The Importance of Digitally Archiving Your Club’s Documents and Artifacts
The loss of artifacts in the recent tragedy at Notre-Dame Cathedral Cathedral is a reminder to safeguard your club’s history
On the morning of June 18, 2018, tragedy came to Western Golf and Country Club in Redford Township, Michigan.A kitchen fire was noticed when golf course workers arrived early that fateful day and by 9 a.m., the 92-year old clubhouse was a total loss.
While the membership and management can rally to rebuild their beloved club, the artifacts and historic documents are now lost forever.
"It's a neat club. Very close-knit. It's devastating. We'll replace the building, but it's the memories…" said Club Vice President Andy Arena.
Over the course of publishing 25 golf club history books, I have heard about many tragedies and close calls:
? In 1951 tragedy struck the Scioto Country Club clubhouse when a fire started during the evening of December 16. Twelve members were having dinner at the time, and while they and club staff made it out safely, historical records of the Donald Ross-designed course where Jack Nicklaus learned to play golf, were destroyed. TheNew York Timesreported that “Firemen were handicapped during the fire due to cold weather and frozen hydrants.” Reports from that time cite damages costing up to $150,000. That would be $1,400,000 worth of damage in present day.
? TheWhitney Warren-designed Beaux Arts clubhouse at Newport Country Club in Rhode Islandis one of most classic structures in golf. Visible from every hole, the clubhouseis perched up on a hill and serves as a beacon for golfers as they play the storied course that hosted the first U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open.During its extensiverenovation in 2006, burn marks were found on exposed walls that were caused by faulty electrical. Thankfully, the smoldering never took hold, but imagine the implications of the loss of one of the USGA’s five founding clubs.
? Last April, National Golf Links in Southhampton, New York had a scare when a fire broke outover the outdoor eating area that’s referred to as the “Birdcage” during roof repair. The main gate was too narrow for fire trucks, so 100 fire fighters transported water up a hill to the clubhouse. Luckily, most of the club’s historical documents reside on the other end of the clubhouse and were not damaged by smoke or water, which can be as devastating to art and historical documents as fire.
As the owner of a publishing company specializing in golf club history books, I strongly encourage club managers to use the time during book preparation to properly archive club photos, documents and artifacts. While many clubs have archived their club histories, the majority have not. This pre-publication time is a great opportunity to assess, review and catalog the visual history of your club, as well as purchase the proper archival storage boxes, envelopes and acetates to protect the your club history.
As a result of this pre-publication step, Legendary Publishing & Media Group has developed an expertise in digitally archiving records, artwork and photographs for golf clubs. Whether or not your short- or long-term plan is to publish a book about your club, having your history digitally archived will make sure that those records can be accessed well into the future. Those that have taken advantage of our service include: Eastward Ho!, Scioto Country Club, The Links Club, Wilshire Country Club, Saucon Valley Country Club, and most recently The Everglades Club in Palm Beach.
Here’s how digital archiving works:
? All archiving is done at the club at your convenience— no item is ever removed from the clubhouse
? Proper equipment is brought to the club and a temporary photo studio is set up. Images are captured with a high-resolution camera suspended perpendicularly and proper lighting set for the best quality representation of the item.
? With proper club organization, it is possible to digitize several hundred artifacts a day.
? In addition to records and photos, valuable art collections can be digitized in museum-reproduction quality.
? The digital images are named and filed and returned the you on several duplicated portable hard drives. Retrieval of the images is simple and fast.
The loss of the clubhouse at Redford broke the hearts of its membership. A digital archive stored on a hard drive kept in a fireproof safety box or on the “Cloud” could have restored the artwork and history on the walls of its new clubhouse. Whether preparing for a club history book or not, digitizing your club’s history is a must in today’s digital world.
Larry Hasak is creative director and founder of Legendary Publishing & Media Group. He can be emailed at [email protected].