Hugh Wilson

Hugh Wilson or Hugh Irvine Wilson (November 13, 1879 - February 3, 1925) was born in Trenton, New Jersey, and educated at Princeton University. He is most famous for designing the layout at Merion Golf Club, consistently ranked among the top golf courses in the USA.

Wilson was a Merion member and in 1910, when that Haverford club was looking to create a new 18-hole golf course, it turned to Wilson. After being chosen he spent seven months in Scotland and England developing ideas and readily admitted that many concepts built into the Merion design came from this trip,

Bitten by the design bug, Wilson, who would partner in the field with William Flynn, went on to design Cobbs Creek, Seaview, and Phoenixville Country Club's nine-hole course. When fellow course architect George Crump died in 1918, Wilson finished his design of Pine Valley, widely considered to be America's finest course. Wilson is credited with holes 12 through 15 at the famed Clementon, N.J., layout.

With Wilson at the forefront, Philadelphia soon became the cradle of golf design. He, Flynn, Crump, George Thomas (Riviera, Whitemarsh Valley), A. W. Tillinghast (Baltusrol, Bethpage, and Winged Foot), and William Fownes (Oakmont) made up what was known as the Philadelphia School of Architects.

Image(s) courtesy of: The Architects Golf Club.com