Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-08-26
SUNNYBROOK IS FAMOUS
FOR IT'S PUTTING GREENS
Made Up of Men of Wealth and Social Position There
Are No Frs and Furbelows-C Greens Admit
tedly the Finest in Country
Bv WILLIAM H. EVANS

WHEN we were youngsters, one of
w the popular ways of passing rainy
day was to open a geography and after
, closing our eyes to bring the index
finger somewhere on the map of the
world In this way we visited many
strange countries and places If you were
to take two books. one the Directory of
! Directors and the other the social regis
ter, and open the pages and blindfodcd
were to touch with your finger name
one hundred chances to one 1t would
light on that of a member of the Sunny
brook Golf Club
Most of the 12n members of that club
were and are members of the Cricket
club Country Club. Huntingdon Valley
or some other of the many excellent
courses around Philadelphia. Several
there was room for a frst-class golf
course with restricted membership so
mat II the members wanted to play golf
at any time there would be an absolute
surety that the links would not be
crowded with golfers. particularly on
Saturdays and Sundays The late Sam
/ uel Y. Heebner, who for many years was
treasurer of the United States Golf A.
sociation was one of these. He it was
who built the Whitemarsh Valley Cnun-
try club. And to him was entrusted the
task OF building the Sunnyhrook course
1t lies in a beautiful country two
miles from Chestnut Hill and there are
1873 acres. The country is rolling. but
there are no steep hills TO climb Dom
aid Ross was the course architect, but
the labor of doing the work fell upon
Mr.. Heebner. Just about this time the
late Frederick w. Taylor, the greatest
efficiency expert who ever lived and an
enthusiastic golfer, became interested in
( putting greens. Mr. Taylor believed
/ that it would be possible to build perma-
! nent greens which would require a
! minimum of seeding and watering
! There are other features of the Taylor
greens, but space will not permit of
| even short description of the method
of constructing the greens or the COM
/ ponent parts of the material used.
! Those Famous Taylor Greens
/ There are five of these Taylor greens
at Sunnybrook-the first, second, fifth
| ninth and fourteenth. The other greens
| are modification of the Taylor plan and
the greens are without question the
finest in the country. They are so beau
tiful that it seems almost a shame to
walk on them. 1t is as If you were
walking on velvet or fine Persian rugs
There is no sensation just like it. No
matter whether you are 200 yards or
thirty feet away if your approach hits
the green's it will hold. The Taylor
greens in particular are free of weeds
and the putting surface is of the finest
No one has enjoyed the delights of put.
ting until he has played at Sunnybrook
Some one years ago said the real test
of golf course is the one-shot holes
At Sunnybrook they have four of these
and they are all splendid holes. The
first is either drive or full iron with
n he J,,, II.
ascending to the green. The seventh /.
of the same type. while the third anc
fourteenth are jigger, mashie or mashi,
niblic shots. The finest one of the To-
is the fourteenth, a mashie or mashi'
niblc shot over a quarry to the green
! This hole should be seen to be appre
Cated
While the par of the course is 73. II
is based on the old yardage and before
the l.. s. q A. increased the length oi
the various shot holes. The fifth, eighth
. and ninth. with pars of five. are actu
ally two-shot holes, This would give
, the out journey a par of SO and the
; home journey Of 81.
t No Club Just Like 1t
! Made up as 1t is. of men OF wealth
, who are lowering around or above thu
ffty-year mark. no attempt has beer
d made to make the course difficult. Ther'
ere traps and other hazards. and thu
. Sunnybrook. which is dry at this seasor
r of the year. acts as fine hazard oil
: several holes. but the course is no
!; trapped as stiffly as it might be, simpl!
= because the members prefer 1t as 1t is,
}, 1t is a unique club. There are M
= club tournaments and no competitive
' golf. The clubhouse is a transformed
: farmhouse There anC
furbelows. and while the club nigh
. have one of the finest of clubhouses
!. the members prefer the simple life
r where they can get down to shirt
= sleeves and be free of the convention
y of the larger clubs, of which they arr
!. already members 1t is an altogethe
o different organization.
The course is four years old Michae
Serianni. who helped Mr.. Heebner bull
: the Whitemarsh course. is the greenkeep
n er and he Ia one Of the assets of tn
l-l..