Shenecossett- Page 4

Shenecossett Golf Club
Groton, Connecticut

Page 4

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We are grateful to the following: Mystic and Noank Library, Linda Stankewich of the Groton Department of Parks and Recreation, Al Chapman of the City of Groton, Althea King, Richard Aspinwall and Carol Kimball of Groton. Special thanks go to Dick Broadbent for his assistance in preparing graphics and for his review and discussion of the manuscript.

NOTES

1. The New York Times (July 30, 1933):VI, 6; Donald J. Ross, Golf Has Never Failed Me: The Lost Commentaries of The Legendary Golf Architect Donald J. Ross, (Chelsea, MI:Sleeping Bear Press, 1960), 194.

2. D. Hamilton Hurd, History of New London County,Connecticut with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men (Philadelphia, PA:J.W. Lewis and Co., 1882), 475; F.W. Beers, Atlas of New London County, Connecticut (Danbury, Connecticut: F.W. Beers, A.O. Ellis and G.G. Soule, 1868) 29; The Day (New London, Connecticut), 20, June 1983, 17; Caspar W. Whitney, “Evolution of The Country Club,” Harper’s Magazine 90 (December, 1894-May 1895):32; Foster Rhea Dulles, A History of Recreation; Americans Learn to Play (New York:Appleton-Century-Croft, 1965), 182, 191, 230; John Richards Betts, America’s Sporting Heritage, 1850-1950 (Reading, MA:Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1974), 156; Office of Clerk, Groton Land Records (Groton.:Town of Groton), Book 72 (1925), 49, Book 39 (1899), 584, Book 55 (1916), 484, Book 56 (1913), 195; “National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form, U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service, 1979, in Groton Public Library, Groton, Conn.; Averill G. Llwellyn and Joseph C. Esposito, Report of The Eastern Point Historic District Study Committee, Eastern Point, Groton, Connecticut,” April 1990, 5-6, Bill Library, Groton, Connecticut; “Fort Griswold House, Eastern Point, New London, Conn.,” Hotel brochure, Groton Public Library, Groton, Connecticut. When the Edgecomb House was renovated and renamed Fort Griswold House, the Ocean House was dismantled and its sections used to house hotel employed, The Day, 14 November 1885, 1; The Day, 21 October 1978, 13; 14 November 1895, 1; 5 June 1906, 9; 23 June 1906, 10. Mildred Lehman, who was interviewed for an article in The Day, 20 June 1983, 17, lived across the street from Shenecossett Country Club from 1914 until recently. She also recalls golfers being shuttled between golf course and cottages and hotels in chauffeur-driven limousines, The Day, 14 June 1977, 17.

3. The Day, 22 September 1898, 2; The Day, 16 July 1898, 7; The Day, 7 August 1899, 5; 23 June 1900, 6; 7 July 1900, 7; 26 July 1902, 7; 30 July 1902, 6; 21 August 1901, 7; 26 September 1901, 5.

4. Morton Plant also contributed significantly to the local community: a town hall for Groton, a gift of more than one million dollars to the women’s college in New London and a gift of $250,000 to a local hospital, for example. To express its appreciation for Plant’s unselfish generosity to the community, the City of New London paused in the conduct of its business at the time of his death in 1918. For summaries of Morton F. Plant’s background, interests, local involvements and contributions see: Catherine Phinizy, “The Bighearted Millionaire,” Connecticut College Magazine (Spring 2000): 22-27 and Karen Bakowski, “The History of Morton Plant And His Branford House,” Avery Point, Groton, Connecticut:University of Connecticut, 2001; The Day, 17 February 1965, 7; The Day, 16 October 1982, 17; The Day, 9 August 1906, 5; 3 October 1906, 5; 19 November 1906, 5; 7 November 1918, 4; 14 November 1918, 7; James Gibbs, The City of Groton, Historic & Architectural Resources Survey Report, Town of Groton, Connecticut Phase III-Volume III-1, Town of Groton, Connecticut Historic Commission, National Parks Service, August 1996, 43, Bill Library, Groton, Connecticut; Letter from Morton Plant to Town of Groton, in Carol Kimball, The Poquonock Bridge Story (Groton, Connecticut:The Groton Public Library, 1984), 186.

5. Patronage at Fort Griswold House one to two years before Plant’s purchase apparently had become less than satisfactory, due to “various causes,” including litigation related to the unsettled estate of the deceased owner. The Day, 5 June 1905, 9; “The Griswold, Eastern Point, New London, Connecticut,” Hotel brochure, from collection of Robyn Monroe, Ledyard, Connecticut; The Day, 23 June 1906, 10; The Day, 9 January 1986, D3; Averill G. Llwellyn and Joseph C. Esposito, Report of The Eastern Point Historic District Study Committee, Eastern Point, April 1990, 2.

6. Office of Clerk, Groton Land Records, Book 44 (1903), 367; Book 48 (1905), 26; Book 50 (1912), 646, 648, 663; Book 55 (1913), 66; Book 56 (1913), 312; Robert L Duffus, “The Age of Play,” The Independent 113 (December 1924):539-540; John Richards Betts, America’s Sporting Heritage, 1850-1950, 159; “Golf In The 1910s, 1910-1919,” Discovering Collection, Gale Research, 1997, Farmington Hills, MI:Gale Group, December 2000, Document No. CD2104240711; Herbert Warren Wind, The Story of American Golf (New York:Alfred A. Knopf, 1975), 85-86.

7. The New London Telegraph (New London, Conn.), 22 July 1915, 2; Geoffrey S. Cornish And Ronald E. Whitten, The Architects of Golf, A survey of Golf Course Design from Its Beginnings to The Present, with An Encyclopedic Listing of Golf Course Architects And Their Courses (New York:HarperCollins Publishers, 1993), 42, 75, 792; “The Griswold, Eastern Point New London, Connecticut,” hotel brochure; The New London Telegraph, 9 May 1913, 7; Letter from Durham M. Burt, to Mildred Lehman, Groton, Connecticut, 20 April 1978, in possession of R. A. Voyer.

8. The Day, 6 June 1914, 8; James Gibbs, The City of Groton, Historic & Architectural Resources Survey Report, Town of Groton, Connecticut Phase III-Volume III-1, August 1996, 41, Bill Library, Groton, Connecticut; The New London Telegraph, 26 September 1913, 8.

9. The New London Telegraph, 27 July 1914, 7; Paul F. Brissenden, Earnings of Factory Workers 1899 to 1927. An Analysis of Pay-roll Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Census, Census Monograph X (Washington, D.C.:U.S. Printing Office, 1929), 53; 24 July 1914, 2; New York Times (June 23, 1915): 13; The New London Telegraph, 23 July 1915, 2; 21 July 1915, 2; New York Times (July 25, 1915): Sect III, 4; (September 1, 1916): 11.

10. American Golfer, XIV (September 1915):437-438; United States Golf Association, USGA Yearbook (Far Hills, N.J.: United States Golf Association, 1917), 66.

11. The Day, 16 July 1917, 12; 22 July 1918, 8; 27 July 1918, 8; 5 August 1918, 8.

12. James Delmore interviewed by R.A. Voyer 21 August 2002, 57 Westridge Road, New London, Conn. Mr. Delmore caddied at Shenecossett on and off from 1915, at the age of eight, through the 1930s. His written recollections of the golf course are available for review at the Groton Public Library. Comparison of scores reported by hole before and after WWI, reveals changes by Ross to Shenecossett were completed by 1918, The New London Telegraph, 1 September 1916, 3, and The Day, 5 August 1918, 8; 26 June 1920, 9.

13. Jesse F. Steiner, Americans at Play (New York:Arno Press and New York Times, 1970) Reprint edition by Arno Press, 1970, 61; Paul F. Brissenden, Earnings of Factory Workers 1899 to 1927. An Analysis of Pay-roll Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Census, Census Monograph X (Washington, D.C.:U.S. Printing Office, 1929), 55-56; Jesse F. Steiner, Recent Social Trends in The United States; Report to President’s Research Committee on Social Trends, vol. II, with forward by Herbert Hover (New York:McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1933), 926; Biennial Census of Manufactures (1937), (Washington, D.C.:U.S. Government Printing Office, 1939), 1301; Douglas A. Noverr and Lawrence E. Ziewacz, The Games They Played: Sports in American History, 1865-1980 (Chicago:Nelson-Hall, 1983), 135; Dulles, A History of Recreation; America Learns to Play, 358; New York Times (April 18, 1924): Sect I, pt 2, 4; (July 25, 1926):VIII, 4; Biennial Census of Manufactures (1931), Washington, D.C.:U.S. Government Printing Office, 1935), 1153; Herb Graffis, “1930 Golf Leaves 3-point Legacy to 1931,” Golfdom 5 (January, 1931):9-12; Jesse Steiner, Recent Social Trends in The United States; Report to President’s Research Committee on Social Trends, vol. II (New York:Mcgraw-Hill, 1933), 926; J.D. Travers and J.R. Crowell, The Fifth Estate, Thirty Years of Golf (New York:Alfred A. Knopf, 1926), 247.

14. Office of Clerk, Groton Land Records, Book 61 (1919), 513; New York Times (April 5, 1919):10; The Day 26 June 1920, 9; 20 August 1921, 6; 23 July 1921, 3: 10 August 1925, 8; New York Times (July 31, 1922):9; H.B. Martin, Fifty Years of American Golf (New York:Dodd, Mead and Co., 1936), 316; James Delmore interviewed by R.A. Voyer 21 August 2002, 57 Westridge Road, New London, Conn.; The Day, 6 July 1923, 13.

15. The Day, 20 August 1921, 6; 16 August 1926, 8; Martin, Fifty Years of American Golf, 306, 344; The Day, 27 August 1923, 10; 25 July 1925, 12; 4 August 1920, 4; 28 July 1925, 14; 6 July 1919, 15.

16. Martin, Fifty Years of American Golf, 306; Glenna Collett with James Neville, Ladies in The Rough (New York:Alfred A. Knopf, 1928), 31, 41, 55, 224; Ray W. Rancourt, Shennecossett -The History of A Golf Course (Town of Groton, Connecticut:Department of Parks and Recreation, 1989), 66; The Day, 27 August 1923, 10. In 1921, Marion Hollins won the U.S. Amateur Championship and the Griswold Cup. In the latter tournament, she qualified for the championship flight with a score of 88, one stroke higher than Glenna Collett, who was medalist that year, New York Times (August 21, 1921):7. Hollins won the long drive contest in the latter event that year with a drive of 206 yards and an average of 185 yards for three shots, The Day, 4 August 1921, 9.

17. Biennial Census of Manufactures (1937), 1301; Biennial Census of Manufactures (1933), United States Government Printing Office 1936, Washington, D.C.: 632; J.F. Dewhurst and Associates, America’s Needs And Resources, A Twentieth Century Fund Survey Which Includes Estimates for 1950 and 1960 (New York:The Twentieth Century Fund, 1947), 284; J.F. Dewhurst and Associates, America’s Needs And Resources, A New Survey (New York:The Twentieth Century Fund, 1955), 366; Biennial Census of Manufactures (1937), 1301; Biennial Census of Manufactures (1931), 1153; New York Times (July 30, 1933): VI, 6; Graffis, “1930 Golf Leaves 3-point Legacy to 1931,” 9-12; “U.S. Courses Five-Fold Growth Shown by Years Since 1899,” Golfdom (September 1954):41; James F. Willis and Martin L. Primack, An Economic History of The United States (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:Prentice-Hall, 1989), 360, 361; Dulles, A History of Popular Recreation (New York:Appleton-Century, 1940), 359.

18. Office of Town Clerk, Groton Land Records, Book 90 (1932), 190; Office of Town Clerk, Attachments No. 4 (Town of Groton, Groton, Connecticut, 1933), 527, 531, 537, 541, 545; Office of Town Clerk, Groton Land Records, Book (1933), 585; New York Times (September 29, 1933):42; Office of Town Clerk Groton Land Records, Book 91 (1933), 193; New York Times (January 10, 1934):40; Office of Town Clerk Groton Land Records, Book 63 (1935), 588.

19. The Day, 20 July 1935, 15; 16 July 1935, 10; 13 July 1940, 12; 13 July 1940, 12.

20. Alfred Tennyson, The Passing of Arthur, line 407, in John Bartlett, Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, 16th ed. Justin Kaplan, general editor (Boston:Little, Brown and Company, 1992), 459; Office of Town Clerk, Groton Land Records, Book 104 (1942), 205, 388; The Day, 12 December 1980, 13; Bakowski, “The History of Morton Plant And His Branford House,” 6; James Gibbs, The City of Groton, Historic & Architectural Resources Survey Report, Town of Groton, Connecticut Phase III-Volume III-1, 44.

21. “A Report of The Town of Groton:Planning Commission,” Planning Director’s Office, Town of Groton, 1972, 56; National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form, 1979, Groton Public Library, Groton, Connecticut; Averill, G. Llewellyn and Joseph C. Esposito, Report of The Eastern Point Historic District Study Committee, Eastern Point, April 1990, 5, Bill Library, Groton, Connecticut; Letter from James Gibbs, to Historic District Commission, City of Groton, Groton, Connecticut, 6 March 1977, Special Projects Folder, Groton Town Manager’s Office; The Day, 12 October 1979, 25.

22. Office of Town Clerk, Groton Land Records, Book 113 (1945), 232; New York Times (May 2, 1945):35; Office of Town Clerk, Groton Land Records, Book 167 (1959), 542; The Day, 6 January 1959, 3; Office of Town Clerk, Groton Land Records, Book 239 (1968), 636; Paul Slosberg, 6301D Pelican Creek Crossing, St. Petersburg, FL 33707, interviewed by R. A. Voyer 20, March 2003 by telephone; The Day, 14 August 1997, B7.

23. The Day, 16 July 1960, 4; 18 July 1960, 16; 20 July 1960, 24. Allan Breed was a full time student in 1960, when he won the Connecticut Open. He filed his application after a practice round the day before the tournament only at the suggestion of Paul Slosberg, son of course owner, “2002 Connecticut Hall of fame, Allan Breed,” The Connecticut Golfer (Winter 2002):12.

24. The Day 7 October 1964, 21; 30 March 1942, 6; 1 April 1942, 2.

25. David Sowell, “Leader in the White House,” Golf Journal (November-December, 2002):16; Noverr and Ziewacz, The Games They Played: Sports in American History, 1865-1980, 135, 239, 285; Dulles, A History of Recreation; America Learns to Play, 395; The Day, 23 March 1967, 2; 11 May 1967, 29; Office of The Clerk, Groton Land Records, Book 233 (1967), 76; James Gibbs, The City of Groton, Historic & Architectural Resources Survey Report Town of Groton, Connecticut Phase III-Volume III-1,” 42; The Day, 30 December 1967, 13; The Day, 23 March 1967, 17.

26. James Delmore interviewed by R.A. Voyer 21 August 2002, 57 Westridge Road, New London, Conn; The Day, 6 July 1940, 12; 5 June 1978, 17; Cornish, Silva and Mungean, Inc., Architectural Drawing of Revised Golf Course, 11 June 1996, Special Projects Folder, Town Manager’s Office, Groton, Connecticut.

27. Althea King, 38 N Prospect Street, Groton, Connecticut, telephone interview by R.A. Voyer, December 12, 2002; Memo from Mark R. Oefinger, Town Planner, to Ronald LeBlanc, Town Manager, 13 March 1998, in Special Projects Folder, Town Manager’s Office, Groton, Connecticut; Letter from Lee J. deLisle, Director of Parks And Recreation, to David S. Stygar, Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, 6 May 1997, Special Projects Folder, Town Manager’s Office; The Day, 13 July 1998, Sect C, 1; Bradley Klein, Discovering Donald Ross: The Architect And His Golf Courses (Chelsea, MI:Sleeping Bear Press, 2001), 282.

28. The Day, 23 July 1971, 16; Sara Polinsky Memorial Tournament scrap book created and maintained by Shenecossett Women’s Club, in Shennecossett Pro shop; The Day, 17 June 1987, F4; The Day, 30 September 1988, F6; Letter from Tom Hanke to participants, “Official Program 20th Connecticut Senior Open & Pro-Am, 14-16 July 2002”, 13.

29. The Day, 3 July 1897, 5; 28 August 1897, 5; Geoffrey S. Cornish And Ronald E. Whitten, The Architects of Golf, A Survey of Golf Course Design from Its Beginnings to The Present, with An Encyclopedic Listing of Golf Course Architects And Their Courses, 187-441; Geoff Shackelford, Grounds For Golf, The History and Fundamentals of Golf Course Design (New York, NY:St Martin’s Press, 2003), 291.

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