Four Bunker Lips that Won’t Erode

This is the answer to the question Henry E asked a few times in recent comments on the blog. I wanted to answer this one with a full blog since the answer is not short. In the Banff blog I mentioned that the soil is too light and too stony to have an exposed soil lip. This is a problem at a lot of courses, yet common practice is to have a soil edge to create a clean sharp line. The problem of course is that the soil lips break down and contaminate the sand and the erosion is the main cause of lost bunker lines. That’s why I try to almost always encourage clubs to go with a living grass lip.















There are four techniques to accomplish this. The first method comes right from the origins of golf – the revetted face. You don’t have to use this technique up the entire face. You can create your bunker with typical flowing lines or steep slopes leading in and still create a small shelf right where the sand meets the soil. In that location you add three to four rolls of sod stacked on top of each other and then pull the soil over the top till it has a low 6” revetted edge. You now have a living 6” lip on your bunker.

















Method number two, used at St. George’s in the bunker restoration was to shape the bunker with all the faces and noses, then hand trim out a flat ledge where the sand meets the turf. On the ledge we placed a topsoil filled burlap bag. This created a bunker edge that rounded down into a vertical lip. The bunker lip now has far more organic than the rest of the soil which helps with water retention and establishes must deeper rooting. The shape of the bag created a natural round shape and a vertical interface with the bunker. The sod was simply stapled into the bag to ensure the form stayed together. The burlap bag roots and disappears in only a few months.

















The next method is to hand shape the entire edge – this was done at Weston when I did the bunker renovation. This is accomplished if the natural soil is tight enough to hold together. If not a clay topsoil is used to provide a stable enough material to build a bunker lip. The bunker is shaped by mini-excavator and then the bunker face is topsoiled and machine packed. The bunker lines are then cut out by hand – by me – and the excess topsoil is removed. The bunker edges are hand shaved until they are round enough to be sod. The grass is pinned over the soil and into the bunker to ensure stability and avoid erosion. The sod is trimmed out after rooting leaving a vertical sod lip.

















The next method is called undercutting. This is done to an existing bunker and involves hand cutting the sod on the face and pulling it back and up the slope. With a shovel you remove around 6” of the soil from behind the bunker lip – usually into a bucket or gator depending how easily you can access the bunker face – until you have a pocket behind the original edge. You then fold the sod back down in tamping it into the face leaving a vertical face of living sod. This sod has an established root system and needs little time to firm up and because of the established grass mixture is usually resilient to droughty periods.

Henry – you have your answer – but I also feel like I shared some things that I didn’t want to.

Sasktoon 8th

7th at Saskatoon

6th at Saskatoon

Top 50 in Ontario – Part 2 – My List and what didn’t make The List

I have an early flight Tuesday - so here is the post now - although I likely will post something that evening about where I am and what I'm doing.

Turns out after I identified my top 40 with all potential conflicts of interest (clubs I've worked with) I was dropped from the panel.

Here is my List

1. St. George’s
2. Hamilton
3. Toronto
4. Westmount
5. Devil’s Paintbrush

6. National
7. St. Thomas
8. Eagle’s Nest
9. Catarqui
10. Scarboro
11. Lookout Point
12. Bigwin Island
13. Oviinbyrd
14. Weston
15. Summit
16. Rosedale
17. Essex
18. Burlington
Burlington is a great Stanley Thompson gem that lays out great hole after great hole until you get to the 17th where you wonder if you crossed the road to the wrong golf course. The long par fours like the 1st, 13th and 15th are standouts and the green sites are consistently interesting. The routing is a clever use of a small piece of land where Stanley used some of the best fill pad green sites to make it extra tough on the approaches.
19. Osprey Valley (Heathlands)
20. Highlands CC
Highlands is the gem that nobody knows. The George Cumming / Stanley Thompson design makes excellent use of a really interesting piece of terrain right in the heart of London. The long fours are memorable particularly with the small targets surrounded by bunkers. The threes are varied and interesting and the fives are all exciting with plenty of character. Not one weak moment on this course yet nobody pays attention.
21. Brantford
22. King Valley
23. Red Tail
24. Beacon Hall
25. Angus Glen South
26 Maple Downs
This may have to do more to do with access than anything else. Maple Downs is a great (largely) Jewish club with a small family based membership. It also occupies a wonderfully hilly piece of ground that leads to some really wonderful holes – with a few like the 10th and 13th being wonderful despite being quite unconventional. There are many standouts from the 3rd, 9th, 10th, 14th, 15th and 17th – so much great golf.
27 Glen Abbey
28 Kawartha
Imagine playing an intact Thompson course with bunkering every bit as good as St. George’s, but with a bit more room to enjoy your game. Go to Kawartha, this is ‘The” hidden gem in Canada with wonderful terrain, really tough par threes, lots of short fours and all the fives are reachable and exciting holes to play. This is a great example of Thompson’s traditional approach of mixing fun and difficulty in even measure.
29 Lake Joseph
In certain moments, I would call this the best that Muskoka golf has to offer, and in others instances there are holes that truly make you question the routing. I think at times Tom took a few more risks than normal and many of those moments work well, other times it doesn’t, but I’d still rather play there than Rocky Crest any day.
30 London Hunt
31 Georgian Bay
32 Osprey Valley (Pine Barrens)
33. Ottawa Hunt
OK so some of the greens are over the top – 5 have already been rebuilt back since Lorne’s article criticizing the course during the Women’s Canadian Open, but underneath all that is a great rolling property with beautiful undulating fairways and lots of interesting shots. I think the course has been dismissed because of the criticism in the past – and yes a few greens are still too much – but otherwise this is still a course worth seeing.
34. Deerhurst Highlands
35. Thornhill
Another course with so many great holes, and yet never gets the attention it deserves. Find a better and more varied run of holes than the 9 through 13. The 17th was always a weak point but Cam Tyers did a wonderful job making changes and the rest of the courses is pretty strong. There are average holes, but none are bad, which can’t be said of many far higher ranked courses on the list. I prefer the course to many of the modern courses that draw far more attention.
36. Rocky Crest
37. Greystone
38. Cherry Hill (worked at)
39. Bond Head (south)
I must admit I go back and forth on this course. I love sections of it like the 2nd and 4th and struggle with other areas like the opener and finishing holes on the front nine. The back nine opens well but a few holes are a bit much like the 15th which has no options around the green. Largely strong, but a little overshaped for my taste.
40. Mad River
Great set of greens, many interesting holes like the 2nd and 6th while others like the 4th hold back the design. I always wondered about the routing on the back nine and whether that was the ideal way to deal with the property. Many great holes out there but others like the finisher leave you a little under whelmed.

Top 50 in Ontario – Part 1 – My Thoughts on the List

I thought I was on the panel and did provide my own top 40 out of the 125 or so courses that I have played in Ontario. I didn’t see my name on the list of panelist top 5 picks – I was late and may have been left out for that reason – so I thought I would provide comments on the list and finally my own list. There are some on the current list I have not played, but they are all new courses with lots of support and play from the rest of the panel.

I thought I would limit my comments to the course that I think either draw too much attention or get too little love. I’ve added my comments of why I think the way I do.

The entire list and series of articles are here: http://www.golfontario.ca/sitepages/?cid=58

The list is as follows:
1. St. George’s G&CC
Of note: There was a nice compliment on St. George's section of the Top 50 courses: "Without doubt the best example of Stanley Thompson’s timeless genius. Ian Andrew’s restoration renewed the luster to this, the crown jewel of Ontario golf." Rest of piece on St. George’s is here: http://golfontario.ca/sitepages/?cid=265
2. Hamilton G&CC
3. The National Golf Club of Canada
Top 10 – This is the most one dimensional golf course on the list. You have very few options and very few opportunities to play alternative shots. Its Canada’s best examination of execution – that doesn’t mean it’s the best course.
4. Beacon Hall
Top 25 – Never got the support for this course. There are many great holes like the 16th but just as many head scratcher’s like the 6th. The holes from 4 through to 8 are pretty average for a course considered in the top 5. The greens have never caught my fancy with the bumps being very artificial. I’m still convinced the support comes more from the exclusivity than the design.
5. Westmount G&CC
6. Bigwin Island
7. Coppinwood GC
8. Eagles Nest GC9. Muskoka Bay Club
10. Redtail GC
Top 25 – The ranking reflects more about the experience overall than the course. The tightness off the tee, the small undulating greens and the forced carries add up to an average course. There is so much to like in the low profile approach to design with some truly magnificent holes, but others like “Peace” are so forced by tightness that it is a let down on what should be a high point in the round.
11. Devil’s Paintbrush
Top 5 – Best course designed in modern era. The mixture of available shots, the variety of holes and the truly unique style of the course makes it a personal favourite in Ontario. Even where Dana Fry went over the top it still couldn’t diminish the variety and fun found on the course.
12. The Ridge at Manitou
13. Devil’s Pulpit
Top 50 – The Disneyland of golf courses with far too many ideas and too many styles on one course. The use of mounding goes against the very core of my personal beliefs in what a course should look and play like. Devil’s Pulpit feels like Dana used ever idea he had ever seen and mixed into one course with a disjointed effect.
14. Toronto GC
Top 5 – I have always held the opinion that Toronto Golf may be far too subtle for most people to get. Repeated playing teaches you that the course rewards working the ball. You can play this course on the ground or take in on in the air, but that is up to you. The par fours are almost as good a collection as St. George’s (Canada’s best collection) and provide outstanding variety –even the 18th – which most people consider a weak point due to length.
15. London Hunt and CC
16. Rocky Crest GC
Top 50 – The setting is great and the way Tom dealt with the rock is very well done. The golf course underneath is far less interesting than Lake Joseph or Oviinbyrd which are far better courses.
17. Taboo
Top 50 – Too many decidedly average holes to be great, although the use of rock at times is quite impressive.
18. Brantford G&CC,
19. Magna GC
20. Glen Abbey GC
21. Osprey Valley Resorts (Heathlands course)
Top 10 – My favourite course to play designed by Doug, the ground game a round the greens is always fun and the greens are really great (in my humble opinion).
22. Mississaugua G&CC
Top 50 – A very disjointed course with an awful stretch of holes in the valley built to deal with the flooding. I hope that Doug’s rebuilding of 18 greens can bring the course together but I also fear that losing a few of my favourite greens will be a let down too.
23. The Georgian Bay Club
24. Weston G&CC
25. Essex G&CC
26. Heron Point Golf Links
27. Copper Creek GC
28. Scarboro G&CC, Scarborough
Top 10 – I can’t for the life of me figure out why this course doesn’t get more support. The use of land, great green sites and terrific set of par threes should easily vault this in the top 10. Is it the series of short fours and then a drive over the road at the end that ruins people’s perceptions of the rest of a great course?
29. King Valley GC
30. St. Thomas G&CC
Top 10 – The work by Thompson is good, the work by Robbie Robinson may be his best. The course is a terrific run through some wildly undulating terrain, with many great par fours throughout.
31. Deer Ridge GC
32. Rosedale GC
33. Wildfire GC
34. Deerhurst Highlands
35. Oakdale G&CC
36. Angus Glen GC (South)
37. Whitewater GC
38. Seguin Valley G&CC
39. Summit G&CC
Top 15 – I like the club a lot more than others do, many great holes on one of the best properties in Ontario.
40. Mad River GC
41. National Pines GC
42. Lookout Point CC
Top 15 – This is a course where you must adapt for the terrain. You need to bounce the ball in, play for cross-slope and adjust for changes of elevation. This makes this a course that you must learn to play well. Likely ignored due to location more than design.
43. The Raven GC at Lora Bay
44. Crimson Ridge GC
45. Galt CC
46. Granite
47. Greystone GC
48. Cherry Hill
49. Osprey Valley Resorts (Wasteland course)
50. Cataraqui G&CC
Top 10 – Other than the course is a little short, there is little to knock on this gem. The par three’s are collectively outstanding with the 2nd and 15th being two of the very best in the province. The course has a bit of a quiet section on the later part of the front nine but otherwise features an outstanding collection of holes.

Tomorrow my list and some comments on the NINE courses I list that did not make the list.
The blog may be late since I fly tomorrow.

The Mid-Length Four

Cypress Point has lots of sub-400 yard holes including 13 and 17 on the back nine

This blog stems from EC’s question, “There are hard or as you put it insurmountable holes. There are fairly easy or as you put it breather holes. What are the playing characteristics of an "intermediate" Par 4 hole?” (he did ask more but I liked this topic)

The lost hole in golf is becoming the mid length par four. The hole used to be anything from 360 yards through to around 400 yards. The hole represented the option to hit a three wood or even a long iron and the chance to hit anywhere from a wedge through to mid-iron depending on wind, your ability and the club selection from the tee. Often playing the same hole over the week leads to different club on just about every day depending on conditions.


Pine Valley has more short fours than you think, including the second

a mid-length par four considered one of the world's greatest holes.

One of the recent developments that I have seen is as more people see the merit of the drivable or very short par four – which is a great trend - they are filling the rest of the nine with almost exclusively 400 plus yard par fours to help keep the yardage up “to be a championship length. The hole that is getting lost in the shuffle is the former mid-length par four. Some architects think that at 400 yards you have a mid-length or even short par four, but I beg to differ on this idea. If you eliminate the most elite player in the game – the majority of the outstanding players are not flying the ball 350 yards as the designs suggest. I personally think notion of a continuous string of 400 plus yard holes eliminates too many decisions for all but the most elite of today’s game. I still think that it is time that architects’ ignore them and design for the vast majority of players and make the game more interesting with far more decisions available to the players.



Merion has a series of short and mid-length par fours from 7 through to 12 and it makes the course

So why should this hole make a bit of a comeback architecturally. First and foremost is the notion of options from the tee – that in recent times has become almost lost in modern design. Everything is set up for the driver hole after hole after hole. Boooorrrrring! Once the yardage is reduced down on a few more par fours, the player can hit whichever club is most appropriate whether for accuracy or to play for position. Options like this make the players think, when a player is allowed to think and plan, they are allowed to show their creativity.

Four holes under 400 yards including 3 mid-length par fours, on the hardest course in America!

If the player can play to optional spots on the fairway, it also means they can explore the possible advantages and disadvantages of playing to certain locations and access the resulting approach shots in. In other words they can “explore” the hole to try finding the best way to score. Learning a hole is a lot more interesting than just executing shots. Its time to drop the yardage obsession in the game and get on with encouraging interesting and entertaining holes – Oakmont had four holes under 400 yards and I don’t remember those holes being the weakness.

MacWood's Response to Old Tom's Family

I must say I didn’t expect to hear from Old Tom Morris, or even a distant descendant. Let me begin by saying I have great admiration for the man, and I hope you are not suggesting I am belittling his achievements. As I stated in my previous comments OTM was a great golfing figure, a true icon: the first great champion, the first modern greenkeeper, and the face of the game during an important thirty or forty year period. He also laid out a large number of golf courses, and no doubt was instrumental in the spread of the game. Does his prolific career laying out courses translate into a great golf architect or golf’s first great golf architect? If judged by the same standard we judge Colt, Thompson or Simpson, I say no.

Based upon my research his architectural accomplishments are grossly overstated today. OTM the great-golf-course-designer is a fairly recent phenomenon, it appears to have originated about twenty or twenty-five years ago with Cornish & Whitten, and has been thriving ever since. Today when one reads about OTM’s design excellence you often find impressive lists like this one: ‘Dornoch, Machrihanish, Elie, County Down, New Course, Portrush, Wallasey, Lahinch, Muirfield, Rosapenna and Nairn.’ Impressive no doubt, unfortunately it is also misleading, and largely inaccurate.

Your mention of his experimentation is a prime example of the legend overwhelming the facts. You cite the returning nine-hole loop as one of his ideas. If I’m not mistaken that idea was based upon the returning nine-hole loops at County Down and Muirfield, which we have subsequently learned were the result of a redesigns he had no part in. Was he the first to propose the standard 18-hole course? I don’t know the answer to that question. It seems plausible to me; on the other hand I know OTM was associated with quite few oddly numbered courses, including 12-hole Prestwick and Muirfield, which originally had 17 holes. So who knows? This is the first I’ve read that OTM should be credited with the dogleg. No comment.

Regarding my previous post I was not passing on my opinion, I was passing on information I had collected from numerous contemporaneous newspaper and magazine reports. In the absence of well-documented club records, these contemporaneous sources are the most reliable facts, with all due respect to family stories and club histories. The problem with some club histories is that they are often written decades after the fact, when memories dim, records are lost and ‘big name’ associations are desired. You yourself provided an excellent example of contemporaneous reports at Askernish. The club history had the facts wrong and Kroeger was unable to confirm a Morris connection, but you uncovered the newspaper article.

Where exactly OTM should be placed in the pantheon of great golf architects, I’m not certain. I find it curious that when St. Andrews commissioned two new courses in the 1890s - the New and the Jubilee - they turned to Hall Blyth and John Angus II respectfully, despite OTM being in-house. I think it would be wise to go back and read what Horace Hutchinson wrote about the criticisms of these early golf course makers, men like Tom Dunn and OTM, ‘A man is not to be criticized because he is not in advance of his time.’

By all means we should celebrate the life of this noble figure at the anniversary of his death, but lets also take this opportunity to look at his design contribution in a more realistic light while at the same time celebrating the contribution of men like Benjamin Hall Blyth, George Combe, Charles Gibson, James McKenna, Archie Simpson, and John Sutherland who history has not been so kind to.

Article on Restoration in Golf Course Architecture Magazine (from UK)

Click on both sides to read the article

The Final List

After some hindsight and rethinking, the list ended up as follows:

25. Mike Strantz
24. Herbert Leeds
23. Henry Frownes
22. Max Behr
21. Herbert Strong

20. Hugh Wilson
19. James Braid
18. Walter Travis
17. Old Tom Morris
16. George Crump

15. Herbert Fowler
14. William Langford
13. Tom Simpson
12. Willie Park Jr.
11. Charles Alison

10. William Flynn
9. Perry Maxwell
8. Seth Raynor
7. Stanley Thompson
6. Donald Ross

5. George Thomas
4. Charles Blair MacDonald
3. A. W. Tillinghast
2. H. S. Colt
1. Alister Mackenzie

Current Architects that Would Make the List Now - Part 2

This will be the end of the series, but may bring the most discussion.

There are 100’s of architects practicing right now, but only two current architects would make my list if all work ended today and we took the time to evaluate careers. There may be others, but I would need more time to reflect on that.

Sand Hills 4th










Bill Coore’s place among the great architects is already guaranteed at this point. His work at Sand Hills became the defining course for this generation – the ripples still continue to influence even the biggest names in the business. Sand Hills was a great natural site featuring massive rolling hills, natural sand blowouts, and long views out to the horizon. When presented with the site, Coore realized that there were hundreds of natural holes in every direction. Rather than change the site or link the very best holes he could with long paths - he patiently walked and walked the site till he found a progression of 18 natural holes. He let the flow of the land lead him around the property. The blowouts became the primary strategy and the unique quality that sets this course apart from all others.



Friar's Head 10th









Coore recognized that these blowouts had the size and scale to compete with the wide open space and chose to swing his fairways around these features with large lateral movements. This approach was most appropriate since the wide lateral movement fit the monumental scale of the site. The course is strategically outstanding, sits in complete harmony with the scale of the site and blends perfectly into the surrounding landscape – think Prairie Dunes on a grand scale. There is more to Bill Coore than one project – in fact there is a string of great project – but this one does such a good job explaining why he is among the elite.

Old Sandwich by Coore



The second architect is far more controversial and the wild card. If he hasn’t said his goal is to be the greatest of his generation, he certainly gives you that impression. Doak – by plan or not - has followed Alister MacKenzie’s career path - from writing a book on golf architecture to working in foreign lands to have an international impact. Tom has spent time restoring MacKenzie’s courses and producing a book on the doctor’s life’s work as a tribute. He even shared his stance on criticism of other architects work - he can be quick to compliment a peer and just as quick to condemn work he doesn’t like. Since MacKenzie is often cited as the greatest architect of all time – what better role model to chose?

Pacific Dunes 13th








Tom came to prominence with his work at Pacific Dunes – while he did other wonderful courses – this was the one that brought all the attention and acclaim. In contrast to most new courses it was shorter, had a quirky routing, all while seeming to get the most out of the site. The course was beautiful, strategically compelling, the use of width with interior bunkering was a clever approach to high winds, the greens were more contoured than most modern courses, and it was down right fun to play. Tom had built a course that brought comparisons to Cypress Point something that must have brought him a great deal of personal satisfaction.


Barndougle Dunes 5th







Since I’m trying to avoid any negatives about living architects I choose not to write about why I didn’t consider a few big name architects.

The Final List: http://thecaddyshack.blogspot.com/2007/07/final-list.html

Current Architects that would make the List - Part 1 - Pete Dye

There are at least three architects currently practicing that I would chose to make my list. The first and most obvious is Pete Dye - who while not retired - is at the very end of his long and illustrious career. I’m not going to place any of the architects but with Pete I’ll give an indication of where I see him.

To me Pete’s career is defined by two periods, the Early Years and the Modern Years. The Early Years featured courses that were largely built to the lay of the land and were heavily influenced by the links courses and architecture of the British Isles. Dye’s work was as much a reflection to his experiences at the famous links, as it were a reaction against the architecture that was being built at the time. Pete’s use of sod walls, railroad ties and other unique elements all made early appearance long before becoming trademarks to his work, but more often it was the inclusion of subtle landforms and small contours that were the real key to his greatest early holes. While he paid homage to the style of golf that he loved from overseas, he also displayed his own unique sense of humour with how the techniques were applied. Many of these ideas would become the basis of his style throughout his career - others would come and go depending on what inspired him on each project. What I admire most of his early work is the restraint that he showed and the clever use of the native ground to effect strategy. What sets him apart from most other great architects was his key role in changing the direction of architecture at that time. His work in the early years became the very foundation of the Minimalist Movement that would emerge at the end of the century – ironically long after he himself abandoned the very notions that it is founded upon.

The Golf Club

The Later Years began with his involvement in the TPC at Sawgrass and culminated in Whistling Straights. Pete took many of his early ideas about design that at this point had been tested against great players. He used this knowledge against the players by adding his latest ideas (particularly things they didn’t like or understand) to a tournament course. He employed all his skills as a builder to overcome what was largely a nothing site and eventually crafted a complex thought provoking and strategic layout to test the best the players had to offer. The TPC was brash and bold, full of difficulty through the dramatic use of water, wild green contours, nutmeg grinders (quickly removed), severe bunkering, intentional blindness, and a good dose of intimidation. He not only caught the player’s attention (and outrage), but captivated the public to the point that Pete Dye was quickly the most recognized golf architect in the game.

The TPC was a high point in his career and a flashpoint for a dramatic change in his style. He was offered a quick succession of projects, with each owner looking for the next TPC at Sawgrass – or even something more outrageous if it could be had. Pete became well sought out and well compensated with his pick of projects and great budgets. I think he also became a bit of a victim of his own success. Each owner wanted to outdo the last and each project became bigger and bolder to the point that Pete was reshaping everything and taking more and more architectural risks. There are a lot of great holes and some really good courses but also a few true clunkers along the way. Pete’s courses were always solid due to the underlying strategy that is built largely on carry angles and options to attack – but outwardly many of these courses look over-shaped and overdone. The culmination is Whistling Straights - such a great course on so many levels and yet so overdone at the same time.

Pete Dye was the greatest architect of a generation and is easily in the top 10 for his innovation, vision, strategic genius and influence on the future. He is without a doubt the father of the Minimalist Movement and that’s worth a few points alone too.

Current Architects That Would Make the List: http://thecaddyshack.blogspot.com/2007/07/current-architects-that-would-make-list.html

Architect #1 Alister MacKenzie

Best Course: Cypress Point

Other notable work: Royal Melbourne, Augusta National, Crystal Downs (w/Maxwell), Pasatiempo,

Remodelling Work: Pebble Beach, Kingston Heath, St. Andrew’s Old, Lahinch

Overview: In 1907, there opened up an opportunity to build a new course called Alwoodley near Leeds. Alister Mackenzie offered his services and presented the group with a layout and series of drawings for the course. The founding members called in Harry Colt to offer his valued opinion. Colt walked the property and even stayed at MacKenzie's house. Colt largely agreed with the routing and general layout that MacKenzie had already devised. Eventually MacKenzie was left to build the course on his own and his career had begun.

Alwoodley

Colt eventually invited Mackenzie to join his firm and while they made an impressive team, there has been some evidence of tension between the two great architects. It is no surprise that MacKenzie would eventually move on, but that was after MacKenzie went to Australia on Colt’s behalf and would change the face of architecture in Australia.

One of the biggest breaks for Mackenzie came in 1914 when he garnered first prize in the Lido Competition for the best designed two-shot hole. His par four featured 5 alternative routes and multiple play options and was eventually adapted for the 18th at Lido Golf Club. This brought a great deal of attention on both sides of the ocean since it was judged by Horace Hutchinson, Bernard Darwin and CB Macdonald.

Mackenzie’s career was full of many great commissions all over the world culmination with the greatest of all at Augusta National where he was paired with Bobby Jones to design a course that was based upon the playing style and experience of the Old Course.

16th at Pasatiempo













Praise for the work: MacKenzie could do it all. His work has so much variety from the strategies to the artistry that he almost defies description as an architect. His routings featured holes that very few would dare try, he almost seemed to revel in the oddest bits of land and there possibilities for holes. Some of his short fours have pushed the envelope well beyond the norms, yet have yielded some of the most fascinating and confounding great holes in golf. MacKenzie reveled in holes like the Road hole that are too tough, recognizing that greatness came from pushing the limits rather than finding convention. I always loved his bitter disappointment at the lack of controversy at Cypress Point feeling that controversy was a clear indicator of excellence

Every part of his designs pushed the envelope from the wildly contoured greens through to spectacular bold bunkering that framed his strategies. MacKenzie loved to present multiple options from hole routes to approach styles, leaving the player often to choose where they cam in from and what style of approach to hit. He generally presented the player with choices but occasionally pushed the player to hit one great dramatic shot too.

In my experience only a handful of architects have been able to create bunkers that blur the line between strategy and art and the greatest of all was Alister MacKenzie. He was able to combine artistic flair, with scale, a little intimidation, a tremendous amount of strategy and the greatest blending of grades around bunkers any architect has ever done to build the best bunkers the game has ever seen.

Criticisms: There are a small few that question some of his more unusual holes as being a bit too quirky, but there are very few that can find much fault in his work, particularly with the list of great course he has designed. The only one question I can bring up is the limited time on site at Royal Melbourne and Crystal Downs where another architect largely provided the bulk of the field work. His Australian credits are long, yet his trip was very short.


Royal Melbourne








Great Quotes: 'It frequently happens the best holes give rise to the most bitter controversy. It is largely a question of the spirit in which the problem is approached, depending on the player. Whether he looks at it from the 'card and pencil' point of view and condemns anything that disturbs his steady series of 3’s or 4’s, or whether he approaches it in the 'spirit of adventure.'

"It is essential that [the architect] should eliminate his own game entirely, and look upon all construction work in a purely impersonal manner. He should be able to put himself in the position of the best player that ever lived, and at the same time be extremely sympathetic towards the beginner and long handicap player. "

“It is much too large a subject to go into the placing of hazards, but I would like to emphasis a fundamental principle. It is that no hazard is unfair wherever it is placed.”

“A hazard placed in the exact position where a player would naturally go is frequently the most interesting situation, as then special effort is needed to get over or avoid it”

“No hole is a good hole unless it has one or more hazards in the direct line of the hole”

17th at Cypress Point













ress Point
I choose this one largely because I have not played Royal Melbourne. Cypress Point represents the greatest transition work in the game. Moving from the dunes to the forest, back to the open dunes land and eventually to the ocean is done so seamlessly that you barely notice the change of scenery. The entire course holds together cohesively despite the fact that the setting is in constant change. The way MacKenzie uses the bunkers in particular to pull everything together is magnificent. I love the way bunker and dune often has no definitive start and end, all great examples of site directed architecture which was most appropriate at Cypress Point.

5th at Crystal Downs












: He is the clearest example that greatness comes from pushing the boundaries. MacKenzie pushes me personally to explore the unusual bits of land in quest of unique hole opportunities that I may otherwise avoid. He challenges me to push my limits in the type of holes I will present and the strategies that they may require – holes like the 5th at Crystal Downs prove a hole may have no strategic answer – and that itself may lead to greatness. He never settled for a conventional approach in anything he designed, from the contours of the greens to the styling of his bunkers he continued to push the envelope to push his own art. The wonderful thing about all of this is the strategies that unduly his courses are every bit as good as the strategies employed by Colt or Thomas, but the visual presentation was so much more.

Current Architects That Would Make the List: http://thecaddyshack.blogspot.com/2007/07/current-architects-that-could-make-list.html

Architect #2 Harry Shapland Colt

Best Course: Royal Portrush

Other notable work: Hamilton, Toronto, Sunningdale (New), Swinley Forrest, St. George’s Hill, Rye, (advising Crump) Pine Valley

Remodelling Work: Sunningdale Old, Muirfield

Overview: Colt was originally a lawyer by training but was far more interested in the pursuit of golf. He was one of the founders of Rye and remained as the honorary secretary for many years after. He became the first secretary at Sunningdale, which turned out to be a position that would help him make important contacts for future work. Colt also made continual improvements to Sunningdale throughout the years.

Just before the First World War, Colt became a full time golf architect and one of the first (if not the first) architects who was not a golf professional first. Colt concentrated his efforts in the UK, with a mixture of new commissions and a great deal of renovation to older layouts. As his reputation quickly grew many more inquiries came from further afar - at first the British Isles, then the mainland of Europe, eventually North America, much later Australia and the Far East.




Sunningdale Old #12












While Colt made a series of trips to North America from 1911 to 1915, he would choose to stay closer to home and mainly work throughout the United Kingdom and the European mainland. He would instead trust a series of partners with much of the foreign work. With Charles Alison taking on most of the work leading to his long and storied career representing Colt in many parts of the world. Alison’s impact in the Far East was the watershed moment for all future Japanese architecture. Likewise, Alister Mackenzie’s trip to Australia was the trip that shaped Australian golf architecture. Colt himself was the key influence to Belgium and Holland.

I feel comfortable to argue that Colt was the most important influence in early architecture. While Park and others represent key moments in architectural development, it was Colt who was able to put together a style and technique that quite simply shaped all future generations of golf course architecture. Almost all the great architects profiled were influenced through his writings and by visiting the courses that he had designed. Harry Colt made golf course architecture a profession, from the way he attacked the projects he had to the way he conducted a business. He became the standard that we all have worked from since.






Toronto Golf Club #6








Praise for the work: Colt felt his courses must be part of the countryside, residing in, rather than imposing upon the land. He suggested they should also be given a chance to grow into their surroundings and become part of the countryside itself. That is quite likely why Colt was one of the first to suggest planting with his courses. It also explains why his holes feel like they were found rather than produced, even when he was required to make change to the landscape. His early holes usually lead you in gently and he was one of the first to openly suggest the use of all clubs be an important requirement in design. He concentrated on the course as a whole trying to balance out the lengths of holes, although given the opportunity he would often select particularly appealing points for par threes and route holes to accommodate those outstanding opportunities.



Rye Golf Club








He did not set out his bunkers to penalize an errant shot, but rather to challenge the skills of a better player. He was one of the first to set up and defend angles of attack perfecting the idea of the carry angle in the process. He was one of the earliest architects to see the intellectual side of design and would lay out his courses to test a players decision making as much as his conviction. While some of his bunkers have scale and character, much of his work featured smaller pot style traps that were often deep and tough to extricate yourself from. He certainly felt that a player taking a risk was justified to lose a shot when they failed to achieve the task. At the same time he would provide plenty more opportunities for them to run the same risk, so that if they could achieve the task, they could make a shot up later in the round.

Criticisms: There is a criticism that Colt has designed a collection of great courses, but it has been suggested that he lacks that one standout course that makes you say nobody else could have done better. Some point to Muirfield as the one, but others find it lacking. Some suggest Royal Portrush is the course, but others think it reputation comes more from difficulty than it does from architectural merit. A few even point to his role at Pine Valley, but the early drawings seem to indicate that Crump was still the key figure. Colt may lack that one seminal project, but his body of work is so strong that he earns the respect of all architects none the less.




St. George's Hill











Great Quotes: Immediately when we attempt to standardize sizes, shapes, and distances we lose more than half the pleasure of the game.

Favourite Course: Royal Portrush
I will say up front that I do struggle with the level of difficulty currently presented off the tee by the nasty fescue that borders the fairways, but strategically the course is brilliant. The course features wonderful angles of opportunity from the tee through to the green. The bunkering challenges you to flirt for a better approach but sharply penalizes a miss. Colt managed to the mix the lengths on all the threes, fours and fives so that the variety is stunning and the hole types are just as varied. The greens feature wonderful rolling contours full of delicate pin positions and feeding slopes that make for entertaining putting throughout. There is not a weak hole, just a lack of dunes land at the end.



Sunningdale New #5





What I take from him: I’ve always felt that Colt’s use of bunkers in the fairway is without peer. He has the ability to defend a line with one, or introduce a series of bunkers that force decisions. He used every technique from flanking to diagonal through to interior – his strength was placing no limitations on what he would do.Colt represents a style of architecture that is both challenging and comfortable, where depending on the game the player has that day, they can either add or reduce risk accordingly. I’ve always felt the writings of Max Behr explain the ideal game, and that the architecture of Harry Colt show you examples of it in the ground.

Next Architect: http://thecaddyshack.blogspot.com/2007/07/architect-1-alister-mackenzie.html

Looking at the list in Hindsight

I will finish up on Monday and Tuesday of next week.

It will be a while before I consider another blog series as involved as this one. I’m finding I’m much too busy with work to continue at this pace. I’m not sure what I will write about coming up and I’m considering a “best of” week to create a break for me and to highlight a few of the best series from the past.

I have some hindsight I would like to offer on the list:

I definitely think placing Trent Jones in was a mistake and at the same time I felt leaving Frownes out was an oversight. With both Wilson and Crump on the list, it is hard to justify Frownes being left off. The other four are still good choices.

25. Mike Strantz
24. Herbert Leeds
23. Henry Frownes
22. Max Behr
21. Herbert Strong

The Old Tom debate was fascinating. I knew I was going out on a limb with Old Tom, but I felt the early influence was crucial to the development of golf architecture. It turns out that I may have given him too much credit for existing work which in most cases has turned out to be another architect’s work. The more I read, the more information I received, the more I felt I had misjudged his role in the development of some key courses. The influence is still there, and some great work exists, but I think it is not quite as significant as I once thought.

20. Hugh Wilson
19. James Braid
18. Walter Travis
17. Old Tom Morris
16. George Crump
15. Herbert Fowler

Fowler was the man I didn’t know and the more I read after I posted the more I realized I had sold him a little short. I find I’m drawn to his architecture the more time I spend looking at courses that he has done, and I’m quite convinced that a visit to Eastward Ho would also have a huge impact on what I think of Fowler. The rest is a list of architects who have all influenced what I think about design with Maxwell and Langford being more recent fascinations.

14. William Langford
13. Tom Simpson
12. Willie Park Jr.
11. Charles Alison
10. William Flynn
9. Perry Maxwell

People have questioned my “anti-bias” against Thompson, but I’m quite certain I have his place right. One friend felt his best 5 were better than the likes of Tillinghast but I don’t agree. I would also counter that his next five can’t touch Tillie’s so it is a matter of where that line is drawn. Ross may confound the people off who think he should have been one or two - I like his work a lot - but I don’t see the genius that other people do.

8. Seth Raynor
7. Stanley Thompson
6. Donald Ross

Thomas’s remaining work is too strong to ignore. Macdonlad built the best course of the bunch, but then repeated himself in work that followed. Tillinghast certainly had the depth of exceptional work that few can touch. These are all great and gifted men whose work you should seek out every chance you get.

5. George Thomas
4. Charles Blair MacDonald
3. A. W. Tillinghast

The final two on Monday and Tuesday – The number one architect was the easiest selection to make. I will post a final revised list at the ned too.

Next Architect: http://thecaddyshack.blogspot.com/2007/07/architect-2-harry-shapland-colt.html

Architect #3 Albert Warren Tillinghast

Best Course: Winged Foot

Other notable work: San Francisco, Baltimore (Five Farms),Ridgewood, Bethpage, Fenway, Philadelphia Cricket Club,

Remodelling Work: Quaker Ridge, Scarboro,

Overview: A. W. Tillinghast was born in Philadelphia in 1874, the only child of a prosperous family. He became captivated by the game of golf in the 1890s, and made annual pilgrimages to Scotland where he took lessons from Old Tom Morris – one of golf’s greatest icons. Tillinghast was a good enough player to compete, playing in early US Amateurs and Opens. His golf architecture career began when he was asked to lay out a course for friends on their farm at Shawnee-on-the-Delaware. It was an instant success. He immediately went into the golf design business.

18th at Winged Foot

For nearly 20 years he ran a very successful design business, until the bottom fell out after the market crash of 1929. He designed approximately 60 courses and remodeled or expanded an equal number during this time. Because of his skills and social connections, he acquired more than his share of great projects and left behind a handful of courses that are considered among the finest in golf. Some of his best include 36 holes at Winged Foot, both Baltusrol layouts, the San Francisco Golf Club, the East Course of the Baltimore Country Club, Somerset Hills in New Jersey, 27 holes of Ridgewood (also in New Jersey), and the Black Course at Bethpage on Long Island. He had a great run of courses and success until the Great Depression ruined his business. He worked for the PGA of America to keep his head above water, but eventually became totally disenchanted with golf. He and his wife moved to California to set up an antiques shop. With limited success, he attempted to re-establish himself with Billy Bell, but never achieved the same excellence. He died in 1942.

The enduring image of Tillinghast is that of the impeccably dressed architect poring over the plans for a golf course. He enjoyed being out “in the dirt” relying on inspiration to fine tune the details of each hole as it emerged from the landscape. There are great stories of Tillinghast sitting under the shade of a tree, bottle in hand, calling out directions to his workmen. He undoubtedly was as colorful as he was talented.

Praise for the work: Tillinghast was the first designer who consciously set out to create golf holes that were visually attractive. He helped transform golf course architecture from its roots in nature to a greater art form. Tillinghast drew on the principles of landscape design, engineering and art to transform a property into a spectacular playing field. His routings looked to the prominent feature of the property for inspiration, but he when faced with a featureless section of the site he immediately applied his imagination to create an entire green site from scratch or use an imaginative bunker scheme to make a landing area really interesting.

The grass faced bunkers at Five Farms

Tillinghast was one of golf’s great chameleons changing his style and character on a regular basis. When you contrast the stark grass slopes of Five Farms against the huge faces and flashes at Winged Foot and then contrast that with the lacy edged bunkers on a massive scale at San Francisco, you realize Tillinghast had no limits on what he could do. The greatest compliment I can give Tillinghast is that a number of his greatest courses are only on average sites. Winged Foot for example is a fine site but nothing particularly special, yet through the green sites that he created and the challenge they present he has crafted one of the toughest and most interesting pieces of architecture that architects cab study.

Criticisms: I can’t give Tillinghast a free pass for the work he did on behalf of the PGA. While many courses were lucky to get his advice, but others were hurt through his efforts too, including a few of the great architects in history where he removed features or changed entire holes through his advice. The Sahara was a cross-hazard. While I understand and personally enjoy the concept, it is the type of feature that in many instances only really penalizes the poor player.

Great Quotes: “The merit of any hole is not judged by length but rather by its interest and its variety as elective play is apparent. It isn’t how far but how good”
“I am thoroughly convinced that many of our country’s courses are hurt tremendously by stretching holes out for no other purpose than to bolster up the scorecard distances and figures. There seems to exist a feeling that the collection of par figures must determine the worth of the courses. Let us remember that in golf we do not measure pleasure with a yard stick.”






The 7th and 8th at San Francisco

Favourite Course: San Francisco
San Francisco is built to a monumental scale, which helped fit the site perfectly since there were originally such long views all around the course that competed with his architecture. It would be overly simple to say that Tillinghast increased the bunkers to enormous sizes to help fill the space, but it is more than that. What Tillinghast did was take everything to epic proportions so that nothing would get dwarfed by the space. The bunkers are obviously large, but the mounding and fairway widths are much larger than convention too. Tillinghast was also smart enough to intentional blend the bunkering on the 9th and 10th so that they appear from both side to be an extension of the bunkering for each hole. This essentially helps create enough size and expanse within the bunkering to create definition, but more important balance with the landscape.




The 10th at Winged Foot

What I take from him: Understanding the beauty of scale and space can lead to breathtaking architecture. Tillinghast teaches us all about scale and the need to spend extra time getting the sweep and drama into the bunkering in particular. You must be painstaking in your details, since everything gets magnified by the open space. Only a confident creative hand that is capable of the broadest strokes can succeed on this level.

Looking at the List with Hindsight: http://thecaddyshack.blogspot.com/2007/07/looking-at-list-in-hindsight.html

Architect #4 Charles Blair Macdonald

Best Course: The National Golf Links of America

Other notable work: Yale, St. Louis, Piping Rock, The Creek, Mid Ocean

Overview: Charles Blair Macdonald was an outstanding player, and even managed to win the first United States National Amateur, although he made them replay the championship when he didn’t win the first time! Macdonald was an extremely wealthy man who was very well connected to the elite of that era. Macdonald was obsessed with golf from the outset and spent countless days practicing his game and visiting the great courses of the United Kingdom long before embracing on golf architecture – he even had a locker in Old Tom Morris’s golf shop at St. Andrews.

Macdonald soon became obsessed with having an American course that could compare favorably with the great links courses. He used his connections for the financial help and then toured the countryside looking an ideal site eventually settling on a property near the end of Long Island. Macdonald next traveled across the United Kingdom and touring all the great courses collecting notes on what he felt were the best holes the game had to offer. He then returned to Long Island to design a course based around the great holes, but also had the fortitude to believe he could make improvements to the basic concepts of many of the holes. He only had to find the holes on the land and adapt the concepts to the terrain and he had his ideal course.

The Cape Hole at NLGA

Praise for the work: Macdonald once said “there are only four or five good holes in golf. The local scenery supplies the variety.” He was knowledgeable enough to collect a series of ideas from famous holes to use as a base for his design work, but smart to understand why these particular strategies were superior to most others. By understanding the strategic implications of each concept, he was then free to adapt them with ease to create the best situation for that strategy that the terrain had to offer.

His improvements, such as making the Redan downhill to make it more visible but also more viable, were dramatic improvements on the original. His own concepts and adaptations had a lasting impact on how future architects would view strategy and hole set-ups. At The National you become in awe of the rich variety of strategies, the wonderful mix of hole types, and the level of interest he manages to keep from start to finish.

The great difference between the work of Raynor and the work of Macdonald is in the greens. The is a much greater use of contour in MacDonald’s greens which infuse the design with an incredible amount of variety through pin positions. The varied pin locations means that his courses can be set up in an infinite number of ways with it unlikely that any playing experience over a week would be the same. He also used lost of fairway width to allow the player to play to a certain side or location to access certain pin positions on particular days – this also provided a great deal of playability to his layouts for lesser players. The flexibility and variety makes the playing experience at the national entertaining no matter at what level you can play the game.

The Biarittz at Yale

Criticisms:
Macdonald was and opinionated autocrat who was overbearing and self important. While his strength and conviction was very important to the development of the National, I have often wondered if his arrogance was responsible for the continued use of templates. There is no getting around the quality of the holes and the golf experiences he provided with each of the courses he built, but you must wonder what was missed by adhering so firmly to the templates and not following more of the land. This point is made most particularly on the par threes where quite often one set blends into the next – particularly when you add in the work of his protégé Raynor.

Great Quotes: “The object of a bunker or trap is not only to punish a physical mistake, to punish a lack of control, but also to punish pride and ego”
“The risk of going into a bunker is self imposed, so there is no reason why a player should condemn a bunker as unfair.”

Favourite Course: The National Golf Links of America
The National is the best example outside the Old Course itself about the strategic freedom. The player is left to avoid or encourage risk throughout a round. The National is ripe with opportunity to encourage risky play and full of enough disaster to avoid being a push-over. It is one of the best course I have ever played and perhaps the best playing experience I have enjoyed. Each green site features so many possible interesting pin positions that you would never grow bored playing the National.






The Redan at NLGA

What I take from him: All great architecture has roots in the great holes, seeing and understanding the great strategies is vital in creating your own great holes. Even the best architects in this series paid close attention to what others did well before them. The greatest lesson from Macdonald comes from where he made the adaptations, what he did differently and why many are superior to the source of inspiration.

Next Architect: http://thecaddyshack.blogspot.com/2007/07/architect-3-albert-warren-tillinghast.html

Architect #5 George Thomas

(courtesy of Geoff Shackelford)

Best Course: Riviera

Other notable work: Los Angeles, Ojai Valley, Bel Air

Overview: George Thomas was bound to be an architect long before he actually began to design courses. He was on the course committee for two new Ross courses and also the Philadelphia Cricket Club designed by Tillinghast. He spent time observing the progress of his friend Hugh Wilson at Merion and also went to meet with George Crump and watch the emergence of Pine Valley. It was no surprise when he did such a great job on Whitemarsh Valley (was Mount Airy) at his families estate since he had already had a long education on golf course architecture from watching the work going on around Philadelphia.

Thomas moved to California in 1919 to grow roses, but ended up building nearly 25 courses with partner Billy Bell. Unfortunately much of his legacy has disappeared due to urbanization in California or ill advised alteration by clubs – no architect has lost as much of their history as Thomas.

The 3rd at Riviera, a draw tee shot followed by a fade approach

Praise for the work: George Thomas combines strategy and flair as good as any architect that ever practiced. His landmark course at Riviera is a testament to his skill, not only in creating a spectacular course out of a congested box canyon, but how to create incredibly strategic holes with the use of slope and bunker placement. There is no course that I can name that asks a player to work the ball for position. His greens are largely underestimated since they are not as bold as other architects, but there are so many great examples of complicated pin positions made by swale or by slope that you begin to realize that his greens are not as subtle as you first think.

The bunkering may be the most memorable feature with the wonderful shapes and edges that really have tremendous character. But you can’t talk about those bunkers without talking about the placement; he had a knack for pushing the bunkers into the landings to create angles, opportunities and generate the risk that made his courses so fun to play. You always felt compelled to gamble since he gave you enough room and opportunity, when in reality he was really drawing you in to trouble. Where he really showed all architects a thing or two was at the 10th hole at Riviera. He used deception and an unusual green pitch to make the most interesting, enticing and dangerous hole I know. As Norm said, “I’ve played here all my life and yet I still have a go at that green even though I know the smart play is well left.”

The 10th at Riviera, the best "designed" hole in golf












Criticisms: There is little to criticize in his work other than most of it is gone. For many people the lack of work is enough to suggest that his legacy is largely one built out of nostalgia, but all you have to do is read his book on Golf Course Architecture In America and you know he was one of the greatest of all time.


Great Quotes: “Hazards should be arranged to tempt and challenge, but laid out so all classes of players have optional routes to the hole. Hazards should not unduly penalize from which there is no chance of recovery.”


Favourite Course: Riviera
The first hole is an easily reachable par five, followed by a nasty uphill and difficult par four – Thomas has intentionally designed two four and a halves to open.

The third hole asks for a draw from the tee for position and then a fade into the green for best results. The fourth asks you to hit a draw up into the hill and use the big slope to run the ball down onto the green. The 5th insists upon a fade from the tee to hold the fairway and then a fade from a draw lie to play into the green. Each hole serves a purpose and is part of a larger examination of your abilities as a player.

Riviera rewards a player who can think and work the ball – that in my assessment is the basis for a truly great course



LACC 11th hole Redan, one of the best threes I have played











What I take from him: While there is so many other things to take, from Thomas it is the strategies that he tried so very hard to pass on in his book. I love the way he uses deception on one hole, uses enticement on the next and has the talent to leave you to choose you path on the one that follows. His use of trees, bunkers and slopes to make you work the ball for position is worthy of high praise.

There are few architects who provide so much strategy in their courses with so much freedom to try alternate routes.

Next Architect: http://thecaddyshack.blogspot.com/2007/07/architect-4-charles-blair-macdonald.html