Hugh Irvine Wilson (November 13, 1879 - February 3, 1925) was a golf course designer. He is most famous for designing Merion Golf Club, consistently ranked among the top golf courses in the USA. Wilson also finished the last four holes at the famous Pine Valley Golf Club.
Wilson, along with A.W. Tillinghast, George C. Thomas, Jr., William Flynn, George Crump, and William Fownes together made up the "Philadelphia School" of golf course architecture. Together, the group designed over 300 courses, 27 of which are on in the top 100 golf courses in the world. [1]
Wilson was born in Trenton, New Jersey to Lt. Col. William Potter Wilson & Ellen Stover Dickson Wilson and was very talented at golf. A Princeton University freshman at 18, he won the first course championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After being chosen to design Merion Golf Club in 1911, he spent seven months in Scotland and England in 1910 developing ideas. [2] He admitted that many concepts built into the Merion design came from this trip, including the 3rd hole on the East course being inspired by North Berwick Golf Club's 15th and 17th holes. [3]
The following courses were designed by Hugh Wilson:
Haverford Township is a home rule municipality township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Haverford is named after the town of Haverfordwest in Wales, United Kingdom. It is a commuting suburb located due west of Philadelphia and is officially known as the Township of Haverford. Despite being under a home rule charter since 1977, it continues to operate under a Board of Commissioners divided into wards, as do "First Class" townships that are still under the Pennsylvania Township Code. Haverford Township was founded in 1682 and incorporated in 1911.
The Seaview is a golf club and resort on the East Coast of the United States, located in Galloway Township, New Jersey, north of nearby Atlantic City. The club hosted the ShopRite LPGA Classic in 1986-87, from 1998-2006 and again starting in 2010. During World War II, it hosted the PGA Championship in 1942, Sam Snead's first major title. The course also cooperates with Rutgers University on testing of new turf breeds and natural control of mosquitoes.
The Philadelphia Main Line, known simply as the Main Line, is an informally delineated historical and social region of suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lying along the former Pennsylvania Railroad's once prestigious Main Line, it runs northwest from Center City Philadelphia parallel to Lancaster Avenue, also known as U.S. Route 30.
The Philadelphia Cricket Club, founded in 1854, is the oldest country club in the United States. It has two locations: Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, and Flourtown, Pennsylvania.
Wilfrid Ewart "Wilfie" Reid was an English professional golfer and golf course designer. Reid was born in Bulwell, Nottingham, England, and died in West Palm Beach, Florida, United States. He posted three top-10 finishes in major championship tournaments.
Merion Golf Club is a private golf club which is located in Haverford Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, a township bordering Philadelphia to the northwest along the historic Main Line. The club has two courses: the East Course, and the West Course. The East Course has been consistently rated in the top 10, #5 in 2015, by Golf Digest in the annual "America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses", and it has hosted five U.S. Opens, most recently in 2013.
George Fazio was an American professional golfer and a golf course architect.
Albert Warren "Tilly" Tillinghast was an American golf course architect. Tillinghast was one of the most prolific architects in the history of golf; he worked on more than 265 different courses. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2015.
George Arthur Crump, Jr. was a hotelier and golf course architect primarily known for designing and building Pine Valley Golf Club, which, at the time of its opening, was considered the most difficult golf course in the world.
The ShopRite LPGA Classic, known in full for sponsorship reasons as The ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer, is a women's professional golf tournament on the LPGA Tour in Galloway, New Jersey, near Atlantic City. It took place annually from 1986 through 2006 and returned to the tour schedule in 2010 at the Bay Course at the Dolce Seaview Resort, with a prize fund of $1.75 million. Purchased in September 2010, the resort is now known as Seaview, A Dolce Hotel.
Merion Cricket Club is a private club which is located in Haverford, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1865.
William Stephen Flynn was a prominent golf course architect during the early part of the 20th century. Flynn is most noted for designing Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on Long Island and Cherry Hills Country Club, Lancaster Country Club, and for his work at the Merion Golf Club.
The 42nd Walker Cup Match was played on September 12 and 13, 2009 at the Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Team United States won 16½ to 9½ for its third consecutive win.
George Clifford Thomas Jr. was an American golf course architect, botanist, and writer. He designed the original course at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club, outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and more than twenty courses in California, including Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades and Red Hill Country Club in Rancho Cucamonga.
Robert "Red" Lawrence was an American golf course architect, largely producing courses in the US states of Arizona and New Mexico.
Louis Sibbett "Dick" Wilson was an American golf course architect, who designed over sixty courses. Several of these still have a high reputation. He was known for his technique of elevating the greens when designing courses in relatively flat terrain, and for using ponds and bunkers to emphasize the aerial approach.
William Clark Fownes Jr. was an American amateur golfer. His father, Henry Fownes, founded and designed Oakmont Country Club.
Perry Duke Maxwell was an American golf course architect. He was a founding member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects and was an inductee into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 2012. He was known as the "father of Oklahoma golf".
Cobbs Creek Golf Course, established in 1916, is a 340-acre public, city-owned golf course in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was one of the first courses in the area to welcome golfers of all races, ethnicities, and genders.