Golf Club Atlas
GolfClubAtlas.com => Golf Course Architecture => Topic started by: John Challenger on December 20, 2022, 05:14:28 PM
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Brad Becken on Donald Ross mentions Raritan CC and Chevy Chase CC as H. H. Barker/Donald Ross collaborations. There must have been many other courses pre-WW1 from 1909 to 1914 that they worked on either in collaboration or in different stages of the same project.
Golf clubs often found architects by relying upon the golfing magazines or catalogs of the day. Started in November 1908, Walter Travis’ American Golfer was perhaps the most widely read golf magazine in the U.S. at the start of the Golden Age in the years just before WW1.Travis had strong ideas about architecture. He was in the midst of redesigning Garden City GC and writing constantly in the magazine about his plans and ideas for the golf course. He wrote often about golf architecture and how a modern golf course should be designed or not be designed.
Travis’ magazine was read by people in every corner of North America. As his reputation grew as a golf course expert, he was inundated by requests for help in routing and design. He decided to designate his new, young pro at Garden City, H.H. Barker, as his surrogate. Since 1907, Travis had been explaining to Barker the changes he wanted on the Garden City golf course and Barker helped him with the work. Travis realized he could set Barker up in business and pass the leads on to him. Barker quickly became a road warrior and for the rest of the time he lived in the U.S., he travelled thousands of miles each year around the hinterland of the country. Travis started putting ads for Barker’s routing services in the magazine and then even more opportunities flooded in. Originally, Barker was the only architect whose services were advertised in American Golfer.
Pinehurst started to take out full page ads in American Golfer. Travis then started to cover events at Pinehurst and it was soon a featured section. Travis also played golf at Pinehurst on a regular basis in winter with Leonard Tufts and with Donald Ross. Next, Travis allowed two architects to advertise in American Golfer: H.H. Barker and Donald Ross. In the beginning, Ross was only allowed to advertise as an instructor, but after several months, Ross was allowed to position himself as a course designer. At the time, Ross seemed to be best known as a great bunker man but he was also building his reputation as a course designer and constructor. Before the WW1, Travis was able to help both Barker and Ross land scads of jobs.
Walter Travis was really at the center of everything in those first years of the Golden Age in the United States. He was an extraordinary golfer and entrepreneur and voice of golf, and he was the instigator of so many of the great brouhahas. It’s amazing he was able to keep his amateur status when caddy/golfers like Francis Ouimet and Chick Evans had such a difficult time of it.
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b
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Terrific post, John. I'm hoping to do an IMO piece on the relationship between Travis and Barker if I can find enough contemporaneous material to substantiate my presently jello-thick theory.
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Wow! I have been hanging around Garden City Golf Club for many years but I never realized that H.H. Barker had been the professional there.
Sounds like he didn't have a lot of time to give lessons!
John, you mentioned that Barker did a lot of traveling for work "for the rest of the time he lived in the U.S." Did he go back to the U.K.? And if so, do you know when that was?
It's interesting that Travis set up Barker, much like Macdonald set up Raynor, even though Travis was more of an entrepreneur and not independently wealthy like C.B. I wonder if Travis owned part of Barker's company?
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The Travis Society is always on the lookout for new members.
Here is a link to our membership form (no application; we admit everyone!)
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSedN74Kf8Q73q-DwZSFRqRuexcpuxzFU0Zcozy2fpKLp7rQeA/viewform (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSedN74Kf8Q73q-DwZSFRqRuexcpuxzFU0Zcozy2fpKLp7rQeA/viewform)
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Tom, Barker left the U.S. in the summer of 1915 and did not return when the war was over. He started at Garden City in the fall of 1907. He moved to Rumson CC in early 1911. He must have also played a lot of golf during his U.S. years because he finished in the top 10 in three U.S. Opens in 1909, 1910 and 1911. He wrote an article for American Golfer in April 1909 titled "British and American Golfers," but it may have been written by Travis. It would be very interesting to know if Travis found a way to take a cut on Barker's golf course routing work. My guess is yes. He just seems too tenacious to give Barker all that work altruistically.
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The Travis Society is always on the lookout for new members.
Here is a link to our membership form (no application; we admit everyone!)
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSedN74Kf8Q73q-DwZSFRqRuexcpuxzFU0Zcozy2fpKLp7rQeA/viewform (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSedN74Kf8Q73q-DwZSFRqRuexcpuxzFU0Zcozy2fpKLp7rQeA/viewform)
Fixed that font for you, Ron. ;D
Good to see John C. that you are thinking along the same lines as I am. For the record, unlike many golf professionals who emigrated to the US during that period, Barker had never designed a golf course prior to coming to the United States. Within two years he was getting plum assignments at the most toney golf clubs in the country with absolutely no resume of architectural accomplishment.
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Fascinating history.
Barker's history reminds of Willie Watson, another pioneer in America who may also be under appreciated.
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I'll need to go back and look but I believe Barker was already receiving plum architectural jobs in the US by 1908 without any prior direct architectural experience.
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Fascinating thread. I have not been able to find a good list of courses designed by Barker. Does anyone have a list that they can share?
Thanks.
Ira
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Thanks Mike. I do hear you in regard to your first post. It would be valuable to know if Barker did any work in the U.S. in 1908 and if so how he came by it. Perhaps, he did some initial work in the NYC area as Travis started to test him out. Hoping Sven might have something and know of other courses where both Barker and Ross worked from 1909 to 1915 when he left the U.S. for good. He had health problems and he moved around a lot after he left Garden City. Before coming to the U.S. in late 1907, Barker was a strong, young amateur golfer in the Yorkshire area. There seemed to be surprise in the local professional community when he landed a professional's job in the United States. And, it was Garden City! It would be good to know how Garden City and/or Travis found him.
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Thank you, Mike. I cannot understand the functionality of this discussion board app. Why it does that, in the year 2022, is beyond me.
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Whoever Speedy Jeff is, great to have you along at the WJTS. Hope more folks join at our low price, and help us in our Travis-based mission.
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John,
Thanks! I'm going to wade into these thickets as a winter project. Wish me luck!
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Robert Calton, a member at Belle Meade Country Club in Nashville, wrote a booklet on HH Barker that he published back in 2013. Somewhere on here there is probably a thread where he asked for info and I was happy to give him what I had from UK publications.
Firstly in terms of prior design work before he arrived in the US, Barker was a member at Huddersfield where Sandy Herd was the professional. As a former Open champion Herd got a reasonable amount of design work although I don't think he chased the work too much. He certainly wasn't in the same league as Braid, but anyway, in 1907 according to the club history Herd "staked out" an 18 hole course for Bradley Hall Golf Club. The club centenary book goes on to say that "Mr HH Barker, the Yorkshire and Irish Champion, has also seen the ground, and agrees with Herd that it is eminently playable. The promoters, therefore, have every encouragement to proceed with the work."
Calton suggests this was probably Barkers first taste of golf course design. By this time Barker was one of the leading amateurs in the country. At the end of June 1907 he was playing in the Open, partnering Harry Vardon in the first two rounds. This was probably his swan song in the amateur ranks as he quickly thereafter (June/July) accepted the post at Garden City.
He doesn't seem to have been in too much of a hurry to get there though as Calton has him arriving in New York on 29th September. Calton speculates that Walter Travis might have had something to do with Barker getting the job at Garden City although doesn't suggest how the connection came about. Was Barker at Sandwich in 1904 for the Amateur and met Travis then ?
Anyway, when Barker arrived, Travis apparently was in the process of making changes to the Garden City course which he discussed with Travis. Thereafter Barker seems to have had a number of commissions. The American Golfer of July 1909 gives his designs as follows;
The Richmond Country Club, Richmond (Va)
Waverly Golf Club, Portland Oregon
Spokane Country Club
Rumson Country Club, Seabright, NJ
Mayfield Club, Cleveland, Ohio
Bedford Springs Golf Club, PA
Columbia Golf Club, Washington DC
Arcola Country Club, Arcola, NJ
Courses he was "improving" included;
Springhaven Country Club, PA
Philmont Country Club, PA
Atlantic City Country Club, NJ
Newport Golf Club, RI
The booklet then goes on to describe Barker's career including his various visits back to UK, moves to different clubs and other design work that he did. I haven't got time at the moment to go through that but will try and do so later. I'll also see if I can find Robert Calton's email address for anyone interested in contacting him for a copy of his booklet.
Niall
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Thanks, Niall...that's very helpful and produces a number of inquiry leads.
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Thanks Mike. I do hear you in regard to your first post. It would be valuable to know if Barker did any work in the U.S. in 1908 and if so how he came by it. Perhaps, he did some initial work in the NYC area as Travis started to test him out. Hoping Sven might have something and know of other courses where both Barker and Ross worked from 1909 to 1915 when he left the U.S. for good. He had health problems and he moved around a lot after he left Garden City. Before coming to the U.S. in late 1907, Barker was a strong, young amateur golfer in the Yorkshire area. There seemed to be surprise in the local professional community when he landed a professional's job in the United States. And, it was Garden City! It would be good to know how Garden City and/or Travis found him.
John:
I don't have any record of him doing any work in 1908. There's a Sept. 1909 American Golfer article which talks about him getting into design work but notes that the work had all been done in the last several months. My guess is that the first full year he was here (arriving in late 1907) was dedicated to his duties at Garden City.
Curious where you get the health problems fact from. He was healthy enough to return to his home country to serve in WWI at the start of the war (and to return to the US during the war to procure airplane timber).
Also curious as to why his landing the pro job at GCGC was a surprise. He had just won the Irish Amateur in 1906 and played as the No. 2 on the English squad in the England/Scotland match, so he was certainly a known entity in the golf world. Perhaps the surprise is that he opted to turn professional at that time, but perhaps the grass was a bit greener across the pond.
As for Barker and Ross between 1909 and 1915, here's what I have:
Druid Hills - Barker did the layout around 1912 with Ross designing traps a year later.
East Lake - Barker was here around 1910, but I'm not exactly sure what his input amounted to. Ross arrived around 1913 and made suggestions on the traps.
Indian Hill - You would know best what happened here.
Skokie - Barker in 1910 rearranging to incorporate new land, Ross in 1914 with his workmore than just traps.
Columbia - Reports of the two working together on the layout in 1909.
Detroit GC - Barker remodeled the old course in 1911, Ross did the new course in 1914.
Charlotte (Mecklenburg) - Barker consulted here before Ross did the new course.
Atlantic City - Barker improved the course, Ross brought in a few years later and his engagement cancelled.
Raritan Valley (Somerville) - Barker first, with ross doing trap work in 1914.
Newport - Barker improvements in 1909, Ross work in 1915, although I haven't seen documentation of this.
Sven
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Brad Becken on Donald Ross mentions Raritan CC and Chevy Chase CC as H. H. Barker/Donald Ross collaborations.
At Raritan, Barker preceded Ross by about a year. I have no record of Barker at Chevy Chase. There are articles discussing Ross and Travis working here at the same time. I haven't seen anything to suggest either course was a collaboration.
Golf clubs often found architects by relying upon the golfing magazines or catalogs of the day.
I'd venture word of mouth was a stronger source.
Started in November 1908, Walter Travis’ American Golfer was perhaps the most widely read golf magazine in the U.S. at the start of the Golden Age in the years just before WW1.
Golf Magazine and Golfers Magazine started a few years prior to AG, with The Golfer and Outing magazine predating both of those. In addition, Bendelow and Spalding were producing an annual Official Golf Guide that was widely distributed.
Travis started putting ads for Barker’s routing services in the magazine and then even more opportunities flooded in. Originally, Barker was the only architect whose services were advertised in American Golfer.
This is a little confusing, as it makes it sound like Travis was the impetus for the ads being placed. Are we sure Barker didn't do this himself. And would Travis have let other architects advertise if they'd wanted to? About the only person I can think of that advertised design services before this date was Bendelow (as early as 1900).
Next, Travis allowed two architects to advertise in American Golfer: H.H. Barker and Donald Ross. In the beginning, Ross was only allowed to advertise as an instructor, but after several months, Ross was allowed to position himself as a course designer.
Allowed seems like a strong word unless there is evidence that indeed Travis only allowed these two men to advertise. Is it more a case of these two being the only kids on the block?
At the time, Ross seemed to be best known as a great bunker man but he was also building his reputation as a course designer and constructor.
Let's be clear that this is your interpretation of Ross at the time. There are plenty of accounts from the years around 1913 that describe Ross as more than just a bunker man, including as the "preeminent golf architect in America."
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I was just reading Mike Cirba's great three-part GCA piece on Walter Travis and NGLA. In the third part of Mike's essay, there is a clipping from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle titled "Sweeping Changes at Garden City Links" on January 7, 1908. Could it be the first time Barker talks in the press about a U.S. golf course? "H.H. Barker, the new professional from Ireland, says the links, even with the forty-odd new bunkers, is not hard enough yet. Travis, as chairman of the greens committee, is actively supervising the changes."
It's really an extraordinary article. It describes a near insurrection at Garden City led by Walter Travis. Just 15 months before, he had made wholesale changes to the course. "More striking changes are (now) to be made...It is hardly fifteen months since the course was revolutionized."
"The improvements...were made only after months of the keenest agitation, being carefully limited by vote." Inside the clubhouse, it apparently became so heated that the changes were voted on, perhaps one-by-one in order to limit them. "Some of the older members were bitterly opposed to the shifts, before and after, and much unfair comment was printed theron in the press." The changes were made "...despite the ridicule and abuse which abounded in certain quarters."
Into this NYC cauldron lit by his furious competitive drive, Travis brings in a fresh recruit, an innocent amateur just turned golf professional, the 24-year old H.H. Barker. Travis won't let him go on a listening campaign, appease the older members, and win friends in his first 100 days on the job. Instead, Barker is thrust into the spotlight and forced to take sides, and in the newspapers no less. Before he arrived, for at least 15 months, the controversy had spilled out of the club's boardroom and into the newspapers for the public to read and savor. "H.H. Barker, the new professional says the links, even with forty-odd new bunkers, is not hard enough yet."!!
It goes on to say "Travis, as chairman of the greens committee is actively supervising the changes." His friend, Devereaux Emmet's original design is derided. Emmet has little say in the matter. Travis is the whirlwind driving the revolution.
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Thank you Sven. I think Robert Calton has done the best work on researching and writing about H.H. Barker. He writes about Barker's health issues and he seems dubious that Barker could have written the article that appeared in American Golfer in April 1909. Calton writes about this article saying, "This (article) would seem to be quite an undertaking for a young 26 year old Englishman with only a grammar school education, who had only been in the U.S. - and a golf professional - for a period of eighteen months."
I was looking through early American Golfer magazines, which begin in November 1908. In Travis' fifth issue in March 1909, he goes out of his way to introduce H.H. Barker. Items about him appear in various places. There is one item that describes his amateur golf bona fides and Travis writes, "he is a man of keen observation and pretty wide experience, especially on the other side."
There is an item in another spot which reports that Barker has "recently completed the laying out of new eighteen-hole course for The Richmond (VA.) Country Club...he is now at Portland, Oregon, on a similar mission." Travis may have felt that by sending him on a railroad mission to remote Oregon, Barker couldn't do too much harm.
Then, there is the first commercial advertisement for Barker's services, and for any golf course designer, in the back of the magazine. It says, "I make a specialty of laying out new, and re-arranging old, courses on modern lines."
In the following issue in April 1909, there is the above mentioned bylined article by Barker called "British and American Golfers." In this article, he writes first about how American golfers swing too hard and slash at the ball and try to hit it too far. He gives advice about putting properly. He mentions golf architecture once when he says, "Too many of our courses here are not bunkered sufficiently near the greens and too much opportunity is given for the runner or pitch-and-run shot stroke. On the other side, greens are much more closely guarded and balls have to be pitched with cut - sometimes with decided cut." Travis seemed to refer to the British Isles as "the other side."
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John Challenger,
Thanks for the kind words about the Travis/NGLA series of essays. Your point about Barker learning under Travis's tutelage while Travis implemented changes to toughen the golf course at Garden City is noted, and this May 1908 New York Tribune article suggests that both Travis and Barker were out on the course with shovels digging bunkers!
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52579261127_0663889e65_b.jpg)
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Mike, The phrase "pressed into service" is very interesting.
In just five months, Travis added 60 new bunkers at Garden City, from the 40-odd reported in January 1908 to the over-100 new bunkers built by May 1908. He must have worked feverishly, even using shovel and spade himself, to make this happen. H.H. Barker, the new golf professional, was "pressed into service" by Travis in what may well have been the first course construction work of Barker's career.
By March 1909, H.H. Barker was featured throughout American Golfer as an "expert" in laying out courses. Even though it must have been hard for Travis to pass on the golf course design projects coming his way through the magazine, his extraordinary amateur golfing career was still in full swing, which must have been a great source of pride. Travis was still competing at the highest level with golfers nearly half his age. Travis would have put a priority on protecting his amateur status. He needed to find a solution.
Travis had utilized Garden City's previous golf professional, Stewart Gardner, for the same kind of construction work in the summer of 1906 when Travis had first made his revolutionary changes to the Garden City golf course. In late 1906, Gardner had resigned from Garden City in a dispute with Travis over payment he felt he was owed by Travis for club repairs. By January 1907, Gardner was hired by Exmoor in Chicago for the upcoming season.
On January 2, 1907 the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported on Gardner's resignation. In the article, the reporter said: "The Garden City course, because of its prestige and location, is one of the most coveted posts to be found, and the club is likely to have plenty of talent to choose from in deciding upon his successor."
It is remarkable that Garden City, no doubt led by Walter Travis who in the previous summer had won a contentious battle with older members over his golf course overhaul, decided to hire H. H. Barker, a young, successful amateur golfer from the north country of England. Travis was a force of nature. He may have felt that he needed to find someone, perhaps unlike Gardner, who would do his bidding.
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By March 1909, H.H. Barker was featured throughout American Golfer as an "expert" in laying out courses.
John Challenger,
In April of 1908 it was mentioned that Barker had not had an opportunity to play any other US courses besides Garden City since arriving in the states, not even the nearby Salisbury Links in Garden City, but planned to visit Nassau Country Club later that month to play against the professional there. Through most of that year one could reasonably assume that both men were fairly preoccupied with getting the Garden City course ready for the US Amateur being held there in September. Tough to imagine that Barker had any real experience outside of working with Travis on the Garden City course by March of 1909.
One thing to keep in mind is that Travis was an "amateur" at a time when the Macdonald-driven USGA was seeking to purge anyone who gave off any hint of "professionalism" and Travis, unlike Macdonald, was not born into wealth and privilege and often walked a very thin line in his dealings, leading to multiple accusations of professionalism for various perceived offenses. By 1916, near the end of his playing career, Travis finally just gave in and became a professional architect but prior to then he was involved in a LOT of course designs and renovations and the terms of those endeavors is shrouded with time.
I have a theory I'm looking to substantiate further that Barker was essentially the "professional beard" for Travis's architectural endeavors, whether for profit or to further his passionately held beliefs in "Scientific Architecture", or out of convenience given the challenges of travel schedules to meet demands, at least through the period from 1908 through 1911 when Barker left for Rumson, if not beyond. More to come.
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Thank you, Mike. I cannot understand the functionality of this discussion board app. Why it does that, in the year 2022, is beyond me.
You’ve figured out how to post in the largest font size of any member here but cannot see when you have a link in 0.5 font?
Must be something in the western NY aqua. Grin.
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Mike, I think your theory is plausible especially in the beginning in 1909 when he started to get on the train and travel around the country. I would think Barker learned on the job and improved as he did more work. There was a lot of demand and he had the name of Garden City, American Golfer, and Walter Travis' endorsement as his calling card.
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Mike, I think your theory is quite plausible!
Indeed.
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The disconnect for me is that if Travis and his magazine led to offers pouring in for Barker to design courses, why are such a relatively few courses attributed to Barker? Are there that many NLEs? It otherwise doesn’t add up.
Thanks.
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Ira, You make a good point. My sense is that there are more courses that Barker touched than are known, perhaps because he created basic or clumsy routings that were later discarded or modified.
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Ira, You make a good point. My sense is that there are more courses that Barker touched than are known, perhaps by creating basic or clumsy routings that were later discarded or modified.
I would think it’s comparable to the fate suffered by much of Tom Bendelow’s portfolio despite Barker operating on a seemingly much smaller scale as to the amount of courses he was involved with.
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Another course that Barker may have had a hand in laying out: Cherokee CC in Knoxville, TN. I found reference to it in one Sven's posts in GCA about courses with uncertain attributions. He attaches an article in the Daily Arkansas Gazette from June 29, 1916, which is after H.H. Barker left the United States for good, that says, "the club has recently opened a new course of regulation length, which was laid out by H.H. Barker, the English golf architect."
Also, in May 1909, American Golfer reprinted an item from "The Golfer" a London publication. It appeared only two months after Travis and American Golfer featured Barker in several places throughout the magazine, including Barker's and American Golfer's first advertisement for a golf course designer.
In the item in The Golfer, it says "His association with the Garden City Club, which may fairly be said to be the premier club of America, (music to Travis' ears) has proved mutually (they must have talked with Travis) satisfactory, and he has established for himself a strong position in American golf. In particular he has given deep study (!!) to questions of course architecture, and come to be regarded as one of the best authorities in the States concerning it: his services being in eager demand for the laying-out of courses and the improvement of existing ones." It seems like a product placement by Travis.
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Another course that Barker may have had a hand in laying out: Cherokee CC in Knoxville, TN. I found reference to it in one Sven's posts in GCA about courses with uncertain attributions. He attaches an article in the Daily Arkansas Gazette from June 29, 1916, which is after H.H. Barker left the United States for good, that says, "the club has recently opened a new course of regulation length, which was laid out by H.H. Barker, the English golf architect."
Cherokee was a Barker.
https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,65168.msg1614634.html#msg1614634
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Since someone asked for it earlier in the thread, here's a list of Barker's work. If anyone has any additions or corrections, please let me know.
1907 -
Garden City GC (Garden City, NY) - renovated the course with Travis, work continued a few years
1909 -
Columbia CC (Chevy Chase, MD) - with others
Arcola CC (Paramus, NJ)
Atlantic City CC (Atlantic City, NJ) - improvement
Rumson CC (Rumson, NJ)
Mayfield CC (Cleveland, OH)
Waverley CC (Portland, OR) - new layout
Bedford Springs GC (Bedford, PA) - new layout
Philmont CC (Huntingdon Valley, PA) - added 9 holes
Springhaven CC (Wallingford, PA) - rebunkering
Williamsport CC (Williamsport, PA)
Newport CC (Newport, RI) - improvement
CC of Virginia (Richmond, VA) - also visited in 1913 to discuss changes
Spokane CC (Spokane, WA)
1910 -
East Lake GC (Atlanta, GA) - noted as giving advice on the development of the course, date unsure
Skokie CC (Glencoe, IL) - redesigned 4 holes in connection with the acquisition of new land
Detroit GC (Detroit, MI) - planned 60 new bunkers
Merion GC (Ardmore, PA) - oft discussed around these parts
1911 -
Roebuck Springs Club (Birmingham, AL)
Capital City CC (Atlanta, GA) - also assisted in the layout of the second 9 holes in 1913
Grove Park Inn (Asheville, NC) - extended the course from 9 to 18 holes
Raritan Valley CC (Somerville) - did the new course and suggested improvements two years later
Pocono Manor GC (Pocono Manor, PA)
1912 -
Druid Hills GC (Atlanta, GA)
Charlotte CC (Charlotte, NC) - consulted the club on potentially moving to a new site
Youngstown CC (Youngstown, OH)
1913 -
Palm Beach Club (Palm Beach, FL)
Indian Hill Club (Winnetka, IL)
1914 -
Tallahassee GC (Tallahassee, FL)
Idle Hour Club (Macon, GA) - rearranged the existing 9 holes and made plans to extend the course to 18
New Orleans CC (New Orleans, LA) - Barker's design built by Turpie
Westhampton CC (Westhampton, NY) - Raynor was also here at the same time
Belle Meade CC (Nashville, TN)
Chattanooga G&CC (Chattanooga, TN) - remodel
Cherokee CC (Knoxville, TN)
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Thank you VERY much, Sven! When one sees Newport CC on Sven's list and reflects on the fact that the club allowed Barker to work on its historic course, and in 1909 when Barker was just starting, it's hard not to believe that it was really Travis who did the work in one way or another. The world will probably not ever attribute it to Travis but if the changes were anything other than simple ones, then just like Mike Cirba has proved for NGLA, Walter Travis should really get the credit he is due. I wonder if it was an open secret in 1909 that it was really Travis doing the work?
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Sven,
Are those the years that Barker was engaged or the years those courses opened? Thanks!
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Mike, I know in the case of Indian Hill Club that it was in early 1913 when Barker took the train into Chicago to do his work. The club was just beginning to clear its ground when Barker arrived and it didn't open until July 1914, which was still really only a soft opening. It took until the summer of 1915 for the course to be ready for regular play.
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Sven,
Thanks. I was the one looking for the list which is more extensive than easily accessed ones from the internet.
Sven, John, and Mike,
The Donald Ross Society lists Indian Hill as a Ross remodel in 1914. Thoughts?
Thanks.
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Ira, I hope you don't mind if I do a separate more substantial post later on about Indian Hill. Donald Ross came to Indian Hill in the fall of 1914/winter of 1915. He designed a 100 bunker plan and by early 1916, 65 of those bunkers were built. He also apparently came back in 1921 or 1922. I have a 1921 newspaper article about his plans to visit Indian Hill in May 1921, but it may have been postponed. In Ross' book "Golf Has Never Failed Me," it indicates that he was at Indian Hill for a remodel in 1922 (and 1914), but I can't find any record of what he did during that second stint.
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Sven,
Are those the years that Barker was engaged or the years those courses opened? Thanks!
Mike:
I always try to note the date of when work was done. But as you know, sometimes its more like a rough guesstimate.
Sven
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Thanks Sven...I'll try to provide what I find in an IMO over the winter.
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Williamsport is a very cool case study in the evolution of GCA in early 20th century America. The original 9 is HH Barker and based on what's on the ground I would guess it is still quite true to what he left behind. The second 9 was done by Tillinghast and is very distinctly of his style. The routing goes 2 Barker -> 9 Tillinghast -> 7 Barker. There appears to have been no significant attempt at any point to make the two sets of holes appear to be cut from the same cloth and the course is better for it in my opinion. Strong recommendation to anyone interested in the GCA evolution from 1900's-10's to the 1920's-30's to spend some time at Williamsport CC.
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Ira, You make a good point. My sense is that there are more courses that Barker touched than are known, perhaps because he created basic or clumsy routings that were later discarded or modified.
John:
I doubt that this is the case. Barker was a big name, and if he did any work it was covered in the papers. In addition, his body of work doesn't readily suggest that there was much that he did that you could label as basic or clumsy.
The tenor of this thread is that Barker was merely a pawn of Travis, brought on to take on the design work that the old man didn't want to or didn't have the time to take on himself. It has also been asserted that Barker may have been just a front for Travis, and didn't actually do anything on some of the projects credited to him.
No thought has been given to the idea that Barker, despite not having much of a resume, may have actually had talent in this field. Instead, we're asked to assume that because Barker had little to no design experience before coming to the U.S., it was only the machinations of Travis that put him on the map. Prior to Garden City, Barker had been an accomplished player, a business owner and by all accounts rather accomplished in every endeavor he took on (Barker turned his business over to his father who could no longer work his prior job). In a few short years in this country he had the reputation as the preeminent professional in the design field. Undoubtedly any promotion by Travis (I'm in no way arguing this didn't happen) would have helped build this reputation, but one doesn't maintain their standing without producing results.
There seems to be a good bit of trying to make the narrative match the thesis going on in here. Take for example John's statement about Barker and Newport, and that it must have been Travis that did the work due to the "historic" nature of the club. Newport had just gone through a period of struggles as a club. This was not some temple of golf course architecture, some sacred ground that only the anointed could touch. It was a club trying to adapt its outdated course to the times, and whether it was Barker alone, Barker with the support of Travis or something else, there are a bunch of plausible scenarios for how Barker ended up working there.
Sven
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Sven,
Please keep your powder dry until I research and write the damn thing. I'll follow where the facts lead as I've done in prior pieces. Thanks.
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Sven,
Please keep your powder dry until I research and write the damn thing. I'll follow where the facts lead as I've done in prior pieces. Thanks.
That's great Mike. Looking forward to reading it.
I guess I get a bit wary whenever someone presents their theory prior to having examined all of the facts.
Sven
“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”
― Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
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Sven,
Please keep your powder dry until I research and write the damn thing. I'll follow where the facts lead as I've done in prior pieces. Thanks.
That's great Mike. Looking forward to reading it.
I guess I get a bit wary whenever someone presents their theory prior to having examined all of the facts.
Sven
“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”
― Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sven,
Thanks. Sir Doyle aside, all.of us have theories that cause us to investigate further. I have great respect for Barker based on what I've learned to date and am looking to better understand what seems to have been a very close relationship between Travis and Barker.
Happy Holidays to you and yours.
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I do have one question at this point.
Working with the assertion that Barker was Travis' puppet, and that Travis was trying to shield the work he did from the light of day, why are their a number of projects that were covered in the press as work that was being done by Barker under the supervision of Travis.
Were these slip ups?
Or was it the case that (a) there were projects that Travis referred to Barker for H. H. to handle on his own, (b) there were projects where Travis was more personally involved and (c) there were jobs that Barker procured on his own. Whatever the case, and especially during the early years of Barker's short career, I'm sure the two men discussed all of the work going on, just like many others in the field did back then.
Sven
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Sir Doyle aside, all.of us have theories that cause us to investigate further.
Ah, the subtle distinction between hypotheses and theories.
Happy Holidays Mike.
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Thanks for the kind words about the Travis/NGLA series of essays. Your point about Barker learning under Travis's tutelage while Travis implemented changes to toughen the golf course at Garden City is noted, and this May 1908 New York Tribune article suggests that both Travis and Barker were out on the course with shovels digging bunkers!
Garden City has a pretty good history of that . . . at one time, Gil Hanse and I were out there doing the very same thing!
Mr. Tillinghast made a couple of changes there, too, but that was later in his career so I doubt he was on the shovel.
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We are using picks and shovels too as we look through old newspapers, musty drawers, and digital archives. It is a fine line between hypothesis and fact. In some ways, we are always making hypotheses about the truth of what happened in the past because historical data is by definition limited. We are proposing explanations for distant events. Our current perspectives and values influence our interpretations. The written records and other sources of the past may be incomplete or biased too. It's most important to be aware of our biases and keep an open mind. We're probably never going to quite get to established truth here. I appreciate your perspective, Sven, and look forward to Mike's new hypotheses as he gathers more data.
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I do have one question at this point.
Working with the assertion that Barker was Travis' puppet, and that Travis was trying to shield the work he did from the light of day, why are their a number of projects that were covered in the press as work that was being done by Barker under the supervision of Travis.
Were these slip ups?
Or was it the case that (a) there were projects that Travis referred to Barker for H. H. to handle on his own, (b) there were projects where Travis was more personally involved and (c) there were jobs that Barker procured on his own. Whatever the case, and especially during the early years of Barker's short career, I'm sure the two men discussed all of the work going on, just like many others in the field did back then.
Sven
Sven,
I don't know. I'm imagining it may be sort of like CBM and Raynor in their early years but I'm still digging up materials. Great questions!
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Another MacDonald/Raynor duo is what Tom Doak suggested. Raynor brought extraordinary civil engineering skills to the table and created some of the greatest golf courses of the Golden Age. Barker's reputation is going up and down wildly in this thread!
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Barker's reputation is going up and down wildly in this thread!
Has it? I hold him in the same regard I did two weeks ago. He was an excellent player who migrated to a career, albeit short, in course design and remodeling. I have read nothing to suggest he wasn’t accomplished in both realms.
Sven
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Well, I did say "up and down" in the thread, and more of the "warts and all" was coming from me. I am probably too cynical. Instead of being Travis' surrogate, it is an equally plausible theory that Barker was a native genius of golf course design who learned from one of the great masters, Walter Travis, as he transformed Garden City into one of the Golden Age's first masterpieces. Barker could and perhaps should be seen as the acolyte who might have surpassed his master if he had more time. We all approach history with our own biases and perspectives and interpret it through the lens of the current day. It's an honorable quest to shine a light on and restore the work and the reputations of the lesser-known architects of the late 19th and early 20th century, and upon Walter Travis.
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Interesting thread. Here is a photo of H. H. Barker from
The Golfing Annual-1906-1907:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/ag323/bretjlawrence/FullSizeRender_bpwY1prYa3gzyg6kMoE7gq.jpg) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bretjlawrence/a/a262d2bd-f3be-467b-a9cd-2816e5d7d000/p/f3b8bd76-7276-4a8d-a686-a55a4217dd05)
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Well, I did say "up and down" in the thread, and more of the "warts and all" was coming from me. I am probably too cynical. Instead of being Travis' surrogate, it is an equally plausible theory that Barker was a native genius of golf course design who learned from one of the great masters, Walter Travis, as he transformed Garden City into one of the Golden Age's first masterpieces. Barker could and perhaps should be seen as the acolyte who might have surpassed his master if he had more time. We all approach history with our own biases and perspectives and interpret it through the lens of the current day. It's an honorable quest to shine a light on and restore the work and the reputations of the lesser-known architects of the late 19th and early 20th century, and upon Walter Travis.
John,
Barker saw a lot of courses during his playing career. Isn’t it plausible that he had a knack for translating what he saw and learned into his own work even without formal training? Youth does not mean inability. I will await Mike Cirba’s research, but maybe Barker taught Travis a one or two things which is why Travis became a champion of Barker’s.
Ira
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Ira, Yes I do think it is plausible that H.H. Barker had a knack for designing golf courses. I was just reading over Robert Calton's book on him. Barker's childhood home was just off the 6th green at Huddersfield also known as Fixby GC in Huddersfield, Yorkshire. Sandy Herd, the Open Champion of 1902, was the golf professional. They may have designed a course together at Bradley Hall before Barker came to Garden City. Glad Mike is going to do an essay on him and look forward to it!
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Ira, Yes I do think it is plausible that H.H. Barker had a knack for designing golf courses. I was just reading over Robert Calton's book on him. Barker's childhood home was just off the 6th green at Huddersfield also known as Fixby GC in Huddersfield, Yorkshire. Sandy Herd, the Open Champion of 1902, was the golf professional. They may have designed a course together at Bradley Hall before Barker came to Garden City. Glad Mike is going to do an essay on him and look forward to it!
Bradley Hall was my Dad's club when I was a kid. Moorland course with some enormous greens. I remember he and I went to play there after his father (my grandad's) funeral. A huge storm appeared over the moors and moved down the valley, dumping a load of rain on us. And then, damn me, if it didn't stop at the bottom of the valley and come back up and dump on us again!
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Well, I did say "up and down" in the thread, and more of the "warts and all" was coming from me. I am probably too cynical. Instead of being Travis' surrogate, it is an equally plausible theory that Barker was a native genius of golf course design who learned from one of the great masters, Walter Travis, as he transformed Garden City into one of the Golden Age's first masterpieces. Barker could and perhaps should be seen as the acolyte who might have surpassed his master if he had more time. We all approach history with our own biases and perspectives and interpret it through the lens of the current day. It's an honorable quest to shine a light on and restore the work and the reputations of the lesser-known architects of the late 19th and early 20th century, and upon Walter Travis.
John,
Barker saw a lot of courses during his playing career. Isn’t it plausible that he had a knack for translating what he saw and learned into his own work even without formal training? Youth does not mean inability. I will await Mike Cirba’s research, but maybe Barker taught Travis a one or two things which is why Travis became a champion of Barker’s.
Ira
Ira
Spot on. Barker was an educated guy, educated to a high enough standard that he could write magazine articles, run his own business and with a fair amount of experience of working outdoors on the land.
As noted he had also become a well known golfer by the time he left the UK and even though he was still an amateur he played in a number of exhibition matches with professionals. He would have been exposed to all sorts of ideas on golf course design and construction just by speaking to the likes of Sandy Herd and fellow golfers on a daily basis as well as reading what was being said in the press and golfing magazines.
The idea that he was some sort of blank canvas that Travis was able to impress with is own ideas is far fetched to my mind. It seems to me that Barker was a young man looking to use his talents and experience to get ahead. He likely saw great opportunity in the US and perhaps went with golf course design and construction as one of the main avenues he was looking to explore.
Niall
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At this rate I won't need to research and write anything as minds seem to be made up already. ::)
Merry Christmas, GCA maniacs. ;D
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Sorry Mike, I wasn't aware that you were the definitive voice on all things golf history. I'll bear that in mind for future threads.
Merry Christmas.
Niall
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I've always been a little cynical as to how we "research,create,hype and record" GCA history. I think there were between 1500-2000 courses in the USA by 1910 and Golf was just a game and not much of a business then.
I can't believe some of these ODGs gave it the time many of the modern GCA researchers give as to the "why" in what they did.
Impact on another archie??- Do y'all realize how many guys will say they worked for Pete Dye when they just picked up some sticks one summer? Or dudes that will come around telling you they have worked for some of the top names today when reality is they often ( not always)did the same.
I often consider golf of those days as I do polo today. And if polo were to take off as a mainline sport tomorrow the players abilities of the past would not equate to the new players abilities today because there would be a bigger pool. Same for any sport. But that's not to say there was not an impact. I'm convinced Bobby Jones may not have been the star of his era if golf was as popular as baseball. But yet he had an impact on JN and TW and all of us. I see GCA the same way...Ross was here at the right time and of course they had some impact but the details of the drawings from that era can't really tell you much...
What's on the ground is what matters and so often that is created over the early years of these clubs by supts and $$$..We are all just fortunate there was no heavy equipment to IMPACT all of these dudes...JMO
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Mike Y
If you are suggesting that in the early days golf design/construction was a relatively simple affair compared to today and that you didn't need to be a design genius to practice it then I agree with you.
Niall
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Mike Y
If you are suggesting that in the early days golf design/construction was a relatively simple affair compared to today and that you didn't need to be a design genius to practice it then I agree with you.
Niall
Niall,I'm not saying they were any better or worse than today. I'm saying so many of the GCA junkies complicate it more than it was or is....
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Sorry Mike, I wasn't aware that you were the definitive voice on all things golf history. I'll bear that in mind for future threads.
Merry Christmas.
Niall
Niall,
Sorry if that comment came off as snarky but we certainly are an opinionated bunch. Not many shy, retiring wallflowers around here!
There are a number of courses where Travis and Barker are intertwined and credit given to each at different times so I'm intrigued to research more and try to understand the nature of their ongoing relationship. Certainly the whole amateur/professional questions loomed large during those years, as well.
Hope that helps explain my interest in the topic until I learn more. Best regards.
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Mike, your cynicism is one of your most attractive features. More seriously, I think that you undersell the pioneers in the field. We should remember that prior to the golden age, there were no "rules" regarding building courses. While there existed marvelous natural courses, the best example being the Old Course, too many were formulaic with cops, cross bunkers and the like. But a variety of new thinkers arose who spent considerable time and thought trying to figure out what made a course great. At or near the same time, the Haskell ball rendered many older designs obsolete thereby creating greater opportunities to experiment. So architects like Park, Colt, Simpson, Abercrombie. MacKenzie. Alison etc. came to the fore in the British Isles while MacDonald/Raynor, Ross. Thomas, Behr, Flynn, Wilson, Emmet, Langford/Moreau etc. were active in the USA and Canada. Not only were they changing the nature of design, each bringing their own perspective, but they collaborated and exchanged ideas, sometimes on site and more often in writing. The numerous books and magazines were more than marketing devices, there was real thought and debate. Examine the views of Joshua Crane and the responses. Compare the views of the naturalists versus the "template architects". Many of the issues raised persist today. I note that there has been a revival of thought provoking literature in recent years as exemplified by Tom Doak's output, but I suggest that the most fertile time occurred in the Golden Age. That does not denigrate today's work, nor do I suggest that all of the architecture of the Golden Age was truly "golden". But I think in your attempt to make our view of that era more realistic, you tend to underrate its importance.
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Shel,
Was that for me, Mike Young, or both? ;) ;D
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One quick addition to the list of courses noted earlier in the thread.
The Pre-Raynor version of Greenwich CC had recently been expanded to 18 holes by 1911. I don't have a record of who did that work. In 1911, it was reported that Barker was to bunker the course. The work at Arcola and Rumson at this time is also of note.
Feb. 28, 1911 Brooklyn Times Union -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_-_Brooklyn_Times_Union_Feb._28_1911.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_-_Brooklyn_Times_Union_Feb._28_1911.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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For Mike Young but I hope that you can visit too.
Shel
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It would be very interesting to know if Travis found a way to take a cut on Barker's golf course routing work. My guess is yes. He just seems too tenacious to give Barker all that work altruistically.
I keep going back to this quote from earlier in the thread.
Essentially, we're asked to imagine that Walter Travis was using H. H. Barker as a professional shield in order to obtain remuneration for design projects that came his way. The same Walter Travis that we are being told by another poster was highly concerned about jeopardizing his amateur status.
Today, this assertion of an amateur working around the rules associated with receiving payment for work might not raise too many eyebrows. But back around 1910 it would have been scandalous.
An interesting side note is that it was in 1910 that MacDonald and Whigham recommended none other than H. H. Barker to Merion to lay out their new course. There is no way that MacDonald would have done so if he in anyway considered Barker as simply the face of Travis' design work. And he wasn't going to recommend someone who he didn't think was up for the job.
Sven
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Sven,
I don''t recall either CBM or Whigham recommending Barker to Merion although there's no doubt Barker would have been aware of the outreach from Merion 's Griscom to CBM and Whigham at GCGC.
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Mike:
It was reported in the papers in late 1910. When I’m home I can post the articles.
Sven
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Mike:
It was reported in the papers in late 1910. When I’m home I can post the articles.
Sven
Thanks, Sven. Don''t believe I've seen prior
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Shel,
Was that for me, Mike Young, or both? ;) ;D
Shel,If you want a real treat Cirba and I can hit town at the same time.... ;D ;D
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Shel,
Was that for me, Mike Young, or both? ;) ;D
Shel,If you want a real treat Cirba and I can hit town at the same time.... ;D ;D
Now you're talking, Mr. Young!
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Mike, your cynicism is one of your most attractive features. More seriously, I think that you undersell the pioneers in the field. We should remember that prior to the golden age, there were no "rules" regarding building courses. While there existed marvelous natural courses, the best example being the Old Course, too many were formulaic with cops, cross bunkers and the like. But a variety of new thinkers arose who spent considerable time and thought trying to figure out what made a course great. At or near the same time, the Haskell ball rendered many older designs obsolete thereby creating greater opportunities to experiment. So architects like Park, Colt, Simpson, Abercrombie. MacKenzie. Alison etc. came to the fore in the British Isles while MacDonald/Raynor, Ross. Thomas, Behr, Flynn, Wilson, Emmet, Langford/Moreau etc. were active in the USA and Canada. Not only were they changing the nature of design, each bringing their own perspective, but they collaborated and exchanged ideas, sometimes on site and more often in writing. The numerous books and magazines were more than marketing devices, there was real thought and debate. Examine the views of Joshua Crane and the responses. Compare the views of the naturalists versus the "template architects". Many of the issues raised persist today. I note that there has been a revival of thought provoking literature in recent years as exemplified by Tom Doak's output, but I suggest that the most fertile time occurred in the Golden Age. That does not denigrate today's work, nor do I suggest that all of the architecture of the Golden Age was truly "golden". But I think in your attempt to make our view of that era more realistic, you tend to underrate its importance.
Shel,Sorry if I come off as underselling the pioneers. I don't see it as that at all. I'm not a wordsmith but let me take a brief stab at this one more time. I'm trying to say more fluff is added than fact...not by these "pioneers" but by the dudes trying to record a history. I believe in the 10,000 rule...not many were getting it then and definitely not now...the fundamentals and basics were simple and so much has been added to hype it all...JMO but definitely not a slam at the ODGs. I'll find you this Summer when I come thru there...
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Shel,
Was that for me, Mike Young, or both? ;) ;D
Shel,If you want a real treat Cirba and I can hit town at the same time.... ;D ;D
Now you're talking, Mr. Young!
;D ;D ;D
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At this rate I won't need to research and write anything as minds seem to be made up already. ::)
Merry Christmas, GCA maniacs. ;D
Mike,
Is this something that you are doing in your role as the historian of the Walter Travis Society?
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I am in for the dual visit. Bring it on
Shel
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Mike Y,
As to your last post, I will stipulate that we often over complicate this subject. But I suggest that when you read some of the literature from the early days, there was a lot of the same going on. The difference was that, for the most part, they were better writers and the subject was brand new. What you call beard pulling today was ground breaking then.
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At this rate I won't need to research and write anything as minds seem to be made up already. ::)
Merry Christmas, GCA maniacs. ;D
Mike,
Is this something that you are doing in your role as the historian of the Walter Travis Society?
Jim,
I'm not doing this in any official capacity for the Travis Society but out of interest in investigating the relationship between Travis and Barker and their architectural overlap.
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I am in for the dual visit. Bring it on
Shel
;D you asked for it...
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Mike Y,
As to your last post, I will stipulate that we often over complicate this subject. But I suggest that when you read some of the literature from the early days, there was a lot of the same going on. The difference was that, for the most part, they were better writers and the subject was brand new. What you call beard pulling today was ground breaking then.
I'm not into conspiracy theories but the "beard pulling of today" has been a part of the scam that has cost clubs millions for no reason in so many cases. In twenty years much of it will be considered factual and the worst part is how often it has generated credibility to basic inexperience. Lots of young guys doing good stuff right now but rarely do I see them as the beard pullers...
To be clear...my bitch is with the BSers not a Barker or Travis.
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Here's one of the articles on Merion, CBM, Whigham and Barker I mentioned earlier.
Nov. 30, 1910 Brooklyn Times Union -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Merion_-_Brooklyn_Times_Union_Nov._30_1910.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Merion_-_Brooklyn_Times_Union_Nov._30_1910.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Sven,
Never saw that. Wow, thanks!
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It probably makes sense to go through each of Barker's projects and note which ones (a) have a record of Travis involvement, (b) which ones would make sense for Travis to be involved, and (c) which ones were most likely Barker on his own. I'll try to do this chronologically the best I can.
Garden City GC -
Certainly Barker's first work in the U.S. Prior to Barker's arrival in the fall of 1907, the wheels had already been put in motion to further improve Garden City. While Travis was undoubtedly the driving force behind the changes, Devereux Emmet was still serving on the Greens Committee and he and others would have had a say and perhaps a good bit of input into the proposed plans.
Oct. 14, 1906 Boston Globe -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Garden_City_-_Boston_Globe_Oct._14_1906.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Garden_City_-_Boston_Globe_Oct._14_1906.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
There are some interesting questions that arise in contemplating the hiring of Barker. Who exactly was responsible for bringing him in? Was this meant to be a long term engagement? Did the club have any inkling of Barkers links course knowledge when they hired him?[
In any case, Barker and Travis seemingly worked side by side on the course. Both men were playing a lot of golf between 1907 and early 1911, and with Barker's other obligations as pro this work would not have been measured as a full time job.
Feb. 1908 Golfers Magazine -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Garden_City_-_Golfers_Magazine_Feb._1908.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Garden_City_-_Golfers_Magazine_Feb._1908.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Aug. 1909 Golf Magazine -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Garden_City_-_Golf_Magazine_Aug._1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Garden_City_-_Golf_Magazine_Aug._1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Jan. 7, 1911 Brooklyn Times-Union -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Garden_City_-_Brooklyn_Times-Union_Jan._7_1911.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Garden_City_-_Brooklyn_Times-Union_Jan._7_1911.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Barker would leave GCGC for Rumson in the Spring of 1911, drawing an end to the working relationship here.
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Sven,
The only thing I see somewhat inaccurate in that article is the purchase of "300 acres". That particular newspaper is where I've been collecting most of the information on Barker. If there are other articles you found relaying similar info I'd love to see them, thanks!
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Just saw your most recent post, Sven.
While this thread may preempt the need for me to write an IMO, other courses off the top of my head this morning where Travis and Barker overlapped include Youngstown, Arcola, Rumson. Columbia, East Lake, and likely a few others but I had planned to do what it looks like you are proceeding to do and working through them one by one. All good.
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Almost forgot Atlantic City...almost certsin there are others.
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Atlantic City CC -
I'm guessing here that Barker was involved when mentions of the changes started appearing in the press in early 1909. Although I have seen no mention of Travis being connected with the actual work, it would make sense.
Jan. 1909 Golf Magazine -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Atlantic_City_-_Golf_Magazine_Jan._1909_(1)_hXAZX147ScJ2hog8T1zWw2.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Atlantic_City_-_Golf_Magazine_Jan._1909_(1)_hXAZX147ScJ2hog8T1zWw2.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Atlantic_City_-_Golf_Magazine_Jan._1909_(2)_9P4GG3jUBjnuHJkv2Bqod4.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Atlantic_City_-_Golf_Magazine_Jan._1909_(2)_9P4GG3jUBjnuHJkv2Bqod4.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Sept. 1909 American Golfer -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_-_American_Golfer_Sept._1909_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_-_American_Golfer_Sept._1909_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_-_American_Golfer_Sept._1909_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_-_American_Golfer_Sept._1909_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Waverley CC -
How Barker received this commission from across the country remains a matter of speculation, but I'd doubt that Travis had anything to do with the work that actually done while Barker was in Portland.
May 1909 American Golfer -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_-_American_Golfer_May_1909_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_-_American_Golfer_May_1909_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_-_American_Golfer_May_1909_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_-_American_Golfer_May_1909_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
[Also see the Sept. 1909 American Golfer article above.]
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Spokane CC -
A similar story to Waverley.
March 6, 1909 Spokane Press -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Spokane_-_Spokane_Press_March_6_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Spokane_-_Spokane_Press_March_6_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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CC of Virginia -
Another one where I have seen no Travis involvement.
March 1909 American Golfer -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Virginia_(CC_of)_-_American_Golfer_March_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Virginia_(CC_of)_-_American_Golfer_March_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
April 1909 Golf Magazine -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/CC_of_Virginia_(1)_-_Golf_Magazine_April_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/CC_of_Virginia_(1)_-_Golf_Magazine_April_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/CC_of_Virginia_(2)_-_Golf_Magazine_April_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/CC_of_Virginia_(2)_-_Golf_Magazine_April_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
April 25, 1909 The Times Dispatch -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Virginia_(CC_of)_-_The_Times_Dispatch_April_25_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Virginia_(CC_of)_-_The_Times_Dispatch_April_25_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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It probably makes sense to go through each of Barker's projects and note which ones (a) have a record of Travis involvement, (b) which ones would make sense for Travis to be involved, and (c) which ones were most likely Barker on his own. I'll try to do this chronologically the best I can.
Garden City GC -
Certainly Barker's first work in the U.S. Prior to Barker's arrival in the fall of 1907, the wheels had already been put in motion to further improve Garden City. While Travis was undoubtedly the driving force behind the changes, Devereux Emmet was still serving on the Greens Committee and he and others would have had a say and perhaps a good bit of input into the proposed plans.
Feb. 1908 Golfers Magazine -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Garden_City_-_Golfers_Magazine_Feb._1908.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Garden_City_-_Golfers_Magazine_Feb._1908.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Cop bunkers?
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Rumson CC -
Rumson is a bit of a confusing story. If anyone has additional source material here (or on any of the other courses), please feel free to add it in. At first, the course was to be laid out by Willie Norton.
Dec. 1908 Golf Magazine -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Rumson_-_Golf_Magazine_Dec._1908.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Rumson_-_Golf_Magazine_Dec._1908.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
By the Spring of 1909, Barker was noted as the architect.
May 1909 American Golfer -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Rumson_-_American_Golfer_May_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Rumson_-_American_Golfer_May_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Reports from a couple of years later muddy the waters a bit.
Feb. 25, 1911 Brooklyn Times-Union -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Rumson_-_Brooklyn_Times-Union_Feb._25_1911.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Rumson_-_Brooklyn_Times-Union_Feb._25_1911.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
March 25, 1911 Brooklyn Life -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Rumson_-_Brooklyn_Life_March_25_1911.jpeg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Rumson_-_Brooklyn_Life_March_25_1911.jpeg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
April 23, 1911 Washington Post -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Rumson_-_Washington_Post_April_23_1911.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Rumson_-_Washington_Post_April_23_1911.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Sven,
I'm visiting family in AZ til Sunday but will pitch in anything you don't have as I'm able, thanks
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Columbia CC -
I'm not going to delve into this one too much as the history of Columbia has been covered in great detail around here. The early press reports from Aug. 1909 on note (a) a Barker layout or (b) a Barker and Ross layout with Travis involved later on.
By the sounds of the article below, it doesn't appear that Travis had seen the land prior to the layout being completed.
Oct. 26, 1909 Washington Times -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Columbia_-_Washington_Times_Oct._26_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Columbia_-_Washington_Times_Oct._26_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Arcola CC -
Barker was undoubtedly referred to Arcola by Travis, and it appears that Travis held a supervisory role on this project. How involved he was remains unclear.
Sept. 11, 1909 The Record -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Arcola_-_The_Record_Sept._11_1909.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Arcola_-_The_Record_Sept._11_1909.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Dec. 18, 1909 Brooklyn Times-Union -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Arcola_-_Brooklyn_Times_Union_Dec._18_1909.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Arcola_-_Brooklyn_Times_Union_Dec._18_1909.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Jan. 28, 1911 Brooklyn Times-Union -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Arcola_-_Brooklyn_Times-Union_Jan._28_1911.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Arcola_-_Brooklyn_Times-Union_Jan._28_1911.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Mayfield CC -
Barker's involvement here was first reported in the Sept. 1909 American Golfer article posted above. Mayfield should receive particular attention in Barker's resume, as the acclaim it received was revelatory.
I have seen nothing to indicate Travis had any involvement here. As with all of the courses covered in this thread, there is undoubtedly more out there that may reveal more of the story, including club archives that might provide a good bit more insight to the involvement of Barker with or without Travis.
Dec. 1, 1909 New York Tribune -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_-_New_York_Tribune_Dec._1_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_-_New_York_Tribune_Dec._1_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Bedford Springs GC/ Philmont CC/ Springhaven CC/ Newport CC -
The source I have for the work here is the Sept. 1909 American Golfer article posted above. I have not seen anything for any of them that note any involvement by Travis.
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Williamsport CC/ Youngstown CC -
The main source I have here is the article in the Mayfield post above. I'll wait for Mike to fill in the information he has on any Travis connections here.
To clarify, I'm more interested in reports of Travis taking on a role in the design process than I am in reports of Travis referring the club to Barker.
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Merion GC -
Barker was here in the summer of 1910 and produced a routing based on his preliminary examination of the site (see the article earlier in the thread or any of the copious Merion threads in the archives).
In response to Mike's request regarding additional articles noting the referral by MacDonald and Whigham, I went back through my files and the Times Union article posted is the only one mentioning this connection. This article was printed subsequent to a series of other articles in other papers covering the same ground, all of which note Barker saw the site, but not that he was referred to Merion by M&W. Reading all of the articles together it would seem like the author of the Times Union piece was privy to additional information, as opposed to some kind of mistaken paraphrasing from the earlier articles.
Here is one of the other articles.
Nov. 28, 1910 Newark Evening Star and Newark Advertiser -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Merion_-_Neward_Evening_Star_and_Newark_Advertiser_Nov._28_1910.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Merion_-_Neward_Evening_Star_and_Newark_Advertiser_Nov._28_1910.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Skokie CC and Detroit GC -
I would assume that the work done here occurred on the same trip. Two more instances where absent additional information I would find it hard to believe Travis had any input.
Oct. 1910 Golf Magazine -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Skokie_-_Golf_Magazine_Oct._1910_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Skokie_-_Golf_Magazine_Oct._1910_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
April 16, 1911 Chicago Tribune -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Detroit_GC_-_Chicago_Tribune_April_16_1911.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Detroit_GC_-_Chicago_Tribune_April_16_1911.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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East Lake GC -
Who did exactly what at ELGC is perhaps the biggest rope snag in all of GCA. The names involved include Adair, Bendelow, Barker, Travis (as reported in his own magazine in 1911), Chick Evans, Alex Smith, Jimmy Maiden, Stewart Maiden, Fred McLeod, Ross, Vardon, Ray and Findlay.
The best information I have notes Barker was here in 1910, and then again around 1913 (he was in the neighborhood) when Adair had developed plans to rearrange the course. At this point I don't know enough to decipher the details of the Barker and Travis involvement other than that the early Barker work seemingly coincides with the rebunkering of the course in 1910 and the Travis work appears to have taken place later. I don't think Travis had any involvement with whatever Barker did in 1913.
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I'm not into conspiracy theories but the "beard pulling of today" has been a part of the scam that has cost clubs millions for no reason in so many cases. In twenty years much of it will be considered factual and the worst part is how often it has generated credibility to basic inexperience. Lots of young guys doing good stuff right now but rarely do I see them as the beard pullers...
To be clear...my bitch is with the BSers not a Barker or Travis.
Going to take a break before diving into 1911, but wanted to quickly comment on this post.
I hope that Mike Y. can see that everything going on in this thread is an attempt to get the record right, so as to avoid any "beard pulling" becoming factual. I found the comments above as a bit of a slap in the face to those that have participated here with the intentions of avoiding (or at least clearly noting) speculation while working with the facts we do have available.
It is hard to tell exactly who you consider to be a BSer.
Sven
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I'm not into conspiracy theories but the "beard pulling of today" has been a part of the scam that has cost clubs millions for no reason in so many cases. In twenty years much of it will be considered factual and the worst part is how often it has generated credibility to basic inexperience. Lots of young guys doing good stuff right now but rarely do I see them as the beard pullers...
To be clear...my bitch is with the BSers not a Barker or Travis.
Going to take a break before diving into 1911, but wanted to quickly comment on this post.
I hope that Mike Y. can see that everything going on in this thread is an attempt to get the record right, so as to avoid any "beard pulling" becoming factual. I found the comments above as a bit of a slap in the face to those that have participated here with the intentions of avoiding (or at least clearly noting) speculation while working with the facts we do have available.
It is hard to tell exactly who you consider to be a BSer.
Sven
Sven,Sorry if my comments seem to be a slap in the face...was never intended. Let me use your newspaper clip regarding Barker at Skokie and Detroit GC. I am confident that the news clip is factual as to him being there. He may have left an example of a bunker cross section or something or he may have placed a couple of stakes to re route a hole. Hell, we have had dudes come on this site and inform of us of recommendations (invited or uninvited)they made for clubs in their area but they had no part of getting it on the ground and finished. They may not have even been asked for the suggestion but you can bet they show the photos as if they designed it.
Hell, Arnold Palmer played an exhibiton at a course I am a member and he commented on a couple of greens and bunkers. Probably less than a minute worth of comments and to this day we are told of how AP told us to place a bunker here or change this green slope.
I'm not saying what is reported is not backed up with articles etc. I'm saying there was someone at all of these places that turned out well who knew what he was doing. BUT a lot of clubs that are not on the radar had the same type of "someone" who had no clue what he was doing.
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Mike,
You might have liked Barker. Seems like he wanted to move to some of the courses where he was doing work. Rumson and Roebuck are two examples where he was hired not only to be the pro but to oversee the work going on.
Sven
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Mike,
You might have liked Barker. Seems like he wanted to move to some of the courses where he was doing work. Rumson and Roebuck are two examples where he was hired not only to be the pro but to oversee the work going on.
Sven
Barker was at more courses in Georgia than are mentioned here. However, the 50 year old frat boy board members will almost always say it is a "Ross" over a "Barker". It's just the cool thing to do....
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You'll be happy to know that this 57-year old frat boy will never have a club membership, nor be allowed to make even the slightest suggestion regarding change. I do know the type, too well, and I regret their influence.
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Grove Park Inn -
After having Pickering, Findlay and others inspect the prospects for extending the course to 18 holes, Asheville CC (as it was known then) ended up going with Barker. I have seen nothing to suggest Travis was involved here.
Jan. 12, 1911 Asheville Gazette-News -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Asheville_-_Asheville_Gazette-News_Jan._12_1911_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Asheville_-_Asheville_Gazette-News_Jan._12_1911_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Asheville_-_Asheville_Gazette-News_Jan._12_1911_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Asheville_-_Asheville_Gazette-News_Jan._12_1911_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Jan. 1911 Golf Magazine -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Asheville_-_Golf_Magazine_Jan._1911_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Asheville_-_Golf_Magazine_Jan._1911_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Asheville_-_Golf_Magazine_Jan._1911_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Asheville_-_Golf_Magazine_Jan._1911_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Capital City CC (oka Brookhaven CC) -
Work on building the course started around May 1910. The first reports confirming Barker's involvement that I've seen show up in 1911.
Barker returned in 1913 to assist in laying out the second 9 holes.
Aug. 13, 1911 Atlanta Constitution -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Brookhaven_-_Atlanta_Constitution_Aug._13_1911.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Brookhaven_-_Atlanta_Constitution_Aug._13_1911.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Oct. 1911 Golf Magazine -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Brookhaven_-_Golf_Magazine_Oct._1911_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Brookhaven_-_Golf_Magazine_Oct._1911_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Brookhaven_-_Golf_Magazine_Oct._1911_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Brookhaven_-_Golf_Magazine_Oct._1911_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Sept. 26, 1913 Atlanta Constitution -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Capital_City_-_Atlanta_Constitution_Sept._26_1913.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Capital_City_-_Atlanta_Constitution_Sept._26_1913.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Pocono Manor GC -
I haven't seen anything directly connecting Travis to this project.
March 6, 1911 Brooklyn Daily Eagle -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Pocono_Manor_-_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_March_6_1911.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Pocono_Manor_-_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_March_6_1911.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Roebuck Springs Club -
The club was organized in 1910 and work started on the course prior to Barker arriving on the scene. After giving advice to Nicol Thompson on the initial layout, Barker would later accept the job of professional here to oversee the finished product.
Aug. 27, 1911 Birmingham Age Herald -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Roebuck_-_Birmingham_Age_Herald_Aug._27_1911.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Roebuck_-_Birmingham_Age_Herald_Aug._27_1911.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Jan. 1913 Golf Magazine -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Roebuck_-_Golf_Magazine_Jan._1913_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Roebuck_-_Golf_Magazine_Jan._1913_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Roebuck_-_Golf_Magazine_Jan._1913_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Roebuck_-_Golf_Magazine_Jan._1913_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Feb. 1914 American Golfer -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Roebuck_-_American_Golfer_Feb._1914.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Roebuck_-_American_Golfer_Feb._1914.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Raritan Valley CC (oka Somerville CC) -
One where there very well may have been a Travis connection, but the news reports make no mention of it. The return of Barker in 1913 from the South seems to suggest this was him on his own.
Oct. 28, 1912 Courier-News -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Somerville_-_Courier-News_Oct._28_1912_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Somerville_-_Courier-News_Oct._28_1912_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Somerville_-_Courier-News_Oct._28_1912_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Somerville_-_Courier-News_Oct._28_1912_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
March 13, 1913 The Sun -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Somerville_-_The_Sun_March_13_1913.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Somerville_-_The_Sun_March_13_1913.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Druid Hills GC -
By late 1912 Barker had left his second posting at Rumson and was transitioning to his role at Roebuck. He was already known in the south at this point for both his play and his design work.
There are certainly connections between Travis and Adair, but the proximity of Barker at this point, combined with his site visits, suggest this was him on his own.
Nov. 1912 Golf Magazine -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Druid_Hills_-_Golf_Magazine_Nov._1912_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Druid_Hills_-_Golf_Magazine_Nov._1912_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Druid_Hills_-_Golf_Magazine_Nov._1912_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Druid_Hills_-_Golf_Magazine_Nov._1912_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
1913 Spalding Official Golf Guide -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Atlanta_-_SOGG_1913_(3).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Atlanta_-_SOGG_1913_(3).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Charlotte CC (oka Mecklenburg CC)
Barker was brought in to consult on the suitability of a new site for the club and produced a layout on that land. The club ended up going with Ross to rework its existing course. Whether it was Travis recommending his two preferred guys or just the fact that they were the two biggest names in the business at the time remains a matter of speculation.
Dec. 10, 1912 Evening Chronicle -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Charlotte_(Mecklenburg)_-_Evening_Chronicle_Dec._10_1912_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Charlotte_(Mecklenburg)_-_Evening_Chronicle_Dec._10_1912_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Charlotte_(Mecklenburg)_-_Evening_Chronicle_Dec._10_1912_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Charlotte_(Mecklenburg)_-_Evening_Chronicle_Dec._10_1912_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Dec. 11, 1912 Evening Chronicle -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Charlotte_(Mecklenburg)_-_Evening_Chronicle_Dec._11_1912.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Charlotte_(Mecklenburg)_-_Evening_Chronicle_Dec._11_1912.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Dec. 17, 1912 Charlotte News -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Charlotte_(Mecklenburg)_-_Charlotte_News_Dec._17_1912.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Charlotte_(Mecklenburg)_-_Charlotte_News_Dec._17_1912.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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...other courses off the top of my head this morning where Travis and Barker overlapped include Youngstown, Arcola, Rumson. Columbia, East Lake, and likely a few others ...
Taking a break before getting into the last two years of Barker's resume. I don't expect much in the way of any Travis connections for the remaining courses.
Before moving on I wanted to quickly post this comment from Ed Homsey (taken from the Travis Society site) regarding their treatment of Travis and Youngstown.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Youngstown_-_Travis_Society_Comments.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Youngstown_-_Travis_Society_Comments.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Indian Hill Club -
The concept of the "Winnetka Golf Club" first appeared in the press in late 1912. By April of 1913 Barker was attached to the project. It would appear that the club capitalized on Colt's presence in Chicago and brought him in to offer his advice, as by the end of that year the course was being noted as having been laid out by Barker and Colt.
Hoping John will chime in on this one with more information.
April 20, 1913 Inter Ocean -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Indian_Hill_-_Inter_Ocean_April_20_1913.jpeg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Indian_Hill_-_Inter_Ocean_April_20_1913.jpeg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Dec. 1913 American Golfer -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Indian_Hill_-_American_Golfer_Dec._1913.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Indian_Hill_-_American_Golfer_Dec._1913.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Palm Beach CC -
Barker's involvement at PBCC has been swept under the rug a bit, as the project was taken over by Donald Ross in early 1916.
The idea for a course on the site of the old Florida Gun Club started in 191, with Barker being called in to inspect the site and eventually producing a layout in early 1914.
The Travis Society notes he consulted for the Palm Beach Club in 1912 which I assume is the same project discussed here. If so, it is possible Travis recommended Barker for this work. It should also be noted that a 1925 article notes that the original survey for the site was done by Langford in 1912.
Jan. 16, 1914 Birmingham Post-Herald -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Palm_Beach_Club_-_Birmingham_Post-Herald_Jan._16_1914_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Palm_Beach_Club_-_Birmingham_Post-Herald_Jan._16_1914_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Palm_Beach_Club_-_Birmingham_Post-Herald_Jan._16_1914_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Palm_Beach_Club_-_Birmingham_Post-Herald_Jan._16_1914_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Feb. 1914 American Golfer -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Palm_Beach_-_American_Golfer_Feb._1914_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Palm_Beach_-_American_Golfer_Feb._1914_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Palm_Beach_-_American_Golfer_Feb._1914_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Palm_Beach_-_American_Golfer_Feb._1914_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
March 1914 American Golfer -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Palm_Beach_-_American_Golfer_March_1914.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Palm_Beach_-_American_Golfer_March_1914.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Nov. 1914 Golf Illustrated -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Palm_Beach_-_Golf_Illustrated_Nov._1914.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Palm_Beach_-_Golf_Illustrated_Nov._1914.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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I'll try to read on the plane tomorrow and add over the weekend. Thanks, Sven.
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Tallahassee CC (aka Capital City CC) -
Nothing directly suggesting a Travis connection here.
Jan. 1914 American Golfer -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Tallahassee_-_American_Golfer_Jan._1914.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Tallahassee_-_American_Golfer_Jan._1914.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Nov. 12, 1916 Tampa Tribune -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Hill_City_-_Tampa_Tribune_Nov._12_1916.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Hill_City_-_Tampa_Tribune_Nov._12_1916.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Cherokee CC -
Barker was brought in to extend the 9 hole course originally laid out by Bernard Nicholls. The articles suggest Barker was to return to refine the course and add bunkers. With his return to England, the club brought in Ross in 1919 to do this work.
I have not seen Travis connected with this club.
July 6, 1914 Knoxville Sentinel -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Cherokee_-_Knoxville_Sentinel_July_6_1914.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Cherokee_-_Knoxville_Sentinel_July_6_1914.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
April 3, 1915 Knoxville Sentinel -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Cherokee_-_Knoxville_Sentinel_April_3_1915.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Cherokee_-_Knoxville_Sentinel_April_3_1915.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
June 29, 1916 Chattanooga Daily Times -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Cherokee_-_Chattanooga_Daily_Times_June_29_1916.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Cherokee_-_Chattanooga_Daily_Times_June_29_1916.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Idle Hour Club -
Another course were Barker worked on rearranging an existing nine and adding another nine holes.
July 19, 1914 Birmingham News -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Idle_Hour_-_Birmingham_News_-_July_19_1914.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Idle_Hour_-_Birmingham_News_-_July_19_1914.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Sept. 1914 American Golfer -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Idle_Hour_-_American_Golfer_Sept._1914.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Idle_Hour_-_American_Golfer_Sept._1914.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Nov. 1914 American Golfer -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Idle_Hour_-_American_Golfer_Nov._1914.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Idle_Hour_-_American_Golfer_Nov._1914.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Belle Meade CC -
Bendelow was originally brought in around 1911 to design the Nashville G&CC's new course. Work on the course began in Nov. of 1914, with reports from 1916 noting it was laid out by Barker.
Nov. 1914 American Golfer -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Belle_Meade_-_American_Golfer_Nov._1914_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Belle_Meade_-_American_Golfer_Nov._1914_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Belle_Meade_-_American_Golfer_Nov._1914_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Belle_Meade_-_American_Golfer_Nov._1914_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
July 16, 1916 The Tennessean -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Belle_Meade_-_The_Tennessean_July_16_1916_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Belle_Meade_-_The_Tennessean_July_16_1916_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Belle_Meade_-_The_Tennessean_July_16_1916_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Belle_Meade_-_The_Tennessean_July_16_1916_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Belle_Meade_-_The_Tennessean_July_16_1916_(3).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Belle_Meade_-_The_Tennessean_July_16_1916_(3).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Belle_Meade_-_The_Tennessean_July_16_1916_(4).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Belle_Meade_-_The_Tennessean_July_16_1916_(4).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Chattanooga G&CC -
Seemingly covering the major clubs in Tennessee from his base in Birmingham, Barker's activity in the South continued at Chattanooga.
It should be noted that by late 1914/early 1915 Barker had already been considering returning to England. He ended up delaying that voyage, and in the interim left Roebuck for a position at "Richmond County CC" (by certain accounts this move was to Richmond, VA, not the course on Staten Island).
Dec. 22, 1914 Chattanooga Daily Times -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Chattanooga_-_Chattanooga_Daily_Times_Dec._22_1914.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Chattanooga_-_Chattanooga_Daily_Times_Dec._22_1914.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Feb. 4, 1915 Chattanooga Daily Times -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Chattanooga_-_Chattanooga_Daily_Times_Feb._4_1915_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Chattanooga_-_Chattanooga_Daily_Times_Feb._4_1915_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Chattanooga_-_Chattanooga_Daily_Times_Feb._4_1915_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Chattanooga_-_Chattanooga_Daily_Times_Feb._4_1915_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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New Orleans CC -
The club moved to new grounds in 1915, with the course opening in 1916. A 1919 report notes Harry Turpie built this course according to Barker's plans.
June 1919 Golfers Magazine -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/New_Orleans_-_Golfers_Magazine_June_1919_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/New_Orleans_-_Golfers_Magazine_June_1919_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/New_Orleans_-_Golfers_Magazine_June_1919_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/New_Orleans_-_Golfers_Magazine_June_1919_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/New_Orleans_-_Golfers_Magazine_June_1919_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/New_Orleans_-_Golfers_Magazine_June_1919_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Westhampton CC -
Widely reported as a Raynor project, there is one report from 1915 noting Barker's involvement.
Feb. 1915 Golf Magazine -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Westhampton_-_Golf_Magazine_Feb._1915.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Westhampton_-_Golf_Magazine_Feb._1915.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Sven,
I'll go through each club/course in coming days and see if I have anything additional. Thanks.
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Sven,
Two quick questions/observations. Here is the late Tom MacWood's synopsis of Barker's involvement at Merion based on the contemporaneous info provided from Merion Cricket Club documents unearthed during those long threads;
"Sometime before June 10, Joseph Connell, on his own account, retains H. H. Barker to inspect the Haverford property, sketch the property and provide a rough lay-out of a course. On June 10, 1910, Barker inspected the property and submitted a letter, sketch of the property and lay-out of the course to Connell."
Connell, representing the sellers, offers to sell Merion (paraphrasing) "100 acres, or whatever is needed for the golf course", which is likely his interpretation of what Barker sketched out. It wasn't until late in June that Rodman Griscom of Merion had CBM and Whigham out to the property for the first time and CBM's subsequent letter to the club discussing a theoretical make-up of an "ideal" 6,000 yard course does not mention Barker. In any case, if they did recommend Barker, which is certainly possible, there is no other supporting documentation I'm aware of.
One other quick thing...one of the later articles you posted mentions that Barker was brought to GCGC by "Jerome Travers". I'm not sure if Travers was a member of the club in 1907...competitive reports list his home club in 1907 as "Montclair". Might the reporter confused Travers with Travis?
Just some initial thoughts/questions before digging deeper, thanks.
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I wanted to try to do this more systematically (i.e. chronologically) but just as an example of some of why I'm exploring the Travis/Barker architectural relationship/overlap, here's the report on changes to Atlantic City CC in late 1909/early 1910 as reported in the Brooklyn Times Union in April of 1910.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52603331365_cd33159f64_z.jpg)
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It wasn't until late in June that Rodman Griscom of Merion had CBM and Whigham out to the property for the first time and CBM's subsequent letter to the club discussing a theoretical make-up of an "ideal" 6,000 yard course does not mention Barker.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but nowhere in all those Merion threads is there confirmation of exactly when M&W visited Merion, just that the letter they sent was recorded by the board at a meeting on July 1, 1910. It is entirely possible [SPECULATION ALERT] that M&W visited before Barker, recommended Barker, Barker visited afterwards, M&W sent a letter to the club (which may not have been written or sent immediately subsequent to their visit) which was recorded in the minutes at the next board meeting.
I don't think there's enough out there right now to confirm or deny the M&W recommending Barker thought. But it does make some sense, and it opens up a whole line of questions as to what the relationship may have been between the two men and Barker. They would certainly have known him, and probably played with him at GCGC. It is possible that CBM and Barker shared ideas relevant to the development of NGLA, or at least CBM discussed his ideas on an ideal course with him. I would think that Barker would have visited the NGLA site while the course was being built. It also raises the possibility that Raynor might not have become the force he was if Barker had somehow become CBM's go to guy. And it definitely raises some question as to what exactly happened at Westhampton
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It wasn't until late in June that Rodman Griscom of Merion had CBM and Whigham out to the property for the first time and CBM's subsequent letter to the club discussing a theoretical make-up of an "ideal" 6,000 yard course does not mention Barker.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but nowhere in all those Merion threads is there confirmation of exactly when M&W visited Merion, just that the letter they sent was recorded by the board at a meeting on July 1, 1910. It is entirely possible [SPECULATION ALERT] that M&W visited before Barker, recommended Barker, Barker visited afterwards, M&W sent a letter to the club (which may not have been written or sent immediately subsequent to their visit) which was recorded in the minutes at the next board meeting.
I don't think there's enough out there right now to confirm or deny the M&W recommending Barker thought. But it does make some sense, and it opens up a whole line of questions as to what the relationship may have been between the two men and Barker. They would certainly have known him, and probably played with him at GCGC. It is possible that CBM and Barker shared ideas relevant to the development of NGLA, or at least CBM discussed his ideas on an ideal course with him. I would think that Barker would have visited the NGLA site while the course was being built. It also raises the possibility that Raynor might not have become the force he was if Barker had somehow become CBM's go to guy. And it definitely raises some question as to what exactly happened at Westhampton
Sven,
I'll check the Merion stuff for any further clarity.
The rest is some interesting, educated speculation as you noted but hopefully I'll have more to come shortly. Thanks.
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One other quick thing...one of the later articles you posted mentions that Barker was brought to GCGC by "Jerome Travers". I'm not sure if Travers was a member of the club in 1907...competitive reports list his home club in 1907 as "Montclair". Might the reporter confused Travers with Travis?
There are reports of Travers being associated with GCGC in early June of 1907.
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I don’t have a lot to add to this thread, but I am intrigued by the topic. Just a thought: Would Macdonald and Whigham have to be at Merion to recommend Barker, or could they have recommended him prior to their initial visit?
What was the first course Walter Travis routed?
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Bret,
I'll get to the Barker/Merion question later, but to your question about Travis and his earliest courses, I'll shamelessly point you in the direction of the 3-Part IMO articles I wrote a few years back that detail all of his pioneering architectural (and other) work from the late 1890's onward. Happy to take any follow-up questions, thanks.
Cirba, Mike – Walter J. Travis “Dropped” at National Golf Links of America Truth or Travesty? – Part 1 – Golf Club Atlas (https://golfclubatlas.com/in-my-opinion/cirba-mike-walter-j-travis-dropped-at-national-golf-links-of-america-truth-or-travesty-part-one/)
Cirba, Mike – Walter J. Travis “Dropped” at National Golf Links of America Truth or Travesty? – Part 2 – Golf Club Atlas (https://golfclubatlas.com/in-my-opinion/cirba-mike-walter-j-travis-dropped-at-national-golf-links-of-america-truth-or-travesty-part-two/)
Cirba, Mike – Walter J. Travis “Dropped” at National Golf Links of America Truth or Travesty? – Part 3 – Golf Club Atlas (https://golfclubatlas.com/in-my-opinion/cirba-mike-walter-j-travis-dropped-at-national-golf-links-of-america-truth-or-travesty-part-three/)
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Other than the 1909 "American Golfer" attribution (among others) listing courses Barker designed, I'm having trouble tying him to the Mayfield Club golf course in Cleveland that opened in 1911, still attributed to this day to W.H. "Bert" Way. News articles from 1911 refer to it as the "new Mayfield" club so any help as regards the Barker attribution is most appreciated, thanks.
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Mike,
On page 97, Golf Architecture in America written by George Thomas you will see Thomas gave credit to Barker and Way for Mayfield.
It should be noted that Thomas also gives credit to Mackenzie and Hunter for Monterey Peninsula Country Club in his book. Raynor routed the course and Mackenzie and Hunter changed the greens (but not the routing) before it opened, so I am a little surprised Thomas didn’t include Raynor for that course.
Bret
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Thanks, Bret...I see that and also see where Travis mentions encouraging Barker to take up architecture in a 1920 American Golfer article, citing Mayfield as one course Vardon was impressed with during his 1913 visit.
What is very confusing is that Mayfield seems to have spawned from the uncertainty of lease arrangements for the former Euclid Club which lived on for awhile after Mayfield opened. I have found no references to the "Mayfield Club" as early as the 1909 American Golfer article that cited the course as the work of Barker and several that cited Mayfield as the work of Bert Way, including his obit.
For what it's worth, George Thomas also listed Kittansett (twice in materials seemingly received from Frederic Hood) as the work of "Wilson, Flynn, and Hood", referring to Hugh Wilson first.
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Other than the 1909 "American Golfer" attribution (among others) listing courses Barker designed, I'm having trouble tying him to the Mayfield Club golf course in Cleveland that opened in 1911, still attributed to this day to W.H. "Bert" Way. News articles from 1911 refer to it as the "new Mayfield" club so any help as regards the Barker attribution is most appreciated, thanks.
Mike:
Attributed by who? There are a number of sources that attribute it to Way and Barker.
I posted the Dec. 1, 1909 New York Tribune article earlier in the thread noting Barker spent three days in Cleveland routing a course. Mayfield is the only course that fits.
In addition, there were numerous mentions after the club opened noting it was planned by Barker, including a Jan. 1914 American Golfer Ad in which Barker noted he laid out the course four years ago and a Nov. 1914 American Golfer article noting he designed it. And here are a Nov. 15, 1914 Philadelphia Inquirer article by Verdant Green and a Dec. 9, 1914 Times Union article both noting he laid it out.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_-_Philadelphia_Inquirer_Nov._15_1914.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_-_Philadelphia_Inquirer_Nov._15_1914.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_-_Times_Union_Dec._9_1914.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_-_Times_Union_Dec._9_1914.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Thanks, Sven.
Perhaps I should clarify. What I'm looking for primarily are contemporaneous, local accounts of the attributions and work as it is progressing. I've sure you've seen cases where those "retrospective" articles tend to be reiterative of each other, even when partially or wholly inaccurate. Also, sometimes an architect would come in and stake out a course which then went through multiple iterations and revisions while being constructed. And finally, much like some architects today, they claim attribution for any course they put together a plan for, even if the course was never built or their changes were never implemented.
I'm not saying this was the case with Barker, to be clear. But many of the articles about him read a bit like PR press releases, such as the notion he had laid out more courses than virtually anyone when people like Bendelow and Findlay clearly had much deeper resumes by this time. Also, I found it interesting to note the whole "professional v. amateur" dichotomy pervasive at that time, and how poorly professionals were treated, such that maintaining one's amateur status was as much protecting one's social standing as any competitive distinction.
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Thanks, Sven.
Perhaps I should clarify. What I'm looking for primarily are contemporaneous, local accounts of the attributions and work as it is progressing. I've sure you've seen cases where those "retrospective" articles tend to be reiterative of each other, even when partially or wholly inaccurate. Also, sometimes an architect would come in and stake out a course which then went through multiple iterations and revisions while being constructed. And finally, much like some architects today, they claim attribution for any course they put together a plan for, even if the course was never built or their changes were never implemented.
I'm not saying this was the case with Barker, to be clear. But many of the articles about him read a bit like PR press releases, such as the notion he had laid out more courses than virtually anyone when people like Bendelow and Findlay clearly had much deeper resumes by this time. Also, I found it interesting to note the whole "professional v. amateur" dichotomy pervasive at that time, and how poorly professionals were treated, such that maintaining one's amateur status was as much protecting one's social standing as any competitive distinction.
Mike:
As far as I'm concerned Barker at Mayfield is settled law. If Travis allowed it to be printed in American Golfer on multiple occasions a mere three years after the course opened, I don't think there should be any doubt. (If you want some contemporaneous accounts, I suggest you try to get behind the paywall for the Cleveland Plains Dealer or other local papers. Ohio is a blind spot for the other bigger newspaper archives.)
Let's not obfuscate the issue any further.
As for the Pro/Am issue, I'm still confused as to what exactly you're trying to get at with respect to Travis. Do you think Travis was taking money for any design work he did between 1907 and 1915? Certainly he wouldn't have, the risks were too great for him. And if that was the case what would have been the harm in letting the press discuss any work that he did? No one was jeopardizing their amateur status just by doing design work. CBM, Wilson and a host of others would have had some problems if this was an issue. None of them would have wanted to jeopardize their access to the clubhouse.
Why would Travis have anything to hide?
Sven
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What was the first course Walter Travis routed?
According to the Travis Society, WT had five projects under his belt by the time Barker showed up in the US. [It should be noted that the TS gives him consultation credit on a few other projects where he offered advice, but these were not hands on design work.]
Ekwanok - he assisted J. D. Dunn who laid out the course
Flushing - again assisting JDD
Mt. Pocono - most likely his first routing in 1903
Oakland - with Stewart Gardner, adding 9 holes
Garden City - the ongoing improvements to the course
Travis was much more focused on his playing career in the first decade of the last century. Any design work was a secondary pursuit, and perhaps even took a back seat to the launch of American Golfer. I don't think one can easily say that he was an expert in the field at this point.
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What was the first course Walter Travis routed?
According to the Travis Society, WT had five projects under his belt by the time Barker showed up in the US. [It should be noted that the TS gives him consultation credit on a few other projects where he offered advice, but these were not hands on design work.]
Ekwanok - he assisted J. D. Dunn who laid out the course
Flushing - again assisting JDD
Mt. Pocono - most likely his first routing in 1903
Oakland - with Stewart Gardner, adding 9 holes
Garden City - the ongoing improvements to the course
Travis was much more focused on his playing career in the first decade of the last century. Any design work was a secondary pursuit, and perhaps even took a back seat to the launch of American Golfer. I don't think one can easily say that he was an expert in the field at this point.
We'll be updating the Travis Society website over coming months. I would also disagree with much of the last paragraph here as Travis was a passionate, vocal, active in the field participant in bringing American golf course architecture out of the steeplechase era to "scientific", strategic, "ideal" golf courses as much as Macdonald during these years.
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"It wasn't until 1916, when he officially retired from amateur golf competition, that his career as a golf course designer fully emerged."
-Ed Homsey
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Mike/Sven:
I wouldn't argue about Barker at Mayfield. I think it happened, but what did he do? I also think there's still a possibility, for which I have no absolute evidence, that Colt drove by one day and offered advice regarding the bunkering. The bunkering scheme looks far beyond Bert Way's and could be Colt's or Barker's. I think its worth holding an open mind on that.
I believe the routing, however, is Way's.
Anthony
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Anthony,
There is no question that Barker did something at Mayfield in 1909 and was likely a routing on the new property during a short stay. What I'm trying to determine are the details.
Was that routing used? Or was it like Merion in 1910 where we don't really know for certain (perhaps some was used in portions of the property) but the likely scenario is that it was not as additional study and planning and development took place.
The club's website history states; "Under the leadership of Benjamin E. Bourne and Malcolm B. Johnson, W.H. "Bertie" Way, the former Euclid Club Professional, designed the golf course."
The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History at Case Western Reserve University goes even further, stating, "W.H. Bertie" Way, a former professional at the Euclid Club, searched for, selected, and designed the golf course."
The Golf course opened almost two years after Barker's visit and sadly in 1914 the clubhouse burned down, likely destroying definitive documents detailing the club's origins.
More to come.
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This article unearthed a few months ago by Karl Jensen shows the Akron (OH) Beacon Journal's synopsis of "Bertie" Way's life and golf career. Both Way and Barker were from England and we know many of the early courses were somewhat collaborative affairs. Perhaps Way had Barker out to look at the property and work with him on a routing? I'm also trying to determine if Walter Travis ever played at Mayfield.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52609194596_9c0ebc62f7_h.jpg)
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Mike:
It would be helpful if you could fully source the articles you post.
Thanks,
Sven
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Mike/Sven:
I wouldn't argue about Barker at Mayfield. I think it happened, but what did he do?
I believe the routing, however, is Way's.
Anthony
Anthony:
I'd tend to believe the opposite, that the routing was Barker and the fine-tuning and adjusting were Way. Here's a 1926 article discussing the origins of the club (although it doesn't meet Mike's demand for contemporaneous accounts, it does a good job of telling the story from a local source). It is also of interest to note that this was another project where Travis referred Barker. One of a number from that era where Travis provided the connection, and Barker took on the travel and work.
March 28, 1926 Cleveland Plain Dealer -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Mayfield_-_Cleveland_Plain_Dealer_March_28_1926.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Mayfield_-_Cleveland_Plain_Dealer_March_28_1926.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
The story of Mayfield follows this basic timeline -
Around 1907 - The idea of Mayfield is originated as a replacement for the Euclid Club course when its lease runs out.
July 1909 - Land starts to be purchased for the project.
July 31, 1909 Cleveland Plain Dealer -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Mayfield_-_Cleveland_Plain_Dealer_July_31_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Mayfield_-_Cleveland_Plain_Dealer_July_31_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Around Sept. 1909 - Barker shows up for a short visit and routes the course, most likely with input from the membership and Bertie Way
Spring 1910 - Work starts on the course under the direction of Bertie Way
April 10, 1910 Cleveland Plain Dealer -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Mayfield_-_Cleveland_Plain_Dealer_April_10_1910.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Mayfield_-_Cleveland_Plain_Dealer_April_10_1910.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
June 5, 1910 Cleveland Plain Dealer -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Mayfield_-_Cleveland_Plain_Dealer_June_5_1910.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Mayfield_-_Cleveland_Plain_Dealer_June_5_1910.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
July 1911 - Course opens
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One additional note. For a while, the Ross society had Mayfield as a new 18 hole Ross course with a date of 1935. This was changed a few years ago in a revision to their listing to an 18 hole remodel with dates of 1911-12. The most recent version of their listing doesn't contain Mayfield at all.
Ross did work at Mayfield in the fall of 1913 doing a bunkering system.
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Thanks for all of that additional information on Mayfield, Sven. The holidays and getting back to work have not been helpful to my progress here but hoping to add to your materials here shortly.
Just so folks understand...in no way am I suggesting that Travis was "on the take" financially for Barker's projects. What I am suggesting is that it was almost unheard of at this time for an "amateur" to be involved in the design of other far-flung clubs and things like travel, lodging, etc. could be viewed as becoming the dreaded "professional" and at various times in his career his detractors levied that charge. I would add that almost inevitably, all of those early design efforts would be accompanied by a "professional", from Tom Bendelow, to John Duncan Dunn, to Tom Anderson, to Stewart Gardner, and then most prominently, to Herbert Barker after his arrival in the states.
From my IMO piece; (Sorry for the formatting flotsam and jetsam one gets on a copy and paste on this forum)
It should be noted that the “Walter J. Travis Society” does not believe that there is sufficient contemporaneous evidence of Travis’ design involvement to list Salibury Links as one of his courses at this time. While not entirely conclusive in terms of origin, it seems this speculation may be somewhat moot and misses a larger point. What is undisputable is that at the opening of the new course both Travis and Emmet were in close agreement as to what constituted a soundly designed golf course and those guiding principles of eliminating cross bunkers and instead fashioning “scientific bunkering” to tempt the better player, creating multiple avenues of play to accommodate all classes of golfers, and providing varied and undulating greens were the same ones being advocated by Travis since his 1901 Great Britain visit.
This is not to conclude that Emmet wasn’t similarly inspired by what he observed during his frequent travels abroad. However, it seems from the historical record that Travis was the first to take the lessons of the great historical links abroad, and the words and writings of learned men like John Low and interpret and codify them for an American audience in his writings and then sought practical applications for the realization of those principles on golf courses in the states. He also preached these innovative ideas to his friends and contemporaries at every opportunity.
It is interesting to note that at no time during this period did Travis either mention or promote his design efforts at those courses were he clearly did architectural work between 1897 and 1907, as documented herein. This omission was despite the fact that he wrote extensively for several publications during this period and authored a number of golf-related books. The only exception were those changes he was advocating for at his home club of Garden City, which would have been understandable and acceptable in his role as Captain of the club and Chairman of the Green Committee.
Although this may seem unusual today, when one considers that the USGA rules of “Amateur Standing” were so broadly construed at the time, it’s easy to see how perhaps a comped stay at the Equinox Hotel in Vermont, or rail transportation provided to the Pocono Mountains gratis, or just the loose nature of some of the financial arrangements of these large undertakings could bring one under suspicion and charges of, sin of sins, professionalism! It is also a fact that almost every golf course in America at this time was either laid out by a foreign professional or, a rudimentary affair by club members themselves to bat some balls around a field. Laying out a golf course was largely viewed as a working man’s endeavor, after all, and whether Travis felt he needed professional “cover” to maintain his unsullied amateur status at this time through collaboration with professionals like John Duncan Dunn, Stewart Gardner, Thomas Bendelow, or Tom Anderson is certainly a very real possibility.
Travis was attempting to walk a very fine line as an amateur with his unprecedented attempts to transform American golf course architecture at a time when nearly all “design” work was done by foreign “professionals” who were believed to have an innate talent for the work by virtue of their birthplace and prior exposure to the game abroad. This break from accepted tradition and even class structure was noted in the June, 1906 Brooklyn Daily Eagle” article below. (Author’s note – the article neglects the prior amateur work of men like Macdonald at Chicago, Emmet at Garden City, and Leeds at Myopia but each of those men came from an unassailable patrician background and Travis by this time had already been charged in the press with prior offenses.)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52615027930_52e73b823c_b.jpg)One One also needs to consider that Walter Travis at this time was the greatest amateur golfer in the world and his competitive goals required him to stay an amateur. Not that there weren’t professional tournaments, but those were viewed with much less prestige and even dignity. By now Walter Travis was working for a brokerage firm in New York City, a gentleman about town, and his standing in golf needed to reflect that.
The question of amateur/professional as related to golf course architecture wasn’t fully settled until 1916, when it was determined that it was only the acceptance of money specifically for laying out a golf course, and not just the perimeter associated activities that deemed one a professional. By that time in his life, Walter Travis had given up on his competitive career, and had quit the business world, and became a professional golf course architect for the remainder of his life, along with his related golf and golf publication activities.
But the fact remains that by the end of 1906, Walter Travis had now been involved in the architectural design and planning of more golf courses and more progressively strategic golf courses than any man in America. He had studied the great courses abroad and had come back a convert and a zealot, and a preacher. His revolutionary ideas about eliminating what he saw as the evils of banal, rote golf course design and the elevation of architectural principles consistent with the great courses abroad had now gained broad acceptance from the American golf community (see April 1907 Buffalo Courier article below) and he would soon have a publication of his own to trumpet his strongly held opinions on these and other golf-related matters.
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One also needs to consider that Walter Travis at this time was the greatest amateur golfer in the world
?
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One also needs to consider that Walter Travis at this time was the greatest amateur golfer in the world
?
Niall,
Thanks for checking me. I should have written that in the first decade of the 20th century Walter Travis was the greatest amateur golfer in the United States, including his 3 US Amateur wins and shockingly unexpected victory in the 1904 British Amateur.
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Atlantic City CC -
I'm guessing here that Barker was involved when mentions of the changes started appearing in the press in early 1909. Although I have seen no mention of Travis being connected with the actual work, it would make sense.
Jan. 1909 Golf Magazine -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Atlantic_City_-_Golf_Magazine_Jan._1909_(1)_hXAZX147ScJ2hog8T1zWw2.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Atlantic_City_-_Golf_Magazine_Jan._1909_(1)_hXAZX147ScJ2hog8T1zWw2.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Atlantic_City_-_Golf_Magazine_Jan._1909_(2)_9P4GG3jUBjnuHJkv2Bqod4.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Atlantic_City_-_Golf_Magazine_Jan._1909_(2)_9P4GG3jUBjnuHJkv2Bqod4.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Sept. 1909 American Golfer -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_-_American_Golfer_Sept._1909_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_-_American_Golfer_Sept._1909_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_-_American_Golfer_Sept._1909_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_-_American_Golfer_Sept._1909_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Sven,
I'm going to try to add things systematically in the order you posted in an effort to fill in any gaps. I'm not sure I'll go much past 1911 or 1912 and will skip Garden City as I think we have the relationship between the two there covered well enough. The reason for skipping past 1912 is that most of the work where both names are mentioned happened while they still had a seeming cooperative relationship and before Barker left Rumson and headed South for reported health issues. Here again is Atlantic City from the Brooklyn Times Union 4/26/1910 listing Travis is recommending the changes with Barker onsite doing the work.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52603331365_cd33159f64_z.jpg)
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I know I said I'd skip Garden City but this is probably a good place to locate a Brooklyn Times Union article from March 6th, 1909 related to the perception of the relationship between the men in the earliest years after Barker arrived in the United States.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52618145614_e7c00478ce.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52617408452_457cffd051_c.jpg)
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Waverley CC -
How Barker received this commission from across the country remains a matter of speculation, but I'd doubt that Travis had anything to do with the work that actually done while Barker was in Portland.
May 1909 American Golfer -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_-_American_Golfer_May_1909_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_-_American_Golfer_May_1909_(1).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_-_American_Golfer_May_1909_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_-_American_Golfer_May_1909_(2).png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
[Also see the Sept. 1909 American Golfer article above.]
The "Portland Country Club" attribution seems misleading and as close as I've been able to tell it was actually the "Waverly Country Club" where Barker proposed plans (estimated at a cost of $40k) for "improvements" to the existing links. There was eventually a "Portland Golf Club" laid out by George Turnbull that opened in 1914. I've been unable to reconcile the supposed new course for "Portland Country Club" with the work at Waverly proposed by Barker or verify if Barker's proposed recommendations were ever implemented.
In any case, it seems his trip to the Northwest for both Waverly and Spokane seems to have been the result of a recommendation from Walter Travis, as seen below;
Spokane Chronicle - 02/27/1909
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52618603588_da64c42033_b.jpg)
Spokane Spokesman Review - 03/06/1909
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52618554325_3304222eaa_3k.jpg)
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Spokane CC -
A similar story to Waverley.
March 6, 1909 Spokane Press -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Spokane_-_Spokane_Press_March_6_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Spokane_-_Spokane_Press_March_6_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Spokane Country Club
I came across a seemingly well-researched history of the Spokane (now Kalispell) Country Club that included the following;
The new course opened for play on July 8, 1911 as a nine-hole course. It is not entirely clear who designed the latest layout. While the club has attributed Jim Barnes as its golf architect, original documentary evidence is scarce. No less a personage than the famous golf architect Tom Bendelow was purported to have visited the club in 1909, and then later by H. H. Barker, a noted golf professional and architect. Barker drew up a plan for the course, and some have credited the design to him. However, it turns out the plan was for a location that the Club was considering at the time but later abandoned.
The entire article can be found at [size=78%]Spokane-Country-Club-History-v3.pdf (nwhickoryplayers.org) (http://nwhickoryplayers.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Spokane-Country-Club-History-v3.pdf)[/size]
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CC of Virginia -
Another one where I have seen no Travis involvement.
March 1909 American Golfer -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Virginia_(CC_of)_-_American_Golfer_March_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Virginia_(CC_of)_-_American_Golfer_March_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
April 1909 Golf Magazine -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/CC_of_Virginia_(1)_-_Golf_Magazine_April_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/CC_of_Virginia_(1)_-_Golf_Magazine_April_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/CC_of_Virginia_(2)_-_Golf_Magazine_April_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/CC_of_Virginia_(2)_-_Golf_Magazine_April_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
April 25, 1909 The Times Dispatch -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Virginia_(CC_of)_-_The_Times_Dispatch_April_25_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Virginia_(CC_of)_-_The_Times_Dispatch_April_25_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Country Club of Virginia (Westhampton Course)
Country Club of Virginia (aka Richmond CC) seems to be the first of Barker's designs from the period of 1909 that was eventually a completed 18 hole course, opening in June, 1910. To date, I have not found a Walter Travis connection with this effort. From the club's website;
Westhampton is the oldest of our three golf courses, having opened on June 18, 1910. Originally designed by Herbert Barker, renowned golf course architect Donald Ross redesigned the layout in 1920. The third nine, known as the "Goat Course," was named for its hilly layout. The "Goat Course" was later replaced by what is now the practice range and first hole. Notable golfers such as Harry Vardon, Ted Ray, Bobby Jones and others have enjoyed this challenging layout. Westhampton possesses gently rolling fairways carved out of majestic pine and oak forests. The small, sloping greens can make putting difficult, especially from above the pin. Westhampton provides a challenge for the expert player and an enjoyable experience for golfers of any skill level. A dramatic renovation was completed by Lester George in 2005 that has restored many Donald Ross features as well as provided for improved playing conditions and an upgraded practice facility. Each fall the Westhampton Course is the host site for the Senior Open of Virginia.
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Regarding Waverley and Spokane, there's a bit more to the story.
At Spokane, Barker came in after Bendelow, and the club had every intention to proceed with his plans. Shortly after his visit, part of the land that the new course was going to be built on became the subject of a lawsuit to set aside the conveyance to the club. The law suit became somewhat of a non-issue, as it was soon learned that the land was going to be condemned by the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway for its access to the city. The club was forced to look for a new site, and in the spring of 1910 they settled on the Little Spokane River location.
We'll never know what Barker's course here might have turned into. But we do know the reasons behind why the site was abandoned, and it has nothing to do with any issues with Barker's work.
With respect to the "Portland Country Club" (this kind of phrasing often occurred when a course was the only one in town even though it had a different name), I too have not seen anything that affirmatively notes that Barker's plans were carried out. But something happened to the club between 1908 and 1916 when the course went from 5,862 to 6,211 yards. In any case, there should be no doubt that any references to Barker in Portland are in connection with Waverley.
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Sven,
Thanks for filling in the rest of the story. Please do not read any proposed work by Barker that was never done as being negative unless it was expressly stated by those in charge at the time and I've never seen evidence of that. Bad grammar, I know but haven't had my coffee yet.
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Rumson CC -
Rumson is a bit of a confusing story. If anyone has additional source material here (or on any of the other courses), please feel free to add it in. At first, the course was to be laid out by Willie Norton.
Dec. 1908 Golf Magazine -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Rumson_-_Golf_Magazine_Dec._1908.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Rumson_-_Golf_Magazine_Dec._1908.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
By the Spring of 1909, Barker was noted as the architect.
May 1909 American Golfer -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Rumson_-_American_Golfer_May_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Rumson_-_American_Golfer_May_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Reports from a couple of years later muddy the waters a bit.
Feb. 25, 1911 Brooklyn Times-Union -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Rumson_-_Brooklyn_Times-Union_Feb._25_1911.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Rumson_-_Brooklyn_Times-Union_Feb._25_1911.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
March 25, 1911 Brooklyn Life -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Rumson_-_Brooklyn_Life_March_25_1911.jpeg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Rumson_-_Brooklyn_Life_March_25_1911.jpeg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
April 23, 1911 Washington Post -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Rumson_-_Washington_Post_April_23_1911.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Rumson_-_Washington_Post_April_23_1911.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Rumson Country Club - Sven, yes I have the 1911 Travis attribution with Barker going there to add pits, as well, but also two from July 1910 listed below.
New York Times - 7/1/1910
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52618527472_81acebf563_k.jpg)
Long Branch (NJ) Record - 7/8/1910
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52619041001_d95dce35f7_4k.jpg)
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Columbia CC -
I'm not going to delve into this one too much as the history of Columbia has been covered in great detail around here. The early press reports from Aug. 1909 on note (a) a Barker layout or (b) a Barker and Ross layout with Travis involved later on.
By the sounds of the article below, it doesn't appear that Travis had seen the land prior to the layout being completed.
Oct. 26, 1909 Washington Times -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Columbia_-_Washington_Times_Oct._26_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Columbia_-_Washington_Times_Oct._26_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Columbia Country Club - While I'm still digging a bit deeper, it does seem the close friendship between Travis and Dr. Walter Harban, as well as his close relationships with Barker and Donald Ross makes this a natural collaborative effort. Why else would it be news that Travis stopped by to survey the property for two days seeing what had been done to date in the fall of 1909 (likely simply a staked out and/or mapped out course at that point as the course didn't open until it did in stages during the summer of 1911) if not to provide his design input and blessing?
Another article I'm in possession of that I'm still trying to source states the following;
"Dr. L. Lee Harban, a prominent player of the Columbia Country Club, has the following to say of the work that has been done and is being done at the club. "The Columbia Country Club, when completed, will be one of the finest in this part of the country. The work of laying out the links has been approved by W. S. (sic) Travis and other prominent authorities on golf."
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For Rumson, here's a third July 1910 article, this one noting that J. Prentice Kellogg laid out the course with the advice of several amateur and professional experts.
July 3, 1903 New York Tribune -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Rumson_Segment_-_New_York_Tribune_July_3_1910.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Rumson_Segment_-_New_York_Tribune_July_3_1910.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Why else would it be news that Travis stopped by to survey the property for two days seeing what had been done to date in the fall of 1909 ... if not to provide his design input and blessing?
There are over 4,000 hit on newspapers.com for "Walter Travis" and "W. J. Travis" in 1909. Pretty sure they would have reported on the color of his underwear if the information was available.
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Why else would it be news that Travis stopped by to survey the property for two days seeing what had been done to date in the fall of 1909 ... if not to provide his design input and blessing?
There are over 4,000 hit on newspapers.com for "Walter Travis" and "W. J. Travis" in 1909. Pretty sure they would have reported on the color of his underwear if the information was available.
Sven,
The vast majority are tournament results repeated in various papees across the country. Can't say I've seen underwear. ;)
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The vast majority are tournament results repeated in various papees across the country. Can't say I've seen underwear. ;)
Travis had quite the playing schedule (and travel to play) during the first decade of the last century. It is a wonder how he was able to run a magazine, make all of those renovations at Garden City, contribute to the development of NGLA and still have time to fit in some advising on the work being done by H. H. Barker.
Its exercises like these that would make a timeline similar to the Mackenzie timeline very valuable for guys like Travis.
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Sven,
Great idea, thanks!
One of our officers has recently put together a comprehensive Travis tournament chronology. Let me get ahold of it and see if it's possible to put it in a form that's readable here over the next few days.
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With respect to Columbia, it should be noted that Travis, when advertising his resume later on, included this course as a remodel. There could be an argument that this listing pertained to work done after he made the shift to a full time architect around 1916, but the inclusion of Garden City as a new course suggests this wasn't the case.
March 1924 Golf Illustrated -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Travis_Ad_-_Golf_Illustrated_March_1924.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Travis_Ad_-_Golf_Illustrated_March_1924.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Sven,
That would refer to Garden City Country Club, not Golf Club. Thanks
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March 1924 Golf Illustrated -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Travis_Ad_-_Golf_Illustrated_March_1924.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Travis_Ad_-_Golf_Illustrated_March_1924.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
The list notes two courses as being "reversible". Is that in the same sense as the Loop and TOC? I don't recall discussion here about that.
Is Westchester Biltmore the current Westchester CC?
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Stewart,
Yes, both East Potomac and Westchester were designed as reversible. That is indeed today's Westchester.
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Sven,
That would refer to Garden City Country Club, not Golf Club. Thanks
My bad.
The point remains that he listed Columbia as a remodel.
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Sven,
That would refer to Garden City Country Club, not Golf Club. Thanks
My bad.
The point remains that he listed Columbia as a remodel.
All good and point taken, thanks!
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Arcola CC -
Barker was undoubtedly referred to Arcola by Travis, and it appears that Travis held a supervisory role on this project. How involved he was remains unclear.
Sept. 11, 1909 The Record -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Arcola_-_The_Record_Sept._11_1909.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Arcola_-_The_Record_Sept._11_1909.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Dec. 18, 1909 Brooklyn Times-Union -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Arcola_-_Brooklyn_Times_Union_Dec._18_1909.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Arcola_-_Brooklyn_Times_Union_Dec._18_1909.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Jan. 28, 1911 Brooklyn Times-Union -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Arcola_-_Brooklyn_Times-Union_Jan._28_1911.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Arcola_-_Brooklyn_Times-Union_Jan._28_1911.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Arcola -
This one really gets to the heart of questions about what the working, professional relationship actually was between the two men at that time and why Travis had "supervisory" authority over Barker in their arrangement, whether in the initial planning, the "review" of the work once in progress and or completed, and so forth. Were the men working from topographical maps? If Travis had been informed by his involvement at NGLA, as he should have been, then topos would be invaluable. Certainly some of the specific details of the Arcola property listed in the article would indicate they did.
Barker's work began in late 1909 and it wasn't until the late autumn of 1911 that the course had what was likely a "soft opening", probably with only certain holes open. This indicates to me a lengthy process and in one article I came across the club officials indicated getting additional viewpoints during construction, such that the course ended up being about 400 yards longer than Barker/Travis's initial plans.
One thing that strikes me in many of these articles, including Travis's American Golfer, is how Barker was being promoted as "the best man in the country" for the work of laying out courses as early as 1909. From my understanding, other than the changes they implemented together (under Travis's direction) at Garden City, not a single golf course "laid out" by Barker was even open by that time.
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Arcola -
This one really gets to the heart of questions about what the working, professional relationship actually was between the two men at that time and why Travis had "supervisory" authority over Barker in their arrangement, whether in the initial planning, the "review" of the work once in progress and or completed, and so forth.
I agree, it shows, similar to Columbia and other projects, a simple process. Travis recommends Barker, Barker does the work, Travis reviews when completed giving his blessing. As the Dec. 18, 1909 article spells out, the actual work on site was being done by Barker. I'm sure the two men discussed the projects that Barker took on, but Barker was always the guy in the field figuring out what the land was going to allow.
Were the men working from topographical maps? If Travis had been informed by his involvement at NGLA, as he should have been, then topos would be invaluable. Certainly some of the specific details of the Arcola property listed in the article would indicate they did.
Until we have anything that says that Travis actually participated in the planning of the course, can we try to avoid language that insinuates that he did.
Barker's work began in late 1909 and it wasn't until the late autumn of 1911 that the course had what was likely a "soft opening", probably with only certain holes open. This indicates to me a lengthy process and in one article I came across the club officials indicated getting additional viewpoints during construction, such that the course ended up being about 400 yards longer than Barker/Travis's initial plans.
Arcola was not a simple build. There were acres of forests that had to be cleared, and swamps and bogs that had to be filled in. Most of the clearing, plowing and seeding was done in the summer and fall of 1910. It is no surprise that it took a while. The lengthening of certain holes was done by the club's committee, as reported in 1910. From the get go, the club viewed the initial lay out as somewhat temporary, as they had the idea of developing additional holes in the unimproved portions of their property at a later date.
One thing that strikes me in many of these articles, including Travis's American Golfer, is how Barker was being promoted as "the best man in the country" for the work of laying out courses as early as 1909. From my understanding, other than the changes they implemented together (under Travis's direction) at Garden City, not a single golf course "laid out" by Barker was even open by that time.
This is an interesting point, and it says something that Barker was able to produce work that lived up to those lofty claims. I doubt Travis (and perhaps CBM and HW and others) would have been recommending Barker for projects if they themselves didn't believe those claims. And it makes you wonder who else (other than Bendelow, Ross and perhaps a couple of other guys) were positioned to do what Barker was doing. There were very few "professional" architects in the U.S. at this time and many of them were hamstrung to a certain region. Barker really seems to have capitalized on a void that existed, and with his advertising and willingness to travel put himself (with perhaps a good bit of assistance from others) on the map at a speed that seems hard to comprehend.
There's a ton of Golf Club Atlas history wrapped up in what we're talking about here, and its hard not for me to sense the biases that stem from the positions taken in those old debates. It would be comforting to feel that the conversation here wasn't tainted by those preconceptions.
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Sven,
Please allow me to reiterate that I'm not here to in any way diminish Barker but to try and understand his working relationship and need to have Walter Travis...an amateur...involved on any level.
There are any number of articles/courses in those early years where design attribution was given to both men and I'm not sure how one "supervises" a design process without agreeing with or participating in the actual design process whether it is through site visits or topographic map study and plotting.
Right now I'm just trying to get everything on the table so we can collectively review and where possible ask questions or make educated determinations. I have no axe to grind here. Thanks.
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“Hey Walt, remember telling me about that Brit doing great work with you at your club. Think he’d be willing to pop on over and help us figure out what to do with the piece of property we just bought. I know you’re plenty busy with playing and helping Chuck out there on the Island. We’d love to have you involved, but no pressure.”
“Sure thing J.P., H.H. would[size=78%] be all over that and I’m sure he’d do a bang up job. Not really my thing right now, what with the magazine and all and still trying to keep the game up to beat Travers. Be happy to stop by at some point down the line and take a gander at what H. H. comes up with.”[/size]
It could have been as easy as that.
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“Hey Walt, remember telling me about that Brit doing great work with you at your club. Think he’d be willing to pop on over and help us figure out what to do with the piece of property we just bought. I know you’re plenty busy with playing and helping Chuck out there on the Island. We’d love to have you involved, but no pressure.”
“Sure thing J.P., H.H. would[size=78%] be all over that and I’m sure he’d do a bang up job. Not really my thing right now, what with the magazine and all and still trying to keep the game up to beat Travers. Be happy to stop by at some point down the line and take a gander at what H. H. comes up with.”[/size]
It could have been as easy as that.
Maybe once, perhaps twice.
But the Travis name wouldn't have been attached as either the designer nor the supervisor of design, in my opinion.
Love the imagined convo, though. ;D
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Bedford Springs GC/ Philmont CC/ Springhaven CC/ Newport CC -
The source I have for the work here is the Sept. 1909 American Golfer article posted above. I have not seen anything for any of them that note any involvement by Travis.
Will loop back to this one over the weekend.
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But the Travis name wouldn't have been attached as either the designer nor the supervisor of design, in my opinion.
Of course it would have. You have to remember that for many of these projects the real goal was filling out the membership list. All of the newspaper articles, all of the hyperbole, and all of the grandiose statements about how great a course could be made were aimed at getting members to sign on the dotted line. If not, someone was left holding the bag for the initial outlay.
Travis was a name. Having him attached to your project in any way, even if he really wasn't going to do anything (hence "supervising") went a long way.
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Adding in a couple of Walter Travis advertisements from Golf Illustrated., 1921. Walter Travis highlighted several of his jobs as rearrangements.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/ag323/bretjlawrence/IMG_5490.JPG) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bretjlawrence/a/a262d2bd-f3be-467b-a9cd-2816e5d7d000/p/92e00494-fdac-49ea-be45-9f84aaf8f98d)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/ag323/bretjlawrence/IMG_5489.JPG) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bretjlawrence/a/a262d2bd-f3be-467b-a9cd-2816e5d7d000/p/76c75724-3b8b-498f-98f4-19bb28c210e8)
Columbia is an interesting story. Travis was in DC every year between 1915-1920 to advise on work at Columbia, but there were many names associated with work on the course. Barker, Travis, William Connellan, Robert White and Dr. Walter Harban were all there contributing to the final result. William Connellan and Robert White were both there to carry out the work suggested by Travis. Connellan also assisted Travis at Sunningdale and Robert White assisted Travis at East Potomac Park. It’s crazy to think with all these grass and soil experts in one place that anything could go wrong, but during the 1921 US Open all the greens suffered from brown patch right before the tournament started. This resulted in the formation of the USGA Green Section.
Robert White also played in the 1921 US Open at Columbia. He was the first tee time on the first day. Surprisingly, Robert White played in many US Opens spanning from the 1890’s to the 1920’s, but he rarely made the cut.
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Williamsport CC/ Youngstown CC -
The main source I have here is the article in the Mayfield post above. I'll wait for Mike to fill in the information he has on any Travis connections here.
To clarify, I'm more interested in reports of Travis taking on a role in the design process than I am in reports of Travis referring the club to Barker.
Mayfield CC
Just noting that one of Sven's recent articles mentions that Travis suggested Barker to Mayfield.
Williamsport CC
The Williamsport CC website mentions the following;
On April 11, 1910, HH Barker, the winner of the 1908 Irish Open turned course architect, was paid a sum of $74.50 to lay out the original nine holes. These holes consisted of what are now our #1, #2, and #12 through #18.
Interesting then how a syndicated article about Maurice McCarthy (this one from the Austin (TX) American Statesman from 4/24/1930 mentions Williamsport as designed by Walter Travis, opening in 1911.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52625743288_a899fc788d_z.jpg)
Youngstown Country Club aka Mahoning Golf Club -
The American Golfer of October 1911 starts off familiar enough, with Travis mentioning yet another prominent club that has secured the services of Herbert Barker, who clearly is the traveling, "on the ground" guy for these endeavors.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52625705920_d3edd61b30_6k.jpg)
Yet, back in Youngtown the following spring the local news had a different take on the origins of their course. The second image blows up the pertinent information from the full page article.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52624751822_a5ff1b67cb_6k.jpg)(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52625271366_34ca367fdc_6k.jpg)
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Mike:
There are reports from 1928 of Donald Ross having laid out Youngstown 16 years prior (June 23, 1928 Marion Star). I wouldn't pay much mind to that 1930 article about Williamsport.
Be nice to hear Ed Homsey's take on Youngstown today. His reports from three years ago (as posted earlier in the thread) and from years past on this site note he was convinced it was Barker. It would also be nice to know when and how much time Travis spent in the city. In any case, it would appear that Barker was the guy who was "on the ground" out there. To me it sounds very much like another project where Barker did lay out yet the Travis name was attached, as I very much doubt Barker constructed the course.
Sven
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If you look at it from an either/or proposition I guess but then we're approaching double digits on startling coincidences, no?
I believe they worked in tandem through at least early 1911. I would add that Barker also maintained a rigorous playing schedule through the period.
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Show me when Travis was in Cleveland and Youngstown and we can start to have that conversation.
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Philmont -
The late Tom MacWood posted the following here on GCA back in 2011.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52629273798_ae1c597857_k.jpg)
Walter Travis was very good friends with Ellis Gimbel of Philmont, such that he came out for two days of golf in the summer of 1909, and again in 1912 an 1914. The 1909 date coincides with the subsequent introduction of Barker mentioned in American Golfer later that summer. From the Philadelphia Inquirer July 17 & 18. I'm not sure I agree with MacWood's understanding of the table-top representing the new 18 hole golf course but I guess it's possible.
One might fairly ask the question; Philmont just had probably the preeminent architectural mind in the country at that time (along with CB Macdonald and scant others) at their new 18-hole course for 36 holes a day two days in a row. If they wanted a "modern, scientific" bunkering scheme do you really think they would have chosen Barker independent of Travis a month later? At the time Barker was essentially Travis's 26-year old protege who was learning architecture under The Old Man's guidance.
This was less than a year after Barker, under Travis's tutelage, helped dig new pits at Garden City to ready it for the 1908 US Amateur that fall. There were absolutely no courses Barker had designed by this time that were open yet. He had begun playing golf around age 18 or 19 and became very proficient, very quickly (1904 Irish Open winner), before deciding to come to America to take the professional's job at Garden City but other than Travis touting him through American Golfer magazine had no "on the ground" track record of architectural success yet in this country. Wouldn't it make more sense for Philmont, much like Atlantic City CC in that same time period, to hire Barker to implement Walter Travis's proposed changes on the ground at Philmont?
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52628226962_c17d8b93bb_c.jpg)(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52629027029_f4950017fc_b.jpg)
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Merion Cricket Club -
I'm reticent to post this artifact from the Merion Cricket Club's archives that was originally posted here by Wayne Morrison as I don't want to go down that rabbit hole but I thought a few things were relevant to this discussion so here is Merion's recount (complete with Barker's letter to Joseph Connell from early June 1910, which was a month prior to Macdonald and Whigham's July visit and subsequent letter to the club (that doesn't mention Barker but does provide cautious, general guidance to the club concerning the land they were considering acquiring)) of Barker's efforts to land that job.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52629078324_dd2917d17d_b.jpg)
Incidentally, Myopia and Garden City were Walter Travis's two favorite American courses at the time as National Golf Links was still a month out from their "soft opening" in July 1910 with an invitational tournament that Travis played in with Macdonald.
A few things stand out. First, I'm not sure if Barker is padding his resume at this point but there is clearly no historical record of the number of courses he claims to have either designed or remodeled. Second, although it doesn't seem as though the "sketch" was attached to the circular for the benefit of the Merion Board, Barker does state that he sent one along. Was it on a topographical map as was the growing custom of the time among those expounding the "modern, scientific" approach to architecture? Or did he visit and then recall the dimensions of the property from memory and sketch out something one might reasonably assume should be reasonably to scale? I'm not sure that would look very impressive to some very important people he might be trying to impress.
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Mike:
What is your evidence that M and W visited Merion a month after Barker?
Sven
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I would add that Barker also maintained a rigorous playing schedule through the period.
What do you base this on?
Here's a look at his schedule in 1909.
Mid-May - plays in the Eastern Professionals tournament at Scarsdale
Late June - US Open at Englewood
July 16 - Foursomes match at Fox Hills
Mid-Sept. - Met Open at Wykagyl
Mid-Oct. - Plays in a short series of tournaments around San Francisco (including winning the open event at Presidio)
That's all I could come up with for his playing schedule in 1909. Obviously he was playing golf very regularly, but this is far from the type of schedule that Travis was keeping up over the same time period.
That west coast trip is of particular note. It was most likely on the way out to or on the way back from the west coast that he stopped in Cleveland and Youngstown.
There was plenty of time for Barker to have worked on the dozen or so projects that he was noted as having laid out or reconstructed during 1909.
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Springhaven CC -
Came across the following on the club's website;
Andy Campbell, a native of Troon, Scotland came to the Club in 1908.Like Rawlins before him, Campbell was a prominent golfer in the early part of the last century. He played in a number of U.S. Opens, his best finish being a tie for 7th in 1909. And like Rawlins, he supervised changes to the golf course as it matured throughout his 25 years of service. In 1910, Herbert H. Barker, an English golf professional known for his distinctive bunkering, was contracted to toughen up the course. He staked out 50 new sand pits which were rectangular, deep and with an accompanying mound to the greenward side of the sand field. Records of the day indicate it was all and maybe more than the average golfer needed.The Club also turned to world famous golf architect, William Flynn on a couple of occasions in the 1920’s. One of his most lasting contributions was the removal of Barker’s sand pits and replacing them with the more modern spherical bunkers we see today. Over the 2nd half of the century, the course has continued to evolve just as the game itself has evolved. Holes have been lengthened and rerouted. Bunkers have been added and this plot of ground, which in 1904 supported less than two dozen trees, now features a wide variety of Copper Beech, Dawn Redwoods, Flowering Cherries, Dogwoods and Japanese Maples.
Joe Bausch some years back found information that longtime club member Alex Findlay (yes, that Alex Findlay) made significant changes to the golf course in the early teens which somehow still eludes the official club history. I have been unable to date to find a Travis connection to Barker's work at Springhaven.
Still tracking down Newport and Bedford Springs, the latter of which is perplexing as it was supposedly an original 18 hole course in 1895 that became nine holes by the early 1900s, and then supposedly 18 again (with Barker?) in the early teens before becoming 9 again when Donald Ross began work to build an additional 9 for 18 holes, opening in 1924.
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Well, they have the date wrong for Barker at Springhaven, as the project was reported on in Sept. 1909.
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Well, they have the date wrong for Barker at Springhaven, as the project was reported on in Sept. 1909.
Sven,
Seems likely that Barker drew a plan in around Sept that started construction soon after into 1910. I'm finding in many of these situations there were lead times between design and construction to realization of 1 or more years.
EDIT - Just re-read and it says he was "contracted" in 1910. I believe I know someone with the club's Bob Labbance written history book so will see what that offers.
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Mike:
What is your evidence that M and W visited Merion a month after Barker?
Sven
Sven,
It wasn't a month. I was thinking they visited Merion in July but that's when the Board sent their circular.
We know Barker's visit (requested by Joseph Connell) was on June 10th, 1910 because he wrote his letter that same day. The Macdonald and Whigham visit (at the invite of Rodman Griscom) was referred to as a separate event and CBM wrote his findings on June 29th, 1910. How much time passed between his visit and the letter is unknown.
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Mike:
What is your evidence that M and W visited Merion a month after Barker?
Sven
Sven,
It wasn't a month. I was thinking they visited Merion in July but that's when the Board sent their circular.
We know Barker's visit (requested by Joseph Connell) was on June 10th, 1910 because he wrote his letter that same day. The Macdonald and Whigham visit (at the invite of Rodman Griscom) was referred to as a separate event and CBM wrote his findings on June 29th, 1910. How much time passed between his visit and the letter is unknown.
So it is possible, by the timeline, that CBM and HW saw the site first and recommended Barker, as the article earlier in the thread notes.
It should be noted that CBM's letter was addressed from New York. I would assume he would have attended the US Open at Philadelphia Cricket (but don't know that for sure), so its possible he wrote (a) after returning from Philadelphia to New York some time after the tournament ended around June 20th and (b) after being able to confer with H. J. Whigham on the prospects for a course as he notes in his letter.
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Sven,
Definitely possible but I think it's unlikely. Here's the second page of the Merion circular that went out in early July (the first page includes the Barker June 10th letter) and at least from Merion's internal perspective at the time, they seem as though they were unrelated events.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/2458/3601492895_fc30a1efbf_b.jpg)
One might think that Macdonald's letter that was referred to, but not enclosed, might also mention the Barker recommendation, but it does not. In looking again at the Brooklyn Times Union article you posted, we are once again hearing the same promotion of Barker as the professional who has done the most work ever in the United States but you and I know that's some major hyperbole at that point as many of his courses and course recommmendations had only been designed and not open at the time of the writing. What about Alex Findlay, Tom Bendelow, and several others. Are you sure Walter Travis didn't write for that newspaper? ;)
For those who haven't seen it prior, here's Macdonald's letter after his visit to Merion;
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52634330463_cd1c121bf7_c.jpg)
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Bedford Springs is an intriguing case. Lore indicates it was an 18 hole golf course as of 1895, there is even a map to that effect that I haven't really dug into, but by as early as 1903 they were calling it a nine-hole course. There are indications that an attempt was made in the 1910 timeframe (would coincide with Barker) to build a new 18 hole course but even though there are favorable reports about the progress, by 1915 it was reported as one of the finest nine hole courses in the country.
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Why would CBM need to recommend Barker in his letter, dated June 29th, if had already done so and knew that Barker had already seen the site?
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Why would CBM need to recommend Barker in his letter, dated June 29th, if had already done so and knew that Barker had already seen the site?
Why would CBM bother spelling out a hypothetically ideal 18 hole course in his letter if he knew Barker had already sketched one out for them during his single day visit and had the matter of Merion in his expert hands?
Both good questions if that article is correct that those two amateurs recommended their pro at Garden City to design Merion. None of the Philadelphia or other national accounts mentioned that tidbit.
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Bedford Springs -
Here is the 18 hole drawing of Bedford Springs, date unknown. The club website seems to imply that this map is from the Spencer Oldham course in 1895 but I've yet to see other evidence that course was 18 holes. As mentioned, I'm finding articles as early as 1903 (edit - 1902) indicating only 9 existed.
From newspaper evidence and Travis's account in September 1909, it seems that Barker sketched out a course for them that was being constructed and near opening in the 1911 timeframe. Could this sketch be from Barker's proposed course?
The club website also states that A.W. Tillinghast came in 1912 and reduced the 18 hole course to one of 9 holes, implying a new design or consolidation. I don't know the source of their information but as mentioned earlier, by 1915 the course is again listed as 9 holes in multiple news articles. Could it be that Tillinghast replaced the Barker course in its infancy? Perhaps they were having construction and/or agronomy issues that made the course unfeasible? Speculation, of course, but those are the particulars I've seen to date. The only other evidence of Tillinghast at Bedford Springs I've seen is a Tilly sketch of a short par three at "Bedford" that is today known as "Little Tilly" accompanying other hole drawings from Tillinghast designs.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52635217058_1ecf10de08_k.jpg)
The club's website also indicates that A.W. Tillinghast came in 1912 and reduced the 18 holes to 9 holes, implying a somewhat different course that what preceded it. The only other evidence I've seen is a sketch Tillinghast did of the short par three hole that today is called "Little Tilly" that accompanied some other holes of his design. Could the website be correct that Tilly changed and wiped out 9 of Barker's holes before they were played, or shortly after? Perhaps they were having some agronomy issues or construction problems? Just speculation here, of course.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52635170950_fcc39a0c84_b.jpg)
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Mike,
That Bedford Springs routing looks older to me. The course appears to pre-date the concept of a dogleg hole. The title also includes the word links, which sometimes can be a clue to its age? 1910-1911 for a date would not be out of the question.
I think Macdonald was just reiterating his philosophy of what makes an ideal course. The 6,000 yard mark wasn’t as important as the variety of holes you use to get there. If you look at the Bedford Springs layout: It’s 6,000 yards, but there is a 600 yard hole and a few holes in the 230-245 category and every hole is straight. If this was what most layouts of the time looked like, it may be a clue why Macdonald would want to reiterate that concept to Merion.
Bret
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A few key moments in the Bedford Springs timeline:
Sept. 1909 American Golfer notes Barker worked on a new layout for the course
-Summer 1910 advertisements in a number of newspapers note an 18 hole course is under construction
-June 30, 1912 Pittsburgh Press notes the course is new
And perhaps the most telling article -
June 28, 1912 Bedford Gazette -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Bedford_Springs_-_Bedford_Gazette_June_28_1912.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Bedford_Springs_-_Bedford_Gazette_June_28_1912.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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That Bedford Springs routing looks older to me.
Bret:
I agree. That total yardage and those hole distances are not consistent for what was being built in the mid-1890's.
Sven
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It might be helpful to line up what is likely the Barker routing with the course as it exists today. It appears, as I'll show later, that the idea/upkeep of the 18 hole course quickly went by the wayside and after orienting the routing with my understanding of the property after a few visits I have a few ideas why that might be.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52635217058_1ecf10de08_k.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52635959303_6c2b03e66d_h.jpg)
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It appears that the 18 hole course (presumed to be Barker's) opened in 1912, was advertised as 18 holes in 1913, but by 1914 I'm no longer seeing anything but a vague "golf" on their ads.
By August 1915, as shown in this syndicated news article printed in the Wilmington (DE) News Journal, the course was back to 9 holes where it remained until Donald Ross arrived in 1922, making changes and additions that opened in 1924. Whether it was Tillinghast (1915 would make more sense for it to be Tilly) who consolidated down to 9 holes is the probable source.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52635542606_71db43cd0b_c.jpg)
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Here's a summer 1914 ad noting 18 holes. It would appear the contraction of the course to 9 holes took place between then and the 1915 season.
June 28, 1914 Washington Post -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Bedford_Springs_-_Washington_Post_June_28_1914.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Bedford_Springs_-_Washington_Post_June_28_1914.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Here's a summer 1914 ad noting 18 holes. It would appear the contraction of the course to 9 holes took place between then and the 1915 season.
June 28, 1914 Washington Post -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Bedford_Springs_-_Washington_Post_June_28_1914.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Bedford_Springs_-_Washington_Post_June_28_1914.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Thanks, Sven.
Today's course runs through a valley where a wide stream runs through the length of it. Once you get out of the flatland plains surrounding the waterway, things get steep pretty fast. I suspect that may have contributed to the early abandonment.
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There was massive flooding in Pennsylvania in the summer of 1915, called the worst flood on record. Perhaps it was the low lying holes that went out of service, and the higher ones remained in play. Who knows.
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There was massive flooding in Pennsylvania in the summer of 1915, called the worst flood on record. Perhaps it was the low lying holes that went out of service, and the higher ones remained in play. Who knows.
Sven,
I'm basing my guess on the land that Donald Ross used when he expanded the course back to 18 holes in 1922, opening in 1924, as he abandoned the holes drawn on that map in the Northeast Corner (as the map is oriented).
Incidentally, this 1924 article I earlier posted to your "Reunderstanding Ross" thread mentions the par threes and if one is not careful it might be interpreted that the 14th (aka "Little Tilly") is a new Ross hole. However, I'm understanding that Tillinghast wrote a promotional pamphlet published in 1917 called "Planning A Golf Course" that included drawings and descriptions of holes he created and/or reconstructed that includes a drawing of the "2nd Hole" at Bedford Springs that has been named "Little Tilly" over the years so I think we've filled in the pieces here.
The only other thing I'd mention that I find interesting to our dialogue here is that if that's Barker's 18-hole routing, which I think we both now believe, is that it was done on a topographical map as I suspected, although the topo lines on our copy from the club's website are virtually invisible.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52636076982_7c1c59a0fb_b.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52637038295_3664c74156_b.jpg)
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Here is the aforementioned 1917 Tillinghast sketch of "Little Tilly" that Phil Young sent me some time ago. I'm not sure I ever read the caption but it all now makes sense.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52636603191_a1e231c63c_c.jpg)
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Mike:
There's no evidence that Barker drew that map or used a topographical map to design the course. Bedford Springs used a guy named Martin Roudabush to survey the site in connection with the construction of the course. Roudabush was hired in 1910, after Barker was there to design the course. The map may be entirely his creation.
Let's not jump to conclusions here, again.
Sven
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Mike:
There's no evidence that Barker drew that map or used a topographical map to design the course. Bedford Springs used a guy named Martin Roudabush to survey the site in connection with the construction of the course. Roudabush was hired in 1910, after Barker was there to design the course. The map may be entirely his creation.
Let's not jump to conclusions here, again.
Sven
Sven,
Fair enough. I may be taking the word "PLAN" on the map too literally although from a practical standpoint it seems a topo would have been very useful to navigate the thickly wooded hillsides the routing ventured into.
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We know that Ross' eventual decision was to build the current course down on the valley floor. A lot of this area was repeatedly flooded leading to the need for Forse to fill/lift the entire valley floor in the rebuild (a few feet at least based on his telling when I played there with him). You could make a case that the routing up into the higher ground on the other side of the road was the right decision for a sustainable course on the available land.
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Rumson CC
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/h6ah50K_XNzZuqv-YJI6sDEw6q1-5_Ku-mdMy7gERZdLWAFclr2TW9cKuxjKqGV2BqKzwsirFOiAAzsgLw=w293-h220-rw)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/T6qnsMKcnNidL8jht25X0jBwxjVHD9iQKx_eBjFX8REh9yca0aaDBuoVYLN_U_y9_YS1lPwGSumjRsACmQ=w293-h220-rw)
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Thanks for those photos of Rumson, Ian. Do you know what year they are from?
Both Rumson and Arcola are courses that have long intrigued me. I'm hoping to get to both sometime this year.
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This might be a nice place to drop a photo of "Little Tilly" I took a few years ago during a visit to Bedford Springs.
Now at least I know for certain that it's actually a Tillinghast hole! ;D
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52638334947_645742733d_4k.jpg)
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Columbia CC -
I'm not going to delve into this one too much as the history of Columbia has been covered in great detail around here. The early press reports from Aug. 1909 on note (a) a Barker layout or (b) a Barker and Ross layout with Travis involved later on.
By the sounds of the article below, it doesn't appear that Travis had seen the land prior to the layout being completed.
Oct. 26, 1909 Washington Times -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Columbia_-_Washington_Times_Oct._26_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Columbia_-_Washington_Times_Oct._26_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Columbia Country Club - While I'm still digging a bit deeper, it does seem the close friendship between Travis and Dr. Walter Harban, as well as his close relationships with Barker and Donald Ross makes this a natural collaborative effort. Why else would it be news that Travis stopped by to survey the property for two days seeing what had been done to date in the fall of 1909 (likely simply a staked out and/or mapped out course at that point as the course didn't open until it did in stages during the summer of 1911) if not to provide his design input and blessing?
Another article I'm in possession of that I'm still trying to source states the following;
"Dr. L. Lee Harban, a prominent player of the Columbia Country Club, has the following to say of the work that has been done and is being done at the club. "The Columbia Country Club, when completed, will be one of the finest in this part of the country. The work of laying out the links has been approved by W. S. (sic) Travis and other prominent authorities on golf."
In May of 1909 Walter Travis was in Maryland playing at Chevy Chase and the original Columbia golf course from 5/14 through 5/17, returning again to Chevy Chase on 6/13. Given his close friendship with Dr. Harban, it seems unlikely that he was viewing the property of the new course for Columbia in October as the article above implies.
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Show me when Travis was in Cleveland and Youngstown and we can start to have that conversation.
Sven,
I've been looking at the Tournament schedule of Travis and the last time he played in Cleveland was at Euclid (the forerunner of Mayfield) in 1907. However, in 1909 he traveled to Chicago (which would have passed in the proximity of both Youngstown and Cleveland (as well as Detroit & Skokie traveling west) where he played from 9/6 through 9/9.
Other trips that same year had him at Columbia & Chevy Chase in May (5/14 - 5/17) & June 13 as mentioned, Philmont in July 7/18/ and 7/19 as mentioned, Atlantic City from 11/5 thru 11/7 and he basically wintered at Pinehurst what seems months at a time and would have certainly been accessible to Richmond, VA.
In 1910 he was also in Chicago from 7/31 through 8/6.
In 1911 he was at East Lake in Atlanta 3/4 & 3/5 playing with George Adair and then spent 5/10 thru 5/13 at Chevy Chase.
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It seems much more likely that Walter Travis rather than Jerome Travers was the person who brought Herbert Barker to Garden City because Travis was essentially in charge of the golf club, at that time. 10 days prior to reports of Barker coming to Garden City the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in July 1907 reported that Ben Sayres (sp), jr. had turned Travis down for the job. That rejection had been previously reported in British papers in February of that year.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52652329447_1fd34f1925_z.jpg)
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Mike,
I am including an article from 1918 which highlights Dr. Harban and Columbia, but it mentions Barker laid out the Columbia course and much of what he laid out still stands, with improvements.
Evening Star., June 14, 1918
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/ag323/bretjlawrence/FullSizeRender_aXtLmtwYFsDe1UqF2GpPR1.jpg) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bretjlawrence/a/a262d2bd-f3be-467b-a9cd-2816e5d7d000/p/732a4bca-7bb7-4285-bcd0-80e74aaeeead)
Here is a link to the full article. Loc.gov has so many articles on Columbia, Travis and Harban. Any change that was made to the course in the teens was recorded in the DC newspapers.
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1918-06-14/ed-1/seq-9/ (https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1918-06-14/ed-1/seq-9/)
Bret
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These pictures have been posted before, but I always enjoy looking at them. I think these pictures of Columbia’s 16th green gives us a clear picture of the evolution of the Columbia course through the teens.
1911-1912 After Barker:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/ag323/bretjlawrence/IMG_5494.PNG) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bretjlawrence/a/a262d2bd-f3be-467b-a9cd-2816e5d7d000/p/8923006b-3e0a-461d-b3f6-0f1731baa583)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/ag323/bretjlawrence/IMG_5495.PNG) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bretjlawrence/a/a262d2bd-f3be-467b-a9cd-2816e5d7d000/p/24a57957-a0ea-4689-ab48-43e0e8ea9d8d)
1918 During the Red Cross tournament. One day after the article I posted above. This is what the 16th looked like after Travis and Connellan worked together:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/ag323/bretjlawrence/IMG_5496.PNG) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bretjlawrence/a/a262d2bd-f3be-467b-a9cd-2816e5d7d000/p/d7c2530c-c68b-4eb7-a5a5-dedfd18ec76e)
1921- This is what 16 looked like for the US Open after Travis and White worked together. The green lost its artificial features and became more refined as the years went on.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/ag323/bretjlawrence/FullSizeRender_kcEry217Rz74r3udw1vfUh.jpg) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bretjlawrence/a/a262d2bd-f3be-467b-a9cd-2816e5d7d000/p/c722291a-25b1-45e6-b6d2-6d0be4c400a3)
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In May of 1909 Walter Travis was in Maryland playing at Chevy Chase and the original Columbia golf course from 5/14 through 5/17, returning again to Chevy Chase on 6/13. Given his close friendship with Dr. Harban, it seems unlikely that he was viewing the property of the new course for Columbia in October as the article above implies.
Your dates are slightly off, but that probably isn't really important.
What is important is that Columbia was in the process of deciding where to move in May and June of 1909, and the club didn't make a decision until the end of June. A select committee, of which I can find no record of Harban being a member, recommended two sites to the club (the first meeting regarding site selection occurred on June 16th). On June 30th the club elected to go with the new site in Chevy Chase. By all accounts, Harban became more involved with the club and its new course after it was decided to build the new course, so no matter how close he and Travis were that friendship proves nothing absent evidence of his involvement with the actual initial design of the new CCC.
Is it possible that Travis saw the Chevy Chase site? Yes, but that doesn't mean he had anything to do with its design, which didn't start until after the decision to procure the land. And there is nothing I've read that would lead me to be convinced that he had seen the land prior to his visit as described in the Oct. 1909 article above.
I think we're getting bogged down in the minutiae of circumstantial evidence and the mind games of speculation. Words such as "unlikely," "essentially" and "seems" being thrown around don't help. It is what you do when you're stretching to support a preconception. The thought that just because Travis was in Pinehurst he was "accessible" to Richmond carries no weight to me. If Travis visited Richmond it would have been reported. Just about everything the man did received press coverage at that time.
What we do know is pretty basic.
1. Travis had written that the best practice for a club building a new course or updating an old one was to seek out the advice of a professional.
2. Travis was encouraging Barker to pursue his career in architecture and was recommending him for work.
3. Travis was highly focused on his playing career during the 1908 to 1911 time period (your 1909 playing dates miss a number of tournaments he participated in, both in the Met area and elsewhere including again in Atlantic City in April).
4. Barker played a small amount of tournament golf, and was traveling extensively to visit club's where work was being proposed or was to take place.
I have no doubt that Travis was involved in some way in the work Barker was doing, whether it be on the recommendation side or actually offering advice on design concepts (aka supervising). But he wasn't the guy on the ground, walking the sites, staking out the courses. There is plenty of evidence that this was Barker, on his own.
I keep going back to the idea of Travis hiding any design work. It just doesn't make any sense. There are instances from this time period of design suggestions he made being covered in the press, his Fall 1908 visit to Essex County being one example. Why would he have to hide anything. No club was going to pay him, and he certainly wasn't going to accept any money. So if he did offer advice or was even more involved in any work, what was the harm in having that story told?
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However, in 1909 he traveled to Chicago (which would have passed in the proximity of both Youngstown and Cleveland (as well as Detroit & Skokie traveling west) where he played from 9/6 through 9/9.
One of the primary train routes between New York and Chicago passed through Buffalo, the north side of Lake Erie and then Detroit. Unless you know for sure how he got to Chicago, this means nothing with respect to Youngstown and Cleveland.
As for Detroit and Skokie, he was there for the U.S. Amateur, the biggest playing event of the year for him. Despite the fact that his was more than a year prior to the work by Barker at those courses being reported, I highly doubt his focus was on design work at that time.
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I've been off the grid for a month, but now back and working on a piece on Barker and Colt at Indian Hill, which I hope to post soon. Wondering if we know what kind of material Barker would leave with a club after working on a plan for its golf course. Are there any routings, drawings or notes that we can attribute to him? At Indian Hill, it seems like his work was translated into a drawing for the club by O.C. Simonds, a brilliant Chicago-based landscape architect. Just wanted to make sure. I think Barker worked out his ideas on the grounds like most architects of this day. Later, a surveyor or a landscape architect would put the golf architect's ideas on paper. Has anyone written a book or paper on the evolution of golf course design in terms of when and how the early architects started to put their ideas down on paper for the person in charge of the construction? In the beginning, there were all of the stick-like drawings showing the routing. When did golf architects start to make more complicated course and hole-by-hole drawings and how did it evolve? Is it another data point that helps identify the earliest days of the Golden Age?
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John C.,
We know that the NGLA blueprint was on a topographical map showing detail and that CBM told Merion in 1910 that he couldn't tell if they had enough land for a course without having a topo. Travis, who was with the NGLA design committee through the entire 4 year process would have understood the value of a topo.
Barker's sketch for the Merion developer Joseph Connell may have been on a topo but we don't know. We do know the sketch was the result of a single day's visit.
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Mike,
I should mention one of the reasons Macdonald hired an engineer (Raynor) for NGLA was because no one else knew how to read a topographic map and all of Macdonald’s plans from overseas were drawn on topo maps by surveyors. If Travis knew how to read a topo map in 1906 they probably wouldn’t have needed to hire Raynor?
I think all of these guys knew the value of a topographic map, but they didn’t necessarily know how to read them, including Macdonald.
Bret
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Mike,
I should mention one of the reasons Macdonald hired an engineer (Raynor) for NGLA was because no one else knew how to read a topographic map and all of Macdonald’s plans from overseas were drawn on topo maps by surveyors. If Travis knew how to read a topo map in 1906 they probably wouldn’t have needed to hire Raynor?
I think all of these guys knew the value of a topographic map, but they didn’t necessarily know how to read them, including Macdonald.
Bret
Great point, Bret and I had no idea CBM didn't know how to read one...assumed none of these guys knew how to survey/create one so therefore hired Raynor who evidently also worked on the 3D plasticene hole models.
If CBM, Travis, Emmett, etc. didn't know how to read one by 1906 I'm betting they knew by 1908 or thereabouts, would you agree? Thanks.
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Mike,
Yes, I agree it’s possible they knew how to read one by 1908-1910, but guys like Travis and Macdonald usually had others build their courses, so they likely didn’t need to.
I just thought it was kind of funny that Macdonald asked for one, knowing that he’s going to hand it over to Seth Raynor as soon as he gets it.
Bret
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Is it known when topographical maps were first used? Is there some point when CBM or Travis or Colt, perhaps the first architects of the Golden Age, started to make their own more complex drawings and instructions, or when these golf course architects started to use topographical maps and grids instead of relying on surveyors to translate their stake-laying-out processes or sketches into scientific plans for the constructors?
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An older thread on topos.
https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,45810.msg1416217.html#msg1416217
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Is it known when topographical maps were first used? Is there some point when CBM or Travis or Colt, perhaps the first architects of the Golden Age, started to make their own more complex drawings and instructions, or when these golf course architects started to use topographical maps and grids instead of relying on surveyors to translate their stake-laying-out processes or sketches into scientific plans for the constructors?
John,
Almost every job Raynor worked on with the Olmsted Brothers reported an engineer in the field. Charles Baird, William Nugent, Ralph Linderman, Charles H. Neal, Frank Coleman, James O’Hear were names you may see associated with Raynor courses. All of these guys were engineers. Nugent and Baird were from Southampton while the other engineers tended to be local to the courses they were building for Raynor.
I think this gets back to the idea that as time went on, more expertise was required to build a golf course during the Golden Age. Scribbling a design on paper wasn’t going to cut it anymore. You needed to truly analyze the piece of property in order to maximize its potential. The graph paper designs by Colt and Ross don’t really show contour as much as they describe the contours in their notes. These graph paper drawings were probably easier to interpret for the course constructors than a topo map? Willie Park Jr. stated that he never used contour maps.
Bret
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The evolution seems to be along the following lines: 1. stick drawings; 2) engineers (Raynor, Olmstead) or surveyors using topo maps to translate the architect's sketches and on-the-ground plans for the constructors; 3) architects who use topo maps or make graph paper designs, hole-by-hole drawings and notes, 18-hole routings with the fairways, bunkers and greens drawn accurately, etc. for the constructors.
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John,
I’m not sure it’s that easy to simplify. I think some of the architects used different methods to achieve the same result. There were engineers who designed courses before Raynor, like Lawrence Van Etten. Raynor used models, Ross used drawings, Willie Park just walked the land with the guy who was going to build his courses, but they all got the results they wanted at the end of the day.
They also used these methods simultaneously . There are maps from Royal St. George’s in the late 1890’s made by surveyors showing extensive details of the course, there are stick routings of courses in the 1920’s newspapers giving readers an idea of how the course will be routed.
I think you can look at an architect like Ross and see how his methods evolved, but to group all of the architects together isn’t as easy because they all did things their own way.
Bret
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I know we might not all be aligned in agreement here on some particulars but I think this is an excellent, enjoyable discussion and thank all you guys for your expertise and insight.
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I was reading Bahto's book on C.B. MacDonald and I ran across a passage that reminded me of the questions just above. "In 1902 he (MacDonald) returned to the British Isles with the expressed desire to compile sketches, notes, diagrams, and surveys of the holes that he and his many overseas friends felt to be timeless classics." At a much earlier date than I realized, CBM was recording much more complex information about the architectural properties of golf courses.
BTW, is there much info on Barker at Newport CC? Wonder if some of the country's earliest clubs already share or might considering digitizing/sharing all of their early historical documents with some central source, perhaps USGA History? Many are private, but there is a public responsibility and golf clubs are such important entities in the social and economic history of our country. It's important to assemble and share the information with the future because it's getting lost all of the time.
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I had forgotten that Hugh Wilson also came back from his trip abroad with sketches, photos, etc., and am now wondering if perhaps those items had topographical information? The reason I'm curious is I was looking back at my IMO piece on Wilson from 2013 and came across the follwing quote from Richard Francis. Perhaps I'm reading too much into it but it also sounds as though a Committee already existed and he was added to it specifically because the Committee realized they needed those skills.
"...member Richard Francis recollected in the 1950 US Open program, “In 1909 or 1910, it became apparent that the old golf course…was antiquated and it was decided to build a new course. The Committee in charge of laying out and building a new course was composed of Mess’rs Horatio G. Lloyd, Rodman E. Griscom, Hugh I. Wilson, and Dr. Harry Toulmin. I was added to it, probably because I could read drawings, make them, run a transit level and tape.”
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It seems whatever suggestions Barker and/or Travis may have made at Philmont in 1909, progress was slow going or more likely, never implemented. This July 24, 1911 "Philadelphia Inquirer" article gives some indication.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52667989112_45e6a510d8.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52668924560_cfc3b6411c_b.jpg)
It seems that was the case up until 1914, (Philadelphia Inquirer 11/08/1914) when Green Chair Henry Strouse, with an assist from Hugh Wilson made significant revisions and new bunkering schemes.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52668489301_c5b0f41ef6_z.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52668926545_75e66d2bd8.jpg)
This retrospective snippet from the Inquirer in January 9th, 1916 refers to Philmont and "leading member" Ellis Gimbel, who was one of the GAP Presidents who fought for a public course in Philadelphia.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52668021447_a95015139a.jpg)
Finally, this 1919 article in the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent refers to the fact that the golf course and it's evolution was not the result of hiring professionals.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52667987582_46fc4ce610_k.jpg)
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Mike:
When it opened in 1907, Philmont had 9 holes. It had 18 by 1911 as noted in your first article. Do you have anything specific on that expansion?
A 1909 design being in play by 1911 wouldn't surprise me. As the article notes, Rome wasn't built in a day and that kind of time frame was pretty normal around that time.
Sven
PS - That last article specifically notes that the "improvements" were made without paid professional assistance. To use the word "evolution" in your description is disingenuous and comes across as intentionally misleading.
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Mike:
When it opened in 1907, Philmont had 9 holes. It had 18 by 1911 as noted in your first article. Do you have anything specific on that expansion?
A 1909 design being in play by 1911 wouldn't surprise me. As the article notes, Rome wasn't built in a day and that kind of time frame was pretty normal around that time.
Sven
PS - That last article specifically notes that the "improvements" were made without paid professional assistance. To use the word "evolution" in your description is disingenuous and comes across as intentionally misleading.
Sven,
Good catch, but no intent to be either misleading or worse. Please stop trying to imply motives or intentions from me that I don't have, thanks.
In fact, it was professional John Reid who designed the original nine holes, and Reid again with landscape architect Oglesby Paul who designed the second nine. That's previously been documented here by Joe Bausch and others.
This from the late Tom MacWood on Philmont;
That is what I have on the chain of events at Philmont:* the club was founded in 1907 and nine course was laid out by John Reid the professional* in June 1909 it was reported that the club had purchased 54 additional acres and the nine hole course was increased to 18* in July 1909 Walter Travis played in event at Philmont, partnered with Elis Gimbel, the president of the club against Reid and the VP of the club. Travis and Gimbel won; Travis set the course record. At a dinner afterward honoring Travis the table was decorating with a large model of the new 18-hole course including all the bunkers, mounds and other hazards.* in August 1909 American Golfer reported on that event and discussed the new golf course. The article said the green committee had refrained from putting in bunkers to any extent, allowing observation of play on the course so as to know the best location for hazards. A very comprehensive modern bunkering scheme however had been prepared and work would be begin shortly.* in September 1909 American Golfer reported that Barker had been engaged by Philmont* a 1925 article profiling Philmont (in the Phila. North American) reiterates Reid designed the original nine, and also added the second in 1909 with Ogelsby Paul, a landscape architect.If I was to guess I'd say Baker was the person responsible for the new modern bunkering scheme (probably reflected in the model), and was not involved in adding the new nine. Modern bunkering schemes was one of his specialities based on his involvement re-bunkering GCGC with Travis. That same year he put in a new bunkering scheme at Springhaven, also in Philadelphia.
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I have no doubt that Travis was involved in some way in the work Barker was doing, whether it be on the recommendation side or actually offering advice on design concepts (aka supervising). But he wasn't the guy on the ground, walking the sites, staking out the courses. There is plenty of evidence that this was Barker, on his own.
I keep going back to the idea of Travis hiding any design work. It just doesn't make any sense. There are instances from this time period of design suggestions he made being covered in the press, his Fall 1908 visit to Essex County being one example. Why would he have to hide anything. No club was going to pay him, and he certainly wasn't going to accept any money. So if he did offer advice or was even more involved in any work, what was the harm in having that story told?
Sven,
I think we're getting closer alignment and agreement on the relationship between the two men. Right now I'm mostly trying to collect evidence and try to figure out what work of Barker's was actually done and when, as well as explore why so many courses had a common theme of involvement by both.
On a lighter note, two different friends of mine have a history book for Newport and Springhaven, respectively, and neither can find them!
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Sven,
Due to the vagaries of copying and pasting on this site, I've taken a few screen grabs from my previous Travis/NGLA IMO piece that attempts to answer your question of why Travis may have felt he needed "professional assistance" in his design efforts. They were in Part Two and I've just clipped a few relevant sections, sans the associated articles some snippets refer to.
For anyone interested who hasn't read them, the three-part IMO can be found in the "In My Opinion" section of GolfClubAtlas.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52669010064_6542b134ca_h.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52668731091_3af3b994e3_h.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52669231958_5f2c43927e_h.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52668734826_19dd2073a2_h.jpg)
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Mike:
The sensitivity to the amateur/professional line certainly makes sense. And it helps to partially explain why the bulk of Travis' work in the beginning of his design career was localized. Why would he take on the expense of travel for a project he wasn't going to get paid for? It helps to explain why he would refer to Barker projects like Waverley and Spokane and even the work Barker undertook in Ohio. I'm of the mindset that there are other reasons why Travis didn't want to take on these kind of projects, but I do think the travel and expenses (and what it might mean if they were covered by others) were a factor.
It was Barker who was going out to the sites, examining them for suitability and staking out the courses. And those two steps often went hand in hand. Sometimes another player had already passed on the suitability of a site. In many cases it was someone like Bendelow, who would stop in at a club on their request for a day or two simply to give this kind of advice.
There was a marked shift in how courses were built around World War I. Donald Ross had a lot to do with the practice of the contiguous design and build process, where an entire course was plotted on paper before construction began. Prior to that time, and as we see on many of the projects listed on this thread, the first steps were to route a course, clear the land and grow grass, with bunkering and fine tuning seen as a down the line second process. Often times hereabouts the fact that a course underwent tweaking in its early years is seen as some kind of criticism of the original design, when in fact it was part of a longer term plan for its development. This paradigm shift helps to explain why preconstruction plans became the norm, and the Oakmont model of adding bunkers after observing play went by the wayside.
As design moved further into the Golden Age, the process changed and you saw more and more projects where routing, bunkering and fine-tuning where treated as one process. Part of this probably had to do with a shift in the economics of course construction, and part had to do with the expertise that the architects in America had developed. CBM was already heading in this direction prior to the war, and you could say that Colt and Ross were doing the same with the way they developed their plans either in concert or working on their own. In a few years, you'd have guys like Langford taking the a design plan to perhaps its highest art as he laid down the roadmaps for the construction teams of American Park Builders.
In some sense, Barker was always part of the old school. As we discussed, there really aren't any Barker construction plans out there, as I don't believe he ever worked that way. His routing work was done in the field, and if he was going to bunker a course, it was after the preliminary work was completed. One has to wonder if his practices would have changed if he'd remained in the States, a question for which we'll never have an answer.
With respect to Barker's body of work, i think it makes sense to view each project in light of what he was hired to do. At places like Waverley, Spokane, and New Orleans, he was providing the framework for the club's to get started on their courses, as he was not going to be returning to oversee the further development. On projects like Springhaven, Detroit and East Lake his advice was limited to specific aspects of the course. And then there are the bigger projects like Rumson and Roebuck where his role as both professional and architect involved a more intensive engagement with the long term development of the course. Other projects like Columbia, CC of Virginia and Belle Meade might fall more in a middle ground, where his work might have been seen as more than just a one-stop routing project. At Capital City and Raritan Valley, he had roles in the initial work and work that took place a few years later.
Sven
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Sven,
I'll try to respond later today or tomorrow as time permits, thanks. It did occur to me overnight that by jumping to the snippets in Part 2 of my IMO that it was lacking context I originally laid out in Part 1 for anyone with a casual interest following along at home. I've corrected that, as follows;
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52672696316_91da866d84_h.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52672198552_d088ca1410_h.jpg)
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Whitney's quote speaks to a broader understanding of the classification of a professional across all sports, not just golf. An interesting nuance that takes the broad USGA definition beyond just a creation of that body, and places it more in a cultural realm.
Seems to me that what CBM is saying is pretty basic. Those that were raised with the game understand its basic tenets (or traditions), while those late to it must learn them. It is obvious he did not feel Travis walked away from his 1901 travels having learned much about those traditions, perhaps a notion influenced by the later actions of Travis in 1904.
Sven
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Sven,
I really appreciate the thoughtful answers you provided and agree almost entirely. In the case of the Barker/Travis relationship, I still have some unease about how they worked together, whether formally or just supportive of each other's efforts to improve American course design. I've been a bit scattered with work and home demands in recent weeks but I'll try to give it some mental time to refine my thinking and perhaps formulate some particular questions. Thanks.
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RE: Philmont;
Additional land was obtained in July 1908 and was somehow ready for play by September 11th of that year, although the official opening took place sometime later.
Also, the first nine holes were designed by Donald Ball who was the pro at Philly Cricket at the time. The club hired John Reid who along with Oglesby Paul did the second nine.
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Mike:
John Reid was hired as pro at pretty much the get go, as reported in the Feb. 1907 edition of Golf Magazine.
The newspaper reports from the opening of the course note the first nine holes were laid out under the direction of Reid. Can you point me to where the Donald Ball info comes from?
Sven
May 16, 1907 Philadelphia Inquirer -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/The_Philadelphia_Inquirer_1907_05_16_Page_16.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/The_Philadelphia_Inquirer_1907_05_16_Page_16.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
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Sven,
Sometimes these news accounts can be maddeningly contradictory. This is from the May 20, 1907 New York Sun, and I'm inclined to believe the local (Philly Inquirer) news per your last post. Thanks.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52687563341_652b29ac15_z.jpg)
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Sven,
There must be more to the story. I went back to my database to see I had previously credited Ball with the first nine, but in 1906, not 1907. A bit of further searching to me to my friend Pete Trenham's awesome website trenhamgolfhistory.org
There I came across the following under the profile of John Reid. I don't know Pete's source but will ask him;
Reid’s most lasting creation was probably what would come to be called the South Course at Philmont Country Club. Donald Ball, who was the professional at the Philadelphia Cricket Club at that time, designed the first nine holes in 1906. That same year Reid was hired to rebuild the course and be the pro-green superintendent. Two years later Reid laid out the second nine.
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Mike:
There's an early December 1906 article noting that the grounds for athletics were to be laid out. That's a pretty small window for Ball to have designed the course in 1906, but its possible. It is also possible that Reid oversaw the construction of Ball's design (similar to Old York Road where John Laing's design was selected in a contest and the course was "laid out" and built by James Dougherty).
Not sure if its enough however to disregard the pretty clear language in the May 1907 article.
As an aside, in 1909 Philmont was considering moving to a new location as they only had a lease on their original property and thought being closer to the city would be advantageous. The club actually held options on two separate properties. There's a chance that Barker was consulted in connection with this move.
Sven
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Sven,
It's highly likely that Reid was originally brought in to oversee construction as well as give lessons, etc. to the budding membership. However, from the sounds of it, there seem to have been considerable changes to the golf course from the time it opened in the spring of 1907 til the close of the first year, articles going so far as to call it a "new course". All of these articles (see chronological dates) are from the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent newspaper.
October 13, 1906
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52688753709_3eb2f298c4_k.jpg)
June 28, 1907
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52688979293_4fca9d04e5_c.jpg)
September 13, 1907
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52688981328_79273434db_z.jpg)
September 27, 1907
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52688491481_3d2ddb85f3_h.jpg)
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Sven,
It's highly likely that Reid was originally brought in to oversee construction as well as give lessons, etc. to the budding membership. However, from the sounds of it, there seem to have been considerable changes to the golf course from the time it opened in the spring of 1907 til the close of the first year, articles going so far as to call it a "new course". All of these articles (see chronological dates) are from the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent newspaper.
Mike:
Those articles read as if construction of the course was rushed for the May opening of the club and it took a little while afterwards for it to really be in "first class playing condition." Not the first time this happened.
As for the "new course" comment, it was new, it just hadn't been fully polished until later on in 1907.
Sven
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Not sure about that, Sven. The September 13th report about the tournament being postponed due to rain seems to say, paraphrasing, but no worries...the new course will be completed soon. Begs the question of where the tournament would have been staged, no?
Just a guess but suspect it was just an expansion of the original with some new greens but that's speculative of course.
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Not sure about that, Sven. The September 13th report about the tournament being postponed due to rain seems to say, paraphrasing, but no worries...the new course will be completed soon. Begs the question of where the tournament would have been staged, no?
Just a guess but suspect it was just an expansion of the original with some new greens but that's speculative of course.
As long as you don't think that whatever was to be "completed soon" was a whole new course, we're close to being on the same page.
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Not sure about that, Sven. The September 13th report about the tournament being postponed due to rain seems to say, paraphrasing, but no worries...the new course will be completed soon. Begs the question of where the tournament would have been staged, no?
Just a guess but suspect it was just an expansion of the original with some new greens but that's speculative of course.
As long as you don't think that whatever was to be "completed soon" was a whole new course, we're close to being on the same page.
Agreed. A whole new course on that acreage would be difficult to fathom.
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Courtesy of Joe Bausch and the Bausch archives, this May 10, 1908 snippet from The North American provides additional information, which is not dispositive, however. The full article can be found at http://myphillygolf.com/uploads/archives/1908NorthAmerican/pages/page_2.html?
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52691188586_587058617b_k.jpg)
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I was able to get a look at Frederick Waterman's 2013 book, "The History of Newport Country Club" and here is the section where Barker is referred to;
"In 1897, at a cost of $4,000, Davis added nine holes, which made extensive use of the low-lying land east of the clubhouse. Regrettably, this section of the property was in a topographical basin where rainwater from the surrounding hills gathered, often rendering the new holes too wet to play as had happened to the little used polo field nearby."
"Interest in golf declined during the next few years. Davis left NCC in 1899 and by 1902, "play had fallen off due to interest in tennis and yachting". That spring, the club decided that nine holes would be "sufficient to accommodate play." As a result, only the original nine were cared for."
"A 1913 scorecard shows a length of 5,541 yards, with Davis's opening hole, named "Plateau" as the 10th hole. The wetness of the newer "Lower Course" holes persisted, and Yorkshireman H. H. Barker, the golf professional at Garden City Golf Club and a golf-course designer was brought in to consult, as did Peter Lees, who was regarded as the finest greenkeeper in England, and had been brought to America by Charles Blair Macdonald to deal with the bogs on the proposed Lido course on Long Island."
By 1916, Seth Raynor was brought in and although it is recorded that he submitted plans that were later deemed to be "too congested", ended up buying additional land that Tillinghast had recommended, and eventually went with Tilly's design that opened in 1923. For what it's worth, the club did ask that some of Raynor's suggested holes be implemented by TIllinghast.
Objectively, it doesn't look as though Barker's suggestions, if he made any specific recommendations during his "consult", were acted upon based on any particular club records. However, it's possible that Barker was part of re-opening the second nine holes and may have provided insight into how they might be better maintained, as the decision to go back to 18 holes and make some $5,000 in "improvements" seems to have been made around the same time as Barker's consult in 1909, as this September 6th, 1909 New York Tribune article mentions;
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52693349514_4c68791b65.jpg)
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Last night I ordered a copy of the Springhaven history book by Bob Labbance. While waiting for it to arrive, here's what I know about the evolution of Springhaven. One second hand source mentioned that Barker "added 50 bunkers" there in 1910 and later after publication (and Barker) Joe Bausch found information that Alex Findlay and member J.H. Lineaweaver added bunkers, yardage, and changed some holes around 1914. In either case, the first photo below from the Dallin Aerial Collection at the Hagley Museum in DE shows the state of Springhaven in 1924. Around that time William Flynn was brought in by the club and after first giving them a re-routing plan (that was rejected) and then suggesting they move to better land north of there (which they rejected), he eventually convinced them to rebunker their property in a more strategic (and certainly less artificial) manner, which is seen in the second photo from about the same angle in 1928. He also rerouted a few holes.
This comparison is not made to disparage Barker but only to show some of the evolution of construction and architectural techniques as American golf evolved. I very much doubt Barker oversaw construction but certainly Flynn did. Findlay also often did his own construction through his firm but with one source claiming Findlay was a member of Springhaven, I'm not sure if he did or not.
Springhaven 1924
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52693722632_d42c03d4a5_4k.jpg)
Springhaven 1928
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52694503779_80d9d84c50_h.jpg)
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Earlier, there was some discussion about Dr. Harban and his role/responsibility at Columbia and friendship with Travis. This June 14, 1918 (DC) Evening Star article, and the snippet from April 1916 in the same newspaper provide some insight.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52694028382_ec19bd7b38_z.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52694071312_74ecdf8273.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52695081638_36e1fc87e1_b.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52695005205_e364a8c452_b.jpg)
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The booklet then goes on to describe Barker's career including his various visits back to UK, moves to different clubs and other design work that he did. I haven't got time at the moment to go through that but will try and do so later. I'll also see if I can find Robert Calton's email address for anyone interested in contacting him for a copy of his booklet.
Niall
Niall,
If you could message me Robert Calton's email address I'd be much obliged. Thanks!
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Niall C,
You mentioned earlier that Barker was "an educated guy". Do you have any insight on where he did his formal education, or through what grades? I've been trying to locate a copy of Robert Calton's booklet but haven't been able to date. I ask because John Challenger earlier mentioned that Calton only had a "grammar school" education.
Thanks for anything further.
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Niall C,
You mentioned earlier that Barker was "an educated guy". Do you have any insight on where he did his formal education, or through what grades? I've been trying to locate a copy of Robert Calton's booklet but haven't been able to date. I ask because John Challenger earlier mentioned that Calton only had a "grammar school" education.
Thanks for anything further.
From the April 6, 1913 Birmingham Age-Herald -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_Education_-_Birmingham_Age-Herald_April_6_1913.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_Education_-_Birmingham_Age-Herald_April_6_1913.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
In addition, he owned a business in the UK prior to coming over to the U.S. He turned it over to his father who could no longer continue with his current job.
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Niall C,
You mentioned earlier that Barker was "an educated guy". Do you have any insight on where he did his formal education, or through what grades? I've been trying to locate a copy of Robert Calton's booklet but haven't been able to date. I ask because John Challenger earlier mentioned that Calton only had a "grammar school" education.
Thanks for anything further.
From the April 6, 1913 Birmingham Age-Herald -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_Education_-_Birmingham_Age-Herald_April_6_1913.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Barker_Education_-_Birmingham_Age-Herald_April_6_1913.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
In addition, he owned a business in the UK prior to coming over to the U.S. He turned it over to his father who could no longer continue with his current job.
Thanks, Sven...that's awesome. Much appreciated!
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Sven,
Think of the "class" implications of that in 1907 England when our young Mr. Barker eschewed the Bar and a potential privileged life of a barrister and timber farm owner for a working man's life on the links in America.
Can't imagine the dinner table discussions with his family but I'm really starting to like this guy.
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Think of the "class" implications of that in 1907 England when our young Mr. Barker eschewed the Bar and a potential privileged life of a barrister and timber farm owner for a working man's life on the links in America.
I couldn’t begin to imagine anything like that.
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I just looked Barker up on UK Ancestry, but couldn't find out anything about his schooling. He came from Huddersfield in Yorkshire, my home town; will keep looking.
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Think of the "class" implications of that in 1907 England when our young Mr. Barker eschewed the Bar and a potential privileged life of a barrister and timber farm owner for a working man's life on the links in America.
I couldn’t begin to imagine anything like that.
Touche'! :)
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I purchased "The Springhaven Club" history published in 2004 and written by the late Bob Labbance and Patrick White. Rather than type out the section on Barker I've photographed and posted the associated pages below.
As mentioned earlier, since the time of publication Joe Bausch uncovered that a number of bunker additions and hole changes took place around 1914 attributed to (member) Alex Findlay with co-member J.H. Lineaweaver which was undiscovered when Labbance wrote the book. As such, my guess is that some of what is seen on the ground in the earliest 1920s aerial photos may have been the work of Barker, or maybe the members built it to Barker's plans (to add 50 bunkers) but begs the question of why if the work was done in 1910 such a large effort was needed again 4 years later?
In any case, as seen in earlier photos here, William Flynn in the mid-20s and early 30s made extensive bunkering changes, built some new greens, and also re-routed a few holes and created two new ones.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52709892382_e8a28fbe7f_6k.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52710417041_13b5159b0b_6k.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52710419061_4b1e4e9fda_6k.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52710901538_ddf3ed3094_6k.jpg)
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Here is the April 1914 article Joe Bausch originally found, this reprinted from the Delaware County Times.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52710887395_38d91f129c_b.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52710731074_6b59eef4d3_b.jpg)
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Just came across this one from the Delaware County Times from March 1914.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52710761684_5d13c9a8b3_h.jpg)
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I wanted to acknowledge and recognize the excellence of the compilation and thought by Sven and Mike on this post. I have read carefully through all the articles here. I admit I started out overly cynical about H.H. Barker and the work he did in the U.S. from 1907 to 1914. It was mostly due to my simplistic understanding of Walter Travis, who was at the center of golf in the U.S. in the pre-war years and dominated whatever discipline he focused his attention upon. Certainly, there must have been times when Barker experienced and endured the force of Travis' personality. Still, I wasn't giving Walter Travis enough credit for his humanity.
It seems clear that Barker completed most of his golf course designs on his own, especially after his first few years in the United States. I see Walter Travis as mostly a supportive and generous mentor to Barker, even if there were times when Travis was over-controlling. It's likely that Travis was mostly responsible for discovering Barker at the age of 24 and hiring him at Garden City in 1907. Walter Travis was Barker's patron in those first years. Travis enlisted Barker to work on the golf course with him at Garden City and Barker absorbed Travis' revolutionary ideas about how to design strategic and challenging golf courses. Travis helped his mentee to organize his start-up design business by placing ads for golf course design in his new magazine, American Golfer. It was a stroke of good luck. The magazine was an instant success and Barker was the only one advertising golf course design services in its first year. Travis gave Barker space in the magazine for bylined articles, which helped build his reputation. It's quite likely Travis helped him to write them. Barker would naturally have espoused some of the new ideas about golf architecture that Travis believed in. When requests for golf course design work came into the magazine in 1909 and 1910, Travis likely funneled them Barker's way. Barker would have asked his mentor for advice on his early designs. He may not have had much choice especially in his first years at Garden City.
By 1911, Barker had flown the nest and was on his way. I give them both credit for such a positive relationship. I don't think Barker was just some kind of front for Travis' architectural ambitions. Like so many others' lives in this era just before WW1, Barker's life also took a big turn when the war started. He returned home and was caught up in the war effort. He stayed home after the war ended. During his years in the U.S., H.H. Barker worked extremely hard, traveled to many corners of the United States, and was an influential force in the early years of the Golden Age. Even in his twenties, he had health issues. He died at the young age of 41 in 1924. He was a fast study, a hard worker, and quite likely the kind of person who was quickly able to establish trust with the local leaders he met on his visits to new and existing golf clubs. If the war had not occurred, it's not impossible to think he might have become one of the giants of the age.
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John Challenger,
I do agree with a lot of what you wrote but I still have lingering questions about the period of 1907 through early 1911, before he eventually moved south and clearly designed a number of courses there, primarily in Georgia and Alabama.
I've been extremely busy lately and haven't had the "think time" to formulate a summary of my thoughts and remaining questions about the findings displayed here but I'm hopeful that I'll get a chance before too long. Thanks for starting a good thread.
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A bit more on Rumson. Came across this article on Rumson from the July 3, 1910 NY Sun;
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53094762792_cfedc42f37_c.jpg)
Also, an unattributed spring 1911 article (looks like NY Times) posted by Jim Kennedy a few years back. From my perspective based on the historical record, the "pros and amateurs" who weighed in would have been first Willie Norton, then Walter J. Travis, and then Herbert Barker, likely bunkering the course per Travis's plans, all under the supervision of Kellogg;
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53095389011_12ca033c03_z.jpg)
Also, this from the July 1, 1910 New York Times;
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53095912718_ed5ba85fd0_h.jpg)
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This should be up for GCA quote of the year.
Sven,
Think of the "class" implications of that in 1907 England when our young Mr. Barker eschewed the Bar and a potential privileged life of a barrister and timber farm owner for a working man's life on the links in America.
Can't imagine the dinner table discussions with his family but I'm really starting to like this guy.
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In the case of Rumson, I'm wondering if the club still has their early minutes or other artifacts. Can't recall if the clubhouse is original or like too many burnt to the ground at some point.
Guess I can ask. ;)
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Rumson's original clubhouse burned down in 1945. It was behind today's 5th tee, and it looks like the 4th today was the original closing hole.
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I had the great pleasure of playing at Rumson yesterday and if Walter J. Travis wasn't the designer of some of those multi-faceted original greens I'd be very surprised. As I was mentioning to someone else recently, the course is quite interesting architecturally, particularly being on flat land nearly at sea level with some drainage issue that are being very competently handled by the excellent superintendent.
Lots of "ideal golf course" ideas implemented on the ground there, whether we call them templates or not. Also interesting that the course opened shortly before NGLA, not that the courses are comparable, but many of the same ideas were employed.
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Columbia from the Washington Herald shortly before course opening on 2/19/1911.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53332189768_6ad5fceb02_h.jpg)
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Since someone asked for it earlier in the thread, here's a list of Barker's work. If anyone has any additions or corrections, please let me know.
1907 -
Garden City GC (Garden City, NY) - renovated the course with Travis, work continued a few years
1909 -
Columbia CC (Chevy Chase, MD) - with others
Arcola CC (Paramus, NJ)
Atlantic City CC (Atlantic City, NJ) - improvement
Rumson CC (Rumson, NJ)
Mayfield CC (Cleveland, OH)
Waverley CC (Portland, OR) - new layout
Bedford Springs GC (Bedford, PA) - new layout
Philmont CC (Huntingdon Valley, PA) - added 9 holes
Springhaven CC (Wallingford, PA) - rebunkering
Williamsport CC (Williamsport, PA)
Newport CC (Newport, RI) - improvement
CC of Virginia (Richmond, VA) - also visited in 1913 to discuss changes
Spokane CC (Spokane, WA)
I've finally had some time to collect my thoughts and here's where I'm struggling to reconcile the historical evidence. Consider these two quotes;
"In the past few years I have laid out upwards of 20 courses in this country..." - Herbert Barker - June 10th, 1910 letter to Joseph Connell after viewing the property the Merion Cricket Club was considering purchasing. A proposed routing was attached.
"They were very much pleased at the prospects and recommended to consult H. H. Barker,...who has revised more golf courses in this country and brought them up to date, then all the other professionals put together." - Brooklyn Times Union - November 30, 1910 referring to a June visit of C.B. Macdonald and H.J. Whigham to view the same Merion property. For the record, both Macdonald and Walter J. Travis were members of Garden City Golf Club where Barker was the professional.
As this thread has noted, Barker was brought here, likely by Walter Travis in the fall of 1907 and seemingly spent most of 1907/1908 in the pursuit of changes to toughen Garden City for the U.S. Amateur in September 1908, while also periodically playing in competitions. One 1908 report noted that he hadn't had the opportunity yet to see other American courses but hoped to get to Nassau before too long.
As Sven noted in the quote above, it seems that Barker's design efforts moved apace beginning in 1909, but looking at each course effort individually by mid-1910 it's difficult to determine on what basis such grandiose claims in the quotes above were justified, even if salesmanship. In fact, given much of this was reported in "American Golfer" it's very likely that the source of much of it came from Walter J. Travis.
Columbia CC (Chevy Chase, MD) - with others - Columbia purchased their site in the fall of 1909 and the course opened in 1911. Some reports mentioned the involvement of Donald Ross and the Harban brothers in the design, and Travis was reported as having "approved" the results. In 1914, however, Travis wrote Harban that the course could use significant improvements and was invited to submit a plan, which was implemented over the next several years, leading to a US Open in 1921.
Arcola CC (Paramus, NJ) - The land was acquired in June 1909 and by December it was reported that the course would be laid out by H. H. Barker working under the "supervision of Walter J. Travis". The "Brooklyn Times Union" reported that "The work was begun under the advice of Walter J. Travis who highly recommended H. H. Barker...who the committee secured to lay out the course. Barker now enjoys the reputation as being the best man in the country at laying out courses. It did not take Barker long to stake off a course. Poles are still to be seen that indicate the positions of the tees and greens." The course opened in late 1911.
Atlantic City CC (Atlantic City, NJ) - improvement - An April 1910 report stated that Barker implemented Travis' suggested changes and improvements and that it was Travis who suggested that Barker be hired to do the work that took place late 1909/early 1910.
Rumson CC (Rumson, NJ) - Land acquired in late 1908 with multiple conflicting reports crediting first pro Willie Norton, then Walter Travis with J. Prentice Kellogg. The course opened on July 1, 1910 with the New York Times reporting that the course was "...laid out after plans designed by Walter J. Travis". A Newark Star-Eagle report from April 1910 stated that "H. H. Barker staked off the course last fall for 6,150 yards but since then the committee have lengthened some of the holes...".
More to come...
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Columbia CC -
I'm not going to delve into this one too much as the history of Columbia has been covered in great detail around here. The early press reports from Aug. 1909 on note (a) a Barker layout or (b) a Barker and Ross layout with Travis involved later on.
By the sounds of the article below, it doesn't appear that Travis had seen the land prior to the layout being completed.
Oct. 26, 1909 Washington Times -
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Columbia_-_Washington_Times_Oct._26_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/cc435/snilsen7/Columbia_-_Washington_Times_Oct._26_1909.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
Sven,
In trying to summarize the Columbia origins I just noticed that the two day visit by Walter Travis coincides with the club purchasing the property in the fall of 1909 after he spent two days "going over the course" and "was enthusiastic as to its possibilities".
The course didn't open until 1911. It again sounds to me as though Travis had either "supervision" or "approval" responsibilities.
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Continued....
Mayfield CC (Cleveland, OH) - "Walter Travis advised that Herbert Barker...be brought on to lay out the course. He did and Bertie Way was in charge of construction. He made a few changes and by July, 1911 the course was ready", according to a May 28, 1926 account in the "Cleveland Plains Dealer". It is not known when Travis was consulted but it was likely sometime in 1909.
Waverly CC (Portland OR) - Sometime likely early in 1909 Walter Travis advised the club via letter concerning "the efficiency of Mr. Barker". Barker reportedly proposed plans (estimated at a cost of $40K) for "improvements" to the existing links. I've been unable to verify if Barker's proposed recommendations were ever implemented. In any case, it seems from news reporting that his trip(s?) to the northwest for both Waverly and Spokane were the result of a written letter of recommendation from Walter Travis to the respective clubs. According to the club's wiki, between May 1912 and 1924, H. Chandler Egan assisted members in establishing the current course routing, completed comprehensive bunkering and constructed numerous green complexes and guided all subsequent course improvements until his death in 1936.
Bedford Springs GC (Bedford, PA) - new layout - News accounts indicate that a nine-hole course existed as early as 1895 designed by Spencer Oldham and the evidence indicates that Barker likely added nine holes in 1909, opening in 1912. A topographical sketch map of the "6,000 yards" 18 hole course is on the club's website and is likely the course Barker "laid out". However, perhaps due to the steepness of the wooded terrain, Tillinghast was asked to reduce the course to nine holes which it was by 1915. In the 1920's, Donald Ross expanded the course again to 18 holes, abandoning the steeper areas used in the original 18 hole effort and extended the course further along the lower river valley. No evidence of involvement by Walter Travis has yet been discovered.
Philmont CC[ (Huntingdon Valley, PA) - added 9 holes - New accounts indicate that the second nine holes were designed by local professional John Reid and landscape architect Ogelsby Paul, not Barker. In July of 1909, Walter Travis spent the weekend at Philmont staying with his friend and club President Ellis Gimbel. It seems likely that Travis with Barker proposed a new bunkering scheme but evidence indicates this was slow-going, if implemented at all. In 1914, Hugh Wilson worked with Henry Strouse to create a few new holes and implement bunkering changes which were described as extensive.
More to come... (did I mention that the formatting features here drive me a bit nuts?)
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Cont...
Springhaven CC (Wallingford, PA) - rebunkering - The Springhaven history book written by Bob Labbance states that Barker was contracted to "modernize the layout and install many more bunkers". Walter Travis wrote in the January 1910 "American Golfer" magazine, "The green committee at Springhaven is very active at present and while no radical changes are contemplated, the committee is determined to improve the course as much as possible during the winter and spring. They have consulted with H.H. Barker...who staked out fifty pits which will be placed as rapidly as possible as the weather will permit. Most of the new hazards guard the approaches to the greens - for instance, at the left of the sixth and the right of the sixteenth." Subsequent rebunkering and significant revisions took place over the next fifteen years at the hands of Alex Findlay and later, William Flynn.
Williamsport CC (Williamsport, PA) - According to the club website, On April 11, 1910, H.H. Barker...was paid a sum of $74.50 to lay out the original nine holes. These holes consisted of what are our #1 and #2, as well as #12 through #18." (note, the cool original punchbowl green on 13 was abandoned in the early 1950s and others may have been changed by Tillinghast when he added nine holes in the 20s) The course was opened in the summer of 1911. A 1930 syndicated article bylined from New York City about architect Maurice McCarthy doing work at Williamsport indicated the the course "was laid out 19 years ago by the late Walter J. Travis". There is also the question of how Travis knew/reported in the September 1909 "American Golfer" that Barker had done work at Williamsport when the land was yet to be purchased and Barker wasn't hired until 8 months later!
Newport CC (Newport, RI) - improvement - According to the club history book, Barker was brought in to consult on what to do with holes that had been laid out (in an effort to add a new nine to make 18 by Willie Davis) east of the clubhouse that were constantly wet. The area looks to be wetlands today. That second nine had been previously abandoned, but apparently on the advice of Barker (and some others including Peter Lees) were reopened sometime around 1910, only to be later abandoned on subsequent revisions of the course. A topographical map of that 18 hole course, undated but hanging inside the clubhouse today, is presented below. I've oriented it in a much more north/south direction so the wet holes east of the clubhouse are visible.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53338331340_094e529b89_k.jpg)
To be continued...
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cont.
CC of Virginia (Richmond, VA) - also visited in 1913 to discuss changes - Opened in June of 1910, this is the only course on the listing where the work was completed by the time of Barker's letter to Merion that same month. No record of involvement by Walter Travis has been uncovered. Donald Ross significantly revised the course, now known as Richmond Country Club, in 1920.
Spokane CC (Spokane, WA) - One of two northwest courses that Barker was referred to by Travis, this planned course was never built and ultimately the club selected a different site.
And finally, even after Barker left Garden City for Rumson in March 1911...
Youngstown Country Club (Youngstown, OH) - Not listed in the September 1909 "American Golfer" credits, just over a year later in October 1911 that same publication published a detailed account of the property and the club's efforts to secure it, the account continued "Barker's services were secured in laying out the eighteen hole links, which in interest compare favorably with almost any in the state. The land is generally rolling and a meandering water-course adds much in the way of natural hazards. The sand pits and putting greens are now practically completed and there has already been considerable play over the links." However, when the course officially opened in June of 1912, the Youngstown Newspaper "The Sunday Vindicator" published a full-page story about the club and course that included the following; "F. D. Wilkerson is the chairman of the grounds committee, and how well his work has been done may be judged when one knows that experts have pronounced the new golf course as near perfect as any course can be made. Walter Travis of Garden City, Long Island, laid it out, and the construction was done under the supervision of a man sent here by him especially for that purpose." To this day, the club credits Walter Travis as the architect of the course.