The Walter J. Travis Society

A putting lesson missed>>>A putting lesson rescheduled>>>A breakthrough>>>An ascent>>>An association>>>A golf club>>>The Masters

You can be forgiven if you did not know that Ethan Fang won the 2025 British Amateur at Royal St. George's.  It is understandable if you were unaware that his victory was the 20^th by an American in the 140-year history of the British Amateur. To be a true, card-carrying member of the Walter J. Travis Society, you must be able to recite who won the first as an American in 1904: none other than Walter J. Travis. The Australian-born American was the first of 18 Americans to raise the championship trophy.  He was also the first non-Brit to capture the championship.

Walter Travis’ 1904 British Amateur win, also at Royal St. George’s, came after he had won three of the previous four US Amateur Championship. Travis missed out in 1902, yet he he had a consolation prize: he was the qualifying medalist that year at the Glen View Club in Illinois.

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On his way to Maine for the 2025 Travis Society annual meeting at Cape Arundel, society archivist Steve Kubiak stopped in a Stamford Country Club, a relatively-unknown contribution from Walter Travis. Steve put together some thoughts and images, for the benefit of the society. Enjoy the read. 

On the recent trip to Cape Arundel, I stopped at Stamford CC. I played the course and took pictures and notes. I could see the differences in the Travis holes vs the rest of them. These pictures are in the Archives if anyone wants to see them. I talked to the former head pro Jim Schouller, who gave me some interesting facts about the course. He sent me a copy of the club’s history that was put together by longtime member Jim Meagley.This was a very detailed compilation of Stamford from 1897 until 2025. A copy was made and sent to our Historian.

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The Great Dunes course at Jekyll Island opened in November of 2025, to great acclaim. The task of Brian Ross and Jeff Stein was to combine a Dick Wilson, mid-twentieth century nine with an original Walter Travis nine, and create an 18-hole course with a blend of Travis and Travis-inspired holes.

The Anticipation

(from the Stein Golf Design website)

"We are especially excited for the opportunity to share Travis’ brilliant architectural style with an audience of public golfers.  The newly restored Great Dunes will be one of a rare few municipal golf courses, on the east coast, which will offer ocean views, affordable prices to locals, and engaging architecture for all skill levels.  Our routing restores a genuine test of golden age golf, utilizing 9 original Travis holes while also recreating Travis’ unsurpassed ingenuity on the greens throughout the 18.  The reimagining of the Great Dunes meanders through maritime oak forest, coastal sand dunes, and salt marsh and will be playable year round thanks to major investments in the playing surfaces, irrigation and drainage infrastructure.  We really can’t wait to get started at the end of this year and reveal the extraordinary potential of this property."

To read the entire article, please join the Walter J. Travis Society for 2026.