A.W. Tillinghast, renowned golfer and course architect, was hired
to design the course that would become the Jungle Country Club Golf Course. He
wrote a weekly column for the Philadelphia Record – here’s what he had to say in
1915 about the challenges that were faced during construction.
“The new Florida course is coming along very well and a part
of it should be ready for play by next January. The [18th hole] was
cut entirely through woods and tropical growths as were many of the others and
this statement should convey some idea of the great amount of work which has
been done. Not only did trees have to be taken out from the roots, but every
yard of the fairway was covered with a growth of palmetto, each with a long
root measuring from 3 to 6 feet in length and about 5 inches in diameter. Each
of these had to be removed by grubbing and chopping and for an entire year a
gang of negro workmen has been taking out these palmettos…
Golf construction in these parts is not without thrills, and
already this winter six rattlesnakes have been killed by the men as they first
began to clear new areas. One of the rattlers measured 7 feet… However, as soon
as the ground is cleared the snakes disappear, for they seem quite as reluctant
to encounter humans as are we to run across them.
Moccasins, quite as deadly and far more to be feared, have
been found in places, and several good-sized alligators, too, but as the work
of redeeming the jungle progresses, the former denizens of the locality move
elsewhere.”
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| Palmettos and scrub oak in the depths of the jungle - St. Petersburg, Florida |
