ISABELLA M. G. DUNN

ISABELLA MAY GOURLAY DUNN born 12th May 1880 at Windmill Cottage, Wimbledon Common, England. Known as 'Queenie' she learned to play golf on the Ladies course at North Berwick laid out by her father Tom Dunn. She attended North Berwick public school before the family moved to 55 Fernlea Road, Streatham, London. In 1897 Queenie worked in Germany as a governess before returning to England the following year. She lived with her parents in the stable block at Hanger Hill House, Ealing where her father had his club and ball making workshop. Also living with the family was William H. Webb a club maker with Tom Dunn who Queenie would later marry.

Willie Webb was known as the 'Professor' as he wrote the book 'Lessons on Golf' and was also well known as the maker of the all-in-one piece Driver and Brassie. Willie was a founder member of the PGA in 1902 and was appointed pro at the nine-hole Frinton-on-Sea golf course in Essex (1901-1914), laid out by Tom Dunn.

During this period Queenie was gaining a reputation as a golf teacher for women and in 1904 she joined Helen Anderson from North Berwick, the first lady professional in Great Britain in giving lessons to the members of Princes' Ladies Golf Club on Mitcham Common. In 1914 Willie Webb sailed for America and was appointed to the Brae Burn Country Club near Boston. Queenie emigrated in September 1915 giving her brother John D. Dunn as her contact in America with his address as c/o Rodman J. Wanamaker, 9 Broadway, New York. On her arrival she landed a job writing a series of golf instruction articles for the New York Herald under the name Mrs Gourlay Dunn-Webb. She managed Wentworth Hall Golf Club in New Hampshire for a time and taught golf to the girls at Wellesley College in Massachusetts during the winter months.

While visiting Aiken Golf Club in South Carolina, Queenie was instrumental in making it the first course in America to feature tees especially for women. In December 1916 she moved to the west coast with her sister Norah Dunn and laid out the course at Reno Golf Club. The following year she designed a nine-hole course at the Tahoe Tavern resort at Lake Tahoe in California, (now called Tahoe City Golf Course) where the caddy programme continues to hire local youths in keeping with Queenie's request. Her brother John D. Dunn designed the near by course at Old Brockway Golf Club in 1926. Queenie served as manager at Reno and Tahoe and her sister Norah Dunn worked as professional at Reno Golf Club.

In 1920 her mother Isabella Dunn at the age of 68 years visited her daughters in Reno where they were joined by her son John Dunn for a family reunion. Queenie worked as Director of Golf at the Linnard Hotel in Pasadena California and retired from professional golf in 1923 when she married her second husband Adolf Hupfel. Isabella May Gourlay Dunn died in California in 1948, aged 68 years.

WILLIE DUNN JNR

WILLIAM DUNN JNR. born 1865 in the Borough of Blackheath in the suburbs of London where his father was the greenkeeper and club maker. That year the family returned to Leith Thistle G.C and were living at 7 Vanburgh Place, Leith Links, Edinburgh. In 1881, Willie Dunn Jnr. moved to North Berwick where his older brother Tom Dunn was appointed Keeper of the Green. It was here that Willie Jnr. apprenticed as a club maker with his brother Tom and Charles Gibson.

Willie Dunn Jnr. was 15 years old when he played his first match against Ben Sayers at North Berwick and won. Although Sayers won the return match it brought Willie Dunn to prominence. In 1881 he partnered Sayers in a money match against the two Fernies at St Andrews. The first day was halved but the second day Dunn and Sayers won the match by five holes. Willie entered the Open Championship for the first time from North Berwick in 1883 and again in 1884, and 1886.

In 1886, Willie Dunn Jnr. was asked by Horace Hutchinson to take charge of the links of the Royal North Devon Golf Club at Westward Ho!. Dunn remained there for a year and laid out the present course. In 1888, he moved to Royal Epping Forrest in Chingford and laid out their 18 hole course. He spent several winters at Biarritz in France where his brother Tom designed the course while still engaged at North Berwick.

Willie Jnr. remained at Biarritz for six years and in 1891 he was persuaded by Duncan Cryden and Edward S. Mead of Dodd, Mead & Co to come to America. James Beveridge was club maker at Shinnecock and knew Willie Dunn when they both lived and worked in North Berwick. Willie laid out a twelve hole course at Shinnecock and a nine-hole ladies course. Four years later a combination of the two courses were used to host the 1896 US Open. Willie Dunn Jnr. was the first unofficial champion of America in 1894 and runner-up in the first official US Open 1895.

By 1896, after flying visits to Biarritz in the winter, Willie Dunn with his wife and son Willie Dunn Jnr settled at the links of Ardsley Country Club in New York. It was here he set up a club manufacturing business and was joined by his nephew John D. Dunn in 1897. Willie opened a retail shop in New York and began experimenting with steel shafted clubs and was the first to use a tee peg. In 1895, he established the first Indoor Golf Centre and he continued this facility when his business moved to 9 East, 42 Street New York in 1898, a few blocks away from John D. Dunn's premises. In 1900, Willie Dunn Jnr laid out a private nine-hole course for John D Rockefeller on his Tarrytown Estate, NY.

When Dunn left the Royal North Devon Golf Club he recommended Charles Gibson from North Berwick as his replacement. Bert Way was Dunn's apprentice at North Devon and when he left Shinnecock Hills, Dunn recommended W.H. 'Bert' Way as his replacement. John Forman the Musselburgh 'caddie' followed Willie Dunn at Ardsley (1898-1901).

Most historians agree that Willie Dunn's influence on the development of the sport in the USA during the early part of the twentieth century was considerable. In the 1920s, Willie Dunn Jnr. moved to San Jose in California where he retired. He died in London at the age of 52 years.

The Remaking of Golf Balls - John D. Dunn (Sept.1900)

First purchase a can of lye, costing fifteen cents. Half a can of lye in a pail of water will take the paint off six dozen balls in about six hours. Ball-makers use a very strong solution of lye, which they put in an apparatus similar to a washing- machine. This brings off the paint in short order and does not injure the gutta-percha. Amateurs should stir the balls up in the lye occasionally.

After the balls have been in the lye about six hours, take them out with a vegetable strainer. Place them in some lukewarm water, and then brush off the old paint with a nail-brush. The balls must now be placed in a pot of water that is almost on the boil. Don't have more or less than half a dozen balls in the pot at one time, and always keep replacing them by others. It is not necessary to let the balls get heated right through.

Take a ball out of the pot with a table-spoon and work out the cuts, if any, with your thumb. Roll the ball around in your palms until it is slightly egg-shaped. Do not keep the ball so long in your hands that the outer surface gets cold, or the gutta-percha will not take the impression of the marking. Should the balls be sticky in the hands a little water or linseed oil may be used as a preventive.

When the ball is in the mould squeeze it up in a press. It is not absolutely necessary to have a regular ball press. A book press or vise will do almost as well, and the expedient brings the cost down considerably. A ball press costs $12 and a mould costs $15. If you can purchase only one mould, size 27 is the one you will find most useful. That size will remake any high-grade ball. Of course if you are going into the work extensively you will purchase four moulds, sizes 26, 26.5, 27, and 27.5.

People in the remaking business have them also in the quarters. This not only makes less waste of gutta-percha, but you can turn out a better ball when you don't have to crowd a large piece of gutta-percha into a small mould. Besides you can remake the balls oftener. I should advise amateurs to purchase a mould with Ocobo marking, as it seems to be the most popular nowadays, For very little additional cost you can have your initials on the mould. This will save you the trouble of marking your ball before playmg in a match, and settles all disputes about ownership.

Allow the ball to remain in the mould about a minute, then put it in a pail of cold water. You can afterwards cut off the " fin" with a sharp knife. On a large scale this is turned off on a machine somewhat like a lathe. The same machine also makes an impression similar to the rest of the marking on the ball. This is not necessary, although it looks better. The next operation is to paint the balls. This is best done by putting some paint in the palms of one's hands. Rubber gloves may be bought for this work, although they are not nearly so good for the work as the bare skin. The paint does not do any harm and it will wash off easily in warm water. The paint should be put on in four very thin coats. Only the second coat should be rubbed into the marking. After painting, the balls they should be stood on a wooden frame to dry. At some of the large factories, when balls are remade, the old balls are run into a lump and then into a rod. In other words, they are put through part of the process of making new balls.