News:

This discussion group is best enjoyed using Google Chrome, Firefox or Safari.


Chris Buie

  • Karma: +0/-0
The Story of Overhills
« on: October 16, 2010, 10:04:25 AM »
You know it used to be so thick and wooded. As a little girl we used to ride the bus there. So the school bus used to go down there and make that circle around. Once you hit Overhills, it could be bright daylight on HWY 87, soon as you hit that dirt road it was like dark because the pine trees were so tall and so many it blocked the sun and could be just like a little dark cool place that you was going into.
It was just like their little secret world.

                                                                 - Glodean Robinson



PREFACE
We were discussing private golf courses on here recently and I mentioned a course I've been meaning to write about.  Apparently, there is not much information to be found specifically regarding the design of the course.  I've included what I could find.  Since the story is singular and not well known I've taken the liberty of including anecdotes that convey the ambiance. Most of the photos are from the North Carolina State Archives.  The anecdotes are primarily from an engaging book called OVERHILLS ORAL HISTORY by Jeffrey D. Irwin and Kaitlin O’Shea.  I think you'd find it an interesting read and a worthy addition to your library.
In October of 2023, I published a 'mini-book' or pamphlet specifically about the ingenious design of the course: LINK

THE STORY
It was a certain mystery. People would say, where are you working? I'd say Overhills and they'd go where? Who? Nobody really knew much about it. I mean you go down 87 or you go down Vass Road, you really don't see it.
-Sandy Hemingway

Beyond a particular grove of longleaf pines near Pinehurst was a private estate owned by the Rockefellers and a few of their friends - the likes of Averell Harriman. When he wasn't wrestling with Churchill, FDR, Stalin, etc. about the fate of the modern world that behemoth would visit his cottage for a well deserved rest.  Preventing WWIII from happening being a rather demanding affair. 

That a man who could go pretty much anywhere he wanted chose Overhills makes a large statement about the nature of the estate.



Among the other prominent members was George Herbert Walker. Walker was president of the United States Golf Association at the time. His grandson and great-grandson were both named for him - as well as both being Presidents of the United States.



To make sure the estate was a fitting caliber they got Donald Ross to design their 18 hole course.


All in all the whole affair was rather extraordinary: a polo field, a private railroad depot, dairy, extensive equestrian and hunting facilities, etc.  Along with the distinction of having a private Ross course perhaps the most interesting feature for me is the folklore. The estate had a profound place in the lives of many people in the area as well as large personages and families.  "This idyllic Southern Arcadia" was the rarefied backdrop for many visitors as well as the local working population - and all of their children - for whom the course served as a playground as well as a golfing area.

Toward the beginning of the 20th Century the Rockefellers acquired an 11,000 acre estate contiguous with the massive Ft. Bragg property. It was originally owned in the 18th and 19th centuries by the McDiamarid family.  Their Ardnave Plantation, seated along the Lower Little River near the village of Manchester, was the home of Daniel McDiarmid throughout much of the nineteenth century.  Daniel was the son of Highland Scot immigrant and Presbyterian Minister Angus McDiarmid.

Ft. Bragg was one of largest military bases in the US - even before they added Overhills to it in 1997. When the sale of the Overhills community became imminent there was concern amongst historians, Ross aficionados and the local population.

The army humored them and went through the motions of listening to these populations by letting them offer ways to preserve rather than destroy this exquisite piece of American heritage.  My personal favorite desperate attempt to save it was the Camp David South concept - a presidential retreat.  However, as with several other golfing facilities it was ultimately absorbed by the military. During WWII Augusta National was turned over to the war effort (turkeys and cattle were the only things you would see roaming the fairways there during that war).  In Overhills case it was not returned to its original use. 

THE SQUIRE OF OVERHILLS


The squire of the estate was Percy Rockefeller - a member of Skull and Bones.  He "was labeled in 1910 as one of the coming rulers in banking, steel, railroads, oil, and sugar. After a career aggressively involved in a wide range of capitalist enterprises, Rockefeller died at a young 57, following an operation for ulcers of the stomach".  (His son Avery succeeded him as benevolent dictator after Percy's passing.) He and Harriman had a proper falling out due to the fact that Percy was a fox hunter while Averell preferred to hunt birds.  After the fox hounds interfered with Averell's bird hunting a couple of times matters came to a head with Percy not being willing to curtail his hunting rituals.  Averell sold his house and left for good.  He left the hunting dogs behind as well.
Averell and his daughters on the porch of his Overhills cottage:



THE GOLF


Before delving into the particulars of the course, there are a couple of points which will give you some perspective on why Overhills was imbued with an uncommon mystique.
Usually, a golf course architect is given about ~200 acres to work with. Cost is, of course, also a major factor in determining what is wrought by the designer, as well. Here is a direct quote regarding the marching orders which were given to Mr. Ross:

"Here, Mr. Ross, you have 3,500 acres of property to choose from.  I want a golf course that will have no superior - you are the doctor and do anything you want to - and do not consider expense when making your plans, you have an absolutely free hand."

In other words, the Rembrandt of golf course design was given over 10 times the usual amount of land to work with - and cost was not a consideration. Keep in mind that this is part of the same ideal sandy loam golfing terrain as the home of American golf next door - in Pinehurst.
And, through close inspection, you will see that Ross brought the full force of his genius to bear in forming this particular golfing area.



For the readers joining us who are not entirely familiar with the Ross biography one thing worth noting that he was mentored at St. Andrews in Scotland under the personal guidance of no less that Old Tom Morris. In addition to winning the (British) Open four times, Morris is universally considered the supreme patriarch of the game of golf.



The second fact to keep in mind is that this area was - just like Augusta National - a nursery with a kaleidoscope of professionally cultivated plant species. (Mind you, Overhills was created 20 years before Augusta.)



Kim Elliman (a Rockefeller):
"[The golf course] was a backdrop; it was everyone's view shed. And my grandmother took loving care of the planting both with the dogwood and other flowering plants and trees. So if you could imagine the sequence of it: you had daffodils, you had dogwoods, you had azaleas, and the budding really flowers were really focused on March 15 for six weeks and the end of April, which was when there was the heaviest use. And it really was sort of just gorgeous. It was a kid's paradise to play in, but it was just gorgeous."

Florence Short:
"You know when I'd take friends down there was usually somebody that loved the golf course. And in earlier years, if you came earlier in the spring it would all be kind of purple with bluets growing. So you'd arrive and it would just be purple."


Let's have a look at the reflections from some of the people who were there...

From "Overhills Oral History":

Bob Model (a Rockefeller):
"The front nine was magnificent and I can remember playing. To my recollection there was only one hole-in-one on the ninth hole. And in those days they were sand greens. Were you aware of that? I guess you were, of course. And those were sand greens. So I can remember when there were sand greens. And I can remember when we moved away from the sand greens. Lotes ran the golf course and did a wonderful job. I can't remember when we started trying to recreate the second nine. I don't know the layout today as opposed to when it was first – because during the war they let the second nine [get overgrown].
In my view, the front nine was the old fashioned part of the course and the back nine was trying to modernize what Donald Ross had done. Probably from a historical perspective, had they kept the sand greens and had they kept the whole course as a complete original Donald Ross course, that would be something I think that would be very unique. And interestingly I doubt we would have ever put in, had Pat not been really interested in golf, I doubt we would have converted because there would have been no need to have done that. But Pat's wife was a golfer and they had friends who came down and golfed. And people were used to country club golf so we tried to make the course a compromise. But it was a family course and it was never anything but that. It never got used very much and so consequently we really didn't – it was whatever you did for the greens and whatever you did was fine, I think. It was never considered to be anything other than just a place for the family to get out there anytime they wanted to. To my knowledge it never really got used that heavily. But in the retrospect scope, it really is too bad that it wasn't kept as an example. Today that would mean something. Thirty years ago it didn't mean that much.
And the other thing is: you probably noticed that on the golf course with the exception of a couple on the front nine, I'm trying to think which ones, you're always hitting into a hill. I don't know if you noticed that. But you're hitting into a hill. Number six you still you were hitting into a hill. That was that lovely course. Number seven you didn't hit into a hill. Three, was a par 3 and you hit into a hill. And four was par 5 and there was a small hill. Five there was a par 3 and you hit up into a hill. Six was that beautiful one that you hit off but it was always into a hill. Seven wasn't into a hill. Eight was into a hill. And nine they made it into a par 3 but it should have been a par 4 and it was down in a hole and you'd have been hitting into a hill. But a big drive in those days was a 180-200 yards."





Bob Model:
"Everybody walked on [the golf course]. I can remember in the early days, my aunt and uncle, Uncle Avery, they used to go up to number five, get up on top there and have tea. You'd have tea out there in the afternoon. In that generation everybody had tea in the afternoon. But anyway they had tea out there. They'd go out there and watch the sunset. And then Pat was very interested in golf, his wife was a golfer, and golf became popular. My father was a golfer and he used to go over to Pinehurst to play golf. In those days you could hardly get on the course over there. He always played No. 2 [Pinehurst]. I remember that. He played at Overhills, but he had friends over there and much more of a competitive type golfer. I can remember the early 50s, it was kind of a hike over there, we'd go down to Vass Road and then you'd take a left down on Young's Road."

The son of a valet there was apparently an ace golfer (Bert Alabaster) and won several employee tournaments.  He had a dog that was an expert at shagging balls as well.

Louise Alabaster:
"Now that's his dog Spud. They said that this dog retrieved about 84 golf balls in less than one hour on the golf course. He'd just run, take them up, and drop them by in front of Bert, my husband. That's my husband when he was playing golf out there. He grew up out there. He spent most of time on the golf course and he used to play with the Rockefellers or caddy for them when they were there. He played all his life. I was a Sunday afternoon widow and Wednesday afternoon widow. He had work sometimes, but he played every time he had the chance, which was good. Everybody needs some outlet of some kind. We'd go out on the golf course and then lots of times they [the Bruces] would invite us over for dinner or something like that. We‟d just have a good time visiting through dinner and afterwards just sit talking. Sometimes we‟d go in the afternoon so that my husband could play golf with Mr. Bruce on the golf course. I‟d be in the Clubhouse with Ms. Bruce and we‟d just chat and do things women do when they get together. Gossip, I guess. There was nobody out there. Now usually they were because they‟re the ones that gave us permission to use it. They said Bert was welcome anytime he wanted to come, but he still felt like he had to okay it with them and usually they invited us to have a meal with them. They were real good friends."

Lotes Holmes:
"I did par the back nine one time. We had par 35 on the front nine and par 37 on the back nine, made 72. I did par the back nine 37, nine straight pars one time. That was the only time I ever did that. I lived on the course and got to play anytime I wanted to in other words and we did play it. We enjoyed it. Every Sunday afternoon Mr. Bruce and Mrs. Bruce would go out. She had some clubs and she would play along with us too. We would usually walk in the afternoon, Sunday afternoon and play nine."

Dennis Washington:
"My mom's pop had worked at Overhills way back when they were building, when they were constructing the golf course. Her grandpop had worked there, okay, when that golf course was under construction. You can imagine building a golf course without bulldozers, without chain saws and the things that we use today. But she would tell stories about how hard the work was to get it to the point where they could play golf there. I think the original greens were sand, not grass."

There are a couple of passages in the Oral History which presage the Naturalistic aesthetic that this board so values:

Freeman Tyler:
"There's one thing I can say about him is he was peculiar about the way you trimmed your shrubbery and stuff like that. He didn't like to see nothing manicured. He liked everything left natural. We'd do pruning on our shrubbery and stuff but we'd do it to where it looked like it hadn't been cut."

Tommy McPhail:
"We were out there working on the golf course one day and me and a group were planting dogwood trees, the small dogwood trees up around Bird Song. I was sort of put in charge how to do them. I thought we'll just put them in a semicircle here and that will be pretty. We start digging holes and Miss Avery just happened to be walking out. She says, “Tom, Tommy” – they always called me Tom - “What are we doing today?” I said, “We're putting out some of these pretty dogwoods out here for you.” She said, “How are we doing it?” I said, “Well my thought was to put them in a line, in a semicircle here.” “No, no, no, we can't do it like that.” I said, “Yes ma'am, how do we need to do it then?” She said, “We need to put them out there as the Lord would have put them out there.”
--
CLUBHOUSE


The clubhouse was designed by the New York architectural firm Tracy and Swartwout. Among their projects were the Yale Club in New York and the cloister garden at the Skull and Bones compound in New Haven. Evarts Tracy was himself a member of Skull and Bones, as well.

Ed Bruce, Jr.:
"The Clubhouse to me was always an interesting place. The Clubhouse had one big room in it, that's what I call the living room, with a big fireplace and a big moose head above the fireplace with big antlers. And facing the fireplace was a big sofa. And in front of it was a stool, a foot stool, it had like a log that must have been six feet, seven feet long with the top part of it cut off so it was flat like you cut it in half. Then two little logs on each end that would curve to match the curvature of the log. And this thing set in it. I can remember sitting in there a lot up near the fireplace or we'd play games in there on the sofa and the stool.
[They] had the big library room with shelves along one side with books in it. And then it had a gun room to where it had the racks down where people would keep their guns. I guess if when you were there as a member of the stock club or hunting club you could leave your guns there. And it had all these cabinets down below where you keep the shells and boxes of clay pigeons they'd use for shooting practice. The clay pigeon shooter was located over there not far out on the golf course from Croatan.
I was always impressed going back into the kitchen. The cook would be there, Macy, and [he] had this great big long wood cook stove also where you do the cooking. And up in the ceiling it had this chandelier light of course it was electric at this time. But prior to that it was one of the chandelier lights that had a chain hooked to it on the side wall and you could let it down. It was one of these gas lanterns that you used before electricity or in case the electricity went out."

Patricia Penny:
"Alright, to walk up the steps on the front porch – the porch was unbelievable. It was really huge and all the way from one end to the other was the most gorgeous wicker furniture. The whole thing was furnished, just absolutely elegant. And then as you walked in the big front doors there was a huge lobby that had a tremendous fireplace right in the center over on the backside."

Dorothy Yantis:
"Oh, I wish you could have seen it."
 
Overhills today:
« Last Edit: October 19, 2023, 08:19:39 AM by Chris Buie »

Jimmy Muratt

  • Karma: +0/-0
Fascinating story about a course that I was unaware of.  Thank you for sharing.

Zack Molnar

  • Karma: +0/-0
fascinating story. Thank you for sharing. Is the course still in shape for play, or has it been let go over the years?

Craig Disher

  • Karma: +0/-0
Chris,
More great stuff from you. Thanks.

You may have already seen this material but the Ft. Bragg website has some historic information on Overhills. The power point document has some nice photos of the course as well as a Ross drawing of one of the holes. Perhaps the Tufts Archives has the originals. I have an aerial of the property somewhere on my hd. I'll try to find it and post it.

http://www.bragg.army.mil/culturalresources/pages/overhills.htm

I recall that a year or so ago one of the larger buildings at Overhills burned - probably torched by pranksters - and was completely destroyed.

Have you tried to visit the site yourself?

Craig Disher

  • Karma: +0/-0
Found it. This was taken in 1941. It's clear that only 9 holes were maintained and those had sand greens - note the small white circles superimposed on the larger fill pads. The other 9 look so rugged that I wonder if they had been abandoned in the early 1930s.


Chris Buie

  • Karma: +0/-0
Zack, it is not used for golf anymore.  The land is used for military training now.  There used to be talk about trying to retain the estate for it's historical value or as a sort of golf camp for troubled youth - among other things.  I am not aware of any current discussions about restoring the place.
Turnberry in Scotland was in pretty bad shape after it was used as an airbase during WWII.  But they saw fit to restore it.
I certainly want our military to have what they need for proper training.  I know many people who work and train there and I know a lot about the area.  Even with that knowledge I can't quite say yet whether or not they should have preserved it.  If the land was truly essential to their training then so be it.  However, there are many, many large tracts of land near by that have similar acreage.  I'm not quite sure what was the right course of action there.  
I can say I am sorry it is not restored and being used for something great.  And I can say that there are many instances when irreplaceable pieces of our national identity were not properly handled.  
But like I said, if it is true that it was essential to our military I can accept that - and they have my best wishes.  If it was not essential and they could just as easily be doing their training on a near by tract then I do object.  I have a lot of info about it - but not enough to make a definitive call.

Craig, yes, one of the main buildings did burn down recently.  There were accusations of negligence on the Army's part by some of the historians and locals.  But, as I said above - I don't know enough to render a clear eyed judgment on that.  If I did I would say something about it - but I would not be too harsh about it because those guys have been in a continual war for almost a decade now - and we can not expect them to do everything just right.  They are working incredibly hard and I think they need moral support rather than being nagged - even about something as valuable as Overhills.  

No I have not visited the property.  Hopefully, that will change soon.

Very nice aerial photo Craig.
« Last Edit: July 14, 2011, 07:36:22 AM by Chris Buie »

Craig Disher

  • Karma: +0/-0
Chris,
I went through basic training at Ft. Bragg and have some acquaintance with the undeveloped areas around the main base  ;) I've known about Overhills for a while and thought that it could have been easily refurbished into an r&r area for the wounded vets. I live in DC and have hosted a few who are recuperating at Walter Reed; a week at a quiet spot like Overhills would have been a great treat for them. I'm sure restoring the buildings and the course to a decent standard would have been almost a rounding error in our defense budget - and probably a lot of the work could have been done pro bono.

Ed Oden

  • Karma: +0/-0
Chris, thanks for sharing.  This is very cool stuff.  According to the Tufts website, they have Ross' field sketches for the 2nd and 8th holes.  Have you looked at them?  I also found a reference to a Winter 2001 article in Triad Golf Today about Overhills, but it is no longer available online.  Have you seen that?  I don't have a copy, but I think Wexler's Lost Links had a chapter on Overhills.

If anyone is interested:

...here is a link to an online pdf of the Overhills Oral History Chris references above... http://www.bragg.army.mil/culturalresources/Docs/pdfs/OVERHILLS%20Oral%20History%20Report%206.2.2009.pdf

...and this link has a few more pictures that I didn't see already posted above or in the Oral History pdf... http://books.google.com/books?id=vYAA2N4MnYoC&pg=PA66&lpg=PA66&dq=overhills+golf&source=bl&ots=FqOxDI7tXU&sig=08kvji4lZ6Wdc-I2A0z22mn9S0A&hl=en&ei=atq5TNXmGMaqlAfpqLC1DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CCgQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=overhills%20golf&f=false

...and here is a slightly different aerial I found... http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pfwilson/golfcourseaerial.jpg



Mike Sweeney

Slightly confused. Chris' opening post says it is Rockefeller estate, but Ed's links make it sound like an exclusive quiet retreat ? Was it both or did I miss something?

Craig Disher

  • Karma: +0/-0
Slightly confused. Chris' opening post says it is Rockefeller estate, but Ed's links make it sound like an exclusive quiet retreat ? Was it both or did I miss something?

Mike,
I believe Overhills was a private retreat for members which by the 1920s had come under the ownership of one of the Rockefellers and Averell Harriman. Harriman eventually backed out, the Rockefeller died and ownership passed to the Rockefeller family which used it as a family retreat until it was sold to the US government.
« Last Edit: October 16, 2010, 11:46:28 PM by Craig Disher »

Chris Buie

  • Karma: +0/-0
Quote
Slightly confused. Chris' opening post says it is Rockefeller estate, but Ed's links make it sound like an exclusive quiet retreat ? Was it both or did I miss something? - Mike Sweeney

Hi Mike.  Here is my opening statement:
Overhills was a private course about 20 miles from Pinehurst built for the Rockefellers and a few of their friends - the likes of Averell Harriman.

That is pretty clear, is it not?
The story is very long and involved.  You can find much more information about the ownership and other things in the book - which is worth reading from several different perspectives (golf, historical, rural Americana, etc.)

Here are some more (NC Archives) images from a link that Mr. Oden pointed out.  
This is the 8th hole (1st hole on the left).  The bunker is 140 yards off the tee - ready and waiting to grab that hooked guttie.  Doesn't that terrain look terrific?  It is the same soil over there as in Pinehurst by the way.  Ross must have been very happy to see that because he never got tired of weaving his fairways through the sandy loam.


This is the 418 yard 6th hole in 1920.  The fairway bunkers were between 180 and 220 off the tee.
"A wiregrass mound on the left side of the fairway about 350 yards off the tee preceeded two small bunkers flanking the green.  With an elevated tee and a low ridge crossing the fairway, this single hole challenged the golfer with multiple elevation changes.  The only earth moved to create this hole came from the tee boxes, bunkers, and greens."

« Last Edit: October 20, 2010, 07:19:48 PM by Chris Buie »

Mac Plumart

  • Karma: +0/-0
Golf Club Atlas at its finest.  Truly excellent stuff.  Thanks!
Sportsman/Adventure loving golfer.

Tiger_Bernhardt

  • Karma: +0/-0
Jimmy Were you a or are you trying to join now? lol This is a very cool topic about a course I never heard of. It is so near Ran it hurts.
« Last Edit: November 03, 2010, 10:57:21 PM by Tiger_Bernhardt »

Mike Sweeney

Chris,

I should have been more specific with my question, I was thinking of the Rockefellers in St John, Virgin Islands. From Wikipedia, "In 1956, Laurance Rockefeller donated most of the land he had acquired on the island to the United States' National Park Service, under the condition that it must be protected from future development. The remaining portion, the Caneel Bay Resort, continues to operate on a lease arrangement while the park owns the actual land."

So my thought was perhaps the golf course could be carved out and away from the Rockefeller (and others) agreement similar to Caneel? Obviously this is not the current era to re-build a golf course, but maybe someday. Regardless, thanks for posting and taking the time.

There is not room for 18, but I always thought Caneel had enough flat property to squeeze in a 9 hole course, but it would never fly these days even on golf starved St John.

PS. Bob Huntley - Enjoy the aerial!

« Last Edit: October 18, 2010, 05:43:35 AM by Mike Sweeney »

Tom MacWood

  • Karma: +0/-0
Chris
That is fascinating. Do you know when the course was built, I've seen different dates associated it? Do you know if it was always 18 holes or was it originally nine and then expanded?

Phil_the_Author

Chris,

WONDERFUL piece!

What I find the most fascinating is the list of yardages from the print... measured in TENTHS OF YARDS! I can't ever recall seeing a course measured that way. Has anyone else seen it or is this possibly the only time? Chris, do you know why it was measured to the tenth?

PCCraig

  • Karma: +0/-0
Chris:

GREAT post, thank you very much for sharing. Can't wait for more on what happened to the course...
H.P.S.

Chris Buie

  • Karma: +0/-0
Mike, that is interesting about Caneel.  I hadn't heard of that before.  I suppose they had estates all over the place.  Some of the family still live here in the area.

Tom, I did not find a specific date that the course was designed and constructed.  However, I did find a sketch that is dated 1916. The sketch is from the Overhills Maps Collection at the Fort Bragg Cultural Resources Center.


Philip, thanks, and yes I noticed the ultra precise measurements as well.  I've never seen anything like that before.

Friday night I ran into one of the guys that does some uncommon work over there and he said it would be ok for me to visit.  I was going to go over there yesterday actually but it was so perfect out I couldn't resist the offer to play instead.  I will go over there very soon though and I'll let you know how it turns out.  Hopefully I won't be mistaken for some practice scenario and get inadvertently whisked off to some Robin Sage rough up deal!

You want a bit more ephemera from the place?
There was a strong Yale connection.  And Harriman was in Skull and Bones with Percy Rockefeller.

Like Augusta the place was a nursery before it was a golf course.  From the Oral History:
"A partial list of products includes: Oak trees, Texas Umbrella trees, Norway Maples, Southern Magnolias, grapevines, apple trees, and Pineapple blight proof pear trees, as well as English Laurel, Nandina, Border Forsythia, Japanese Privet, Deodara Cedar, Flowering Quince, Firethorn, and Amur River Privet."

G.H. Walker liked the course.  That would be the grandfather and great-grandfather of the Bush presidents.  Walker had a tournament named after him too I believe.

More from the Oral History:
"It would change over the years, being reduced in length, the back nine holes abandoned and then renovated and the layout altered. Few records related to the course or golf activity survive. A diary from 1923 indicates fairly informal play by some guests walking less than eighteen holes and shooting well above par. The only tournaments known to have been played were held by Overhills staff, at least a few of whom was quite skilled. In the 1920s, Fort Bragg soldiers and their lady friends were invited to play the course during summer months for a fee."

Hi Pat!
« Last Edit: July 14, 2011, 04:02:50 PM by Chris Buie »

Craig Disher

  • Karma: +0/-0
The course and surrounding property was sold by the Rockefellers to the US government in the late 90s so the chance of it ever reappearing as a golf destination is about nil. Military bases always seem to have a golf course or two but since Ft. Bragg already has one I doubt Overhills would ever be re-developed.

Ross built the first 9 in 1913; a second 9 was finished by 1917.

Scott_Burroughs

  • Karma: +0/-0
Here was the Aerial of the Day #423 of Overhills, almost exactly 7 years ago, the first shown during 'NLE week':

http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,6724.0/

Unfortunately, none of the links posted in the 'reveal post' still work.

Craig Disher

  • Karma: +0/-0
Reading through the oral history of Overhills gives this observation on the gca:

"And the other thing is: you probably noticed that on the golf course with the exception of a couple on the front nine, I‟m trying to think which ones, you're always hitting into a hill. I don't know if you noticed that. But you're hitting into a hill. Number six you still you were hitting into a hill. That was that lovely course. Number seven you didn't hit into a hill. Three, was a par 3 and you hit into a hill. And four was par 5 and there was a small hill. Five there was a par 3 and you hit up into a hill. Six was that beautiful one that you hit off but it was always into a hill. Seven wasn't into a hill. Eight was into a hill. And nine they made it into a par 3 but it should have been a par 4 and it was down in a hole and you'd have been hitting into a hill. But a big drive in those days was a 180-200 yards. Now people are hitting 300 yards, 400 yards, whatever it is. That's the difference."   

- Bob Model, a Rockefeller family member who spent a lot of time at Overhills in the 1950s and 1960s.

Ross never seemed to tire of using that feature to lengthen a short course.

Chris Buie

  • Karma: +0/-0
Yeah, Bob Model's observations that Craig pointed out above were included in my original post.  It would be easy to miss because there is a lot of information on the thread.

Bob_Huntley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Mike,

Thanks for the Caneel Bay shot, a little piece of heaven.

Bob

Tom MacWood

  • Karma: +0/-0
Chris
Do you know when Rockefeller purchased the property?

What is Overhills Club Hotel Co.? From the sounds of that one gets the impression there may have been other plans for the golf course. The size and appearance of the clubhouse gives that impression too.

TEPaul

Chris Buie:

The history of Overhills and the course is an interesting subject but allow me to plug you in to something slightly ancilliary to it that just might help explain the entire reason for the existence of something like that. It also just might blow your mind and a number of others on here----that is if there is truth to it!

What I'm referring to is a book by the title of "The Unauthorized Biography of George Bush." It was written in 1991 and it's about #41 and the world he came from. The book is by Webster Tarpley who I believe was a professor at Princeton. Someone sent me a link to one chapter of the book that was on Hobe Sound Florida, that Tarpley claimed was (is?) the winter community of a group of people going back generations who he says are arguably the creators of and the power behind the US Intelligence Community.

But it's more than that. Tarpley takes this thing I suppose one could call a cabal back over two hundreds years to the beginning of this country and a group that could probably be called "Royalists." Their spawning ground was very much around those so-called "secret societies" of the Ivy League colleges and particularly Yale's "Scull and Bones."

Tarpley refers to this group as the "ANGLO-AMERICAN MALTHUSIAN MONEYCRAT OLIGARGHY" (how about that one for a handle?  ??? ::) ;) ) and he claims their two hundred year old primary interests were two----eg population control and the intelligence community!

All the names that are connected to Overhills are there in that book---all of them and particularly including the likes of Averell Harriman and G.H. Walker.

Tarpley's point is that somewhere along the line these Anglo-Americans figured out that they were being out populated and over time that wasn't goint to work out well for them. So they proposed and inspired and funded early population control which believe me was definitely not pretty in concept, even though ironically it eventually morphed into Planned Parenthood which very ironically George Bush's mother was one of the founders of.

But the business and intelligence community side of it is something else. He say the American financial side of it was essentially Brown Brothers Harriman which eventually ended up funding the Third Reich until they were formally disabused of that by what was called the Enemy's Act in 1942.

Anyway there is more---lots more and I'm sorry but I don't even know how to link thngs onto this website and so if someone would go on Google and look up Webster Tarpley and this particular book they could link it onto this thread.

It's one helluva read and even though it seemed to me to be a real conspiracy theory book when one considers the bibliography in it and the fact that a whole lot of this classified material from back then is now beginning to be declassified it sure does give one pause and food for thought.

And for me personally, it really gave me pause as about 3/4 of the families mentioned in that book I grew up with in school, in New York, Boston, Florida (Hobe Sound) etc, etc, but little did I know that half my friends came from the families that made up the "ANGLO-AMERICAN MALTUSIAN MONEYCRAT OLIGARGHY!!"    ??? ::) :o :-[ :-X :-\ :'(

Apparently, Overhills was just one of their many playgrounds and meeting places. I wonder what they talked about when out there in the North Carolina woods with no one from the great oppressed outside world to see them or hear them?  ;)

« Last Edit: October 19, 2010, 08:22:37 AM by TEPaul »

Tags:
Tags:

An Error Has Occurred!

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()
Back