Tom Bendelow

Tom Bendelow (1868–1936), nicknamed "The Johnny Appleseed of American Golf" and "The Dean of American Golf", was a Scottish American golf course architect during the first half of the twentieth century. He is credited with having designed some 600 courses in a 35-year span. Six of his designs have received historic designation by the National Park Service for their significance.

Early years Born 2 September 1868, in Aberdeen, Scotland, Bendelow was one of nine children. His parents owned a pie shop in the city, and were known for their religious piety. His father taught him the game of golf as a child; however he was trained as a typesetter. There were no careers in golf course design in that era. He courted Mary Ann Nicol, daughter of a prominent farmer. They were married in 1892 at Belhelvie and had a daughter in December 1892. Bendelow immigrated to the United States in the same year. He was 24 years old. His family followed him to America in 1893 His first job was at the New York Herald. This is when Bendelow's career began to take off in earnest. Prior to this, he had been teaching golf in his spare time—most notably to the Pratt family of Standard Oil fame, who also commissioned him to build them a private six-hole course at their Long Island estate but Spalding hired him to exclusively promote the game in the New York and New Jersey areas.

The New York City Park District hired Bendelow in 1899 to redesign and manage the Van Cortlandt Golf Course, the country's first 18-hole municipal golf course. This opportunity gave Bendelow the chance to introduce various innovations to American golfers. These included the use of reserve play (tee) times, course marshals, public player associations, public golf instruction, and training for caddies. While he believed golf should be a sport that the public could play at little to no cost, he nevertheless secured many commissions from private clubs and wealthy individuals. The course opened to great acclaim on 13 May 1899 in an 18-hole match against Westchester Country Club; the captain of the Apawamis Golf Club team was Herbert A. Sherman. In 1900, Bendelow's friend Harry Vardon would proclaim the Apawamis course to be one of the 3 best in the country including Newport and Atlantic City. This appears to have been a watershed moment as the volume of his commissions increased with an estimate of 150 plans drawn as of 1899.

1900 saw Bendelow accompany Vardon on a landmark exhibition tour throughout America.

Golf course promoter and increasing prominence as golf course architect (1901- 1925) In 1901, Bendelow moved to Chicago to be Spalding's Director of Golf Course Development. This era was notable for the expansion of golf facilities in North America, with millions of new players, and Bendelow was well placed to encourage and assist this. For the next 16 years, he criss-crossed the US and Canada, laying out courses, providing construction advice, encouraging players' associations, and promoting the growth of the game.

Another "of Tom Bendelow's early designs was executed in 1904 during this spurt of growth at the Atlanta Athletic Club's 18-hole course at East Lake Golf Club; this was the place where the great Bobby Jones learned the game," wrote Colin Farquharson in a 2006 profile of Bendelow. "'It was extraordinary in that it gave a golfer the opportunity to use every wood and iron in his bag, 'said Jones.'" Not long after though, he accepted the position of Golf Department Manager with a competitor, the Thos. E. Wilson sporting goods company.

In 1920, Bendelow joined Myron West's "American Park Builders Company" in Chicago, as Chief Golf Course Designer, and focused on designing comprehensive city plans, subdivisions, country clubs, golf courses, and golf course communities.

Medinah Country Club Between 1925 and 1928, Bendelow designed three courses for the founders of the Medinah Country Club with his work on Course No. 3 becoming famous world-wide. A redesign of No. 3 in the 1930s by Bendelow presaged greater things to come. Medinah No. 3 has served as the host site to several major championships, including the US Open in 1949, 1975, and 1990, as well as the PGA Championship in 1999 and 2006. The 2012 Ryder Cup was played on the course, which is widely considered not merely one of the best courses in Illinois, but one of the finest golf courses in the United States. However, the No. 3 course has been extensively redesigned since Bendelow's time, a common occurrence for courses from that era which are still used for modern championship play.

Design philosophy Bendelow's approach to course design was that of a "naturalist's approach," in that he strove to use the natural features of the chosen site to maximum advantage. His courses have often been called "Olmstedian", in that his method of naturalist design was greatly influenced by the work of prominent landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. and Jr. "If a site had an especially unique feature –- rock outcrop, stream, grove of trees, scenic view -– he would work his hole placements in such a way as to take full advantage of the features even if that meant working his layout from the middle out," according to the American Society of Golf Course Architects. "Bendelow's designs changed as the game of golf changed. When given good sites and adequate resources with which to work, he could produce a very challenging lay out, equal to the best work of the day. His personal goal however, was to build good, solid, enjoyable golf courses." Much of his work was sarcastically described as "18 Stakes on a Sunday Afternoon". While this approach to design was not uncommon in Bendelow's field (architects would initially simply drive stakes into the ground to designate tee, fairway, and green locations, usually completing the work in a single day), the term would end up attached to Bendelow as a snide reference.

Publication of the book The Golf Course, by Geoffrey Cornish and Ronald Whitten, helped to change this diminishing perception. The book substantiated the breadth of Bendelow's portfolio of work and placed him alongside other golf architects of renown. Bendelow's induction into the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame in 2005 further solidified his claim to a legacy; his elevation was reportedly the result of years of efforts by his grandson to restore Bendelow's name to the annals of American golfing history.

Bendelow's design for Quogue helped the Quogue Historic District attain NRP recognition in 2016.

Bendelow also designed park systems—and even cemeteries—throughout the United States and Canada.

Courses designed

At the start of his career, Bendelow designed and oversaw installation of courses with as few as 6 holes to 9, a full 18, also expanding 9 hole courses to 18. Among his private clients were the H. M. Pratt family in Glen Cove, NY in 1894 and a Miss Phelps in Blue Ridge, PA.

The following is a partial list of courses designed by Tom Bendelow:

OD denotes courses for which Bendelow is the original designer R denotes courses reconstructed by Bendelow A denotes courses for which Bendelow made substantial additions E denotes courses that Bendelow examined and on the construction of which he consulted

Name Contribution Year built City / Town State / Province Country Comments Point Loma OD 1913 San Diego California United States currently named The Loma Club Manchester CC OD 1917 Manchester Connecticut United States with Devereux Emmet Dubsdread OD 1924 Orlando Florida United States Palma Ceia G&CC OD 1915 Tampa Florida United States Temple Terrace G&CC OD 1921 Temple Terrace Florida United States Glen Oak CC OD 1911 Glen Ellyn Illinois United States Medinah CC OD 1925 Medinah Illinois United States The CC of Indianapolis OD 1911 Indianapolis Indiana United States Mission Hills CC OD 1915 Mission Hills Kansas United States Audubon CC OD 1908 Louisville Kentucky United States Lexington CC OD 1912 Lexington Kentucky United States City Park GC OD 1926 Baton Rouge Louisiana United States Birmingham CC OD 1916 Birmingham Michigan United States site of the 1953 PGA Championship Grand Hotel Grand Nine GC OD 1901 Mackinac Island Michigan United States Kalamzoo CCOD1909KalamazooMichiganUnited States Gull Lake CC OD 1910 Richland Michigan United States Higman Park Golf Links OD 1903 Benton Harbor Michigan United States Huron Hills GC OD 1921 Ann Arbor Michigan United States Mullett Lake CC OD 1914 Mullett Lake Michigan United States Muskegon CC OD 1909 Muskegon Michigan United States Saginaw CC OD 1898 Saginaw Michigan United States Algonquin GC OD 1904 Glendale Missouri United States one of the St. Louis, Missouri area's oldest private country clubs Beacon-by-the-Sea Golf Link OD 1895 Point Pleasant New Jersey United States East Orange GC OD 1923 East Orange New Jersey United States GC of Lakewood OD 1898 Lakewood New Jersey United States Llewellyn Park GC OD 1895 West Orange New Jersey United States private course for Richard E. Colgate Morris County CC OD 1897 Morristown New Jersey United States Morris County GC OD 1894 Morris Township New Jersey United States Somerset Inn GC OD 1897 Bernardsville New Jersey United States Century CC OD 1898 The Bronx New York United States Non-extant course Charles M. Pratt Private Course OD 1896 Glen Cove New York United States Eagle's Nest OD 1900 Raquette Lake New York United States with Willie Dunn Fox Hills GC OD 1899 Staten Island New York United States Quogue Field Club OD 1900 Quogue New York United States The Apawamis Club OD 1899 Rye New York United States Van Cortlandt GC OD 1899 The Bronx New York United States Lake Junaluska GC OD 1919 Waynesville North Carolina United States Findlay CC OD 1908 Findlay Ohio United States Losantiville CC OD 1902 Cincinnati Ohio United States Shawnee CC OD 1904 Lima Ohio United States Wyoming GC OD 1897 Cincinnati Ohio United States Ellwood City CC OD 1917 Ellwood City Pennsylvania United States presently Connoquenessing CC Dallas CC OD 1908 Highland Park Texas United States Fort Worth GC (River Crest) OD 1911 Fort Worth Texas United States Tripoli CC OD 1921 Milwaukee Wisconsin United States