THE WALTER J. TRAVIS SOCIETY, INC.

Walter J. Travis Society 2010 Scholarship Information
Click Here for Informational Flyer (PDF)
Click Here for Application (PDF)     Click Here for Application (Word)


Promoting the legacy of Walter J. Travis:  
Golfer, Golf Course Architect, Writer, 
Publisher, and Innovator----



Walter J. Travis:  A golfing pioneer  
of the
20th century---
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Becoming A Member---
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For results of the 2008 Travis Cup
Click Here for a summary.

The 2008 Travis Cup  at Cherry Hill
was won by Stafford County Clu
b
.
The 2009 playing of the Travis Cup will
take place at Stafford Country Clu
b
and represent the 15th playing of the event.

The Travis Society's
m
ission and accomplishments---
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Our Favorite Internet Golf Links---
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The Golf Courses Of Walter J. Travis
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For more information, contact The Walter J. Travis Society at:  
travissociety@yahoo.com
or, 585-663-6120

 

 

 

 

 

Walter J. Travis--a golfing pioneer of the 20th century

Many would argue that the past century deserves the title of The Golden Age of Golf. However, there is no debate that present day golfers, and those involved in the golfing industry, owe a great debt of gratitude to the early pioneers of the game whose efforts and accomplishments accelerated the popularity of the sport.  Prominent among those pioneers is Walter J. Travis.  


"The Old Man" reigns supreme--

During the early decades of the 20th century, the most prominent name in golf was Walter J. Travis, a man who emigrated from Australia and soon became a naturalized United States citizen.  From 1900 to his retirement from competitive golf in 1916, Walter Travis was hailed as the most successful amateur golfer in the United States, despite not taking up the game until he was nearly 35.  Thus, he became affectionately known as "The Old Man".  He was the United States Amateur Champion in 1900, 1901, and 1903, and was Medalist in the 1902, 1906, 1907, and 1908 Amateur Championships.  In 1904, in his crowning achievement as a golfer, Travis became the first American (and first non-Brit) to win the British Amateur Championship.  It would be 22 years before another American would duplicate this feat.

Of particular note to those in Western New York and Southern Ontario, Travis won the Western New York Championship, played at the Country Club of Buffalo (now the Grover Cleveland Park course) in 1909 and 1912.

Still a competitor to be reckoned with at age 53, Travis was ousted in the semi-finals of the 1914 U.S. Amateur at Ekwanok Country Club by 27 year-old Jerome Travers.  However, "The Old Man" gained some measure of revenge in 1915 when he sank a 30-foot putt on the final hole against Travers, to win his fourth Metropolitan Golf Association Championship. 


A man of character, persistence, and imagination---

Walter Travis achieved his success as a golfer through sheer determination, dedication, and hard work.  He was entirely self-taught, drawing upon the writings of Willie Park, and others, to develop his basic technique.  He is credited with being the first to take a scientific approach to practice, as he devised various drills to improve his skills, and meticulously studied the effects of various types of swings and strokes.  He dared to depart from standard practices in other areas, as well.  For example, to compensate for his notoriously short driving, he experimented with extra long shafts on his driver.  He was the first to win a major championship (the 1901 U.S. Amateur) while using the Haskell rubber-cored ball, a feat that doomed the gutta-percha golf ball; a development that influenced the construction of wooden clubs thereafter.  In his British Amateur victory, he chose to use the new Schenectady center shafted putter, a type of club that eventually was banned by the Royal and Ancient.   

Travis made significant contributions to the formulation of the United States Golf Association Rules of Golf, and wrote an authoritative and well-received proposal for a handicapping system.  He is credited with establishing a simplified procedure for indicating hole difficulty on the scorecard. 

In the arena of golf course design, Travis was harsh in his reviews of golf courses in the United States, firmly expressing his opinion that they were inferior to the great courses of the British Isles.  He characterized cross-bunkers, a common design feature in those days, as clear examples of mindless course design, and produced illustrations of strategically placed bunkers along the fairway edges, a design philosophy and practice that is used today.   




The creative side of Travis---

During his golfing career and following his retirement from competitive golf, Travis was highly influential through his writing and golf course design.  In 1901, he published his first book, Practical Golf, followed shortly by The Art of Putting.  In 1908, he founded and published the first issue of the highly regarded magazine, The American Golfer.  He was a prolific and influential golf journalist whose writings appeared regularly in magazines such as Country Life in America, Harpers Weekly, Colliers, Outing, Golf, and Golf Illustrated.  He presented his theories and philosophy of golf technique and strategy, and many of his articles detailed his opinions and ideas regarding the design, construction, and maintenance of golf courses.

His remodeling of Garden City Golf Club established his reputation as an authority in golf course design and construction.  Thereafter, the demand for his services as a golf course architect grew rapidly.  Between his work at Ekwanok Country Club in Vermont (1899) and his final project at the Country Club of Troy (1927), Travis left his distinctive marks on many fine, first-class championship golf courses.  In May, 1999, Golf World magazine listed Travis as number two on its "Top Ten List of Underrated Golf Course Architects".  In its 2001 ranking of America's top 100 "Classic" courses, Golfweek included four Travis golf courses:  Garden City Golf Club (from 1901-06, Travis brought the original Devereux Emmet course into the 20th century), Westchester Country Club (South and West courses, 1919), Ekwanok Country Club (Manchester, VT, with John Duncan Dunn in 1899), and Hollywood Golf Club (Deal, NJ, a 1917 major renovation of the 1913 Isaac Mackie layout).

Walter Travis's golf course design business flourished in Western New York and Southern Ontario.  In all likelihood, he gained a foothold in this region because of prominent and influential family ties.  His wife's sister had married Mr. Albert J. Wright, one of the founders of the Country Club of Buffalo.  When the Country Club of Buffalo sought to upgrade its Main-Bailey course to championship standards in 1910, it called upon Walter Travis.  Shortly after his alterations to the course, it hosted the 1912 U.S. Open.  The CC of Buffalo eventually sold the course to the City of Buffalo in 1926, and it was renamed the Grover Cleveland Park. 

Travis continued to make his mark on the golfing landscape of the region when, in 1916, he designed a new course for The Park Club in the town of Orchard Park.  Thirty years later, that course came under the ownership of the Orchard Park Country Club.  During the years of 1921 and 1922, Travis was busy at work on four other courses in the region:  Cherry Hill Club and Lookout Point Country Club, in southern Ontario; Pennhills Club, in Bradford, Pa.; and Stafford Country Club, Stafford, NY.  Each course provides striking examples of unique Travis signatures:  greens with challenging undulations, ingenious layouts that maximize the available landscape, and dramatically placed greens sites.  

Current records indicate that Travis had his hand in nearly 50 golf course projects, including such notable courses as Pine Valley Golf Club and Pinehurst Country Club #2 course.

For more on the life of this remarkable man, Sleeping Bear Press has published a wonderfully written and thoroughly documented biography, titled The Old Man, and authored by Bob Labbance of Montpelier, Vt.  Contact:  The Walter J. Travis Society, Inc., 24 Sandstone Drive, Rochester, NY 14616, or TravisSociety@yahoo.com for a copy. 

Credits:  this brief biographical account has been prepared by Ed Homsey, Travis Society Archivist, from Travis Society documents, information provided by Bob Labbance, author of The Old Man, and Mr. Albert J. Wright, historian of the Country Club of Buffalo. 

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The Travis Society's mission and accomplishments

The Walter J. Travis Society, Inc. is a non-profit organization that was formed in 1994 to promote an awareness and appreciation of the achievements and contributions of Walter J. Travis, and to foster the continuation of his legacy in golf.  To accomplish this mission, the Travis Society strives towards fulfillment of the following objectives:

Establish a library of documents either authored by Travis, or written about him; including memorabilia associated with his life and career.

Through its ongoing research, the Travis Society continues to add to its collection of articles and periodicals written by Travis, and others. The Society has developed individual files of information pertaining to a number of Travis clubs, including centennial or 75th anniversary books from several of the clubs.    

The Travis Society's initiative, research, and financial support played a major role in producing the Travis biography, "The Old Man", by Bob Labbance.  The book was released in August 2000 by the publisher, Sleeping Bear Press.  In addition to the major bookstores, the book is available through the Travis Society. 

·        Create the Walter J. Travis Memorial scholarship program for aspiring golf course architects.

Steps are underway to establish the Travis Society as a not-for-profit organization for the purpose of accepting tax-free donations to be used in the scholarship program.

·        Promote competition among Travis clubs to develop a sense of camaraderie and kinship associated with the common characteristics, history, and traditions associated with Travis courses. 

In 1994, representatives from Lookout Point Country Club, Orchard Park Country Club, and Stafford Country Club met to discuss a proposal for a competition between the clubs that would include players representing a cross-section of each club's golfers.  These discussions led to the creation of the Travis Cup, with the first event held at Orchard Park Country Club in 1995.

The following clubs are current participants in the Travis Cup:  Cherry Hill Club of Ridgeway, Ontario, Canada; Lookout Point Country Club of Fonthill, Ontario, Canada;  Orchard Park Country Club of Orchard Park, New York; Pennhills Club of Bradford, Pennsylvania; and Stafford Country Club of Stafford, New York.  Each club fields a team of 16 players, from Junior Champions to the Head Professional, including men and women of all skill levels.

In 2001, the Country Club of Scranton became the 6th Member Club of the Travis Society.  Club Membership creates a good opportunity for clubs to promote their members' recognition and appreciation of the heritage of their club, as well as providing support for the Society's mission.  It should be noted that Club Membership in the Travis Society does not require participation in the Travis Cup.

·        Solicit both individual and club memberships in the Society.

Individual Member benefits include a bag tag, copies of Travis articles from the Travis Society's collection, and periodic newsletters that highlight Travis Society activities, and provide information about Walter Travis.  In addition, Individual Members may obtain copies of the Walter Travis Golf Course Directory, the Society's chronology of Travis's life, and purchase "The Old Man" at a discounted price.  Individual Memberships currently represent most regions of the United States and southern Ontario, and include members of Travis clubs and others.  The Society is pleased to count among its Individual Members several noted golf course architects, golf professionals, and golf course superintendents.  

Current Member Clubs are Cherry Hill Club, Country Club of Scranton, Lookout Point Country Club, Orchard Park Country Club, Pennhills Club, Garden City Golf Club, Ekwanok Country Club, Hollywood Golf Club, Garden City Country Club, Onondaga Golf and Country Club, White Beeches Golf and Country Club, Cape Arundel Golf Club, Country Club of Troy, The Gleneagles Golf Course at the Equinox and Stafford Country Club.  Member Clubs receive a Travis Society banner and a special Travis Society wall plaque.

·        Promote an awareness of the Society's mission and activities through local and national media.

In addition to local media, The Walter J. Travis Society has received notice in national periodicals such as The Golf Collectors Society Bulletin, USGA Golf Journal, and Golfweek.

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Becoming a member---

Individual Memberships:

Individuals who are interested in supporting the mission of The Walter J. Travis Society, Inc., may become members upon completion of an application and payment of $25 ($35 Cdn) annual dues.

Individual Members will receive a Travis Society bag tag and copies of interesting and significant articles written by, or about Travis.  In addition, the Travis Society News is published periodically and mailed to Individual Members.  Plans are underway to acquire Travis Society merchandise, e.g. logoed balls, ball markers, divot repair tools, shirts, etc., to be made available to Travis Society members.

Club Memberships:

Club Memberships are available to each golf and country club that is included in the Travis Golf Course Directory.  This directory includes all golf courses where Travis was responsible for the original design, redesign, remodeling, or addition of golf holes, as well as courses where Travis served as consultant to the primary architect.

The initial fee for a 2006 Club Membership is $400.  This fee includes the entrance fee and $100 annual dues.    

The Travis Society welcomes Club Memberships in the spirit of recognizing and celebrating the significant role that Walter J. Travis played in the creation of golf courses that continue to provide unique challenges and enjoyment.  Club Memberships have contributed greatly to the Travis Society's mission to highlight Travis's remarkable contributions.

You may contact the Travis Society at TravisSociety@Yahoo.comClick Here for a downloadable .pdf application.

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Our Favorite Internet Golf Links---

The Seth Raynor Society
www.sethraynorsociety.org

 

The Golf Courses Of Walter J. Travis---

Walter J. Travis Golf Course Projects

2009 revision

Year designed or completed

Name of Course or Club

Co-designer or Associate on Project

Location of Course

KEY:  NLE--no longer exists
FKA--Formerly known as
(o)  Original
(r)  Redesign

 

 

Original/Redesign:

 

 

1899

Ekwanok Country Club

With John Duncan Dunn

Manchester, VT

1904

Mount Pocono Golf and Country Club  (9 holes)

 

Stroudsburg, PA

1911

Grand'Mere (r)   Grand'Mere, Quebec

1911

Youngstown Country Club

 

Youngstown, OH

1915

Halloween Park Golf Course
(9 holes, NLE)

 

Stamford, CT

1916

Garden City Country Club

 

Garden City, NY

1916

Orchard Park Country Club (FKA Park Country Club)

 

Orchard Park, NY

1916

East Potomac Golf Club

With Walter S. Harban

Washington, DC

1916

Canoe Brook Country Club (North course) (r)

 

Summit, NJ

1917

Lochmoor Club

Assisted John S. Sweeney

Grosse Pointe Woods, MI

1918

Onondaga Golf and Country Club

 

Fayetteville, NY

1919

Westchester Country Club (South, West, and Short course)
(FKA Westchester-Biltmore Club)

 

Rye, NY

1919

Cape Arundel Golf Club

 

Kennebunkport, ME

1920

White Beeches Golf and Country Club (FKA Haworth Golf Club) (r) 

 

Haworth, NJ

1921

Lookout Point Country Club

 

Fonthill, Ontario, Canada

1921

Spring Brook Country Club

 

Morristown, NJ

1921

Stafford Country Club

 

Stafford, NY

1921

North Jersey Country Club

 

Wayne, NJ

1922

Longue Vue (NLE)

 

Hastings-on-Hudson, NY

1922

Cherry Hill Club

 

Ridgeway, Ontario, Canada

1922

Pennhills Club (FKA North Penn Club)

 

Bradford, PA

1922

Round Hill Club

 

Greenwich, CT

1922

Yahnundasis Golf Club
(27 hole plan; 18 built)

 

New Hartford, NY

1923

Camden Country Club (FKA Kirkwood Links)

 

Camden, SC

1924

Louisville Country Club (18 holes plan was not built)

 

Louisville, KY

1924

Westchester Hills Golf Club

 

White Plains, NY

1925

Country Club of Scranton

 

Clarks Summit, PA

1925

The Golf club at Equinox (FKE Equinox Golf Links)

 

Manchester, VT

1926

Jekyll Island Golf Club (Great Dunes Course)

 

Jekyll Island, GA

1926

Sea Island Golf Club (Plantation 9)

 

St. Simons Island, GA

1926

Country Club of Troy

 

Troy, NY

 

 

 

 

 

Remodeling/Renovation Projects:

 

 

1902

Flushing Golf Club
(FKA Old Country Club)

With John Duncan Dunn

Flushing, LI, NY

1901-09

Garden City Golf Club (FKA Island Golf Links) Devereux Emmet original designer.

 

Garden City, NY

1908

Poland Spring Golf Club

 

South Poland, ME

1908

Essex County Country Club

 

Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA

1910-11

Grover Cleveland Muni
(FKA Country Club of Buffalo)

 

Buffalo, NY

1915

Columbia Country Club

With Walter S. Harban and Bob White

Chevy Chase, MD

1917

Hollywood Golf Club,
Isaac Mackie original designer.

 

Deal, NJ

1920

Sunningdale Country club

 

Scarsdale, NY

1922

Oak Ridge Golf Club (NLE)

 

Tuckahoe, NY

1924

Augusta Country Club

 

Augusta, GA

1924

Country Club of New Canaan

 

New Canaan, CT

1924

Louisville Country Club (9 holes)

 

Louisville, CT

1924

Milwaukee Country Club (NLE)

 

Milwaukee, WI

1924

Granliden on Sunapee (9 holes)

 

Lake Sunapee, NH

 

 

 

 

 

Consultation Projects:

 

 

1904

Pinehurst Country Club (#2 course)

Consultation with Donald Ross

Pinehurst, NC

1906

Fox Hills Golf Club (NLE)

 

Staten Island, NY

1906

Van Cortland Park Golf club

 

Bronx, NY

1910

Chevy Chase Club

With Donald Ross

Chevy Chase, MD

1910

National Golf Links of American

With C.B. Macdonald, Devereux Emmet, and H.J. Whigham

Southhampton, NY

1910

The Country Club

 

Brookline, MA

1912

Palm Beach Club

 

Palm Beach, FL

1912

Ormond Golf Club

 

Ormand Beach, FL

1915

Cobb's Creek Muni

 

Philadelphia, PA

1916

Chicago Golf Club

 

Chicago, IL

1916

Misquamicut Golf Club

 

Watch Hill, RI

1917

Pine Valley Golf Club

With George Crump

Pine Valley, NJ

1922

Century Country Club

 

Purchase, NY

1922

Sankaty Head Golf Club

 

Nantucket Island

1924

Pasadena Golf Club

 

Pasadena, CA

1924

Philadelphia Golf Club

 

Philadelphia, PA

1924

The Park Country Club

 

Buffalo, NY

1924

Yountakah CC (NLE)

 

Nutley, NJ

1925

Paducah Golf and Country Club

 

Paducah, KY

 

 

2008 Playing of the Travis Cup

Stafford Country Club's put in a stellar performance at the 14th annual Travis Cup held at Orchard Park CC on August 15th, narrowly defeating the home team.  The Orchard Park team produced a solid result, but finished in second place.  Third place went to The Pennhills Club of Bradford, PA, followed by Cherry Hill Club and Lookout Point CC of southern Ontario.
 
Stafford Country Club will host the 15th annual Walter J. Travis Cup in 2009.

 

2007 Playing of the Travis Cup

The 2007 Walter J. Travis Cup was held on August 17th at Pennhills Club in Bradford, PA.  The inter-club competition involved 16 player teams from Orchard Park CC, Cherry Hill Club of Ridgeway, Ontario, Stafford CC, Lookout Point CC of Fonthill, Ontario, and Pennhills Club.  Lookout Point CC enjoyed a resounding win with the largest margin of victory in the 13 years of the Travis Cup.  Second place was Orchard Park CC, closely followed by Pennhills Club, Stafford CC and Cherry Hill Club.  Special guests at this year's Travis Cup were Winkie Roessler, Walter Travis's granddaughter, and Albert W. Wright III and his wife, Jane.  Mr. Wright is the great-grand-nephew of Walter Travis and Historian at the CC of Buffalo.
 
The 2008 Travis Cup will be hosted by Orchard Park CC.

 

2006 Playing of the Travis Cup---

The 12th Annual Walter J. Travis Cup was held at Lookout Point CC, in Fonthill, Ontario, on August 18th.  The event was founded with the purpose of recognizing the common heritage shared by each participating club that consists of having a golf course designed by the legendary Walter J. Travis.
   
The host club, Lookout Point CC defended its turf with a narrow, half-point victory over the team from Cherry Hill Club.  With 19 points, the Lookout Point team consisted of:  Adam Creighton, Steve McInnis, Des Brady, John Skelton, Shannon Briggs, Susie Davis, Bob Marx, Bob Anderson, Chris Malkiewich, Doug Major, Jeanne Glavac, Carolyn Culliton, Nan Geddie, Georgia Major, Zac Henderson, and Head Professional, Gord McInnis.  Cherry Hill Club's team included:  Tom O'Brien, James O'Connor, Bud Heussler, Don Miller, Erin Wylie, Dan Oliverio, Pat Mines, David Neal, David Gellman, Anna Brown, Barbara Slipp, Theresa Brady, Donna Rossitto, Terri Neal, Ted Reynolds, and Head Professional, Jeff Roy. 
   
  In Third Place, with 17.5 points was the Orchard Park CC team of Kirk Barton, Dave Berhard, Jim Dills, Ron Helenbrook, Donna Parker, Patty Knab Brown, Tom Grys, Dale Schaefer, Eric Paulson, Bill Burns, Pat Wasp, Sheila Drometer, Mary Pat Schrek, Ann Battaglia, Clay Sauberan, and Head Professional, Randy Shaw.
   
  Taking fourth place with 17 points was the Pennhills Club (Bradford, PA) team with the following players:  Terry Reilly, Steve Kubiak, Art Cox, Fred Smith, Marcia Bower, Jay Pecora, Phil Pecora, Dan Brinsky, Pat Vigliotta, Kathy Taylor, Kim Borkowski, Jan Brown, Patsy Arrowsmith, Dan Gonzalez, and Bob Mellon, Head Professional.
   
  In fifth place, with 13 points, was the Stafford Country Club team of Stephen Goodridge, Chris White, Jim Cook, Sr, Andy Solomon, Kayla Berheim, Shirley Homsey, Mohammed Charlie, Harry Sentiff, Leslie Harrower, Pat Garnish, Lois McIntosh, Lynn Muscarella, Michael Spiotta, and Eric Haile, Head Professional.
   
  Each team in the Travis Cup was made up of the club's reigning Men's and Women's Champions, the Men's runnerup, Men's and Women's Senior Champions, Men's Super-Senior Champion, Junior Champion, Men's and Women's players in A, B, C, & D handicap flights, and the club's Head Professional.
   
  Special guests at this year's Travis Cup included Elise Anne Roesller, of Barton, Vermont, the granddaughter of Walter Travis, and CC of Buffalo member, Albert J. Wright III, the great-grand-nephew of Travis.