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archie_struthers

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A return to Brigadoon, oops Brigantine!
« on: September 12, 2019, 09:00:39 PM »
 8) 8)


Played Brigantine Links this afternoon with two of my buddies that caddie at the Union League (Cape May County). Had so much fun visiting a familiar place from my youth.  Played a lot of  matches  there in my early twenties with some memorable characters that hung out around Atlantic City. Whether it was Billy Care,Stan Dudas  or George Reby you had to learn how to get it in the hole or you lost whatever you brought to the game. Brigantine and Mays Landing CC were like the Wild West.


Back to Brigantine! It's a 1927 links course designed by Wayne Stiles and John Van Kleek.  Lots of fun with some tricky tee shots and a site that is almost always windy, even though its a little on the short side. Some quirky stuff too, which is good.


Too many houses were built around the course over the years,  but you still get some nice water views as it winds along the shoreline. Hoping those wonderful golfing "vagabonds" from Philly chime in on this thread. At $35 to play golf its quite a bargain. Must have been quite a site back when they first opened.


But Brigadoon wasn't that much of a slip, as today reminded me of a simpler time in my life when it was so much fun to be out batting it around with some buddies. Golf is like that if you just enjoy it and when you hit a good shot on an old familiar hole it brings back some great memories. Unlike most sports we enjoyed in our youth with some luck you can rekindle some of those glory days pretty late in your athletic career.
« Last Edit: September 13, 2019, 06:37:44 AM by archie_struthers »

David_Tepper

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Re: A return to Brigadoon, oops Brigantine!
« Reply #1 on: September 13, 2019, 07:46:10 AM »
Archie -

Typically how long is the golf season at the south end of the Jersey Shore, say from Atlantic City to Cape May?

DT

MCirba

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Re: A return to Brigadoon, oops Brigantine!
« Reply #2 on: September 13, 2019, 07:54:01 AM »
It's the kind of course that gets into the blood of an old Trooper.


I have so many sentimental memories of Brigantine Golf Course (formerly Brigantine Country Club) while vacationing there in my youth that it is probably the only course on the planet that I couldn't discuss objectively in terms of architectural merit.


Great post Archie! I can smell the Sea Air from here.
« Last Edit: September 13, 2019, 09:49:29 AM by MCirba »
"Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent" - Calvin Coolidge

https://cobbscreek.org/

MCirba

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Re: A return to Brigadoon, oops Brigantine!
« Reply #3 on: September 13, 2019, 08:00:55 AM »
A little bit of the history...


The course was built as part of a planned Community by Stiles and Van kleek so houses were always part of the equation.


The course closed during the Depression and World War 2 years and lay fallow and overgrown until the 1950s when Garrett Renn, a local architect and superintendent who was in charge of the Philadelphia public golf courses rebuilt Brigantine entirely from the original plans. It was a relatively Herculean effort but what got put back feels like it never skipped a beat over the years.


I think we should have a GCA day there.
« Last Edit: September 13, 2019, 08:02:29 AM by MCirba »
"Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent" - Calvin Coolidge

https://cobbscreek.org/

Joe Bausch

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Re: A return to Brigadoon, oops Brigantine!
« Reply #4 on: September 13, 2019, 10:17:40 AM »
Fun, fun, and more fun is Brigantine.


Photos from a couple of visits about 4 years ago:


http://www80.homepage.villanova.edu/joseph.bausch/images/albums/Brigantine/index.html
@jwbausch (for new photo albums)
The site for the Cobb's Creek project:  https://cobbscreek.org/
Nearly all Delaware Valley golf courses in photo albums: Bausch Collection

MCirba

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Re: A return to Brigadoon, oops Brigantine!
« Reply #5 on: September 13, 2019, 11:23:40 AM »
Another cool thing about Brigantine is that most of the roads around the course are named after golf professionals including Clarence Hackney, long time pro at Atlantic City Country Club.


I learned about Garrett Renn's restoration of Brigantine in the late 1950s from his granddaughter and son, both of whom I was in contact with a few years back.  Following is a piece of that correspondence from his granddaughter, after a conversation with her father, who I later spoke in depth with as he didnt use email.  Sadly, Garrett Renn died in an auto accident in 1968, shortly after designing Little Mill Country Club in NJ.


He remembers fondly visiting and helping with the courses but was too young to remember which ones or all their names.  He believes his father was appointed to Superintendent of the Philly public courses in 1952.  He was also very close with George Fazio and from what my dad said he said, taught Mr. Fazio “the business of moving dirt” as they called it.  He remembers Mr. Fazio calling every morning at 6am for years, as he consulted with my grandfather on many of his projects.  My dad also said that Brigantine was one of my grandfathers first projects.  It was originally built in 20’s but had become completely overgrown after the depression.  He obtained the original plans and restored it to its original layout.
Some additional information: Garrett Renn was a member of the PGA.  He did his apprenticeship at Philmont Country Club, under Lou Diegle (we think).  He grew up in Frankford and as a boy, played Ashbourn, Frankford-Toresdale, and Melrose .  With his brother, who was also a golfer on Frankfords golf team, was invited to play Merion and Pine Valley which he loved and inspired him to build courses himself. He was married to Ann and had 7 children, who he moved to the old mansion on Juniata golf course where they lived.   
"Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent" - Calvin Coolidge

https://cobbscreek.org/

Peter Pallotta

Re: A return to Brigadoon, oops Brigantine!
« Reply #6 on: September 13, 2019, 03:28:20 PM »
Mike -
What’s so very striking is that, in the 1950s — when everything ‘new’ was great and when the future was much more important than the past — Mr. Renn not only went to find but then also honoured the original plans, and undertook a true restoration.
To me that seems remarkable, and a remarkable testament to Mr. Renn both as a person and a craftsman.
In the decades long before gca.com, and during the so-called dark ages, and when it was no mere ready-made brand or marketing ploy or income generator to say you were ‘returning a course to the architect’s original intent’, Mr. Renn had the humility and care for the work itself to do just that — ie, to do what probably no one else was doing at the time and in fact the very opposite of what most others were doing back then.
A tip of the hat to Garrett Renn: a golf course architect. 


« Last Edit: September 13, 2019, 03:30:20 PM by Peter Pallotta »

archie_struthers

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Re: A return to Brigadoon, oops Brigantine!
« Reply #7 on: September 13, 2019, 03:46:05 PM »
 :D


David sometimes our spring here is a little rough as the ocean stays cold and keeps it a little iffy. But our fall can last til December .  Soils are sandier than Philly so we play all winter.  Very little snow generally east of Hammonton ,


 Atlantic City CC was famous for many things but their mantra was “play golf all year"!  When we do get the occasional snowstorm it usually melts and dries out much better than our western neighbors. Again the sandy soils help.

Crump and his friends would get on the train in Philly in the winter and travel to ACCC to play.  Legend has it that he spotted the land for Pine Valley from the train as they rode past Clementon, NJ
« Last Edit: September 14, 2019, 09:47:18 AM by archie_struthers »

MCirba

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Re: A return to Brigadoon, oops Brigantine!
« Reply #8 on: September 14, 2019, 08:59:20 AM »
Mike -
What’s so very striking is that, in the 1950s — when everything ‘new’ was great and when the future was much more important than the past — Mr. Renn not only went to find but then also honoured the original plans, and undertook a true restoration.
To me that seems remarkable, and a remarkable testament to Mr. Renn both as a person and a craftsman.
In the decades long before gca.com, and during the so-called dark ages, and when it was no mere ready-made brand or marketing ploy or income generator to say you were ‘returning a course to the architect’s original intent’, Mr. Renn had the humility and care for the work itself to do just that — ie, to do what probably no one else was doing at the time and in fact the very opposite of what most others were doing back then.
A tip of the hat to Garrett Renn: a golf course architect.


Peter,


That's a very interesting perspective that I hadn't really thought of. I'm going to try to learn more about the circumstances that led him to bring Brigantine back from the dead to the original plans.


Also believe I have the original drawing around here somewhere so I'll try to post that at some point if I can dig it up.


One thing I thought about is that he may have actually played Brigantine in his youth. It looks like the course was operational until about 1941 when  I went back for a cursory review yesterday.
« Last Edit: September 14, 2019, 09:00:52 AM by MCirba »
"Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent" - Calvin Coolidge

https://cobbscreek.org/

archie_struthers

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: A return to Brigadoon, oops Brigantine!
« Reply #9 on: September 14, 2019, 07:46:49 PM »
 ;D


One thing about Brigantine, its flat.  The pictures my friend Joe provided really show you that its basically sitting right at sea level. What they don't show is that the water is all around you, in many cases just a couple hundred yards away. You can smell the salt air and the seagulls are ever present spectators as you play. This being said its interesting in that there are little swales and bumps that make for some nice ground game options, and it was nice and firm the other day.


The course begins and ends with two short par fives, its a real shoot out if you get some good players there as the greens roll nicely and give you a chance to go low. However there are enough tee shots that need to be "fitted" into the fairways that you just can't bludgeon it to death. I like that the fairways are angled enough that you might knock it thru if you take the wrong line but its subtle and just hitting it 300 doesn't give you a huge edge if you don't hit it fairly straight.


Pretty fun to make a bunch of birdies and pars , but doubles are out there if you forget to pay attention to where you miss it!




MCirba

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Re: A return to Brigadoon, oops Brigantine!
« Reply #10 on: September 14, 2019, 11:10:58 PM »
Archie,


With two mostly clockwise loops on each nine, it really is all about the wind, don't you think?


Most holes can have a 3 or 4 club difference depending on direction and velocity and as you said, picking the right line and angle can vary considerably based on those factors.


I always struggled with 14 and 17 in that regard.
"Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent" - Calvin Coolidge

https://cobbscreek.org/

archie_struthers

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: A return to Brigadoon, oops Brigantine!
« Reply #11 on: September 15, 2019, 08:19:41 AM »
 ;D :D


Mike is so right, sometimes wind blows so hard at Brigantine that many people hew would eschew playing here. However its really fun to try to figure out the right play, and stick with it thru impact. I'm not sure how true the stories about the old pros practicing here to get ready for the British, given its so out of the way. On second thought with Atlantic City being what it was pre- casino I guess gamblers were always in the area and lots of golf pros had to augment their living in those days.


The wind tends to blow more in the fall and winter than in the the summer, when it is still breezy. Some serious need to hold shots against the breeze on those days. Have to have both left to right an right to left available on the holes Mike mentioned, as the wind is unpredictable from day to day.




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