PHILADELPHIA — By the time A.W. Tillinghast finished the Wissahickon Course at Philadelphia Cricket Club in 1922, one of more than 250 courses he either built, rebuilt, or influenced, he was 46, and he’d lived a life worthy of the big screen.
He’d run with a Philadelphia gang. He’d attended Brown University. He’d married a society belle and fathered two daughters. He’d learned the game of golf at the Old Course in St Andrews, at the feet of none other than Old Tom Morris. He’d served as a consultant as George Crump built Pine Valley in South Jersey, generally considered the best course in the world. And not only had Tillinghast begun building U.S. Open venues, he’d played in two of them himself.
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