The Tillinghast Room at Shawnee

Dr. Phil Brown with Doug Smith

Dr. Phil Brown addresses the group

The buffet table at
Friday's Reception

Doug Smith displayed a limited edition of a Tillinghast painting by Paul Dillon

The Golf Collectors set up for the trade fair

Pete Korba presents Tillinghast plaque for the "Tillinghast Room"

Pete and the members at the reception

Stu Wolffe, right, with the Kirkwoods

Audience listening to Dr. Brown

Association members on the course

Dinner Meeting Saturday night

The Wolffe family enjoys the evening affair

The first annual Tillinghast Meeting is now on the books. Held over the weekend of October 26 and 27, great fun was had by all. A kindred spirit filled the air, as old friends made new friends. The event kicked off Friday evening with a reception and dedication of the Tillinghast Room in the former home of Fred Waring, who was a prior owner of the Shawnee Inn and Resort. The dedication remarks were made by Head Golf Professional Pete Korba. Charlie Kirkwood, the current owner of the Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort, funded the renovation and decoration of the room with several photographs of some of Tillinghast's more famous golf holes.

An 18-hole competition was held on Saturday morning with a shotgun start. There were two men's and women competitions—traditional hickory shafted clubs and modern steel shafted clubs. The winners of the each division received a minted medal from the noted engravers Alex Kirkwood & Sons of Endinburgh, Scotland. In the afternoon, a Golf Collectors Society trade fair was held in Charlie's Lounge in the Shawnee Inn — the convenient bar nearby made for a lively trading session.

The evening was capped off with a dinner and presentations by many of the participants. Bob Trebus, President of the Tillinghast Association, reported on the state of the Association and how the membership ranks have grown to over 300. Rick Wolffe presented a historical slide show on the construction of Tillie's first course at Shawnee and Tillie's design principals. Other remarks were made by Dr. Phil Brown, Tillie's grandson, Jon Kirkwood, film producer and son of Charlie Kirkwood, and Butch Berry, author of the soon to be released work of fiction titled Scotsman's Dream, which weaves a tale of a Tillie, Ross and MacKenzie collaboration to design a masterwork.

As the event drew to a close, the talk seemed to center on commitments to meet again next year.