News and images from The Stanley Thompson Society Spring/Summer 2016 The Stanley Thompson Society , dedicated to the DORMIE preservation of Stanley Thompson golf courses. Suite 104-106, 89 King St W, Dundas, ON L9H 1V1 Tel: 905 627-1212 Fax: 905 627-1433 Administrator: Heather Fraser e-mail: [email protected] Website: www.stanleythompsonsociety.com A newsletter for members and friends of The Stanley Thompson Society members and friends of The Stanly Executive Director’s report I hope you enjoy this issue of The Society has Dormie. It has some great articles. launched a new line of The feature article commemorates the Stanley Thompson 120th anniversary of the Chedoke Golf Society logo golf Courses in Hamilton, Ontario. John apparel. Members of the Smith and Jamie Harris help us under- Society can purchase stand the history of the courses and the high quality apparel at great influence that Stanley and Nicol prices that are approxi- had over the years. mately 50% below Three years ago, Christine Fraser comparable products at became the first winner of the Thompson major retailers. We are Scholarship. Christine has come a long able to offer these prices Galt Golf Club, home of this year’s tournament way since then. Garry McKay brings us because we don't have a physical store up to date. Please join us in congratulat- and don't carry inventory. All items are ing Garry on Golf Canada’s decision to made to order so our delivery times are increased this year to 26. We are de- appoint him as a member of the Selec- longer than those of ‘for profit’ retailers. lighted to welcome Ashburn Golf Club, tion Committee for the Canadian Golf You will receive your order within four Beaconsfield Golf and Country Club, Hall of Fame. It is another example of weeks. Non members may also pur- Galt Golf and Country Club and the the Canadian golfing community’s chase, but at prices much closer to those Oshawa Golf and Country Club to the appreciation of Garry’s support and offered by major retailers. program this year. You can find the expertise. The initial assortment includes golf complete list on our website. Using your Perhaps the biggest surprise of the hats, shirts, fleeces, jackets and wind Passport is a great way to enhance your off-season came from Stanley himself. shirts for men and women. Many sizes golf season. You should have received He joined Twitter! In just a few months, and colours are available. Since we are your Passports by now. Please enjoy Stanley has attracted almost 600 follow- an online store we do need to charge for them with a friend. ers. We tweeted him to see if he would delivery to recover our costs. The first The Society has also decided to offer contribute a few words to this issue and item is the most expensive to ship, so new members of the Society a discount he has. (pg. 5) Great reading. consider ordering multiple items to max- of 50% on their dues for the first year. I hope you already have the Thomp- imize your savings. Once people join the Society they tend son Classic in your calendar for Septem- The apparel became available to order to remain members for a long time. We ber 15th. It will be held at the Galt late April when the Society launched its are hoping to encourage more people to Country Club in Cambridge Ontario. new website. The new website is on a give membership a try with this promo- We are delighted that Michael Fay has more robust platform and will allow tion. If you know someone who might be agreed to be our guest speaker. Michael much easier credit card payment for interested in membership, please contact co-founded The Donald Ross Society in merchandise, membership dues, tourna- Heather or me for the promotion code 1989 and currently serves as its Presi- ment fees and payment for items won at that will enable them to take advantage dent. He is extremely knowledgeable the silent auction. Overall, the new web- of this offer or you can visit our website. and is a wonderful speaker. Don’t miss site should improve your membership To a great golf season. this great day at a wonderful golf course. experience. Registration information is available in The list of clubs participating in the Grant Forrest this issue of Dormie and on our website. 2016 Thompson Passport Program has The Scottish Legacy-Chedoke Civic Martin Course 1896 to 2014 By John Smith and Jamie Harris and longer term plans. Did the canny Scots retain ownership of the Paradise Rd. property in anticipation of profit later from Author’s note: The City of Hamilton will be celebrating a sale for development? They continued to own the property 120 years of golf being played on what is now the municipally until 1924 when they agreed to sell it to the City for $ 90,000, owned and operated Martin course at Chedoke Golf Club in a 750 % gain in 17 years. 2016. Enter The Thompsons Ironically, and some would say sadly, the city is also inves- One explanation for the previously noted dissatisfaction tigating closing part of the course and turning it into a driving with the golf course could be its compactness and related inju- range. ry risk to players. The Paradise Farm property was bounded to Stanley Thompson Society historians John Smith and Jamie the East by a survey line running from the escarpment to Aber- Harris have written the following story on golf at the Chedoke deen Ave, which dead-ended at Glenside and Hillcrest Ave. S; site and the influences that both Stanley and his brother Nicol to the North by a short distance along Aberdeen Ave. and to had on how the course changed over the years. the NW by the T. H. & B. railway lands. The western bounda- Please note that since this story was written in 2014 the city ry ran along Paradise Rd. from the railway lands to the escarp- has redesigned and combined the third and 13th greens into a ment with the southern boundary formed by the base of the double-green complex and moved the fourth tee so that the escarpment which was approximately parallel to the Brantford hole no longer crosses the fourth fairway. & Hamilton Electric Railway line. It is thought that some time before early 1928, about 27 Virtually all early golf clubs in Canada were started by acres of land situated on the SW side of the course was ac- Scots. Such was the case in Hamilton where a goodly popula- quired in an effort to relieve the congestion. The Canadian tion of them decided as early as 1894 that something was Golfer in their Feb. 1930 edition states. “During 1929, a con- missing from their lives and decided to fill the void. An unin- tract was made with the Trans-Canada Golf Course Construc- corporated club (Hamilton Golf Club) was formed and play tion Co. to do the work, and five new fairways were construct- started on 12 holes laid out on borrowed/rented land near the ed, one along the base of the mountain and four in the new intersection of Barton and Ottawa Streets on Oct. 24, 1894. property.” This must have required some changes to the origi- This course was most likely laid out by some of the founding nal holes. The first non-Scot enters the picture as Stanley members but for reasons of restrictions on play and poor Thompson was at least a part owner of this company. He was maintenance, soon proved to be inadequate. A search for a almost certainly brought in by his Scottish born brother Nicol, new venue must have begun in 1895 because history tells us whose April 30, 1928 layout is shown on page 3. It would that the club moved to a new 9 hole course in the spring of have been unusual if the two brothers did not "refresh" the 1896, laid out on leased property called Paradise Farm, the existing holes as they went along. James Barclay in his book, site of the current Martin course. It is considered most likely Canada's Professional Golfers, notes that Nicol was the pro at that founding members Peter Crerar and J.J. Morrison oversaw Hamilton Golf club in 1903 and again in 1912 when it was the work. A clubhouse was built the following year for the amalgamated with Hamilton Golf and Country Club . He was sum of $1,100. Another Scot, John Sutherland was hired in involved in the search for a new property and stayed with the 1901 as their first green keeper and it was he who gradually club as the pro in Ancaster until 1945. expanded the course to 18 holes by about 1904. It must have been lacking in visual impact initially, because the owner did Card of 1928 layout of the course not allow bunkers to be built until 1903. A scorecard, dated July 9th, 1913, presented in The Hamilton Golf & Country Hole Yds. Par Hole Yds. Par Club, 1894-2004, An Illustrated History, shows a par 71, 5,326 yd. course. 1 275 4 10 455 5 In 1906, the Hamilton Golf and Country Club Limited was 2 350 4 11 335 4 incorporated and after purchasing the property in 1907 for $12,000, leased it back to Hamilton Golf Club until 1912, 3 400 4 12 345 4 when the two clubs amalgamated. The new club had just com- pleted improvements to the course and clubhouse earlier in 4 210 3 13 200 3 1912 when a developer submitted an offer for the property and 5 590 5 14 330 4 the threat of higher taxes increased.