Then there were 18

Haskins worked around the clock, rarely taking days off and in a short time, he oversaw many improvements. He seeded the fairways and greens, built traps and fairway bunkers and established the framework of a championship course. He told club officials he would need professional help to properly design the additional six holes and with interest in golf at its zenith, the club invested $10,000 for improvements. 

Hired to design the expanded course was Scotsman Donald J. Ross, the golf pro in Pinehurst who had retooled the course at East Lake in 1914. The founder of the American Society for Golf Course Architects, he designed 413 courses between 1901 and 1948. Hanging in the current clubhouse are sketches Ross did by hand of the Country Club of Columbus layout. 

Whether Ross personally visited Columbus is not clear… Howard Pitts was always adamant that Ross himself was on hand to assist with the project. In an interview in 1991, he said Ross worked on the lake holes and that Haskins handled the 16th hole. ”They used dynamite to blow out the stumps. when they had to fell trees, it was all done by hand. They used mules to haul out the trees. Mr. Haskins got it done.”

Columbus Ledger sports editor, Bugs Ramsey, had this to say about the redesign in a 1925 article: “To Fred Haskins, club professional, goes most of the praise for the improvements, Fred has carried out the plans of the course expert to the letter. He knows how to get the most out of the men. Shortly, Haskins is to be the proud professional of one of the outstanding courses in the south - and he deserved it.”

Excerpt from book:

Mr. Haskins of Hoylake

by Richard Hyatt