H.J. Tweedie was called “The Father of Golf in the West” based partly on designing 13 golf courses in Illinois and a few more in Indiana and Wisconsin. What might we call a man who designed more than 600 courses (some estimates say up to 1,000) across 30 U.S. states and five Canadian provinces, including more than 60 courses in Illinois? That man is Tom Bendelow and he is known as “The Johnny Appleseed of American Golf.”
Between 1895 and 1899, Bendelow laid out numerous courses in New York and New Jersey. In 1899 he was hired to manage the Van Cortlandt Park Golf Course in New York City, where he remodeled an existing 9-hole course and expanded it into the first 18-hole municipal course in the U.S. Success at Van Cortlandt Park established the worth of public golf.
In 1901 Bendelow was hired by the A.G. Spalding Company as the manager of its golf department, a position which brought him to Chicago. For the next 16 years he crisscrossed the U.S. and Canada, laying out courses, providing construction advice, encouraging players’ associations, and promoting the growth of the game.
The details of Bendelow’s work at Park Ridge, as with H.J. Tweedie’s, reside in lost club records. His most notable courses are the Atlanta Athletic Club, Bob Jones’ home course at East Lake Country Club, and all three courses at Medinah. His work at Courses #1 and #3 at Medinah has been mostly lost in subsequent renovations, but Course #2 has been restored as a “true” Bendelow course. Tom Bendelow died in 1936 at age 67. His legacy is perhaps best expressed by a quote from his grandson Stuart: “More people have learned to play golf on a Tom Bendelow designed course than that of any other golf course architect.”
Between 1895 and 1899, Bendelow laid out numerous courses in New York and New Jersey. In 1899 he was hired to manage the Van Cortlandt Park Golf Course in New York City, where he remodeled an existing 9-hole course and expanded it into the first 18-hole municipal course in the U.S. Success at Van Cortlandt Park established the worth of public golf.
In 1901 Bendelow was hired by the A.G. Spalding Company as the manager of its golf department, a position which brought him to Chicago. For the next 16 years he crisscrossed the U.S. and Canada, laying out courses, providing construction advice, encouraging players’ associations, and promoting the growth of the game.
The details of Bendelow’s work at Park Ridge, as with H.J. Tweedie’s, reside in lost club records. His most notable courses are the Atlanta Athletic Club, Bob Jones’ home course at East Lake Country Club, and all three courses at Medinah. His work at Courses #1 and #3 at Medinah has been mostly lost in subsequent renovations, but Course #2 has been restored as a “true” Bendelow course. Tom Bendelow died in 1936 at age 67. His legacy is perhaps best expressed by a quote from his grandson Stuart: “More people have learned to play golf on a Tom Bendelow designed course than that of any other golf course architect.”