.
o      He loved the forced “three shot” hole as well as what he coined, the “double dog leg”.  Although most of the time he didn’t like to force a players hand, he did feel there were situations when the architect could dictate play.
o      When confronted with hills, Tillinghast always looked for the longest way up and the shortest way down in doing his routings.  It is hard to find a Tillinghast course that is not walkable.  
o      He was always concerned about maintenance, especially later on in his career.  He seemed to have some insight that the cost of golf would someday flare out of control and bring negative consequences to the game.
o      He believed length was important, but character and interest determine the true merit of a golf hole.
o      He built courses that were timeless and still capable of challenging the best players today.  

Mitch Hantman:
Mark,

That was terrific.  I never saw your post on Flynn, but I think it would be informative to do this again for the other architects.  I know you have a great knowledge about Flynn.  I'm still waiting for you to get down here to Florida so we can tee it up.  

Mark_Fine:
Mitch,
Thanks!  The Flynn summary was posted under the topic "Was Flynn the father of the modern aerial game?" by Pat.  Hope to see you again soon.
Mark

Tommy_Naccarato:
Some good stuff there Mark.

I would probably add that when he reduced the size and amount of bunkers in the later years, it was because of the time period of the Great Depression when Golf was struggling because of the lack of money to play, let alone maintain a course. Maybe Rick can back this up--That Tillie was employed by the PGA to help make the courses easier to maintain, while still utilizing strategic concepts. At least thats what I got out of it.

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