This is the fifth in a series of posts by The Scrambler (Kevin Lynch) who appears to have lost the will or ability to post under his own name. Putting that trivial element aside, the Scrambler is nothing if not a top-shelf bloodhound. His sleuthing first appeared this spring (http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,55850.0.html on golf club atlas. The final installment will appear here on Thursday, July 11th.
WILLOWDALE vs WESTWOOD ROUTING
In trying to determine whether the current course incorporated the old holes or not, I studied the current aerial photos. Looking at the aerial and course map, you can almost see an earlier border to the property that must have existed. The current 11th green, 15th tee, 8th tee and entire 4th hole all seem positioned as if there was a northern boundary at some point. The 12-14th and 5th-7th holes all seem to be segregated on a new northern portion of the property. Thus, I suspected that the old course must have been situated somewhere in the southern portion of the existing property.
Luckily, a big clue to uncovering the old routing existed in the article Joe posted. The April 1921 article referred to an “island green” as the 6th hole, followed by a creek serving as a hazard for the 7th hole tee shot. The article also refers to a longest hole of 520 yards (#4).
The 1921 water hazards described on #6 & #7 match up perfectly to the current #8 & #9, especially the part about the “lordly Sycamore” which is one of the prominent features on the island hole. Thus, it was apparent that there was some semblance of the routing still in existence today.
However, the part about the longest hole being #4 totally confused me. The only long hole existing in that section of the property is the current 3rd hole. But, the green for the current 3rd hole leads right to the tee for the current 8th hole (the island green 6th from 1921). If the current 3rd was the old 4th, I couldn’t figure out a routing to find a 5th hole between them.
Luckily, I remembered the old aerial from George Bahto’s “mystery Raynor” course near the Brookfield site (from late 1920s). If I could locate the source for that photo, perhaps I could shift 5 miles west and catch a glimpse of Willowdale.
I located the 1929 aerial, which included the missing piece to solve my routing dilemma.
While the picture was dark, I could make out most of the greensites, and they mostly aligned with the current greens. The key to solving the routing was a greensite I had assumed was part of the later expansion in the northern section of the property (current 7th green).
The current 7th hole is a very awkward Par 5 which has a very sharp dogleg in the last 100 or so yards. If you have a good drive, there still is very little chance of reaching in 2, so you would have to lay-up to the corner to set up a 3rd shot (sometimes with a short iron). The hole has never “felt right” to me, and now that makes sense. This green used to be for a straight par 4 approached directly from the west, played through a currently empty area between the current 4th, 5th and 7th holes.
Based on this discovery, I routed back to the clubhouse from this 5th green and forward to the clubhouse from the known 6th and 7th holes and came up with the following:
#1 = Current #3
#2 = Current #4
#3 = Current #15
#4 = Current 16th tee area to the region of the current 11th green (this is
an area that would hold the 520 yarder in the 1921 article)
#5 = Current 5th tee area to current 7th green
#6 = Current 8th (island par 3)
#7 = Current 9th (drive across creek)
#8 = Current 1st
#9 = Current 2nd (finishing par 3 that’s a natural amphitheater)
This may also explain why the current 10th also is an awkward feeling dogleg as well, since it was crammed into a tight space when they converted the old 4th into the par-three 16th and used the rest for the 11th.
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I’m not sure really sure if Westwood is aware that they have 7 original Park holes or even that he was inolved, but I never would have had any idea about this Joe’s find in the 1921 article. Amazing that one little article could lead to finding out the history of Westwood, the location of original holes, as well as an increased awareness of William Harries’ role in WNY golf.
