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Golf Course Architecture in
Europe - 100 Years of Evolution - By Ross McMurray
Willie Park Jr |
"The
laying out of a golf course is by no means a
simple task" Willie Park Jr (1896) |
The EIGCA 2001 Yearbook is particularly
significant for it is exactly 100 years since Willie
Park, Jr. revealed his design for the first golf course
at Sunningdale. Today it is accepted that this event
represented the beginning of golf course architecture
as a recognised profession.
Until this time most courses
had been laid out by professional golfers and greenkeepers,
but generally, their work involved the siting of greens,
tees and hazards in natural locations where little
or no construction work was required. Many of these
courses were disappointing, particularly as the game
moved inland from its origins on the Scottish links
to land less blessed with natural features. It was
not until golf reached the sandy heathlands of London
and the Home Counties that the first true golf course
architects began to flourish.
Willie Park
Jr., Harry Colt, John Abercromby and Herbert Fowler
were the first visionary golf course designers with
the imagination and skills to convert what was then
seen as unpromising land into great golf courses.
Their work was inextricably linked, partly by the
nearness of their operations, but also because they
were willing to learn from each other and teach others
their trade. They were the first to thoroughly scrutinise
sites, prepare detailed plans and supervise construction
of their courses, either personally or through a partner
or associate.
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Sunningdale, New Course - Harry Colt (1922)
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Even today a list of the golf courses completed by these
pioneers of the architectural profession stands as a
testament to their expertise. As well as the Old Course
at Sunningdale, Willie Park designed Huntercombe and
West Hill. Abercromby was chiefly responsible for Worplesdon,
after consulting Willie Park, and went on to design
The Addington and Coombe Hill. Harry Colt became the
first secretary at Sunningdale and designed the New
Course there as well as both the East and West Courses
at Wentworth, Swinley Forest, St. Georges Hill and the
Eden Course at St. Andrews.
Colt was also probably the first architect to start
working regularly throughout Europe where he completed
Royal Waterloo and Royal Zoute in Belgium, St Cloud
and Le Touquet in France and Royal Madrid in Spain.
Herbert Fowler's most well known works are probably
Walton Heath and the Red and Blue Courses at the Berkshire,
but he also designed links courses at Cruden Bay in
Scotland and Saunton. Following
these men were a succession of great names, many of
whom had learned from and worked with their predecessors.
Herbert Fowler went into partnership with Tom Simpson,
a brilliant and, at times, eccentric golf course architect
who pioneered the art of strategic golf course design,
moving away from the largely penal style that, until
this time, had been typical. Much of Simpson's finest
work was completed in the 1920's including New Zealand
Golf Club in England and several projects in France
and Belgium including Chantilly, Morfontaine and Royal
Antwerp. James Braid, five times winner of The Open,
was the professional at Walton Heath and designed
the courses at Gleneagles, Carnoustie, Hoylake and
St. Enodoc. Charles Alison collaborated with Colt
on many projects, particularly outside Britain, including
Frankfurter and Hamburger in Germany and many courses
in the United States.
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Berkshire, Red Course - Herbert Fowler (1928)
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Alister Mackenzie was also an associate of Harry
Colt and is recognized as one of the most influential
golf course architects of that era, mainly due to
his superb work outside Europe, particularly in Australia
and North America. Mackenzie's brilliance is best
known at courses such as Royal Melbourne, Cypress
Point and Augusta National but his lasting legacy
was in listing the essential features for the design
of the ideal golf course which still form the basis
of good golf course design today. The other dominant
designer of the first quarter of the 20th Century
was Donald Ross who, like Mackenzie, was of Scottish
origin and worked almost exclusively in North America.
Heavily influenced by his knowledge of St. Andrews
and particularly his home club at Dornoch, Ross was
a dedicated exponent of strategic golf course design.
Of the hundreds of courses that carry Ross's name
perhaps the best known are Pinehurst (No. 2) and Seminole.
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Gleneagles, Kings Course
- James Braid (1924) |
In 1922, J.H.Taylor,
like Braid a five times Open Champion, went into partnership
with Fred Hawtree and produced many golf courses in
the United Kingdom as well as several in Europe. Hawtree
was a great exponent of creating public golf courses
but his legacy was to start a family business that
continues, after three generations, to practice golf
course design today.
Around 1930 three other designers had considerable
impact, both individually and in partnership. The
name of S.V. Hotchkin is most recognised for the work
he carried out at Woodhall Spa, arguably one of the
finest inland golf courses in Great Britain. C.K.
Hutchison worked as an assistant to James Braid at
Gleneagles and Carnoustie and went on to remodel some
of the best courses in England including Ganton, Royal
West Norfolk and Brancaster. Guy Campbell was responsible
for West Sussex and Killarney and also worked at Prince's
and Rye.
In the same period Philip Mackenzie Ross, a former
partner of Tom Simpson's, was working throughout Europe
developing courses in France, Spain and Portugal as
well as the United Kingdom. After 1945 he carried
out a great deal of remodeling and restoration and
in 1949 completed Southerness, in southwest Scotland,
which is probably his most respected work. In 1971
Ross was elected the first president of the British
Association of Golf Course Architects. Also on the
Continent, Bernhard Von Limburger amassed a large
portfolio of golf courses, particularly throughout
Germany, including Club Zur Vahr and Lindau, while
Javier Arana, working exclusively in Spain, completed
El Saler, recognized as one of the finest courses
in Europe, and El Prat.
Towards the end of the 20th Century
the traditions of the founding fathers of the profession
continued. Names such as Fred W. Hawtree, Hamilton
Stutt, Don Harradine and Eddie Hackett became synonymous
with the development of golf course design in Europe
and, with others, they were the first to establish
an association of professional golf course architects.
Since 1945 there have been huge changes
in golf equipment and vast improvements in course
conditioning. Courses have become longer, sites are
less ideal for golf and the scale of earth-moving
operations has become greater. Changing methods of
golf course design and construction mean that golf
course architects now require additional technical
skills and the industry has become increasingly professional
in its performance and outlook. Golf course architecture
is now seen as a discipline that requires a specialist's
expertise, in the same way as building architecture
and landscape architecture.
Today the European Institute of Golf
Course Architects has 60 practicing members who combine
their understanding of golf with their professional
training in golf course architecture, as well as other
design and engineering disciplines, to create golf
courses to the highest standards around the world.
In 1896, five years before Sunningdale opened, Willie
Park Jr.' wrote:
"The laying out of a golf
course is by no means a simple task…..Great skill
and judgment and a thorough acquaintance with the
game are absolutely necessary to determine the best
position for the respective holes and teeing grounds
and the situation of the hazards."
After one hundred years of evolution
these words are perhaps even more appropriate today.
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