Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-01-20
FRANKF' GOLFERS
TO SELL LINKS AND
Join TORRESDALE
Famous Old Club Votes to
Abandon Present Site and
Make Modern Merger
BOTH CLUBS BENEFIT
BY PROPOSED CHANGE
BY SANDY McNIBLICK

men. There isn't any more.
! The speaker shufficd some papers in
| front Of him without looking at his
! audience. From somewhere in the
dimly- lit room came n heavy sigh.
IL suppose haltingly continued the
vote"
They did and the proposal carried,
51-3S. Another vote made 1t S5-4.
After the ceremony at a military
| funeral the band marches away from
there at a lively gait, playing the widest
! ragtime in the book.
/ In the snme way at that meeting in
Frankford the other night after the
returns were in hilarity shattered the
gloom like q barrel of dishes falling
down n well. The old was dead, long
! live the new.
The Frankford Country Club had
voted to abandon its whole golf lay
out, historic clubhouse, ma shie- SCARED
fairway and all, to go over in a body
and accept the proposition of the Tor
resdale Golf Club to form n merger.
VIII vscate
! Frankford will sell out. Its member
ship and financial assets will be taken
up by Torresdale. The latter club has
informally agreed to the proposal. On
.
vote on the subject, but it is expected
to carry and the move is as good as
made. To many this simply will look
like a good business move on the part
Of both clubs.
But to the veterans Of Frankford
this parting with the old golf home
stead is no more painful than parting
with both legs and an arm.
Frankford Is one Of the oldest clubs
in this district. Many, many years ago
1t was the old cricket club Of that dis
trict. Men now white and scared with
the passing years recall the untroubled
days back there when cricket bat re-
sounded on the ball before the wickets
and no cloud Of golf was on the horizon.
One day some one who'd learned went
to corner Of the cricket table and
began to practice golf shots. He was
all enthusiasm. Others picked II up.
4 couple Of crude holes we're laid out
which encroRched on the cricket field.
More golfers, fever cricketcrs. Came
the showdown.
I'VE want the surplus money for our
cricket crease" said some.
And we want a golf course. shouted
the majority. So ruled.
The cricketers went and the setting
for the Frankford Country Club was
moved to its present location, Oxford
pike and Devereaux street. Nine holes
were laid out, and this abbreviated
course has been maintained ever since.
Old fashioned to q degree up till lately
when shome changes have been made,
the course was still one Of the hardest
tests in town. Those men of Frankford
loved its every blade of grass.
Many Stars
It has turned out some OF the best
players in town. Glenn Webster was
one of its stars and Frank Dyer was
member at the same time. Eddie
O'Hanlon, Morric Jones and other
promising players are still members.
The famous ''septuagenarians team"
originated there.
4 tiny, old fashioned farmhouse has
been the clubs quarters all these years
with it's rickety, narrow stairs, stuffy
attic locker rooms, primitive showers
and painfully inadequate narrowness
But to the veterans it was home.
Marble palaces meant nothing. That
little white structure was theirs and
they were for it. Those verdGnt, out
Of date fairways were theirs, too. and
they were for 'em.
But modern progress knows no bar
r!er. 4 city street is going to be run
through the heart Of their golf nook
out there. Factories and buildings are
encroaching. Sentiment couldn't hold
out any longer. That ground is val =
liable and they have had TO yield to
the pressure. For time they held
on desperately. The membership had
dwindled to eighty five and each bought
a S40O bond. They grimly figured on
new clubhouse and a modern course.
They bought the land.
The Climax
Then came Torresdale's proposition
For three months now the battle has
ranged at Frankford. To stick to the
plans meant sixty more members and
800 dues besides tho bonds. INA,
street was going to ruin the course.
Torresdale had everything-one Of tho
best golf courses and one Of the best
locker houses In the country.
Torn and twisted between sentiment
and cold facts, these real lovers Of the
game of golf. as much as OF their an
cient links layout. finally gave In.
Now that it's done they are enthu-
sinstlc oyer the new move. With the
money they make on the sale OF their
course and fixtures, Frankford will
take enough money 70 TorresdaIe t.
: put that club entirely clear of my
I debts, and there will be enough besides
for one of the finest clubhouses in the
= city, Torresdale's next project.
Z Torresdale also will be brought {
q solid block Of 100 new members. and
viii be in about the best shape Of any
club here0bouts. 1t had already
=, wconrd away many Frankford mem
Lcrs by the lure Of its modern eight.
aen-hole course, and FrHnkford is ga
at the thought OF the reunion.
/ Torres'lNlc must formally vote on thu
proposition, the courts must agree Z
the merger and then the deed will have
, been done.
Torresda,e IS about five miles from
the present Frankford site, and draw
at least 90 per cent Of its membership
o now froIa that section.
It is located at the eventual end
Of the boulevard, on the northeast arm
IT which will extend to the club.