Category: Golf History

The Maiden at Royal St. George’s

The “Maiden” at Royal St. George’s Golf Club

Every aspect of seeking out history is a journey. Many times a subject is only lightly investigated because its story has been widely accepted, sometimes for millenia. But the seeker wants to know more. 

One such mystery in the golf-kingdom is the “Maiden” hole at Royal St. George’s Golf Club at Sandwich, Kent, England. The links were laid out in 1887 by Dr. W. L. Purves, Ramsay Hunter, and his brother Henry.

The “Maiden” was just a name for a very large sand dune on the golf links, according to history. 

As one writer put it ; “Purves, likened the shape of the dune to the ‘Jungfrau’ summit in the Swiss Alps, and so “Maiden” was born.”

Really? So why wasn’t it named “Jungfrau”? 

Elsewhere it was said that the large dune was already named on an old land map.

Today, Royal St. George’s Golf Club says that the hole was “named after the shape of the towering dunes surrounding it.” 

On the other hand, if you were the creator of the golf links, and your name was Dr. W. L. Purves, the historian, author, renaissance man, and you were building a golf links just feet from one of the oldest Roman roads in Great Britain, and you are staring at a large sand dune that you had to cross, why not think of Maiden Way, one of the highest Roman roads in Britain? 

The road ran between Kirky Thore and Whitley Castle in Cumbria, and was named in the 12th century. 

In fact, “maiden” was used for castles that were “untaken or impregnable,” with the road leading to them known as a “Maiden way.”

The Maiden bunker was such an obstruction. 

The original hole was a blind par 3, played over the steepest part of the “Maiden,” to a green nestled in the valley on the other side.

Today it is a par-4 played around the dune, and only the name survives. 

The Romans would have made it a par four.

©2025 – J. I. B. Jones Golfhistoricalsociety.org

Brentwood Country Club professional M. J. “Mike” Brady on Long Driving in 1918.

March 25th (1916), the Anniversary of Brentwood Country Club.
Mike Brady 1922 Western open Champion

Bostonite Bomber Mike Brady tied twice for first place in the U. S. Open. In 1911, and again in 1919. He lost both times in playoffs.
First against J. J. McDermott, the first American born and back to back U.S. Open champion, and the youngest!
And in 1919 to Walter Hagen, the long-shot winner.

From the 1900s, teens, and 20s, Brady won the Western Open, Massachusetts Open, North and South Open, Metropolitan Open, Southern California Open, and many many other competitions and exhibitions.

Mike signed up as winter professional at Brentwood Country Club of Santa Monica in December 1917. The William Watson designed 9-hole golf course opened on March 25, 1916.

Brady won the 1918 Southern California Open at Los Angeles Country Club at Beverly Hills, representing Brentwood Country Club, and also won the opening competition of the Hotel Del Monte Links No. 2 at Pebble Beach in April 1918, winning by eleven strokes over second place man Harold Sampson!

Mike Brady left Brentwood to replace Walter Hagen at Oakland Hills.
Later he moved to Winged Foot.

Known for his bombing drives, Brady had a thing or two to say about them during his time at Brentwood, in a 1918 article in Golfer’s Magazine:

“Mike Brady, Massachusetts Open Champion, after a winter at Brentwood, near los Angeles, laughs when they talk of record drives down in Boston, where he was formerly located. Drives in Southern California are not measured by 300 or 400 yards, but by the 500. Edward (Ernest) Martin, the California professional, drove last winter to the edge of the green on a hole measuring 560 yards.

Brady had a putt for two on the eleventh hole at Brentwood, the hole measuring 470 yards. He drove the first green, 426 yards, as did his assistant. Few professionals can outdrive Brady when he is meeting the ball right, but in the early days of his stay in California he was outdistanced frequently.

Brady has recently joined the colors and is located on the Pacific coast. He is in the navy.”
From 1918 Golfer’s Magazine.

©2025 jibjones-golfhistoricalsociety

Slow Play in America (1915)

Excerpts from the “Pro and Con of Golf” (1915) by Alexander H. Revell

“A problem of deep importance to the future of this game has arisen, and the young American school has forced it to the front. It is a question of practice swings, of waiting for inspiration, and of concentration.”

“When a man has played a stroke he has quite sufficient to occupy his mind for the next minute or two in considering how he shall play the next one.”

“Any serious interruption in this continuous thought breaks the spell that is upon the player and handicaps him seriously. The other day I was discussing the matter with Mr. E. A. Lassen, who had been a severe sufferer from the excessively slow methods of one of the Americans, and he stated the case exactly when he said that with so much hesitation and waiting ‘it was like beginning a new match at every shot,’ “

“Another question, however, arises, and that is whether the Americans are not overdoing it. At La Boulie, when the French amateur championship was being played for, three hours and ten minutes were taken over a match that had a clear green in front of it all the way, through the slowness of the American player.”

“At La Boulie Mr. Hilton was waiting until he was weary at every stroke played by his opponent, and undoubtedly he was ‘put off’ and could not play his proper game. Others suffered in the same way. These slow players use up the time in three ways: first by deep thought, secondly by an exhaustive course of prospecting of the land in front when the short game is being played, and thirdly by a series of practice swings done most meditatively. They leave nothing whatever to chance.”

“Then there is the hesitation and doubt that are induced. I believe that in most cases these players are really waiting for an inspiration.”

“Then, if three hours or more were taken over every game, golf as we have it now would become impossible. Only one round a day would be practicable, it would be a wearying thing, and the game would not be the same.”

Excerpts from the “Pro and Con of Golf” (1915) by Alexander H. Revell

©2024 golfhistoricalsocity and J. I. B. Jones

Happy 100th Birthday to Warren G. Harding Memorial Golf Course in Griffith Park

Griffith Park. August 11, 1923
Harding opening dedication plaque. (Still waiting for it to be moved to Harding!)

A week later than planned, due to the sudden death of the President of the United States, Warren G. Harding, the new all-grass Griffith Park Municipal Golf Course No. 2, opened to the public on August 11, 1923, with a heartfelt ceremony led by Mrs Anne Trabue, chairwoman of the Municipal Golf Club advisory board. Trabue thanked Thomas and S.C.G.A. president Ed Tufts, and the many people who contributed to it’s realization, telling of the “hopes of a grass course in former years, and how the long-cherished dream finally became a reality”.

George C. Thomas Jr., the architect of the links, was presented with this Perpetual Golf Pass by Southern California Golf Association president Ed Tufts for his design work.

George C. Thomas Jr., designed the new all-grass Municipal No. 2 layout with the assistance of Mrs. Anne Trabue and the golf expert and philosopher, Max Behr. Edward B. Tufts of the Los Angeles Country Club was the chairman of the Griffith Park green committee.

Thomas’s 36-hole plan was to replace Tom Bendelow’s 1914, 18-hole, Griffith Park Municipal Links, but an uproar forced a compromise, and only 18 new holes were built, leaving the old sand green links intact.

The new eighteen holes were constructed by Griffith Park superintendent Carl Worthen and his crew. The all-grass 6423 yard Municipal No. 2 golf course was laid out on land known as the Griffith Reservation, which was purchased by the city of Los Angeles in 1920, after the death of Griffith Park donor, Griffith Jenkins Griffith. The sandy wash beside the Los Angeles River made for an excellent layout.

Hunter, Thomas, Tufts, Johnson, and Macbeth at the No. 2 opening.

The opening ceremony was followed by an exhibition match featuring Los Angeles golf legends Willie Hunter, Norman Macbeth, A.D.S. Johnson, Chick Fraser, Mel Smith, Hutt Martin and Vic Dalberto.

George Thomas hit the first ball, and with partner Willie Hunter, went on to win the match against Macbeth and Johnson, 1 up.

A year after Municipal No. 2’s delayed opening, on July 4, 1924, the aptly nicknamed “Riverside” course, was renamed the Warren G. Harding Memorial, in honor of the very popular President.

Harding Memorial Golf Course dedication to President Harding. July 4, 1924

For more information see: 100 Years of Golf in Griffith Park, 1914-2014cover for 100 years from lulu - product_thumbnail

This page and it’s contents are the property of J.I.B. Jones/Golf Historical Society
Copyright ©2010-2023

Golf Historical Society 

L.A. Country Club’s 1915 Tom Morris Memorial Winning Golf Team

Old Tom Morris, “A Golfer and a man”

In 1908, Peter Dawson of Towiemore-Glenlivet Distillery, Glascow, Scotland, offered a trophy in Memorial to the Grand Old Man of Golf, Old Tom Morris, to be played for in a team competition by member clubs of the Western Golf Association on Tom’s birthday (June 16, 1821).

The Peter Dawson Tom Morris Memorial Trophy
“Presented to the Western Golf Association of America by Peter Dawson, Glasgow, in tribute to the memory of Old Tom Morris.
A Golfer and a man.”

“Each team plays against the Par of its course, with all local rules suspended and no caddies.”

The teams were made up of eight of the best players at each club playing to scratch (without handicap), with the winning club scoring the lowest total of the eight scores against the Par of the course. There was also an individual medal given to the player with the lowest individual score against their club’s par. Any team winning three times kept the trophy.

The format of the competition forced many clubs to properly rate their individual golf holes and arrive at a total Par score for the course.

The great benefit of the competition was comparing scores against 75 other clubs of the association in a competition of their best golfers, held on the same day, which was truly brilliant, and certainly helped standardize golf course Par in America!

As it was, the Los Angeles team at Pico & Western were disqualified in 1909 for “not understanding the rules.” In 1910 they won it, but were disqualified for using a substitute that was not on their entry list.

In 1911, LACC moved to Beverly, and playing on a young course they finished 8th. In 1912 they finally won it, and repeated in 1913! Norman Macbeth won the individual medal both years.

In 1915, against 75 other teams, the LACC team, without Macbeth, scored 25 down to par and won the competition for the third time!

The Los Angeles Country Club team were: Scotty Armstrong, Jack Niven, Bob Cash, Jack Jevne, George Schneider, Judge Frederickson, Everett Seaver and Frank Edwards (sub). Captain John Wilson chose not to play and manage the team.

The winning 1915 Los Angeles Country Club Tom Morris Memorial Champion Team

Peter Dawson sent them the trophy!

©2023 J.I.B. Jones – golfhistoricalsociety.org

George Von Elm. 1926 U.S. Amateur champion, among other titles!

Edward B. Tufts: the competition boss of So Cal.

In addition to his pivotal role at LA Country Club and the SCGA, Ed Tufts was also the head of the Pacific Coast Golf Association and later the California Golf Association, and that was in addition to his civic commitments. Renaissance man!

The Herbert Warren Wind Golf Book Award for 2021

A Matter of Course

Congratulations to Derek Markham for winning the U.S.G.A.’s Herbert Warren Wind Book Award for 2021, for “A Matter of Course: The Life of William Herbert Fowler, 1856-1941, Golf Course Architect”!

My contribution to Fowler’s American Adventures came with much assistance from Philip Truett, who co-published the book with Derek!

https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/articles/2022/01/rice-markham-dobie-honored-2022-usga-awards.html

British P.G.A. rejects “Bounding Billy,” the beginning of the end. (1903)

It must have seemed like the beginning of the end. The forces of commerce and profit in America had been delivering a constant barrage of “improvements” designed to make golf easier to play. By 1902, the new American “patent” rubber balls from Haskell and Kempshall had come to Great Britain, and the professionals knew the “Bounding Billy,” as it was called, would change the way they played the game, not to mention the need to redesign their clubs, and cause an unacceptable attack on golf course agronomics and hole design.

Unlike in the second half of the 19th century, when the resilient, reusable and cheap, Gutta Percha “gutty” came along, the new rubber ball would create an entirely new platform for the ball to dominate the business of the traditional game, and would continue to affect every aspect of it for centuries. The golf industry had found its holy grail!

The Haskell Golf Ball Advert – March 1903

In early 1903, at the height of the new rubber ball explosion, Britain’s top golf professionals voted on whether to allow it to be used in competition.

“Bounding Billy” is not in favor with the English golf professionals. At the first annual meeting of the Professional Golfers’ Association a motion proposed by James Braid and seconded by C. R. Smith, that gutta percha balls only be used in tournaments held by the association was carried by 33 votes to 9.

Among those who spoke in favor of the “guttie” was Harry Vardon, who said that it affords a better test of the golfer’s skill than the rubber-cored ball. With the latter a player has two chances. If he tops his ball instead of lofting it, the ball may yet reach the green.

Though the decision applies only to professional events held by the association, it is believed that the members of the committee on rules of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews hold the same sentiments.

Of course it has been asserted that the manufacturers of the gutta percha ball influenced the conclusion reached by the professional golfers, and also, of course, this has been strenuously denied. Such things are always said and always denied.
(March 1903, Western Field, On the Links by Arthur Inkersley)

The Golf Ball

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