Name/Title
Orinda in the '20s - A Memoir by Bob MurdockScope and Content
In this memoir, addressed to Del Loper, Robert (Bob) Murdock recalls Orinda Country Club and Orinda Village during the 1920s, drawing on his boyhood as a junior member and son of clubhouse architect Hamilton "Tone" Murdock. He details E.I. de Laveaga's development of Orinda, architect Willie Watson's course design (with contributions from Robert Hunter), the clubhouse and village construction, and hole-by-hole lore. Murdock describes period golf fashion and equipment, caddies and club staff, junior golfers' privileges, family trips from Alameda via streetcar, ferry, and the winding roads to Orinda, and the club's fortunes through the 1929 Crash.Context
Murdock family Robert Hamilton "Bob" Murdock (author), Hamilton "Tone" Murdock (father, Orinda clubhouse architect), Bess Valleau Murdock (mother), Charles Percy "Perc" Murdock (uncle, President of Realty Syndicate), Georgie Murdock (younger brother), Helen Murdock (Bob's wife), Dana Murdock (friend, Orinda anecdote).
Oakland real estate and design firms James "Jimmie" L'Hommedieu (surveyor, partner with Perc Murdock in real estate development), Wilson ("another Jimmie," L'Hommedieu's survey-firm partner), Frank Draeger (L'Hommedieu & Wilson office head), Sid Berwick (survey crew chief), Frank M. "Borax" Smith (owner of Realty Syndicate Co., Perc Murdock's employer).
Orinda's founder Edward I. "E.I." de Laveaga.
Golf course architects William "Willie" Watson (Orinda's course architect), Robert Hunter (design collaborator), Robert Muir Graves (later architect, quoted on the 11th hole).
Orinda Country Club staff Ralph Longo (Head Pro), Joe Longo (Assistant Pro), Joe Varni (Caddie Master, later General Manager), Bill Ogden (assistant), Edwin Cooper (first Club Manager), Warren Harrold (Orinda Village's first resident realtor).
Orinda members and golfers Bob Callan (course record holder), Marie Strand (ladies' champion), Mike Hadden, Jimmie Miller, Tommy Telfer, Lloyd Warnecke, Chet Williams, Doctor White, Max McMurray, Ken Lowden (charter member), Chuck Wilson, Bob Carpenter and Eleanor Carpenter, Robert J. "Bob" Foley (Club President, 1966), Jane Lasell and Loren Lasell, Hutchinson (charter member, quarry-company owner).
Junior golfers of Orinda John "Johnny" Hosford, George Eberhardt, Ned de Laveaga, Dick de Laveaga, Dan Moser, Jim Moser, Jim Diedrich / Jimmy Dietrich (spelled two ways in the source, likely one person), Allen/Alan McLenegan/McLonegan (also spelled two ways), Archie Andrews Jr., Glen Kaesbier, John Woods / Johnny Wood, Stan Johnson, Murray Johnson.
Author documenting Orinda's history Muir Sorrick (author of Orinda, 1970, the source Murdock references throughout).Other Names and Numbers
Other Numbers
Number Type
Subject File NumberOther Number
144.3
