Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-08-21
SEAVIEW HAS THE MOST PALATIAL
CLUB IN THE WORLD AND BESIDES
EXCELLENT 18-HOLE COURSE
Wonderful Saltwater Pool One of the Attractive
Features-Hugh Wilson Laid Out Course
and Ross Did the Trapping
BY PETER PUTTER

"
i golf course in this country. but there is
no difference of opinion as to which golf
club has the finest clubhouse In the
United States Metropolitan golfers Will
tell you that there is not course
In the country TO be compared with the
National Golf Links of America. at South
ampton, l.. l., hut the experts are beginning
to realize that in Pine Valley, in spite of
only fourteen holes in play, we have the
most up-to-date bit of golf construction io
the country
But when II comes to cubhouses no one
will question you when you state that the
Seaview Golf Club, near Absecon is far
and away superior to anything of its kind
in this or any other country. All the others
fade into insignifcance In comparison. Few
hotels are finer and it contains everything
that the best hotels in the country give
their patrons, and in some things great
deal more.
And the course Is rapidly becoming
splendid test of golf. Two years ago the
best OF American golf-course constructors,
Donald Ross. ran down to Seaview for
week, and when he left string Of small
posts dotted the course These marked the
traps Those who have not played the
Seaview course in two years would scarcely
recognize It, Ross has done splendid
bit of bunkering. and you must get your
shots right If you expect to get results
Plenty of Trouble for Wild Player
From the tee to the green there is trouble
for the sliced and pulled ball. but for
the chap who goes straight all Is serene.
1t Is as fine a bit of trapping and bun
kering as you will find on any course. Sea-
view has always been noted for its won
derful greens and they are better than
even, If such a thing were possible A few
of them were well filled with clover, but
these have been dug out and new turf is
now almost ready for play.
Five or six years ago Clarence H. Geist
then president of the Whitemarsh Valley
Country Club. decided that there was no
earthly reason why Philadclphans and
other golfers should go South in the winter
to get their golf. He felt that there were
scores of men Of big affairs who could not
give the time to SO South for weeks but
who could run down to the shore and play
over the weekend or for n day or so
during the week and still Keep in touch
with their affairs. There is a difference of
ten or more degrees between the tempera- :
ture of the Atlantic coast and Philadel-
phia AMI he has demonstrated that IL is
possible to have golf the year round at
Seaview.
Mr.. Geist has spent more than a half
million dollars on the course and clubhouse
and his membership would read like a
Who's Who of the big men in this country,
Steel magnates. distinguished lawyers. the
biggest bankers in the country and scores of
prominent men In the professional and busi-
| ness walks OF life are members, and IL
the wealth of some of the men who are nov,
members We're counted up 1t would run into
hundreds Of millions Ii Is to be doubted IL
any other club in the country has more
| wealthy or more influential men than Sea
view.
A Clubhouse Par Excellence
The clubhouse is conducted like n big
motel. Tho bedrooms are furnished as no
| hotel would attempt 1t. and there is eyerv-
| thing in the clubhouse that any hotel euest
| would ask for; and, in addition there is the
| eighteen-hole course at the frort door. one
OF the principal attractions is the SWIM
| ming pool, twenty feet wide and sixty long
| filled with salt water tempered enough 10
| take off any shock. And hardly n golfer
| who plays at Seaview fails to take n n,ungs
| In the big tiled pool after his round Baths
| OF all sorts are there. too and one of the
features Is drying room. In case golfers
| are caught In storm II is possible for them
| to have dry clothes ready In very short
| order.
Tho course will appeal to hundreds who
are tired of the long climbs over hills. The
| course Is not fiat, but gently undulating. and
| is 30 well bunkered that 1t demands first
| class golf at all times. And some of the
nneSt BOlI courses IN Great Britain and
| around Chicago are just as fiat.
The soil is a sandy loan and IL is possi-
| BILE to play thirty-six holes without tirine
| The turf is excellent throughout, and the
greens are a delight. no two being alike
| in contour. There are pits that remind
you of the huge traps between the seventh
and eighth holes at Whitemarsh but every
| one can be played out with a single stroke
| provided the shot Is well executed, Every
| club In the bag is demanded and the one.
shot holes which determine the worth OF
any course are excellent. The seventh As
| q Noon or cleek or mid iron, ACCORDING N
the wind and the drive is a mashie or
mashie niblick. .' -
Hugh Wilson Laid Out Course
Hugh I. Wilson, who also laid out the
| two Merton courses, Is responsible for the
| Seaview course. There Is not a Door hole
| on the course. and while there are .paraI.
| lei holes the bunkering Is such that the pley
ers on one hole do not interfere with those
coming from different direction. The
seventeenth 10 dog-leg. ana many OF tn
players plays4 y ~ driving down a.
t|I t IA. Il I.I.' ~ 81 M