Heritage, 2007, Volume 4 Page: 11
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cupations there during the last 3,000 years. We found many
artifacts including dart and arrow points and pottery indicating
that several different groups of Native Americans had
once lived at the springs.
I knew the San Felipe Springs were an important place
before we started the project, but I didn't know anything
about the history of the country club and the golf course.
Prewitt hired Austin historian Terri Myers as a consultant
to research the history of the springs area, and she discovered
some interesting facts about the golf course. A group
of local businessmen formed the San Felipe Country Club
in 1921, and they hired John Bredemus to design and build
the course. It was the first one in Texas designed by Bredemus,
who was already on his way to becoming a famous golf
course architect. It opened in 1922, and Bredemus co-founded
the Texas Professional Golf Association that same year.
He went on to design a dozen golf courses in Texas and was
inducted into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame in 1991, 45 years
after his death.
The San Felipe Country Club golf course was 75 years
old when Prewitt published the final report on the historical
and archeological investigations in 1997, but it had changed
little since it was first created. Because it was unaltered and
associated with a famous Texas golfer and architect, Myers
recommended that the golf course was a historic landscape
that was "eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic
Places." The Texas Historical Commission agreed with
this recommendation, which means that they acknowledged
the historical significance of this pristine historic golf course.
While no golf courses in Texas have been listed on the National
Register, mainly because the formal nomination process
is rigorous and time consuming, the San Felipe Country
Club certainly meets all of the criteria and could some day
be included.
Bredemus had chosen the location because it was a beautiful
stream valley where a challenging golf course could be created
with little modification, and because of the springs, it was
not a coincidence that the course was laid out on top of a huge
prehistoric archeological site. I could think of several old golf
courses around Texas that were important archeological sites,
and I knew there was probably some meaningful connection.
In 2005, Prewitt and Associates was hired by the Lower
Colorado River Authority to conduct archeological investigations
at several locations where large electrical transmission
towers would be replaced in New Braunfels. We did extensive
work in two locations, one inside Landa Park and the other
nearby on the 13th fairway of the Landa Park Municipal
Golf Course. Constructed in 1938-1939, the historic Landa
Park course was built around the scenic landscape at Comal
Springs, another fresh water spring in a setting similar to that
of the San Felipe Country Club. Once again, I was not surprised
when we uncovered more than six feet of stratified
prehistoric archeological remains in the excavations on the
golf course. However, I was startled when deep coring at this
location revealed archeological remains buried to a depth of
more than 15 feet.It is notable that golf course design philosophy has changed
somewhat since the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While
early golf architects searched for the perfect setting and designed
the course around the natural landscape, modern golf architects
often use large bulldozers and earthmovers to create an entirely
artificial landscape to fit a particular course design. In The Texas
Golf Bible, Jason Stone commented on this design philosophy and
stated: "...modern technology allows imaginative course architects
to realize even their most far-fetched dreams. Hills can be built,
groves of trees can be planted, streams re-routed, and waterfalls
added. State-of-the-art irrigation systems keep fairways and
greens lush, even under the blistering Southwest sun." One result
is that recent courses can feel out of place and appear unnatural.
While this may not bother some golfers, this trend is disturbing to
old-school purists, especially proponents of natural course design
philosophies that advocate blending with the natural landscape.
By this time I was convinced that there was a strong relationship
between old golf courses and archeological sites.
As directed by the LCRA, we planned to create public outreach
signs to be placed at Landa Park and the golf course.
I thought that the relationship between golf courses and archeology
might make a good story for one of the large-format
posters, and this was the perfect opportunity to pursue my
interest in this topic. I knew it was no coincidence, but I
had to find out why all of the oldest golf courses in Texas
were built in locations where there were large and impressive
archeological sites. To search for this connection, I began
researching golf history, but eventually realized that it was
not this particular subject that would lead me to understand
the relationship between archeology and golf. What I needed
was information on the history of golf course architecture,
since I was trying to understand the site and design concepts
that early course architects used. Internet research led me to
the web site of the Tillinghast Association (www.tillinghast.
net), dedicated to A.W. Tillinghast. The mission of the association
is "to share with fellow golfers A.W. Tillinghast's
historical perspective and vision on Golf, the greatest game."
Tilli, as he was called, is widely acknowledged to have been
the foremost golf architect in the early 20th century as the
sport was evolving in America. He designed or renovated
many golf landscapes across the United States between 1909
and 1940, including Texas' first municipal course-Brackenridge
Golf Course in San Antonio in 1916. And, guess what?
There are many important buried archeological sites in and
around Brackenridge Golf Course, with remains spanning
from Paleoindian to Spanish Colonial times.
In 1995, the Tillinghast Association published a book
called: The Course Beautiful: A Collection of Original ArticlesHE RI TAGE Volume 4 2007
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Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, 2007, Volume 4, periodical, 2007; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth45360/m1/11/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.