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DMoriarty

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #350 on: September 24, 2010, 02:01:02 AM »
"In the opinion of Merion you aren't a member of Merion and certainly don't speak for Merion.  So knock it off.   It is embarrassing."


David Moriarty:

Did someone at Merion tell you that a member of Merion must speak for the club on this website? Did Merion or John Capers or anyone else at Merion explain my relationship with Merion to you! Answer that Moriarty but think carefully about how you answer it because if you aren't careful your answer will probably end up being very embarrassing to you as it logically should be!! With Merion and its membership and the friends of Merion and its membership you surely have no remote idea at all how it all works but then again why in the world would you? ;) 

I don't discuss my private conversations in a public forum.  And I certainly don't discuss them with you in any forum.
Golf history can be quite interesting if you just let your favorite legends go and allow the truth to take you where it will.
--Tom MacWood (1958-2012)

TEPaul

Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #351 on: September 24, 2010, 02:07:12 AM »
"Actually I have and it was very enlightening.  But I don't discuss my private conversations on a public website."


Well, Moriarty, we are definitely talking about speaking to the same person here. Would you like me to call him  and get his OK to put on here what you said to him and what he said to you (not that I have to) or would you just prefer to either delete or retract what you just said?  ;)

And, by the way, I am under no encumbrance at all to discuss on here what he and I talked about even if you seem to think you are as you refer to it as a "private" conversation. Did he request that you consider it a "private" conversation or is that just your own construct since you know perfectly well you cannot confirm with the person you talked to anything remotely like what you just implied!

Essentially I just can't imagine why in the world you would ever expect some confidence from Merion or anyone from it with you. There is no way they would offer something like that to someone like you and you know it, and you know they know it, and you know I know it!  ;)  


TEPaul

Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #352 on: September 24, 2010, 02:12:49 AM »
"I don't discuss my private conversations in a public forum."


Moriarty:

Did Merion tell you your conversations with them were private or is that just something you ASSUMED? If so who told you that?  Or are you just ASSUMING that Merion and its members should in some way be encumbered from speaking about things they hear about people to people who are friends of theirs who may not be members or their club?   ;)
« Last Edit: September 24, 2010, 02:21:22 AM by TEPaul »

DMoriarty

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #353 on: September 24, 2010, 02:27:47 AM »
"Actually I have and it was very enlightening.  But I don't discuss my private conversations on a public website."


Well, Moriarty, we are definitely talking about speaking to the same person here. Would you like me to call him  and get his OK to put on here what you said to him and what he said to you (not that I have to) or would you just prefer to either delete or retract what you just said?  ;)

And, by the way, I am under no encumbrance at all to discuss on here what he and I talked about even if you seem to think you are as you refer to it as a "private" conversation. Did he request that you consider it a "private" conversation or is that just your own construct since you know perfectly well you cannot confirm with the person you talked to anything remotely like what you just implied!

Essentially I just can't imagine why in the world you would ever expect some confidence from Merion or anyone from it with you. There is no way they would offer something like that to someone like you and you know it, and you know they know it, and you know I know it!  ;)  

"I don't discuss my private conversations in a public forum."


Moriarty:

Did Merion tell you your conversations with them were private or is that just something you ASSUMED? If so who told you that?  Or are you just ASSUMING that Merion and its members should in some way be encumbered from speaking about things they hear about people to people who are friends of theirs who may not be members or their club?   ;)



« Last Edit: September 24, 2010, 02:30:06 AM by DMoriarty »
Golf history can be quite interesting if you just let your favorite legends go and allow the truth to take you where it will.
--Tom MacWood (1958-2012)

TEPaul

Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #354 on: September 24, 2010, 02:36:28 AM »
Moriarty:

Tomorrow I am going to post a thread on here that will show what it will take for you to have complete access to Merion's historical information. It will be most interesting for sure to see how you will respond. Are you ready for that? ;)

It will be really interesting to see how you will react to who you will have to deal with? Somehow I have a funny feeling you won't be able to handle it. Poor you---poor little Moriarty----Oh My everyone is out to GET ME---OH POOR ME, everyone is against me! BOO-HOO-BOO-HOO-HOO-HOO!!!!  ;)

DMoriarty

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #355 on: September 24, 2010, 02:43:53 AM »
Moriarty:

Tomorrow I am going to post a thread on here that will show what it will take for you to have complete access to Merion's historical information. It will be most interesting for sure to see how you will respond. Are you ready for that? ;)

It will be really interesting to see how you will react to who you will have to deal with? Somehow I have a funny feeling you won't be able to handle it. Poor you---poor little Moriarty----Oh My everyone is out to GET ME---OH POOR ME, everyone is against me! BOO-HOO-BOO-HOO-HOO-HOO!!!!  ;)
« Last Edit: September 24, 2010, 02:49:45 AM by DMoriarty »
Golf history can be quite interesting if you just let your favorite legends go and allow the truth to take you where it will.
--Tom MacWood (1958-2012)

Tom MacWood

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #356 on: September 24, 2010, 06:15:33 AM »
I knew I was right in post 105...

http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,45822.105/

  :) ;) >:( :( :-[ :-\ :'(


So, 1910...great courses...

NGLA
Myopia
Garden City

Shouldn't Chicago Golf Club be a lock for one of the top courses?

Mac
Here is the entire list...you tell me which of these courses were not among the top courses in America, and why.


Atlanta Athletic Club - T.Bendelow (1908), H.Barker (1910)

Beverly - G.O'Neil (1908)

Chicago - CB.Macdonald/HJ.Whigham/J.Foulis (1895), D.Foulis (1910)

Homewood - HJ.Tweedie/J.Pearson (1901), W.Watson (1910)

Ravisloe - J.Foulis (1901), R.White (1903), W.Watson/A.Bauer (1910)

Belmont Springs - D.Ross (1908)

The Country Club - W.Campbell (1894), A.Campbell/H.Windeler (1899), H.Windeler (1910)

Essex County - W.Campbell (1894), D.Ross (1910)

Myopia Hunt - W.Campbell (1894), H.Leeds (1899-1907)

Minikahda - W.Watson/D.Foulis (1899), J.Jaffray/R.Taylor (1906)

Atlantic City - J.Reid (1897), H.Barker (1909)

Baltusrol - G.Hunter (1895), T.Gourlay (1896), G.Low (1908-10)

Englewood - J.Hobens (1905)

Apawamis - T.Bendelow (1899), H.Strong (1906-10)

Fox Hills - P.King/D.Brown (1901), I.Mackie (1910)

Garden City - D.Emmet/G.Hubbell/A.Findlay (1899), W.Travis (1906-1910)

National - CB.Macdonald/D.Emmet/HJ.Whigham (1909)

Nassau - H.Murdock (1899)

Salisbury - D.Emmet (1908)

Pinehurst #2 - D.Ross/W.Travis (1907)

Mayfield - H.Barker/B.Way (1909)

Waverly - H.Barker (1910)

Oakmont - H.Fownes (1903)

Ekwanok - JD.Dunn (1899), W.Travis (1905)

Columbia - H.Barker (1910)

Mike Cirba

Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #357 on: September 24, 2010, 06:56:53 AM »
It is indisputable that the best courses in the US in 1910 were all designed by amateur club members themselves.

Head and shoulders above the rest of the courses included;

NGLA
Garden City
Myopia Hunt

These were the only courses mentioned seriously in the same breath as the best courses abroad, which top American amateurs were attempting to aspire to at the time.

Dropping off at least a point or three, the next level of courses also included a very high level of Amateur input.

They included;

Ekwanoik (which was refined by Travis and others for years as a summer getaway)
Pinehurst (Travis claimed credit for convincing both Ross and Tufts of the need to make #2 a championship course with scientific bunkering and news accounts of the time credit Travis and Ross at this winter getaway)
Brookline (modified into a championship course for years by amateur member GH. Windeler)
Oakmont (developed by amateur club member Mr. Fownes)
Salisbury (designed by amateur Dev Emmet)

Beyond that, the list of other courses the Tom MacWood provided is VERY thin in terms of quality.   In some odd way, they could indeed be listed perhaps as some of America's best, but that says much more about the dismal quality of courses in the US at that time generally than about any actual architectural merit of the courses he listed...even those where the courses were actually even open or the mass changes applied on the ground by 1910.

For instance, to compare a Fox Hills or a Homewood against a Garden City or NGLA at that time in terms of architectural sophistication, as well as against the best courses abroad is simply a joke.

I asked Tom MacWood earlier to tell us what architecture that was built by HH Barker was viewable and playable on the ground by 1910 since he is mentioned five or six times on this list.   It seems to me that in virtually every case the course in question was not open yet, or the changes that Barker suggested were actually implemented over the course of the next few years.   I'm not sure what his influence or reputation would have been to someone in 1910, although Travis liked him and did seem to help him get some jobs.   I'm not sure what happened because Barker moved from Garden City to little-known Rumson around 1911, but his activity did seem to peak around 1910...it's just that very little was open or implemented yet.

I also asked Tom to show us examples we can look at today to see the quality of Barker's architecture, and whether anything he ever built survived.   I'm curious to know, but didn't get an answer.   

It seems to me that most of the great architecture of that period had at least a bit of permanence...certainly one could go back to NGLA, Myopia, and Garden City and find course layouts very consistent with what's there today, especially in terms of routing.   Ditto to Oakmont, Ekwanok, Brookline and even Pinehurst (albeit with Sand greens).

Most of the rest of the course on Tom's list were either completely revamped from scratch soon after (ala Baltusrol and Atlantic City), or are NLE.

Mike Cirba

Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #358 on: September 24, 2010, 07:09:24 AM »
Here's a great article by G. Herbert Windeler of The Country Club, which gets into some of the mind-set of top club amateurs of the time and what they aspired to do for their clubs in terms of building golf courses to emulate the best abroad, but also seeking to better understand and adapt to their inland limitations and challenges;

Windeler would go on to make additional significant changes to the course for the 1913 US Open, and throughout his life continued to refine the course.

http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/AmericanGolfer/1910/ag33n.pdf
« Last Edit: September 24, 2010, 07:16:19 AM by MCirba »

Tom MacWood

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #359 on: September 24, 2010, 07:28:23 AM »
Mike
What changes did Travis make at Ekwanok?

Jeff_Brauer

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #360 on: September 24, 2010, 07:56:57 AM »
There is value to this thread, in that pre-coffee, I took a look at Ekwanok on Bing.  So, I know a bit more about the course than I would have otherwise, despite not knowing what Travis did.  I feel bad because last year I passed near there and thought about stopping, but decided to keep driving and catch an earlier flight.  Shoulda smelled the roses.
Jeff Brauer, ASGCA Director of Outreach

TEPaul

Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #361 on: September 24, 2010, 10:00:43 AM »
Jeff:

Regarding Ekwanok and Travis I think there is some information in Bob Labbance's Travis biography. Do you have that book? If not I will see what's in it and quote it on here later today or tomorrow. I think I recall a thread about Ekwanok and Travis some time ago and I think Tom MacWood questioned the accuracy of what Labbance wrote about Ekwanok and Travis. I'm not sure what thread it was but it's in the back pages somewhere.

Jeff_Brauer

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #362 on: September 24, 2010, 03:05:16 PM »
TePaul,

I do have that book and will re-read it.  I have all the books, I think. 

TMac questioned some other author/historians/club design credit on a gca.com thread?  Have you ever heard of such a thing? ;D
Jeff Brauer, ASGCA Director of Outreach

Tom MacWood

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #363 on: September 24, 2010, 08:00:38 PM »
It is indisputable that the best courses in the US in 1910 were all designed by amateur club members themselves.

Head and shoulders above the rest of the courses included;

NGLA
Garden City
Myopia Hunt

These were the only courses mentioned seriously in the same breath as the best courses abroad, which top American amateurs were attempting to aspire to at the time.

Dropping off at least a point or three, the next level of courses also included a very high level of Amateur input.

They included;

Ekwanoik (which was refined by Travis and others for years as a summer getaway)
Pinehurst (Travis claimed credit for convincing both Ross and Tufts of the need to make #2 a championship course with scientific bunkering and news accounts of the time credit Travis and Ross at this winter getaway)
Brookline (modified into a championship course for years by amateur member GH. Windeler)
Oakmont (developed by amateur club member Mr. Fownes)
Salisbury (designed by amateur Dev Emmet)

Beyond that, the list of other courses the Tom MacWood provided is VERY thin in terms of quality.   In some odd way, they could indeed be listed perhaps as some of America's best, but that says much more about the dismal quality of courses in the US at that time generally than about any actual architectural merit of the courses he listed...even those where the courses were actually even open or the mass changes applied on the ground by 1910.

For instance, to compare a Fox Hills or a Homewood against a Garden City or NGLA at that time in terms of architectural sophistication, as well as against the best courses abroad is simply a joke.

I asked Tom MacWood earlier to tell us what architecture that was built by HH Barker was viewable and playable on the ground by 1910 since he is mentioned five or six times on this list.   It seems to me that in virtually every case the course in question was not open yet, or the changes that Barker suggested were actually implemented over the course of the next few years.   I'm not sure what his influence or reputation would have been to someone in 1910, although Travis liked him and did seem to help him get some jobs.   I'm not sure what happened because Barker moved from Garden City to little-known Rumson around 1911, but his activity did seem to peak around 1910...it's just that very little was open or implemented yet.

I also asked Tom to show us examples we can look at today to see the quality of Barker's architecture, and whether anything he ever built survived.   I'm curious to know, but didn't get an answer.  

It seems to me that most of the great architecture of that period had at least a bit of permanence...certainly one could go back to NGLA, Myopia, and Garden City and find course layouts very consistent with what's there today, especially in terms of routing.   Ditto to Oakmont, Ekwanok, Brookline and even Pinehurst (albeit with Sand greens).

Most of the rest of the course on Tom's list were either completely revamped from scratch soon after (ala Baltusrol and Atlantic City), or are NLE.


Mike
It is disputable those were three top courses in America in 1910. Three of the most prominent observers of the time were not fans of Garden City: Hutchinson, Darwin and Kirby. I'm not sure CBM was great fan in 1910 either. There were other courses mentioned in the same breath as NGLA and Myopia, although there is no doubt those two were the cream of the crop (by the way Myopia was originally laid out by Willie Campbell, a professional). I think it is ridiculous to think in 1910 America we should limit our study of architectural trends to two golf courses. There were plenty of other courses that were respected and hosted major championships.

The lesson drawn from this exercise: In 1910 experience was the key, it was not an amateur vs professional situation, it was situation where experience was obviously prized. These 25 top golf courses show (and certainly no one is claiming they were all equal, some were better than others, just like the top 25 today) that in circa 1910, if you were interested in producing a good golf course you sought out experience. There is not a single exception to the rule. And that is exactly what Merion did.
« Last Edit: September 24, 2010, 08:05:35 PM by Tom MacWood »

Mike Cirba

Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #364 on: September 24, 2010, 08:12:54 PM »
Tom,

Not sure how you just made the leap from the shawneed threqd with a complete novice tilly designing the one in 1909 to the absurdly wrong blanket statement you just made but keep telling yourself that.

Of course, that statement is in conflict with virtually all of the philly golf course history between 1910-1916 as I showed in the bizarro thread but believe whatever you like Tom.

Tom MacWood

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #365 on: September 24, 2010, 08:22:04 PM »
Tom,

Not sure how you just made the leap from the shawneed threqd with a complete novice tilly designing the one in 1909 to the absurdly wrong blanket statement you just made but keep telling yourself that.

Of course, that statement is in conflict with virtually all of the philly golf course history between 1910-1916 as I showed in the bizarro thread but believe whatever you like Tom.

Why don't you start a thread and prove it?

TEPaul

Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #366 on: September 24, 2010, 08:26:12 PM »
"There were other courses mentioned in the same breath as NGLA and Myopia, although there is no doubt those two were the cream of the crop (by the way Myopia was originally laid out by Willie Campbell, a professional)."


The original 1894 nine hole course at Myopia was originally routed and designed by three "amateur/sportsmen" Myopia Hunt Club members;  R.M. (Bud) Appleton, "Squire" Merrill and A.P Gardner. That original nine was reworked by Herbert C. Leeds and the Golf Committee in 1896-97 and became known as the "Long Nine" over which the 1898 US Open was played. In 1899 and 1900 Leeds increased the course to eighteen holes and by 1908 three more US Opens had been played on it. The Myopia course today is remarkably similar to that latter eighteen hole course of the first decade of the 20th century.

Recently, Gil Hanse has done some limited restoration work on it (restoring some obsoleted old bunkers and expanding fairways etc). I'm going to be in the vicinity in about ten days for the 105th Lesley Cup Matches which will be held at The Country Club (Brookline) and either before it or probably just after it I plan to play a round at Myopia with my Herbert C. Leeds tournament partner, Dan Bacon, whose great grandfather, Robert Bacon, was one of the three "amateur/sportsmen" members of Brookline who laid out the original course at The Country Club, Brookline with Herbert Windelar.
« Last Edit: September 24, 2010, 08:28:44 PM by TEPaul »

DMoriarty

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #367 on: September 24, 2010, 09:58:06 PM »
Mike
It is disputable those were three top courses in America in 1910. Three of the most prominent observers of the time were not fans of Garden City: Hutchinson, Darwin and Kirby. I'm not sure CBM was great fan in 1910 either. There were other courses mentioned in the same breath as NGLA and Myopia, although there is no doubt those two were the cream of the crop (by the way Myopia was originally laid out by Willie Campbell, a professional). I think it is ridiculous to think in 1910 America we should limit our study of architectural trends to two golf courses. There were plenty of other courses that were respected and hosted major championships.

The lesson drawn from this exercise: In 1910 experience was the key, it was not an amateur vs professional situation, it was situation where experience was obviously prized. These 25 top golf courses show (and certainly no one is claiming they were all equal, some were better than others, just like the top 25 today) that in circa 1910, if you were interested in producing a good golf course you sought out experience. There is not a single exception to the rule. And that is exactly what Merion did.

TomM I largely agree but would have put it a bit differently.   I think what mattered was real knowledge and expertise in the discipline, and obviously the best way to get that expertise was through experience.  It is conceivable though that a few might have developed expertise otherwise, such as through careful study.  It is also conceivable that some might had had lots of experience but never developed true expertise in the discipline.
Golf history can be quite interesting if you just let your favorite legends go and allow the truth to take you where it will.
--Tom MacWood (1958-2012)

Tom MacWood

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #368 on: September 24, 2010, 10:49:50 PM »

The original 1894 nine hole course at Myopia was originally routed and designed by three "amateur/sportsmen" Myopia Hunt Club members;  R.M. (Bud) Appleton, "Squire" Merrill and A.P Gardner. That original nine was reworked by Herbert C. Leeds and the Golf Committee in 1896-97 and became known as the "Long Nine" over which the 1898 US Open was played. In 1899 and 1900 Leeds increased the course to eighteen holes and by 1908 three more US Opens had been played on it. The Myopia course today is remarkably similar to that latter eighteen hole course of the first decade of the 20th century.


TEP
You have been saying that for some time now, but you've yet to present any supporting evidence. Do you have any supporting evidence that Squire & Co laid out the course? On the other hand there have been at least three separate contemporaneous reports presented on GCA saying Campbell laid out the course.
« Last Edit: September 24, 2010, 11:03:44 PM by Tom MacWood »

TEPaul

Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #369 on: September 25, 2010, 12:37:53 AM »
Yes, I do. The evidence is in club's records from that time. It's board meeting minutes even though they have an unusual name obviously because the club was a Hunt and polo club before they had a golf course. They are the club's administrative records and they trump any inaccurate newspaper articles any day.

If you want to read them call Myopia yourself and see if they will let you read them which frankly I would doubt at this point. You need to do your own research and stop trying to get others to provide it to you with no effort on your part. There is nothing Myopia needs to prove to you and either do I, that's for sure.

Your wild goose chases with Merion, Pine Valley, Myopia, Glen Ridge, Shawnee and others in your pathetic attempts to prove someone wrong about something has run its course on here. In the process you've lost any crediblity you ever had which wasn't much anyway. I doubt there is a club in the country who would be willing to have anything to do with you when they find out what you do on here. You've given this website a bad name too. So long, MacWood, the self proclaimed "expert researcher." You're a total joke!




« Last Edit: September 25, 2010, 12:41:33 AM by TEPaul »

Tom MacWood

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #370 on: September 25, 2010, 09:47:47 AM »
Yes, I do. The evidence is in club's records from that time. It's board meeting minutes even though they have an unusual name obviously because the club was a Hunt and polo club before they had a golf course. They are the club's administrative records and they trump any inaccurate newspaper articles any day.

If you want to read them call Myopia yourself and see if they will let you read them which frankly I would doubt at this point. You need to do your own research and stop trying to get others to provide it to you with no effort on your part. There is nothing Myopia needs to prove to you and either do I, that's for sure.

Your wild goose chases with Merion, Pine Valley, Myopia, Glen Ridge, Shawnee and others in your pathetic attempts to prove someone wrong about something has run its course on here. In the process you've lost any crediblity you ever had which wasn't much anyway. I doubt there is a club in the country who would be willing to have anything to do with you when they find out what you do on here. You've given this website a bad name too. So long, MacWood, the self proclaimed "expert researcher." You're a total joke!


TEP
So the answer is no you don't have any supporting documentation. Are those the same club meeting minutes that have no record of Willie Campbell working at the club?
« Last Edit: September 25, 2010, 09:51:15 AM by Tom MacWood »

Tom MacWood

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #371 on: September 25, 2010, 10:06:02 AM »
Tom,

Not sure how you just made the leap from the shawneed threqd with a complete novice tilly designing the one in 1909 to the absurdly wrong blanket statement you just made but keep telling yourself that.

Of course, that statement is in conflict with virtually all of the philly golf course history between 1910-1916 as I showed in the bizarro thread but believe whatever you like Tom.

Mike
I'm very serious about you starting your own thread about Philadelphia golf between 1910-1916 (who did what)...I think it could potentially be very enlightening. Maybe Philadelphia was the exception to the rule. You and your brethren spend the majority of your time and effort defending against/attacking the theories and findings presented by 'outsiders' it would be interesting for a change for you to actual present your own theories and findings in a coherent method.
« Last Edit: September 25, 2010, 10:08:13 AM by Tom MacWood »

TEPaul

Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #372 on: September 25, 2010, 11:06:57 AM »
"TEP
You have been saying that for some time now,"


Yes I have because that is the accurate and factual history of the creation of the original 1894 nine at Myopia. There is no reason to engage in alternative "theories" which is all you seem to do. Myopia's history was well recorded contemporaneously and those facts are just the facts. You may conclude that intelligent men who make up the board of directors of these significant clubs just sat there at board meetings and lied to one another and just made up a bunch of lies about what they were doing and attempting to do but I do not subscribe to that kind of nonsense, even though I do recognize people like you and Moriarty do on here.





"TEP
So the answer is no you don't have any supporting documentation."


That's correct. The supporting documentation from that early time of the original nine----AKA the Run Book, is at Myopia. That is where I read it. It's not much different from Merion or MCC and most clubs of that age and ilk; one needs to actually go there to read and analyze historic material. Something, I might add, AGAIN, you are no good at; a dismal failure at would probably be a more accurate and appropriate description. And you actually try to call yourself "an expert researcher/historian" on here?

AMAZING!!

All you seem to be able to do with the histories of these clubs is find some old newspaper article and then misread it and/or misunderstand it in its context and then launch into another campaign claiming another club's history or history book is all wrong or some work of fantasy or fiction.
« Last Edit: September 25, 2010, 11:18:02 AM by TEPaul »

DMoriarty

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #373 on: September 25, 2010, 07:20:18 PM »
This had the potential to be an interesting thread, but between Cirba's hyperbole and trips to his own Bizarro World and TEPaul's endless insults, attacks, threats, and unsupported and unsupportable claims, it has become a monumental waste of our time. 

Out of curiosity I went back and read TEPaul's last ten posts.  Read them yourselves and see what you learn about golf course architecture. 
____________________________________________
Mike Cirba:

Are you actually trying to tell us that 1911 and 1912 and 1913 came AFTER 1910?

What a stupid idea and suggestion, and I think Moriarty and MacWood have every good right and reason to call that fantasy and fiction too. If you're going to suggest something stupid like that then you're going to start screwing up Moriarty's brilliant discovery that Richard Francis fixed a triangle in 1910 at Merion before he was appointed to do anything in 1911.

And you call yourself a researcher/historian??
__________________________________________

Spoken by the man who on this website called Merion's long time historian, who he has never even met, the "poster boy of unethical archivists."     

So please don't blame anyone else on here for these threads devolving!
_____________________________________________
No, David Moriarty, I am not suffering from any delusions about Merion or my relationship with Merion. Just out of interest, have you ever actually bothered to speak with anyone at Merion about my involvement on this website regarding the architectural history of Merion?

NO, I DIDN'T THINK SO! 

As far as what you call your 'great respect' for Merion, you surely have a very odd way of showing it on here in the opinion of Merion and everyone who actually knows Merion Golf Club.
______________________________________________
Did someone at Merion tell you that a member of Merion must speak for the club on this website? Did Merion or John Capers or anyone else at Merion explain my relationship with Merion to you! Answer that Moriarty but think carefully about how you answer it because if you aren't careful your answer will probably end up being very embarrassing to you as it logically should be!! With Merion and its membership and the friends of Merion and its membership you surely have no remote idea at all how it all works but then again why in the world would you?
_______________________________________________
Well, Moriarty, we are definitely talking about speaking to the same person here. Would you like me to call him  and get his OK to put on here what you said to him and what he said to you (not that I have to) or would you just prefer to either delete or retract what you just said? 

And, by the way, I am under no encumbrance at all to discuss on here what he and I talked about even if you seem to think you are as you refer to it as a "private" conversation. Did he request that you consider it a "private" conversation or is that just your own construct since you know perfectly well you cannot confirm with the person you talked to anything remotely like what you just implied!

Essentially I just can't imagine why in the world you would ever expect some confidence from Merion or anyone from it with you. There is no way they would offer something like that to someone like you and you know it, and you know they know it, and you know I know it!
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Moriarty:

Tomorrow I am going to post a thread on here that will show what it will take for you to have complete access to Merion's historical information. It will be most interesting for sure to see how you will respond. Are you ready for that?

It will be really interesting to see how you will react to who you will have to deal with? Somehow I have a funny feeling you won't be able to handle it. Poor you---poor little Moriarty----Oh My everyone is out to GET ME---OH POOR ME, everyone is against me! BOO-HOO-BOO-HOO-HOO-HOO!!!!
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Regarding Ekwanok and Travis I think there is some information in Bob Labbance's Travis biography. Do you have that book? If not I will see what's in it and quote it on here later today or tomorrow. I think I recall a thread about Ekwanok and Travis some time ago and I think Tom MacWood questioned the accuracy of what Labbance wrote about Ekwanok and Travis. I'm not sure what thread it was but it's in the back pages somewhere.
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The original 1894 nine hole course at Myopia was originally routed and designed by three "amateur/sportsmen" Myopia Hunt Club members;  R.M. (Bud) Appleton, "Squire" Merrill and A.P Gardner. That original nine was reworked by Herbert C. Leeds and the Golf Committee in 1896-97 and became known as the "Long Nine" over which the 1898 US Open was played. In 1899 and 1900 Leeds increased the course to eighteen holes and by 1908 three more US Opens had been played on it. The Myopia course today is remarkably similar to that latter eighteen hole course of the first decade of the 20th century.

Recently, Gil Hanse has done some limited restoration work on it (restoring some obsoleted old bunkers and expanding fairways etc). I'm going to be in the vicinity in about ten days for the 105th Lesley Cup Matches which will be held at The Country Club (Brookline) and either before it or probably just after it I plan to play a round at Myopia with my Herbert C. Leeds tournament partner, Dan Bacon, whose great grandfather, Robert Bacon, was one of the three "amateur/sportsmen" members of Brookline who laid out the original course at The Country Club, Brookline with Herbert Windelar.
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Yes, I do. The evidence is in club's records from that time. It's board meeting minutes even though they have an unusual name obviously because the club was a Hunt and polo club before they had a golf course. They are the club's administrative records and they trump any inaccurate newspaper articles any day.

If you want to read them call Myopia yourself and see if they will let you read them which frankly I would doubt at this point. You need to do your own research and stop trying to get others to provide it to you with no effort on your part. There is nothing Myopia needs to prove to you and either do I, that's for sure.

Your wild goose chases with Merion, Pine Valley, Myopia, Glen Ridge, Shawnee and others in your pathetic attempts to prove someone wrong about something has run its course on here. In the process you've lost any crediblity you ever had which wasn't much anyway. I doubt there is a club in the country who would be willing to have anything to do with you when they find out what you do on here. You've given this website a bad name too. So long, MacWood, the self proclaimed "expert researcher." You're a total joke!
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Yes I have because that is the accurate and factual history of the creation of the original 1894 nine at Myopia. There is no reason to engage in alternative "theories" which is all you seem to do. Myopia's history was well recorded contemporaneously and those facts are just the facts. You may conclude that intelligent men who make up the board of directors of these significant clubs just sat there at board meetings and lied to one another and just made up a bunch of lies about what they were doing and attempting to do but I do not subscribe to that kind of nonsense, even though I do recognize people like you and Moriarty do on here.

That's correct. The supporting documentation from that early time of the original nine----AKA the Run Book, is at Myopia. That is where I read it. It's not much different from Merion or MCC and most clubs of that age and ilk; one needs to actually go there to read and analyze historic material. Something, I might add, AGAIN, you are no good at; a dismal failure at would probably be a more accurate and appropriate description. And you actually try to call yourself "an expert researcher/historian" on here?

AMAZING!!

All you seem to be able to do with the histories of these clubs is find some old newspaper article and then misread it and/or misunderstand it in its context and then launch into another campaign claiming another club's history or history book is all wrong or some work of fantasy or fiction.

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Golf history can be quite interesting if you just let your favorite legends go and allow the truth to take you where it will.
--Tom MacWood (1958-2012)

Mac Plumart

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: America's Top Courses 1910
« Reply #374 on: September 25, 2010, 07:30:03 PM »
David...you have a valid point.  This thread had potential to be epic, but it fell apart.  Despite that, some knowledge was passed along.  But to blame all the woes of this thread on Tom Paul and Mike Cirba isn't right or fair.  All particpants are to blame.  It is simply the general nasty attitudes and lack of espirt de corp that keeps these threads from accelerating to their full potential.  If we can't work together, accept valid criticism, and work towards being more open and honest with each other these threads will always devolve into petty bickering and personal attacks.
Sportsman/Adventure loving golfer.

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