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John Challenger

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Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America

There is a straight line from Old Elm to Pine Valley and to the true onset of the Golden Age that goes directly through Harry Colt and his 1913 visit to North America.

In the same way the Depression and WW2 erased the memory of the Golden Age and its principles of golf course design for decades until Pete Dye came along, World War 1 obscured and later erased the memory of how the Golden Age originated in the United States and Canada.


Colt’s Second Journey. In April and May 1913, Harry Colt travelled to North America on the second of three visits. At the beginning of the journey, he worked for nine days on the creation of Old Elm and created a complex routing and drawings for each hole. At the end of his journey, Colt labored at Pine Valley for seven days. Perhaps it's hyperbole, but Colt’s 1913 visit might be the most critical step in the history of golf architecture in the United States. When will the historical impact of what Colt created on his journey to the U.S. and Canada in 1913 get its due?

Old Elm History Once Lost. The history of Old Elm’s creation was forgotten after WW1 and then miscast after the Depression and WW2. The club thought it was a Donald Ross design until the beginning of the 21st century.

Roles of Harry Colt and Donald Ross at Old Elm. In the beginning, Old Elm distinguished clearly between what it expected of Harry Colt and what it expected of Donald Ross, who was paid at $50 per day. Old Elm paid Colt 25 guineas a day or at $5.11 per guinea, i.e. they paid him more than double - just over $127 per day.


Harry Colt – First Golf Architect. Colt was a British lawyer who was responsible for carving out golf course design from the responsibilities of the golf professional and creating a new profession: golf architect. Like C.B. MacDonald, he was an amateur turned golf course architect who changed the paradigm. During the three weeks Colt spent in Chicago, first at Old Elm and then on visits to Chicago Golf, Indian Hill, Glen View, and Exmoor, he must have talked to Ross about his decision to leave his role at Sunningdale and go into full-time course design.

Donald Ross, the Reincarnation of Old Tom Morris. When Donald Ross was hired at Old Elm, he was still employed at Essex C.C., He epitomized the golf professional in the Old Tom Morris mode: a golfer, teacher, clubmaker, organizer of tournaments, and greenskeeper. For some years, he had been laying out courses, but he was more of a golf course constructor than a designer.  Old Elm hired him for his expertise in construction when he was still a traditional blue collar golf professional, though he had already created a number of golf courses and was on the fast track to becoming the nation’s top full-time architect/designer.

From 1907-1912, Donald Ross was evolving from Boston’s into America’s Old Tom Morris. He had begun his career as an apprentice in Old Tom’s shop in St. Andrews. He was liked and admired by everyone. In Boston and Pinehurst, he had worked at and succeeded in every golf task and role. He received constant recognition in the media of the day as the consummate American golf professional.

Transition From the Victorian Age to the Golden Age – 1907 to 1912. Until 1910, Ross' approach to the laying out of golf courses, like that of other golf professionals, was traditional. In 1910, Ross followed Walter Travis’ and C.B. MacDonald’s lead and visited Scotland and England to better understand golf course architecture there. He returned and began to apply his learnings at Essex CC and Pinehurst. It is an interesting question whether what Ross learned was in the C.B. MacDonald vein of analysis of the structure of the greatest holes in the U.K., what Keith Cutten calls "evidence-based" design, or in a deeper understanding of the strategic design conceptualizations of Hutchinson, Low, Colt and Darwin.

Second Generation of U.S. Golf Professionals. Donald Ross was a member of the second generation of golf course designers in the U.S.. In the 1890s and 1900s, golf courses in Chicago had been laid out by the Foulis brothers, H.J. Tweedie and Tom Bendelow, among others. They were golf professionals. Like Donald Ross, they played in tourneys, taught golf, made clubs, and some of them laid out courses. In Boston, as a golf professional, Donald Ross worked in a similar manner to these Chicago professionals.

Golf Professionals and Amateurs. The U.K.'s next generation of golf professionals, individuals like Willie Park Jr. and J.H. Taylor, hoped to become successful at the business of designing golf courses too. They were having a difficult go of it because amateurs and college-educated men like Colt, MacKenzie, Simpson, and Fowler were getting the best jobs. Ox-Cam changed everything in the U.K. but there wasn't as powerful a force of change in the U.S.. Like Donald Ross, Willie Park Jr. and countless other golf professionals came to the greener fields of the U.S. to get jobs. American amateurs such as C.B. MacDonald, Walter Travis, and Devereux Emmet did secure many design jobs, but the golf boom was underway and there was room for everyone with a design knack, amateur and professional.

Harry Colt, The “Thomas Edison” of Strategic Golf Course Design. Like Willie Park Jr., Donald Ross may have been reading Horace Hutchinson, John Low and others in regard to naturalistic and strategic golf design. The new design ideas they had conceived and were promoting were in the wind. It was Harry Colt, the “Thomas Edison’ of strategic design, who first and most successfully put these ideas into practice. Before Colt’s 1913 U.S. journey, it is safe to say that Donald Ross and other American golf course designers had not fully integrated the strategic, Golden Age design framework into their golf course layouts.

Old Elm - A Colt Classic. Like all golf courses, Old Elm was a collaboration, but Colt was undoubtedly the designer and Ross the constructor. Ross did make some changes in Colt's precise plans as he built the course, and Colt did want Ross to have a “free hand,” but Colt wouldn't have wanted too much change in the location, size and shape of the greens, bunkers, tees and corridors. Colt was meticulous and resolute about his routings and course designs. In his instructions, Colt says, “Everything is marked out on the land and with this book of plans and with the accompanying blue print there should be no difficulty in carrying out the work.”

Colt Designed Old Elm on the Ground and in Drawings. Colt made his Old Elm plans and drawings as he walked over the grounds and worked out the design.  He didn’t draw the plans for Old Elm later from memory in the summer/fall at his desk from his home in England. Donald Ross had never made drawings before, but he learned the technique and the professional value of making them from Colt. If the war and life had not intervened, Colt would certainly have returned to edit and make improvements to his Old Elm masterpiece.

Colt’s Impact on History Lost and Rewritten. Colt never came back to Chicago and only briefly to Detroit and Toronto in 1914. The ideas he brought on his three pre-war trips to North America went viral. The history of his impact was rewritten by the winners and those who remained. Colt was the messenger who initiated and carried the fundamental principle of the Golden Age of golf course design, the theory of naturalistic and strategic design for inland golf, and put it in the ground in North America at Old Elm, Pine Valley, Toronto Golf, Hamilton, and the Country Club of Detroit, among others.

New Design Framework. Armed with first-hand experience, Donald Ross capitalized on the opportunity and the design framework he had witnessed Harry Colt creating at Old Elm. Ross saw how “the attitude of golfers as a whole (had) undergone a big change” and how “everywhere, now, the prime object of the leading men in different golf and country clubs is to have their courses up-to-date…and oblige the golfers to improve their standard of play to cope with the difficulties involved.”

Ross’ Career Skyrocketed After Old Elm. After Old Elm, Ross’ career took off into the stratosphere. He "took the ball and ran with it" building and remodeling courses by the dozens in the war years, not only in the northeast and southeast, but now around Colt’s former foothold in Chicago and Detroit.

Courses Designed by Donald Ross. As his business grew, Ross followed Colt’s lead, turned over the construction of those courses to his associates, donned the hat of the full-time architect, and realized his career calling. The primary construction experts and partners Ross collaborated with and relied upon throughout his career to manage the building of his designs are not seen as co-authors of his courses today, although Ross would certainly have given them freedom in the field too. Colt, Ross and the great architects of the 20th century are given full credit for their designs even though they were often not present during construction when vital decisions such as green contours were being made.


Old Elm Club and The Golden Age – H.S. Colt, the Author. Old Elm is a pure H.S. Colt creation. As the Golden Age of Golf Architecture emerged in North America, Colt’s three journeys to North America in 1911, 1913 and 1914 might be the most influential force in causing the changes in the golf architectural landscape that were fully realized after the Great War ended.
« Last Edit: October 23, 2022, 01:08:54 PM by John Challenger »

Michael Chadwick

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Re: Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America
« Reply #1 on: October 23, 2022, 01:36:09 PM »
John, thank you for contributing this to the DG. It's been a while since there's been something substantive to mull!

No doubt the throughline of Old Elm, Bloomfield Hills, Country Club of Detroit, and Pine Valley is a vitally important chapter in early American golf design. I selfishly wish Colt had spent more time stateside, and that we could have more designs of his.

I am not, however, convinced by your central thesis:

Colt’s 1913 visit might be the most critical step in the history of golf architecture in the United States.
It was Harry Colt, the “Thomas Edison’ of strategic design, who first and most successfully put these ideas into practice. Before Colt’s 1913 U.S. journey, it is safe to say that Donald Ross and other American golf course designers had not fully integrated the strategic, Golden Age design framework into their golf course layouts.

As the Golden Age of Golf Architecture emerged in North America, Colt’s three journeys to North America in 1911, 1913 and 1914 might be the most influential force in causing the changes in the golf architectural landscape that were fully realized after the Great War ended.

My hunch is that Colt's time in the United States was too brief to be able to claim he is the most indispensable architect for ushering Golden Age tenets into American design. More important for my counter argument is that, by 1912, the National Golf Links of America and Merion East were built, both without direct associations to Colt. Though Macdonald and later, Raynor, utilized template holes, Wilson and later, William Flynn, shaped holes harmonious with natural landforms. Wilson and Flynn's work can be similarly categorized as what Colt had brilliantly done earlier at Swinley Forest, Sunningdale, etc., but I do not see a direct lineage here. Instead I see a more contemporaneous zeitgeist from the cross-pollination of those from Scotland and England coming to America, and the select Americans who traveled back to the British Isles to study courses.   

Transition From the Victorian Age to the Golden Age – 1907 to 1912. Until 1910, Ross' approach to the laying out of golf courses, like that of other golf professionals, was traditional. In 1910, Ross followed Walter Travis’ and C.B. MacDonald’s lead and visited Scotland and England to better understand golf course architecture there. He returned and began to apply his learnings at Essex CC and Pinehurst. It is an interesting question whether what Ross learned was in the C.B. MacDonald vein of analysis of the structure of the greatest holes in the U.K. or in a deeper understanding of the strategic design conceptualizations of Hutchinson, Low, Colt and Darwin.


I'm not a historian, and hopefully Sven or Mike Cirba might be able to weigh in on this, but the above paragraph referencing a 1910 trip back to the UK for Ross doesn't seem right. He was a Scot and at minimum knew Royal Dornoch and The Old Course intimately before his 1899 move to the US. Nor would I ever associate Ross to a Macdonald "vein of analysis" since Pinehurst, Oakland Hills, Seminole, Essex, etc. do not feature templates.

New Design Framework. Armed with first-hand experience, Donald Ross capitalized on the opportunity and the design framework he had witnessed Harry Colt creating at Old Elm. Ross saw how “the attitude of golfers as a whole (had) undergone a big change” and how “everywhere, now, the prime object of the leading men in different golf and country clubs is to have their courses up-to-date…and oblige the golfers to improve their standard of play to cope with the difficulties involved.”


Out of curiosity, who is being quoted here?

No one can deny Colt's stature as one of the most influential architects, and in England he was unquestionably indispensable. But considering him also as the lightning rod for American design seems to be an overreach compared to Macdonald and members of the Philly School.
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John Challenger

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Re: Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America
« Reply #2 on: October 23, 2022, 04:11:48 PM »
Thank you Michael for your thoughtful responses.

I believe that MacDonald's evidence-based approach to golf course design based on templates was a significant development in the underpinnings of the Golden Age but it was not as foundational as the naturalistic and strategic principles conceptualized, defined and put into practice by Low/Hutchinson/Colt/Darwin. Hugh Wilson was deeply influenced by MacDonald. Flynn came later but I agree that his design ethos was as nimble as Colt's.

I could be wrong but I think that Ross made two trips to the British Isles in 1910. He played in the Open Championship and performed quite admirably especially because he had been playing and practicing less frequently due to his increased responsibilities. Bostonians were surprised because his brother, Alex, was considered the better golfer, although many thought Donald had the more beautiful swing.

I think Ross went back over later in the summer to learn more about the golf courses. Upon his return, I don't think he ever overtly built template holes, but his learnings may have been more evidence-based than theory-based.

Those quotes are from Donald Ross just days after he returned from Old Elm. They appeared in the Boston Evening Transcript on May 7, 1913.

Like MacKenzie's visit to Australia, Colt's visits to the U.S. just before the war were of high impact. Colt was widely considered to be the top golf architect in the world because of his golf course transformations in the British Isles. He carried the message to the leaders of the golf community that the top golf courses in the U.S. were out-of-date, and that he knew how to build them properly. He explained the design principles of strategy, variety, beauty, and thrill. Bernard Darwin also visited Chicago in September 1913, just before Ouimet's victory, and after heaping praise on the still raw Old Elm, he cemented Colt's message and mostly condemned Chicago's top golf courses in a series of articles on the front page of the Chicago Tribune, including Onwentsia, Glen View, Homewood, and to a lesser extent Chicago Golf.  He urged the principals and the golf-crazed public to modernize and leave penal golf behind.
« Last Edit: October 23, 2022, 06:39:17 PM by John Challenger »

Michael Chadwick

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Re: Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America
« Reply #3 on: October 23, 2022, 06:29:57 PM »
Thanks for the additional context. I should've been clearer on my end about your 1910 trip paragraph--wasn't questioning whether or not Ross made the visit, rather the phrasing seemed to imply it was a trip like other Americans' grand tour of links courses, when we can assume Ross had plenty of exposure beforehand as well. Not a big point to belabor though.


You're right, the difference between template design and more naturalist techniques is key to your argument for Colt's legacy in America. I don't have this information, but my mind wanders to what Newport, Myopia, Brookline, and others looked like in the years coinciding with Colt's US visits.


These two threads come to mind, though I haven't combed through them closely myself:
https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,68159.msg1632276.html#msg1632276


https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,57954.0.html


I'm not at all attempting to discredit the value Colt and even later his associate, Alison, contributed to American golf. I'm merely skeptical about how much of a linchpin Colt's time in America was as you portray it to be. You propose a fascinating and welcome argument though, and I hope others will contribute better than I can.   


As an aside, I've played DeVries (or CDP's) restoration of Colt's Bloomfield Hills and it's a wonderful, sporty members course, with a similar ethos I could feel at Swinley Forest and St. George's Hill. Thoughtful golf that is elegant but understated, where finesse is appreciated in both one's game and the way club and course are presented.


And by all accounts that I've seen and heard, Old Elm is presented exceptionally well, and that the club is doing great work preserving Colt's legacy there.




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John Challenger

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Re: Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America
« Reply #4 on: October 23, 2022, 07:01:27 PM »
Would love to play Bloomfield Hills and see the CDP restoration. Indian Hill Club, which has Colt/Ross/Langford roots, just hired CDP to design a master plan. Attaching the Colt design for Indian Hill's 15th and 16th holes. It appeared in Golf Illustrated in April 1917. Can't seem to attach it...I am a newbie and it won't load! Off to dinner. Will try tomorrow.


« Last Edit: November 07, 2022, 02:33:53 PM by John Challenger »

Tim_Cronin

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Re: Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America
« Reply #5 on: October 23, 2022, 07:05:55 PM »
John,
    Fascinating and thought-provoking stuff. I'm glad you mentioned the series of essays Darwin penned for the Tribune. Those stories opened a lot of eyes at the time, I'm sure.
Tim
The website: www.illinoisgolfer.net
On Twitter: @illinoisgolfer

Bret Lawrence

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Re: Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America
« Reply #6 on: October 24, 2022, 10:37:12 AM »
John,


Great contributuion.  After seeing Colt’s  individual hole plans for Old Elm I strongly believe that Ross learned how to become a prolific architect from Harry Colt.  Colts individual hole drawing showed such great detail and like he mentioned in his letter, the club should have no problem putting his plan in place with the details laid out in his drawings.  Ross had only drawn full course layouts up to that point, never getting into the details of each specific hole.  By borrowing the individual hole drawings on graph paper, Ross was able to move around the country more freely while his courses were under construction allowing him to accomplish more work without being on site as often.  That’s not to say Ross mailed in these designs, but he was able to reduce the number of visits by including more detailed designs, much like Colt did at Old Elm, Pine Valley or Detroit.  One look at Ross’ graph paper drawings and it’s easy to see the similarities between his and Colt’s plans.  Later on you would see the same graph paper drawings from Stiles and Van Kleek, Flynn, and other architects who clearly didn’t all come up this concept on their own.  Other architects would use plasticine models and it may be an indicator of where their influence came from:  Macdonald or Colt?


Ross did make a tour of courses across the pond in 1910.  Although he grew up in Scotland he didn’t necessarily look at every hole with an architect or constructor’s eye when he was younger.  Much of the enlightenment of the Golden Age opened many peoples eyes to what constituted interesting golf or a well constructed golf hole.  Many architects made the pilgrimage back after growing up on those courses, to see what they might have missed or to pick up new ideas on how the game of golf should evolve. 


Donald Ross was a great architect, but he wasn’t always the leader of the pack, he evolved into that, over many years of practice.  Ross may not have advertised the use of templates like Macdonald and Raynor, but he certainly  held on to certain concepts and strategies that made golf courses interesting and or strategic.  You can’t say you have never seen more than one Volcano hole from Ross or the short Par 3 with pearl necklace bunkering, or a long, generally benign Par 3.  These are concepts he used more than once.  As good as Ross was, he didn’t exactly come up with a new concept every time he designed a golf hole.  He used tried and true methods, whether they were his own or some idea he saw elsewhere to create his courses.  Even if you don’t use templates, there was a lot to learn from going overseas, because the game was more evolved there than it had been in the states.  A good example of this would be Marion Hollins making the same trip for her Womens National Golf Club in 1923.  She had already played courses overseas, but she made a special trip with the eye of an architect rather than as a player.  Macdonald too, had played Royal Liverpool since the 1880’s, but he still made a special tour in 1906 while preparing to build NGLA.




In a sense the early architects were trying to create great golf holes in the States so that in time, someone building a new course wouldn’t have to make the trip overseas, they could simply make a trip around the States to find these tried and true concepts.  Many times Raynor or Macdonald would send their American-born  constructors to visit NGLA, Piping Rock, Shinnecocok, Pine Valley and Merion and for a fraction of the time and cost the new courses would have remnants of courses across the pond.  If you were designing courses you may still want to make the trip, but if you were building them, you didn’t need to invest quite as much time and money in the trip.I think another aspect we often overlook is that many of the men who built the courses for Raynor and Ross were Scottish or English and they had grown up playing these holes or concepts they were asked to recreate. 


I think Colt was influential in the dawn of Golden Age in America, but it may have been more indirectly attributed to him rather than directly.  He made a star out of Donald Ross, or I should say Donald Ross likely became a star, by borrowing at least one key idea from Colt and that was how to be prolific.
.


Jeff_Brauer

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Re: Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America
« Reply #7 on: October 24, 2022, 11:13:25 AM »
According to both Cornish and Whitten and Adam Lawrence, it was Colt who devised the idea of green detail and probably hole detail plans, as he was unhappy with many aspects of his Detroit projects. He felt that better plans would get a better product given he couldn't visit the site frequently.


I agree that Ross copied him closely and then most others followed.
Jeff Brauer, ASGCA Director of Outreach

Ian Mackenzie

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Re: Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America
« Reply #8 on: October 24, 2022, 02:14:37 PM »
Adam Lawrence did a nice piece on Old Elm in 2015:

https://www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/content/a-legendary-collaboration-at-chicagos-old-elm-club

The Colt/Ross collaboration in Chicago did not begin and end at Old Elm, as I am sure you know, John...;-)..and as I'm sure Adam NOW knows... ;D  (Contrary to his article.)


But, the funny thing is that, until 10-15 years ago, Old Elm saw little to no love at all. It was an over-treed, over-watered course where "old men played with their fathers".


Now, it is arguably in the "top 3" in Chicago with Chicago Golf Club and Shoreacres with most guys I know ranking it above SA every time.

Tim Martin

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Re: Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America
« Reply #9 on: October 24, 2022, 02:15:30 PM »
A big welcome to John Challenger and thanks for the great thread. I can’t remember a better first post on the DG. Hopefully it continues to develop. :)

Dan Moore

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Re: Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America
« Reply #10 on: October 24, 2022, 03:36:11 PM »
As John knows from reading my earlier Old Elm architecture report and seeing the preliminary design mock-up just last Monday, I am in the process of finishing a book for the club on the history of the Old Elm Golf Course. It will cover the unique collaboration between Donald Ross and Harry Colt and how Old Elm was the game changer for golf architecture in the Chicago area.

I was hired by the Club a few years back to do an architectural history of the club detailing how the design and construction of the course happened and how the course has evolved over its now 108 years of life. At the time, most members still considered it a Ross course, although many in the know there, especially Kevin Marion knew about Colt's role. I was hired to give it an research look and delivered them a detailed report. It should be a pretty interesting take on the collaboration and the ongoing restoration of the course as well as the impact Old Elm had on other Chicago area courses. I have also provided information I have found on Colt in Chicago to several other Club including Chicago Golf Club.   

How and when Ross adopted golden age ideas could be an entire project in itself, but I feel his was already well on his way already by the time he worked with Colt in Chicago. Travis had already been in his ear years earlier, and his 1910 trip included study of many of the links courses in Scotland. An interesting aspect of the Old Elm hole plans is that they didn't include plans for green contours-it appears Ross built them in the field. One exception was mounding around the 12th green which was recently "restored" by Dave Zinkand who did a great job interpreting the drawing left by Colt. 
"Is there any other game which produces in the human mind such enviable insanity."  Bernard Darwin

John Challenger

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Re: Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America
« Reply #11 on: October 24, 2022, 04:31:04 PM »
Looking forward to Dan's history of Old Elm and to learning more about the only time these two giants of the 20th century worked in-person together. Dan's book will be a must read for anyone interested in golf history in North America!

In his drawings, Colt numbered every bunker. He was very specific about the green size, shape and orientation. In his written instructions Colt added even more detail. For example, on Hole 4, Colt wrote, "Plateau Green 2'6" high with three large low features in it." As the constructor, Ross would have necessarily built the green contours.

It may not make sense or be fair, but constructors are not often given authorship credit for golf courses. Old Elm paid Ross significantly lower fees to build the course. It is clear from Colt's instructions that he wanted Donald Ross to build the course as it was designed. An argument of co-authorship could be used on most of the courses Donald Ross designed in his extraordinary career too. The constructors are often sharing ideas on the course with the architect during the design phase. Through the fog of war and for decades, and like many other courses, Old Elm once thought it was a Donald Ross.

Today, through the efforts of Curtis James, Kevin Marion, and Dave Zinkand and others, Old Elm might just be the greatest Colt restoration of our era. By all accounts, Bloomfield Hills by CDP extraordinary too.
« Last Edit: October 25, 2022, 07:25:26 AM by John Challenger »

Peter Flory

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Re: Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America
« Reply #12 on: October 24, 2022, 04:56:41 PM »
One exception was mounding around the 12th green which was recently "restored" by Dave Zinkand who did a great job interpreting the drawing left by Colt. 


That 12th hole is one of my favorite holes in Chicagoland.  The restored mounds are brilliant. 


I've realized that I'm a sucker for holes in back corners of properties. 

John Challenger

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Re: Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America
« Reply #13 on: October 24, 2022, 07:40:31 PM »
Peter, Hole 13 coming out of the same corner is my favorite.
« Last Edit: October 24, 2022, 07:43:19 PM by John Challenger »

Terry Lavin

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Re: Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America
« Reply #14 on: October 25, 2022, 09:12:59 AM »
The renovation/restoration work done at Old Elm over the years has been nothing short of remarkable. Transformational is the operative term of art here. And each portion of the work was both minimalist in its execution while still eye popping in the effect on the player.


The tree removal was central to reclaiming and exposing the bones of the golf course, but the architects have each paid careful attention to the Dan Moore architectural history of the course while still making the course more challenging at the same time.


This model has been followed elsewhere hereabouts but not as dramatically as the work at Old Elm.
« Last Edit: October 25, 2022, 09:14:39 AM by Terry Lavin »
Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.  H.L. Mencken

Anthony Gholz

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Re: Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America
« Reply #15 on: October 25, 2022, 02:16:23 PM »
John:


Your argument is straight forward and well presented.  Just what GCA should be.  However, Colt's three NA visits as the through point for the Golden Age in NA is a stretch imo.  Mr Chadwick's comments are appropriate. I did go back and read the Boston ET article and was more appreciative of Ross's pov than when I read your piece the first time.  BTW citations are the meat of the matter for me.


Regarding authorship, which is a topic that seems to go on forever on gca, I have two views.  One: the basic idea that if the architect did the routing and the routing is still mostly (75%?) intact then he or she was and is the architect.  On that basis OE is Colt's.  On the parsing of the details of course we can go way off the main line (and still enjoy the discussion!)  Does ANGC get past the MacKenzie/Jones authorship when Perry Maxwell re-does all the greens?


Observations from a review of the comments at the time ie. 1913-17.  American Golfer 6/1913: "THE IDEAS OF THE TWO EXPERTS HAVE BEEN COMBINED." American Golfer 6/1914:  "C AND R, THEY declared, "THEIR creation, etc." Chick Evans in the Chicago Examiner "TOGETHER THEY made OE the most scientific course ..." C AND R were successful etc.  This suggests a partnership.  During later visits by Ross with the two club reps (names are in the comments by others) they "... omitted 12 and added 18 bunkers."  Not insignificant revisions, but enough for continued co-authorship by Ross? 


I have other questions and comments for John and the respondents above.


1) "The Thomas Edison of strategic gc design"  Having been raised in Port Huron, Michigan, Edison's boyhood home, I'm sensitive when Edison's name is mentioned, and I must admit I never thought of him regarding golf course architecture.  In what way do you mean that Colt was the TE of ...?
2) Regarding fees and Colt's being more than Ross.  Was Colt paid for traveling expenses vs Ross being home grown?  or is that covered elsewhere?
3) Ross was hired first to advise.  Maybe as the Brad Klein of the project originally?  Help find the right person/people?
4) Jeff B:  "he was unhappy with many aspects of his Detroit projects"  I would be very interested in following up on that.  Can you give me references re these comments that I can review.  He only did the original (actually 2nd) CCD course and Bloomfield in the Detroit area.
5) Comment re green contours: While reviewing the Colt course at Ancaster with the super before Ebert's reno he commented often re the fact that Colt didn't leave much re the internal contours of the greens, so the club had no absolute direction regarding them.  This is a problem/discussion regarding all of Colt's NA work, which he basically never saw completed (except thru Alison's reports years later).  Not so much an Alison problem, who actually spent months at some courses in Detroit and made several visits over a period of ten years to at least a couple courses that I can document.
6) "OE was the ONLY time C&R worked together in person."  What of Winnetka (IHC)?  The CCD in Detroit?  I'd also include, but can't prove, the DGC.
7) Colt never used plasticine models.  Per my research for NA he did for the St Andrews course in Trinidad & Tobago.  I annexed T&T from SA to NA for my book ... sorry.   And per Adam's own research at least one other course, most likely Bowness in Calgary.


I must say, for a fairly short post John, you've gotten my gray cells going OT. 
Thanks for that.


Anthony










J_ Crisham

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Re: Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America
« Reply #16 on: October 25, 2022, 02:26:17 PM »
Looking forward to Dan's history of Old Elm and to learning more about the only time these two giants of the 20th century worked in-person together. Dan's book will be a must read for anyone interested in golf history in North America!



Today, through the efforts of Curtis James, Kevin Marion, and Dave Zinkand and others, Old Elm might just be the greatest Colt restoration of our era. By all accounts, Bloomfield Hills by CDP extraordinary too.

John,    +1      The restoration work is nothing short of spectacular. One could also argue that OE is one of very few courses in Chicago that can challenge the competitive player yet remain fun for the average player.

Ian Mackenzie

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Re: Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America
« Reply #17 on: October 25, 2022, 02:48:32 PM »
"6) "OE was the ONLY time C&R worked together in person."  What of Winnetka (IHC)?  The CCD in Detroit?  I'd also include, but can't prove, the DGC."

I have a copy of a Chicago Star article from June 27, 1915 that shares a bit of info on this topic. Since I cant effing post the pic, I will transcribe two paragraphs:


(Mr. Ferguson was the president of Glen View Club which is the topic of the full article.)


"Colt and Ross Did the Work" (actual title in article
)

The creation of Old Elm and Indian Hill has, of course, served to make Glen View less nearly unique than when it had Chicago Golf as its sole rival in this neighborhood. The changes made in 1913have all been in the way of betterment of the links, and are, in scheme, in the precise spirit of the modern golf architecture of the two new north shore courses

The new aspects of the course represent the work of Colt and Ross, the designers and builders of Old Elm. It was to this admirable team Mr. Ferguson turned over the ideas he had studied and pondered. He caught Colt when the latter was in the country to design Old Elm; and the finishing touches were given by Ross, whose handicraft is to be noted now on every hole.

The graceful, easy curves of Old Elm and Indian Hill can easily be recognized in the revisions at Glen View. Not a spadeful of earth was, in making the changes, dug for the mere sake of creating punitive hazards regardless of the logic of distances and of the mixed measurements of par.
« Last Edit: October 25, 2022, 02:51:26 PM by Ian Mackenzie »

Niall C

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Re: Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America
« Reply #18 on: October 25, 2022, 02:50:01 PM »
Gents


An interesting discussion and FWIW I also tend to think it is a stretch to think of Colt's work at Old Elm being some sort of eureka moment for golf course design in the US. I have to think the flow of ideas to and fro via writings in mags, books and visits to one anothers country by the likes of CBM, John Low, Hutchinson, Travis as well as all the GB&I pro's who took seasonal work in the US and travelled back to the UK for the winter meant there was a fairly free flow of information.


Niall

Ira Fishman

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Re: Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America
« Reply #19 on: October 25, 2022, 06:02:13 PM »
Gents


An interesting discussion and FWIW I also tend to think it is a stretch to think of Colt's work at Old Elm being some sort of eureka moment for golf course design in the US. I have to think the flow of ideas to and fro via writings in mags, books and visits to one anothers country by the likes of CBM, John Low, Hutchinson, Travis as well as all the GB&I pro's who took seasonal work in the US and travelled back to the UK for the winter meant there was a fairly free flow of information.


Niall


I am certainly not a golf historian, but it is difficult to see the causal through way from Old Elm to Flynn, Tillinghast, Thomas and Thompson, and Maxwell among other Golden Age architects in North America. It seems clear that Colt influenced/mentored/promoted Ross. That by itself changed gca for the better. It is difficult to think of two more both prolific and brilliant architects. That strikes me as more than enough of a claim to impact and import.

Niall C

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Re: Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America
« Reply #20 on: October 25, 2022, 07:49:10 PM »
Ira


Two of the great architects as you say and remarkable that they worked together but did golf architecture really change dramatically after Old Elm ?


Niall

PCCraig

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Re: Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America
« Reply #21 on: October 25, 2022, 08:41:06 PM »
John -


Welcome to Golf Club Atlas and thank you for a very informative first thread.


Old Elm's architectural pedigree is amazing as is the golf course as it stands today.
H.P.S.

Sven Nilsen

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Re: Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America
« Reply #22 on: October 26, 2022, 12:40:16 AM »
There's an underlying assumption in this thread that Colt selected Ross as his second in charge on the Old Elm project.  The truth was that Ross was engaged for the project prior to Colt (see the timeline below).

The other assumption being made is that because Colt drew the plans and wrote down the specifications, they all must have been his ideas with Ross being left to implement the plans.  I have not seen anything that proves this assertion one way or the other, although most of the press reports from the day suggested more of a collaboration then a designer/builder relationship.

As for whether or not Colt's work at Old Elm lead to the "true onset of the Golden Age," this seems to simplify a movement that had begun in American golf course architecture prior to 1913, and negates the influence and work of the previously mentioned MacDonald, Travis, and Emmet, as well as Wilson, Watson, Tillinghast, Egan, Junor, Collis and Barker, amongst others, as well as the evolving work of many of the early architects like Bendelow, the Foulis Brothers, Tweedie, Findlay, Pryde, Hoare, et al.  Even Ross, who has never been really described as Victorian era designer, had already evolved as an architect by this point.

Did Colt have an influence?  Absolutely.  Was it a direct line?  No, the story of the Golden Age involves too much time, too many players, too much of an increase in American wealth, too many changes in the game, too many changes in the clubs and balls, too many changes in construction methods and too many changes in the accessibility of courses to attribute to one person.  If you were to make that argument about any one architect, you'd probably have to start with the one who was most responsible for building the game in this country during its early years. 

Timeline of Old Elm (hoping Dan or anyone else can add in any additional information):

Jan. 21, 1913 Chicago Examiner notes Donald Ross looking over the grounds preparatory to laying them out in the spring. 

Feb. 15, 1913 Glens Falls Daily Times and Feb. 16, 1913 Wilmington Morning Star note Donald Ross discussing a new project at Fort Sheridan. 

May 7, 1913 Boston Evening Transcript notes Donald Ross collaborated with H. S. Colt on the new 18 hole course. 

June 1913 American Golfer notes Colt and Ross spent a week on the property coming up with the plans and Ross was to superintend the construction. 

June 1913 Golf Magazine notes club organized and Colt arrived to plan its construction which will be superintended by Donald Ross. 

June 21, 1913 The Evening Post notes Donald Ross collaborated with H. S. Colt in planning the course. 

Sept. 25, 1913 Chicago Tribune notes course laid out jointly by H. S. Colt and Donald Ross is under construction which is being supervised by Ross. 

Sept. 28, 1913 Chicago Daily Tribune Bernard Darwin article notes 18 hole course the handiwork of Harry Colt. 

Nov. 1913 Golf Magazine notes club hired Ross who cleared the forest and then Colt was sent for and the course planned. 

1914 SOGG notes construction of new course as laid out by Colt and Ross. 

March 15, 1914 Inter Ocean notes course to be opened this season. 

May 24, 1914 Chicago Tribune notes 18 hole 6,420 yard course was laid out by H. S. Colt and Donald Ross. 
"As much as we have learned about the history of golf architecture in the last ten plus years, I'm convinced we have only scratched the surface."  A GCA Poster

"There's the golf hole; play it any way you please." Donald Ross

John Challenger

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Re: Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America
« Reply #23 on: October 26, 2022, 08:15:01 AM »
Arguments can be made and one can reach the conclusion that Old Elm is a Colt course or a Colt and Ross collaboration. There is lots of material that might sway one either way. It is fundamentally a designer vs constructor issue. On April 27, 1913, it was Colt who submitted the plans, notes, and drawings to Old Elm. They weren't submitted jointly by Colt and Ross. The club paid Colt significantly more than Ross, and the difference wasn't to make up for Colt's expenses. But, I am giving you more evidence...

To me, it comes down to this: the fundamental ideas expressed in the design of Old Elm were those of Hutchinson/Low/Colt and Ox-Cam. I believe those new and viral ideas were the original seed of the Golden Age. It's true that those ideas had been filtering into the United States from the early 1900s, and they would have picked up steam in 1907-1908 for a variety of reasons, but they were not fully formed.

The Country Club of Detroit, Toronto Golf, and Old Elm were new courses built in North America that for the first time wholly saw the Ox-Cam Golden Age ideas put into the ground on this side of the ocean.

For good reason, H.S. Colt was recognized as the greatest golf course architect in the world. Colt was the messenger and the carrier of those Oxcam ideas, not Donald Ross, who was still coming into his own as an architect.

The fact that Ross did not for one reason or another faithfully execute those plans should not be grounds for giving him too much credit.

Let's not dilute the impact of Colt's authorship and his achievement, or its impact on American golf architecture, by calling Old Elm a collaboration.
« Last Edit: October 28, 2022, 06:48:03 AM by John Challenger »

Ira Fishman

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Re: Old Elm, Harry Colt and the Start of the Golden Age in America
« Reply #24 on: October 26, 2022, 08:47:53 AM »
John,


First, welcome to the board.


Second, I am more than willing to accept that (a) Colt was the greatest architect in the world when OE was designed and (b) that he is the OE architect. However, those two points do not prove the assertion that OE was the fulcrum point for the Golden Age in North America.


Is there any evidence that the leading architects of the Golden Age visited OE and/or stated that it was a major influence on their work?


I have no doubt that Colt had a significant impact on North American architecture. I am just skeptical that OE itself was a major cause of that impact beyond its importance for Ross’s development. As Sven and others have noted, there were too many other courses that helped promulgate the Golden Age to hold out that OE occupies the seminal place.


Thanks,


Ira


PS I grew up in the Chicago area and always have wanted to play OE so my questions are not out of any bias against the course. Indeed, the two UK Colt courses I have played are very high up on my personal list of best I have played.




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