3. Albert grew up an only child
in Germantown,
Pennsylvania.
His father owned a
thriving rubber goods
business
in Philadelphia,
and the family prospered.
Both mother and father
spoiled young Albert.
4. Young Albert (front & center) rides Jumbo the Elephant at the
London Zoo on Family Holiday in the Summer of 1880.
6. In his late teens Albert belonged to a cadre of wealthy, flashy and
heavy drinking playboys. Playing cricket became his passion.
The Philadelphia Cricket Club served as his base of operation.
7. Albert who liked to be called
by his nickname “Tilly” met
a beautiful teenage girl
named Lillian Quigley.
Circumstances necessitated
their marriage in 1894.
To them were born daughters
Marion and Elsie.
8. The summer of 1896 found the
Tillinghast family in
St Andrews, Scotland.
Tilly found a new passion… golf.
9. In St Andrews young Tillinghast met a
man who would shape his
career…Old Tom Morris.
The Tillinghast family would return to
the “Auld Grey” town over the next
few summers, and Tilly would hone
his golf game and take up
golf photography.
He took this photo of Old Tom
standing in the doorway of his shop
in the summer of 1898.
10. Tillinghast became a
top flight amateur.
In 1903 he played on the US
Team in the first international
matches against a team from
England, the Oxford-Cambridge
Golfing Society.
11. In the winter of 1903, Tillinghast witnessed the “birth, of the term
“Birdie.” It was at the Atlantic City Country Club where it was the
habit of a few Philadelphia golfers to spend their winter
weekends. It came to pass on the long 12th, when a screaming
long second shot found the green and Bill or Ab Smith remarked,
“That’s a bird!”
12. Tillinghast’s best year of
competitive golf may have
been 1904.
He won the Silver Cross, the medal
for the 72 hole Philadelphia
Open Championship.
The Philadelphia Inquirer honored
him as player of the year for
winning all his matches in
Philadelphia District
competitions.
13. The year 1904 also brought
his “darkest moment.”
In the U.S. Amateur at
Baltusrol, he lost his match
to Chandler Egan, after
Egan got a lucky bounce
off a tree.
Years later he avenged
the loss when chopped
the tree down to make
way for Baltusrol’s new
courses.
14. In 1907, he captained the first U.S. team to travel outside the
country to play a Canadian team at the Toronto Golf Club.
15. Tillinghast family’s friend
CC Worthington owned the
Buckwood Inn on Shawnee-on-
Delaware.
In 1907 talk began on building a
golf course there, and Worthington
hired Albert Warren Tillinghast to
design and build the new course.
The work commenced in the winter
of 1909, and Tillinghast the golf
architect was on his way to
greatness.
16. On May 27th 1911 the Shawnee Country Club formally opened for
play. In the following year, the club’s president, one A.W.
Tillinghast, ran the first Shawnee Open, which would become the
Eastern Open.
17. Tillinghast refined Shawnee over a number of years. At Shawnee and his
other early courses, he built bunkers and mounds from the ground up.
He called his mounds “alpinization.” The picture shows some under
construction at Shawnee; Tilly is standing on the far right.
18. At the 1913 Shawnee Open, Tillinghast witnessed both Johnny
McDermott’s (pictured far right) winning play and verbal slight at Ted
Ray and Harry Vardon. The golf world publicly criticized McDermott for
his remarks and Tillinghast reported that this criticism drove McDermott
into the insane asylum.
19. As his competitive golf career waned, Tillinghast pursued a career in golf
architecture and writing. He covered golf in Philadelphia for
The American Golfer under the pen name “Hazard,”
and wrote articles for Country Club Life and Golf Illustrated.
In the photo Tilly interviews Howard Perrin (l) and George Crump (r).
20. In January of 1913, George
Crump gives Tillinghast
permission to publish in his
syndicated weekly golf column
the first word of Pine Valley Golf
Club, which
Crump was building.
This photo of George Crump at
Pine Valley was taken by Tilly,
and is displayed in the
clubhouse today.
21. By November of 1913, the first five holes of Pine Valley are opened for play.
Tillinghast, along with George Crump, Howard Perrin, and Richard Mott are
the first to play these holes. This photo donated to Pine Valley by Tilly, shows
him playing the second hole with his wife, Lillian.
22. At Pine Valley George Crump built several of Tillinghast’s
conceptions in their entirety, the long 7th and 13th, which were ever
a source of great satisfaction to Tilly. The “great hazard” on the 7th
would become a trademark on Tillinghast designed Par-5s.
23. By 1916, Tillinghast had
established a practice in
golf architecture.
His course designs
were scattered across the
United States.
They included Aronomink in
Philadelphia, Brackenridge
Park in San Antonio, Davista
in St. Petersburg, and
Shackamaxon and
Somerset Hills in
New Jersey.
24. Tillinghast’s first book, Cobble Valley
Golf Yarns And Other Sketches,
is published in 1915.
This book is a collection of short stories
from a fictitious golf club called
Cobble Valley.
The characters and tales range from
humorous to tragic.
26. Planning a Golf Course, Suggestions by
A.W. Tillinghast is published in 1917.
In this promotional pamphlet Tillinghast
discusses his design philosophies for
Modern Golf Architecture.
Illustrative sketches of holes and features
at various courses he designed including
St. Davids, Galen Hall, Shawnee,
Shackamaxon, and San Antonio.
Around this time he moved his design
practice to New York where there was
more design and construction work. He
was awarded commissions at Essex
County and Mountain Ridge.
27. Over a 30 year career as
a professional golf writer,
Tillinghast wrote hundreds
of feature articles and
opinion pieces.
He wrote on all things
golf...from the history of
the game, to recent and
historic championships for
both men and women,
to topics on golf
architecture and green
maintenance.
28. By 1918, Tillinghast’s design style changed markedly.
He stopped the practice of building “alpinization”
and replicas of famous holes from Great Britain.
Rather he worked to build original new hole types – blending course
features into the terrain to appear natural in every respect.
29. Tiny Tims
Elbows Great Irregular Double Dog Oblique Lines
Hazards Fairways Legs
Immaculate Tillinghast’s design philosophy revolved around the Course
Approaches Beautiful. He wrote, “produce something which will provide
a true test of the game, and then consider every
conceivable way to make it as beautiful as possible.”
He developed his own original design features, which are
commonly found on his courses.
He incorporated natural features into greens, bunkers and
hazards. He blended the slopes and had an aversion for
straight lines and right angles.
Contoured Greens
30. In November 1918, Louis Keller, Baltusrol’s founder, and the
Baltusrol Board hired Tillinghast to design a second course to
complement the existing one which had hosted 5 national
championships. Instead Tilly recommended they plow over the
Old Course to make room for two new “Dual Courses.” In the
photo Keller is third from right.
31. The word on Baltusrol’s plans spreads quickly. In August 1919,
Golf Illustrated declared “they are planning at Baltusrol on a
vaster scale than has ever been attempted in American golf for
the opening of the Dual Courses.”
32. The notoriety Tillinghast gained from
Baltusrol brought him more
design commissions.
Quaker Ridge
San Francisco
Brook Hollow
Winged Foot
Five Farms
Newport
Binghamton
Lakewood
Philadelphia Cricket
Sunnehanna
Ridgewood
and many more.
33. The opening of the Dual Courses
at Baltusrol in 1922 brought
Tillinghast more acclaim.
Golf Illustrated declared him to
be a “Creator of Golf Courses”
and the “Dean of American
Born Golf Architects.”
The magazine runs a full page
copy of a sketch by H. Hymer
depicting Tillinghast at work
in the field.
34. Over the years writing
professionally about
competitive golf, Tillinghast
became convinced that his
style of Modern Golf
Architecture was responsible for
the marked improvement of the
American golfers as compared
to their British peers.
The photo is at the 1923
opening of one of Tillinghast’
sternest tests, the “Man Sized”
36-hole Winged Foot
course. Club President
C.C. Nobles is on the left.
35. After 10 years in the practice, Tillinghast became one of the
top-flight golf architects in the US. His courses were beginning
to garner consideration for national championships.
36. By 1925, he had designed well over 50 courses and been involved
with the redesign of more than twice that number.
37. The 1926 U.S. Amateur on Baltusrol’s Lower Course brought
Tillinghast’s designs to the national spotlight. Tilly was now
spinning himself as the “Creator of Baltusrol.”
38. Additional
national
championships
would come to
the new
Tillinghast’s
courses.
39. Tillinghast proudly promoted
his achievements.
Five championships in five
successive years on his courses.
In 1934, one-fourth of the courses
selected for the US Open qualifying
rounds were designed by Tilly.
40.
41. Tillinghast believed that Byron Nelson would not have reached his potential
greatness without the two years he spent working for Head Professional George
Jacobus honing his game on Ridgewood’s 27-hole course.
The picture shows Byron Nelson at the 1936 Metropolitan Open at Quaker Ridge.
Tilly is in the gallery, where he was often seen at major golf championships.
42. Tillinghast succeeds
A.C. Gregson as the editor of
Golf Illustrated in June of
1933.
He would serve as Editor for
over two years until the
Magazine failed in 1935.
Its last uncirculated issue was
September 1935.
43. In late 1933, the Long Island Park Commission embarked on the largest
golf project every conceived – 4 golf courses at Bethpage State Park.
Tillinghast served as consulting course architect and designed the Black,
Blue, and Red courses and redesigned the Green course.
44. In August of 1935, the PGA of America hired Tillinghast to tour the
country as its official consulting golf course architect. Over the next two
years Tillinghast surveyed and consulted to more than 500 courses across
the United States. He traveled by car accompanied by his wife Lillian
and reported on his work by letter to PGA President George Jacobus on
a daily basis.
45. With the PGA tour winding
down and architecture work
scarce, Tillinghast and his wife
Lillian decided to move west.
They resettled in Beverly Hills,
California and a year or so
later started an antique shop
with their friend Nedda
Harrigan.
46. Tillinghast kept his hand in golf in
California. He went into
partnership with Billy Bell and
wrote a monthly column for the
Pacific Coast Golfer.
After suffering a heart attack in
May 1940, circumstances
necessitated
Tilly and Lillian move again.
They took residence in the
home of their daughter
Marion in Toledo.
47. On May 19, 1942, Albert Warren
Tillinghast passed away.
PGA President George Jacobus
penned a fitting tribute which was
published in the PGA Magazine
the following month.
48.
49. The Tillinghast Association is organized as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization under
the internal revenue code of the United States. The Association is dedicated to
preserving and interpreting the life and writings of A.W. Tillinghast.
Source references for this slide show included The Course Beautiful, Reminiscences of
the Links, Gleanings from the Wayside, and A.W. Tillinghast, Creator of Golf Courses.
Copyright The Tillinghast Association
www.tillinghast.net
