{"id":1140,"date":"2018-02-10T08:27:32","date_gmt":"2018-02-10T14:27:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mhccturf.com\/?p=1140"},"modified":"2018-02-12T08:20:08","modified_gmt":"2018-02-12T14:20:08","slug":"looking-back-to-see-forward-midland-hills-master-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mhccturf.com\/?p=1140","title":{"rendered":"Looking Back to See Forward – Midland Hills’ Master Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Midland Hills Country Club <\/strong><\/h1>\n

Master Plan Process<\/strong><\/h1>\n

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Seth Raynor, Architect of Midland Hills \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\n\u00a0Midland Hills\u2019 Clubhouse, 1921<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The Past<\/strong><\/h1>\n

\u201cRemember that our club is still in the making and that we want to make it such a club that because of the physical exercise in the open, because of the good friendship and good sportsmanship, you are a better companion, more efficient in your daily life and a greater source of happiness in the family circle.\u201d
\n1920 Annual Meeting Notice<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The year was 1919. The Twenties were about to roar, and golf was exploding in popularity, when a group of University of Minnesota professors and local business leaders met to develop plans for a new 18-hole golf course on farmland adjacent to the University of Minnesota\u2019s St. Paul campus. At that time, the 110-acre Walsh farm and an adjacent 40-acre tract were available for lease, and the club members executed a 20-year lease on these properties to build their golf course.
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\nOriginal MHCC Layout\u00a0<\/strong>(clubhouse in rectangle, off Eustis Street; range at arrow)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\nSeth Raynor<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The newly formed club hired Seth Raynor, a prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of the great Charles Blair Macdonald, who was the father of American golf-course architecture and the winner of the first U.S. Amateur, in 1895.<\/p>\n

Macdonald, a wealthy Chicagoan, had attended the University of St. Andrews, in Scotland. While there, he fell in love with golf \u2013 and, under the tutelage of Old Tom Morris, set out to study the great courses of the United Kingdom. When he returned to America, there was nowhere to play! So he took it upon himself to become the first American golf-course architect.<\/p>\n

His masterwork \u2014 his \u201cideal course\u201d \u2014 was the National Golf Links of America, on Long Island, New York. Each of its holes was modeled after one of the European holes Macdonald considered best. These were the so-called \u201ctemplate\u201d holes that would appear in course after course throughout Macdonald\u2019s career.<\/p>\n

Macdonald hired Seth Raynor, a local construction engineer, to build the National Golf Links of America \u2014 and Raynor learned his lessons well. He went on to co-design many courses with Macdonald, until he was ready to go out on his own.<\/p>\n

Raynor\u2019s designs, like Macdonald\u2019s, featured the \u201ctemplates\u201d from the National \u2013 not copies, but renditions using the same design strategies superimposed on a variety of landscapes and natural surroundings. For instance:<\/p>\n