January 30. 2008

Fellow Members,

Once again, greetings from the Ross of the West. I am back in California where the rain is interfering with regular play, but I am still savoring the memories of our recent outing to Sarasota. The Society managed to dodge the rainstorms and played interesting rounds at the delightful Sara Bay Country Club and the storied Bobby Jones Municipal Course. The folks at Bobby Jones reconfigured the routing for us so that we played the back nine holes of both the British and American courses thereby linking the original 18 Ross holes that are normally split between the two courses.

You will be pleased to know that thanks to your generous contributions, the Society made a contribution of $7,500 to the Tufts Archives in January of this year. Your participation in outings such as the one at Sara Bay will assure the health of our Foundation and our ability to continue to support this worthy cause.

And speaking of outings! Enclosed you will find a sign up form for the Cape Fear event in May. This event is limited to the first 60 players so make your plans right away!

And while you have your calendars out, SAVE THE DATES OF September 19-21, 2008.

Former DRS President Michael Miller and Outings Chair Derek Dobbs have been working with the Tillinghast Assoc. and have scheduled a joint meeting for our two organizations at Bedford Springs and Spa, Bedford, PA. You will find that the “Tillies” are kindred spirits and share our fascination with classic golf architecture, warm fellowship and imported beverages. The following history of the course was written by Michael Fay after he played as part of the opening ceremony last year.

Built in 1798 the Bedford Springs Hotel was once the Grand Dame of resort hotels in SW Pennsylvania and boasted a golf course originally designed by Spencer Oldham in 1896, reworked by Tillinghast around 1911 and then redesigned and finished by Ross in 1923.

The resort flourished in the roaring 20’s, survived the Depression and continued to operate successfully into the 60’s, but age took its toll and by the mid 70’s the Bedford Springs Hotel had become an untenable asset and sat abandoned for more than 20 years.

The new century brought new owners, Ambassador Mark Langdale and his investment group believed that the resort hotel and spa that had survived nearly every bump in the road for 200 years could be revived and returned to its past glory. With a capital infusion of $120,000,000 they would completely rebuild every aspect of the hotel, the rooms, the common areas, the parking facilities and all the other amenities. What remained was the golf course, with all of its attendant problems and the disintegration of a hundred years.

Greg French, VP of Benchmark Golf Group understood the significant provenance of Bedford and he decided to restore it in a fashion that would march the old bones into the 21st century. To this end he hired Ron Forse of Forse Design to study the ground, review the history and make a complete inventory of problems that had to be overcome.

The main problem was the creek that had once been dammed to provide water and power to a long defunct manufacturing facility and now meandered and overflowed throughout the golf course. Forse’s answer was to return the creek to its’ original bed, to deepen and widen the waterway and to provide an uncongested flow to aid in the drainage of the property. 60,000 cubic yards were excavated, the serpentine creek was restored, and the water started to flow freely again.

Working with the historical data Forse and Nagle looked for evidence left by all three designers. The 2nd hole, one of the few remaining Oldham designs was rebuilt using a green that was originally constructed in 1902 making it one of the oldest putting surfaces in continual use in Western Pennsylvania. The Ross holes were molded in the Ross style, the Tillinghast holes were returned to the strategy and bunkering so well known to A.W.’s fans. And Ron even found and restored the vaunted “Tiny Tim” par three written about by Tillinghast in an April 1937 article for The Professional Golfer of America.

The 60,000 cubic yards of fill taken from the creek bed were employed to enhance mounding, build stream containment walls, raise ever so slightly some of the putting surfaces and provide for the addition of new tees for different levels of play.

The result is remarkable. The course is a delightful, flowing layout with all the appointments that one would expect on a “Classic Era” design. The holes fit together with little distance between greens and tees and a feel of a return to the 1920’s. New back tees make the course a little over 6,800 yards, a test stern enough for nearly all golfers. The forward tees allow the senior and women players a track that is challenging but not overwhelming. In all, the new course presents strategy and challenge to all levels of golfers without overtaxing their ability to hit the long bomb.

Superintendent David Swartzel whose resume includes a stint at the venerable Philadelphia Cricket Club has been on board since the beginning of the reconstruction. He is now overseeing the final grow in of the course which is scheduled to open in late June. The bent grass fairways and greens already look well established. The vast areas of fescue grasses that frame many of the golf holes look as if they have been there forever.

We look forward with great anticipation to seeing Ron in September when we will gather at Bedford with the Tillies for a match between two great Societies. In the meantime, pack your bags and head for Cape Fear, nothing beats the Carolina coast in springtime.

Sincerely,

Gerald Stratford
President
650.367.9027