[...]... the rules which later planners consider should form the ideal pattern More oddly still, it is often where the rules are broken that a golf course becomes notable Perhaps those pioneers knew what amused the public better than their successors The miracle of golf was the synthesis in THE GOLF COURSE 9 opposition, as in no other game, of the long and the short, the strong and the weak, the brash and the. .. three miles The turf as a rule is excellently suited for the game, and there are hazards enough in the shape of bunkers— both natural and made up—to satisfy even the best, if not the worst of players Much labour has been expended in getting the course and especially the putting greens into the best possible order Many of these greens are in grand condition, and, in the case of the others, their present... 1920) and The Architectural Side of Golf, by H.N.Wethered & T.Simpson (Longmans Green & Co, London, 1929) There is much more to write about these books and others I have listed as, indeed, there is about colleagues whose joint efforts founded the British Association of Golf Course Architects with the encouragement of George McPartlin and the Golf Development Council My father founded the British Golf. .. The Golf Course published in 1981, where the keen student will also find the world’s golf courses and their designers, often united in print for the first time 4 THE GOLF COURSE These pages are, therefore, principally dedicated to all the little teams of four or five who work to ensure the golfing satisfaction of a hundred times their number As in other fields, one is frequently puzzled by their abdication... in progress Nevertheless, head greenkeepers may find this book of interest in broadening the horizons against which they measure their daily tasks and help them to prepare the ground for the fruits of that research Similarly, the golf club professional, being generally the best player in the club, will often be the testing ground for new ideas about the golf course The Professional Golfers Association... of marrying and modelling land to the essential interest of the game which is golf course architecture The original five hole course avoided all the quarries on the heath because they were still being worked On the new course every hole played over a quarry except no 6 The engraving Medal Day at Blackheath shows quarry, traffic and passers-by beyond the well-dressed players standing on the tee Oddly... of the game and of the land employed It had no superior existence or notion of beauty in itself Nevertheless by the turn of the century (or before or after depending on the age of the club and whether it was inland or at the sea), the early cruel hazards had often been tidied up The old philosophy was weakening, or rather, emphasis was shifting And now, we find a few names to conjure with After golfing... beginning to analyse the elements they found most desirable in golf The first of these was Garden G.Smith, the younger of two brothers who founded the Aberdeen University Golf Club in December 1878 Amongst other pursuits, he became editor of Golf, Illustrated His book The World of Golf (1898), contains history, descriptions, travel and one chapter on The making and keeping of golf courses.’ What he has... inaccuracy Beyond THE GOLF COURSE 17 this second hazard the ground should be good for 80 or 100 yards, but guarding the hole again, there should be another hazard which the player will have to loft over before reaching the putting green In addition, the course may be garnished on either side, according to the taste and fancy of the maker, with other hazards, to catch crooked balls, and also beyond the hole,... adjoining the Spanish village of Campamento By kind permission of the Naval Commander-in-Chief, members of the Golf Club are permitted to use the duty steam boat which runs to Campamento every day when the fleet is in.’ These examples and the sites of early links show that the genius of golf course architecture was very much the genius loci just as in the 18th Century, according to M.F.Downing (Landscape Construction, . Similarly, the section on the architecture of the golf course will start from the virgin site 2 THE GOLF COURSE and first principles in order to help in understanding. carried on the practice of golf course architecture, living with golf and doing their work with skill and good taste. This book will help golfers and officials