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Golf in the Gilded Age:
Robber Barons, Railroads, and Resort Hotels
4: Tycoons and Patronage

A. Patronage of Art, Architecture and Land Development
B. Patronage of Golf Development - Early Course Designers

American golf had its birth in the Gilded Age (1870s-1890s), and by the close of the 19th century the United States had more golf courses than Britain. This start is inextricably intertwined with the dominant Tycoons of the day, and this in turn entangles the foundation of golf in America with the expansion of their railroads and their associated Grand Hotels in exclusive resort locations.

From 1900 to the advent of WWII, golf in America added sinew and muscle on this underlying frame to make the Resort golf experience truly spectacular and widely accessible outside the echelons of elite society. The enduring legacy has been that the popularization of golf in America is indelibly stamped with the watermark of excellence set by these fabulous early Resorts.

Tycoons and Patronage

A. Patronage of Art, Architecture and Land Development

Beaux-Arts Architecture / Arts & Crafts / Art Nouveau Aesthetic

Beaux-Arts architecture denotes the academic classical architectural style that was taught at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. The style "Beaux-Arts" is above all the cumulative product of two and a half centuries of instruction under the authority, first of the Académie royale d'architecture, then, following the Revolution, of the Architecture section of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. The organization under the Ancien Régime of the competition for the Grand Prix de Rome in architecture, offering a chance to study in Rome, imprinted its codes and esthetic on the course of instruction, which culminated during the Second Empire (1850-1870) and the Third Republic that followed. The style of instruction that produced Beaux-Arts architecture continued without a major renovation until 1968. The Beaux-arts style influenced US architecture in the period 1885Ð1920.

Carrere & Hastings

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/ARCH/ARCH-CarrereHastings.htm

McKim, Mead, and White

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/ARCH/ARCH-McKimMeadandWhite.htm

Stanford White, one of America's most prominent architects, was born in 1853. His creativity, talent and versatile draftsmanship were responsible for the foundation in the 1880's of one of the country's most prestigious architectural firms, McKim, Mead and White. During his prominent career, White was commissioned to design a broad range of private residences and public institutions, some of which are historical landmarks today. From the homes of New York's exclusive families to one of the country's most renowned entertainment arenas, his designs continue to leave many in awe. White's architectural portfolio includes The Washington Square Arch, a Fifth Avenue mansion formerly owned by the Rockefeller family, The New York Herald building, The Tiffany building, The Boston Public Library, several branches of The New York Public Library, and The Bowery Savings Bank building, which is now home to New York's hottest event space and restaurant, Capitale.

The "White City" of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago was a triumph of the movement and a major impetus for the short-lived City Beautiful movement in the United States. Beaux-Arts city planning, with its Baroque insistence on vistas punctuated by symmetry, eye-catching monuments, axial avenues, uniform cornice heights, a harmonious "ensemble" and a somewhat theatrical nobility and accessible charm, embraced ideals that the ensuing Modernist movement decried or just dismissed. The first US university to institute a Beaux-Arts curriculum was MIT in 1893, when the French architect, Constant-Désiré Despradelles was brought to MIT to teach. Subsequently the Beaux-Arts curriculum was begun at Columbia University, The University of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. The best known architectural firm specializing in Beaux-Arts style was McKim, Mead, and White.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaux-Arts_architecture

The movement became aware of itself in 1880's when it first gave itself a name and it was in that decade that it emerged with recognizable message, it began to flourish in the 1890's and it achieved its most brilliant effect in the decades around the turn of the century. The term Arts and Crafts, in its own era, signified a general association of like-minded artists, designers, manufacturers and crafts people. And although they were highly individualistic and could not be pinned to a definable style, they shared many ideals: honest construction and simplicity of form, fitness for purpose, harmony between the man-made and environment, the revival of traditional craft techniques and the inherent qualities of natural materials. If forced to pinpoint the four universal principals they would be -- design unity, joy of labor, individualism and regionalism -- these combined to create the Arts and Crafts approach. What began as an English movement, eventually found its way to the Continent and America. In Northern Europe designers were inspired but didn't necessarily follow its model. Only in America was it directly copied, adapted and developed on a parallel tract. The American movement's zenith lagged a decade, or so, behind the British movement, but both flourished in an age of prosperity, ironically created by industrial achievement. Likewise the movement's decline can be traced to economic weakness -- the Great War in Britain and the Depression in America.

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/opinionmacwood2.html

Throughout New England new summer colonies developed in the mountains and along the coast, the common denominator being an appreciation for the Shingle Style of architecture and excellent golf. The Shingle Style was an American fusion of Old English and the native Colonial style, wooden structures with a skin of shingles which became the region's universal resort style. Charles Follen McKim, Stanford White (CB Macdonald's good friend), HH Richardson and Bruce Price were among the most prominent proponents of this style which stretched from Bar Harbor to the Hamptons, and examples include the Shinnecock Hills clubhouse and Donald Ross's Rhode Island cottage Quaker Hills Farm. A combination of native golf architects and imported talents brought excellent golf courses to many of these summer colonies, men like Ross, Herbert Leeds, Walter Travis, Devereux Emmet, JD Dunn, Willie Park-Jr., CB Macdonald and his protégé Seth Raynor.

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/opinionmacwood5.html

Gamble House, by Greene and Greene, Arts and Crafts design in the midwestern "Prairie School" style later made famous by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Another hotbed of the Arts and Crafts movement was Chicago. In fact it could be argued that Chicago was where the most important American movement emerged. The Prairie School was developed in Chicago by Louis Sullivan and group of younger architects -- Frank Lloyd Wright, George Elmslie, Walter Burley Griffin, William Gray Purcell, Dwight Perkins and George Washington Maher -- all trained in his office. They created a distinctly regional style featuring 'refreshingly open interiors and strong horizontal lines, the Prairie House clearly evoked the freedom and sweep of the limitless midwestern landscape.' Ironically it was Ladies Home Journal that first exposed Wright and the Prairie style to the nation. And as Wright and his colleagues were spreading their Arts and Crafts designs throughout Chicago and the Midwest, Charles Blair Macdonald was creating a similar golf movement. It was his design for the Chicago Golf Club in 1895 that would influence the entire Chicago golf tradition. Those who followed included the Scot H.J. Whigham (Macdonald's future son-in-law), H.J.Tweedie of Hoylake, Donald Ross, CH Alison, Seth Raynor and William Langford. The early designs of Chicago GC, Onwentsia, and Midlothian exhibited a geometric quality not unlike the Prairie School designs, and that general style continued for decades. Although Macdonald was clearly the genesis for this style, one can not discount Harry Colt's influence at Old Elm and his assistant on the project Donald Ross, who produced a number of outstanding Chicago designs, including Beverly, Oak Park and Evanston. Oak Park was the home of Wright and many of his most famous works, it is only fitting that Ross's course would be graced by a club-house in the Prairie style designed by William Drumond.

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/opinionmacwood5.html

It was under this idyllic atmosphere that California golf developed, although lagging a few years behind the other arts. The first distinguished California designs arrived around 1917-1918 with Wilfred Reid's Lakeside, AW Tillinghast's San Francisco and Neville&Grant's Pebble Beach, although Pebble Beach's early expression was somewhat crude. But following WWI the Golden State produced a succession of landmark designs and redesigns created by Herbert Fowler, Norman MacBeth, Willie Watson, Max Behr, George Thomas, Robert Hunter, H.Chandler Egan and Alister MacKenzie -- a period of designs possibly unmatched anywhere at anytime. And the Arts and Crafts connections were numerous. Robert Hunter lived in the Arts and Crafts colony in the Berkeley hills until the great fire of 1923, when he relocated at Pebble Beach. Hunter was instrumental in bringing MacKenzie to California, resulting in the incomparable Cypress Point and Pasatiempo. (Incidentally Hunter made his own study of Britain's courses in 1912, inspired by his friend CB Macdonald) MacKenzie eventually made his home at Pasatiempo, a home designed by William Wurster another Arts and Crafts disciple from Berkeley. But probably the most unusual case of the arts converging involves Tasmanian born painter Francis McComas. McComas came to San Francisco in 1898, studying under Arts and Crafts architect and artist Arthur Mathews, and eventually moving to Carmel in 1912 where he became an important A&C painter in his right. He was asked to design the interior of the simple Spanish Colonial club-house at Cypress Point (George Washington Smith), which he did shortly after its completion. McComas, an avid golfer, was also responsible for designing several green complexes at Pebble Beach including the wild fourteenth, one of the most interesting greens in the world -- perhaps his greatest work of art.

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/opinionmacwood5.html

Frederick Law Olmsted

Olmsted Plan for the Capitol grounds.

Frederick Law Olmstead (above)

Stanford White (above)
Preminent Beaux Arts architect for the New York elite.

B. Patronage of Golf Development - Early Course Designers

In 1891, William Vanderbilt and several wealthy friends bought 80 acres north of present-day Sunrise Highway for $2,500 and hired Shinnecock Indians to build a 12-hole course designed by Scottish professional golfer Willie Dunn. The course was expanded to 18 holes four years later. In 1891, the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club became America's first incorporated golf club, granting women full membership from the start. It was also the first to have a clubhouse, which was designed by famed architect Stanford White.

By the start of the last decade of the 20th century, tennis, hunt and yachting clubs were the principal activities of the well heeled sporting enthusiast on the east end of Long Island. Golf had yet to arrive but that changed when a group of men (including William Vanderbilt) occasioned upon Willie Dunn at the resort in Biarritz, France in 1890. So taken were the Americans by this 'new' sport of golf, they hired Willie Dunn to build them a course in Southampton. Located on treeless, sandy soil, the property had links characteristics though it was two miles from the Atlantic Ocean. Willie Dunn's 12 hole course opened in 1892 and two years later, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club joined The Country Club in Brookline, Newport CC in Rhode Island, Chicago Golf Club, and St. Andrews in New YorkÊas a charter club in the Amateur Golf Association of America (later re-named the United States Golf Association)

The game of golf quickly took hold in the Hamptons and the increased play forced the club to expand its course to 18 holes. In 1895, the 4,400 yard course was deemed sufficient to host championships. Over 100 years later, the course is considered by many as the supreme test for championship golf in the United States. P.J. Boatwright, the former long time Executive Director of Rules and Competition at the USGA who was not prone to extravagant praise, said in 1986 that he felt Shinnecock Hills to be the finest course he had ever seen. However, the credit for today's ruthless examination does not lie with Dunn or Macdonald/Raynor, who consulted with the club during the 1910s. In 1927, the main east-west highway was extended through to Easthampton and Highway 27 bisected Dunn's golf course. With the increase in train travel and with the club unable to acquire insurance to handle the doubling crossing of the road and the train tracks, the club had little alternative but to purchase additional land to the north and to forgo the portion of the course that lay to the south of the road. This was actually no great loss as the newly acquired land was superior in all respects. The club hired the architecture firm of Toomey & Flynn to build them a new 18 hole course.

Work commenced in 1928 led by construction foreman Dick Wilson, and 150 Shinnecock Indians were employedÊto help with the task. The course re-opened for play in 1931 and it remains Toomey & Flynn's undoubted masterpiece to this day. Located on an immense 300 acre block of land, Toomey & Flynn took full advantage of the scale of the property with a brilliant routing. A majority of the holes bend one way or another, thus the golfer is forever figuring out which way the wind is attacking for each shot. There are only two times (with the 2nd and 3rd and the 11th and 12th holes) where consecutive holes run in the same direction. The prevailing wind was a key factor in the design, as the holes that typically play downwind (e.g., the 3rd, 12th and 14th) are longer but also open in front to allow the player to bounce the ball onto the green. The holes that are typically into the wind are shorter (e.g., the 4th and 13th) with tighter targets. There are only two par fives (the 5th and 16th), and each plays in opposite directions. While the 5th was intended to be played with the wind helping and the 16th with the wind hurting, each plays well if the wind turns 180 degrees.

http://www.longislandgolfnews.com/2004%20US%20Open/Shinnecock%20founding.htm

Willie Dunn Jnr.

International designer known for Biarritz course, then an international spa, where he met the Vanderbilts, who brought him to Shinnecock Hills.

THE DUNNS The Dunn twins, Jamie and Willie Senior were born in Musselburgh in 1821. They both took up employment with the Gourlay family as apprentice ballmakers at Bruntsfield. They both played in many challenge matches between 1840-1860. Willie Dunn was keeper of the green at Blackheath Links until 1864 when he returned to Leith Thistle before settling at North Berwick. Willie had two sons who were Tom and Willie Junior. Young Willie served as professional at Westward Ho! for a few months in 1886, before moving to Biarritz. It was while he was in France that the Vanderbilt family invited him to Shinnecock Hills on Long Island as greenkeeper and professional. The course was a 12 holer to which Willie added a ladies course and then in 1895 combined the two into 18 holes. Willie remained at Shinnecock for several years and won the first unofficial US Open in 1894.

http://www.musselburgholdlinks.co.uk/history/heroes.html

WILLIE PARK JUNIOR (1864-1925) Young Willie as a player, designer and manufacturer of clubs and balls, course architect, writer, businessman and personality, was to become one of the outstanding professionals of his generation. From 1880 to 1894 Willie served as assistant pro/greenkeeper under his uncle Mungo at Ryton in England. He then returned to Musselburgh, joining his father in the club and ballmaking firm of W. Park and Son. Continuing to refine his game, he won the Open in 1887 and in 1889 at Musselburgh. He laid out links and courses with his father and uncle, and later on his own with construction assistance from brothers Mungo and Jack. Two of Willie's courses, Sunningdale GC and Huntercombe GC, became landmarks in the history of course architecture. Willie first travelled to the USA in 1895 and worked there until 1898 promoting golf and laying out courses. When he returned to the USA in 1916 he became inundated with requests to design and redesign courses, he worked on over seventy courses.

Willie Park Jr.

http://www.musselburgholdlinks.co.uk/history/champions.html

Walter J. Travis (1862-1927)

Walter Travis in 1909:

Ekwanok CC (1899, with JD Dunn), Garden City GC (Long Island) (1908), Pine Valley, National Golf Links, many others.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Travis

http://buff-golf.com/travis.htm

http://www.wghof.com/hof/member.php?member=1115

Midwest Expansion: Chicago & St Louis

CB MacDonald (1855-1939) - Chicago co-founder of USGA and course designer - with partner Seth Raynor

Charles Blair MacDonald in 1895

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/interviewbahto.html

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/interviewbahto2.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_B._Macdonald

http://www.golftodaymagazine.com/0309sep/c_b.htm

Chicago Golf Club (1st 18-hole course in America) (1893)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Golf_Club

National Golf Links of America, 1907-1910

Shinnecock Hills redesign 1916

Yale University GC

Foulis brothers, eminent midwestern architects

Feature Interview with Jim Healey July 2003 Jim Healey is a St. Louis golf writer. In 1996 he published 'Golfing Before The Arch; A History of St. Louis Golf' that chronicled golf in the Bi-State region form 1895 - 1996. He interviewed dozens of area golfers and related individuals for the book including; Judy Rankin, Hale Irwin, Bob Goalby, Jay Haas, Keith Foster and Tom Wargo. More recently he has written club histories for some of the oldest St. Louis clubs, including Glen Echo CC (1901), Algonquin GC (1903) and Norwood Hills CC (1922) site of the 1948 PGA. A member of the Golf Writers Association of America, Jim has published dozens of articles related to St. Louis area golf and its history. His research led him to the Foulis family and their illustrious history as part of the growth of golf in the Midwest. 1. Please provide a little background on the Foulis brothers. There were five Foulis brothers, Dave, Jim, Robert, John and Simpson. Of these, all but John were golfers - though John was an expert ballmaker and did work as a bookkeeper at Chicago golf from 1901 to his untimely death in 1907 - and only Simpson remained an amateur throughout his life, while the remaining three were professionals at some of the most prestigious clubs in America. They were born in St. Andrews, Scotland and lived at 166 South Street, just four blocks from the Old Course. They came to America between 1895 and 1905 and made their mark on dozens of courses and clubs from Minnesota to Missouri and from Chicago to Denver. They are all buried at the Wheaton Cemetery, adjacent to the Chicago Golf Club, the site where most of them made their mark and where Jim and Dave spent many years as pioneers of golf in the western United States.

3. How and why did they come to America? In late 1894, following the construction of America's first and oldest eighteen-hole golf course, Chicago GC, Charles Blair Macdonald wrote to Robert to come to America for the position of golf professional at his new course. Macdonald and the Foulis' had met when he was a student at St. Andrews University, where Macdonald lived with his grandfather, and had obviously thought highly of their skills. Robert, who was still under contract to Ranfurly, would not think of breaking his commitment to them, so in his place he recommended his older brother Jim. Jim had learned his golf from Old Tom as well, and had also worked for Forgan & Company. An excellent player, he and Robert had had many great matches over the Old Course. Arriving in this country aboard the SS Umbria out of Liverpool on March 11, 1895, it wouldn't take long for the 24-year old to quickly make his mark. Jim immediately traveled to Chicago where he became the first golf professional at Chicago GC, and the first golf professional in the western United States. In the summer of 1895, Jim cabled Robert that he had a contract for him to design a course in Lake Forest. Robert arrived on July 13, 1895, aboard the ship SS St. Louis by coincidence, and began work on the course over the next several months. The new Lake Forest CC opened in 1896 with their 9-hole layout. Today that course is part of Onwentsia Club. Dave arrived in March 1896 and went to work with Jim at Chicago GC. In 1899 James Sr. and the rest of his family made the journey to Chicago where most lived for the remainder of their lives.

Jim took advantage of his newly earned reputation and he began to further his architecture career. In 1896, he traveled to St. Louis where he designed the original 9-holes for St. Louis Country Club at their original site. Seventeen years later, in 1913, St. Louis would move to their present site and the club contracted with C.B. Macdonald to design their new course. From 1896 through 1927, Jim continued to design courses throughout the Midwest. Some of these include; Denver CC (1902), Geneva GC (1901), DuPage County GC (1901), Lake Zurich GC (1895), Kinloch GC (1898), St. Louis Golf Club (1898), Florissant Valley CC (1899), Milwaukee CC, Newspaper GC (1900) Memphis CC (1905), Hickory Hills CC (1923), Hillmoor GC (1924) Calumet CC (1911), Hinsdale GC (1898), Meadowbrook CC (MN), Edgebrook GC (1921), Bonnie Brook GC, Burlington CC, Nippersink Manor CC, Pipe O'Peace GC (1927) and Kent CC (1900). Lake Zurich, with a small membership on Chicago's north side, is a course of only 2,865 yards and, according to its members, is exactly as Mr. Foulis left it over a century ago. While many of these courses no longer exist, one can see his influence on early golf as he created courses where none had previously existed. Jim collaborated with Robert, and occasionally with Dave as well, as they designed and constructed additional courses. In many of instances, Jim did the routing of the course, while the actual construction was left to Robert. These include; Glen Echo (1901), Normandie (1901), Bellerive CC (1910), Sunset CC (1917) and Wheaton GC (1909).

5. How did Robert end up in St. Louis while the other brothers stayed in Chicago? Following Robert's success at Lake Forest, C.B. Macdonald wrote a letter of recommendation for him and he traveled to Minneapolis where he built the Town & Country Club. He would also construct the original 9-holes for the Minikahda Club in 1898, and later worked with Willie Watson on the 2nd nine in 1906. Robert continued designing courses on his own, though one would believe that he was in contact with his brothers on a regular basis for their input. Robert also assumed the role of golf professional and greenkeeper at many of his courses. Robert's designs include; Lake Geneva CC (1897), Meadowbrook CC (1912), Jefferson City CC (1922), Bogey Club (1910), Forest Park GC (1913), Log Cabin GC (1909), Triple A GC (1902), Ruth Park GC (1930), Riverview GC (1916). In November 1900, Jim was contacted by Colonel George McGrew, founder of Glen Echo CC, to come to St. Louis and design the St. Louis area's first 18-hole course. Jim arrived in January 1901, with Robert alongside. Together they began to layout and construct Glen Echo on over 350 acres of pristine land. The course opened on May 25, 1901. Jim returned to Chicago, while Robert stayed on as golf professional and greenkeeper. He and Jim also designed the Normandie GC, which sits adjacent to Glen Echo and at one time their borders touched. Robert left Glen Echo in 1907 and moved to Normandie. Then in 1909 he began construction of the original Bellerive CC, which opened in 1910. He moved there and remained as their head pro and greenkeeper until 1942. 6. What was their relationship with other architects of the day? Robert did construction for other architects, as they respected his talent in this area. One of these collaborations was with Tom Bendelow at Algonquin GC in St. Louis (1903), as Bendelow did the original 9-hole routing and then left the construction to Robert. Virtually every course built in St. Louis prior to 1930 had Robert's hand on the final layout. As a superintendent he was second to none and many clubs had him on an annual retainer to insure that their course and greens survived the often difficult St. Louis summers. Jim was the head professional at Olympia Fields during the construction of their original four courses. He preceded Jack Daray Sr. as professional there by a few years, and Daray, like other professionals of the day, moonlighted as an architect and built many other Chicago area courses. Though Jim played little or no role in the actual design of Olympia Fields four courses, his presence and background must have certainly made Bendelow, Watson, and Park give their work just a little extra to gain praise from the respected Foulis. They also had a long-standing relationship with Donald Ross. The Dornoch native spent two years at St. Andrews in 1891-92 and would have come across the Foulis' as he visited Old Tom Morris at the Old Course. He also worked at the Forgan & Company shop, likely alongside Jim Foulis. A year younger than Jim, and a year older than Robert, the three of them must have learned much from Old Tom in those days. They also competed together in the US Open in the early 1900's. Another local Chicago architect they knew well was Herbert J. Tweedie. An original member of Chicago GC, Tweedie worked closely with C.B. Macdonald. When Chicago Golf moved from their original site in Belmont to build their new 18-hole course at Wheaton, Tweedie and others stayed at Belmont and formed a new club there. In 1898, Tweedie teamed with Robert, Jim and H.J. Whigham (Macdonald's son-in-law) as they added nine holes to the original Lake Forest Club, now renamed Onwentsia. Tweedie went on to build such outstanding Chicago courses as Exmoor, Flossmoor, Glen View, LaGrange and Midlothian. Interestingly, Tweedie was the manager for the A.G. Spalding business in Chicago, the firm that also employed Tom Bendelow as their spokesman and resident architect, but there is no evidence that Tweedie or Bendelow ever collaborated on a design. As noted earlier, Robert worked with Willie Watson at Minikahda in 1898 and again in 1906. But for the most part, the Foulis' supported each others efforts. Robert's work was also well respected by architects not generally thought of as being Midwest designers. When Harry Colt published his 1933 book, 'Golf Courses: Design, Construction and Upkeep' several of Robert's architectural features were included as examples of good design features and he used Robert's illustrations in his book.

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/interviewhealey.htm

A.W. Tillinghast (1874-1942), in 1909

Baltusrol, Wing Foot, Bethpage, flourished 1910-1930

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._W._Tillinghast

http://www.tillinghast.net/

Donald Ross (1872-1948)

 

http://www.donaldrosssociety.org/

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