H.B. Martin wrote "Fifty Years of American Golf," which was published in 1936, shortly after Bethpage Black opened. Matin's book is considered a seminal work on American Golf history. Here is what Martin had to say on Tilly and Bethpage in 1936:
"For eleven years in succession a major championship has been played over a Tillinghast Links. This is a distinct compliment to A..W. Tillinghast who has been actively engaged in designing courses for more than thirty years. Some of his famous layouts include Baltusrol, where the national open was recently held, the Winged Foot Country Club, the Five Farms Course of the Baltimore Country Club, Ridgewood Country Club, where the recent Ryder Cup matches were held, Fresh Meadow at Flushing, L.I., Shawnee in Pennsylvania and the new Bethpage courses on Long Island where the public links championship was held.
Tilly is rather proud of his work at Bethpage, where there are four courses included in the layout. The planning and building of the courses was done for the New York State Park Commission and comprises a tract of land of 1300 acres. The Tillinghast type of green has become famous in this country and is easily recognized, inasmuch as it is small and closely trapped around the entrance. This style has been copied quite extensively abroad.
In the fall of '35 Tillinghast was appointed official golf course consultant and advisor for the Professional Golfers' Association. He is happy in this line of endeavor, as he is constantly on the move and inspecting courses from Maine to California, making suggestions or adding traps and taking out bunkers here and there as the case may be. As one of the early amateur golfers of this country Tilly played in many championships, representing Philadelphia where he was born and raised."
H.B. Martin writes of Tilly with a casualness that would only come from personal acquaintance. How else could he comment on Tilly being happy in his new line of work with the PGA. If this passage is not a smoking gun showing more proof that Tilly designed Bethpage, than at the very least, it proves that Tilly himself believed he designed the courses at Bethpage despite what Golf Digest says.
All this being said, the facts of this matter are irrefutable -- Tilly had a contract to design the courses, he fullfilled his contract and designed the courses and he was paid for his services. The Long Island State Park Commission has proved this with the expense ledgers showing payments made to Tilly.
The overriding fact in my mind is the golf holes themselves -- the routing scheme and hole designs are right out of Tilly's design book. Furthermore, in Tilly's own words as printed in Reminiscenses of the Links, Tilly says he designed the courses. Here is a sample passage,
"In contemplating the difficulties of the Black, I have in mind particularly the long 4th, a par 5 of course. When this is played from the full length of the teeing-ground it should prove one of the most exacting three-shotters I know of anywhere. In locating and designing the green. which can only be gained by a most precise approach from the right, I must confess that I was a trifle scared myself, when I looked back and regarded the hazardous route that must be taken by a stinging second shot to get into position to attack this green."
Who doesn't understand what Tilly is saying by "locating and designing" a green?
Why should we call Tilly a liar?
What right do we have to strip him of his creation and his gift to all of us, which all of us can play today?