Stoatin Brae – Michigan’s New Course from Renaissance Design
By Tony Dear In his 16 years with Tom Doak’s architectural firm Renaissance Golf, Erik Iverson has worked on numerous incredible sites. He was a design associate and shaper on the jagged, finger cliffs at Cape Kidnappers in New Zealand, the sandy knolls at Barnbougle Dunes in Australia, the beautiful Long Island coastline at […]
Highlights of Arnold Palmer’s Course Design Career
Arnold Palmer’s involvement in golf design was a lifelong pursuit. He was the son of a greenkeeper, after all, and was involved in hands-on course work during his youth at Latrobe Country Club in western Pennsylvania, at Wake Forest University, and even during his stint in the Coast Guard. Palmer’s legacy as an architect is […]
Alister MacKenzie’s Finest Works
Alister MacKenzie receives a fair amount of attention every year around April thanks to his central role in the creation of Augusta National. However, the home of the Masters represents only one thread in a design career—arguably the greatest of all-time—that spanned the globe. MacKenzie was born in 1870 to Scottish parents living in the […]
Eddie Hackett: Ireland’s Most Famous Course Architect
Given the timeless quality of the country’s links, it’s surprising that golf arrived in Ireland at roughly the same time as it did in the U.S., in the late 19th century. The Emerald Isle’s most famous architect was a “Johnny Appleseed” type who by sheer prolific force helped the game reach new levels of popularity: […]
Golf Course Architects Discuss Firestone CC South
By Tony Dear The South Course at Firestone CC in Akron, Ohio, has hosted big-time golf since the mid-1950s. First came the Rubber City Open whose winners included Tommy Bolt, Ed Furgol, and Arnold Palmer. It staged three PGA Championships—1960, ’66, and ’75. From 1962 to ’98, it was the venue for the World […]
Golf Course Architects Discuss Firestone CC South
By Tony Dear The South Course at Firestone CC in Akron, Ohio, has hosted big-time golf since the mid-1950s. First came the Rubber City Open whose winners included Tommy Bolt, Ed Furgol, and Arnold Palmer. It staged three PGA Championships—1960, ’66, and ’75. From 1962 to ’98, it was the venue for the World […]
The U.S. Open May Return to Chambers Bay
By Tony Dear A recent visit to the 2015 U.S. Open Venue more or less convinced our writer the championship will return one day. Given what happened in 2015, it’s likely that if and when the USGA ever announces the U.S. Open is returning to Chambers Bay, the backlash will be strong. You’ll remember most […]
A Different Day, Different Pin, Different Hole at Augusta National
The characteristics of Augusta National’s greens—large, contoured, quick—create very different holes when the pin is moved. The Masters distinguishes itself from other tournaments in so many ways, but one of the most fascinating is that competitors here aren’t playing the same 18 holes four times. Rather, they face 72 distinct challenges. There are obviously […]
Philadelphia Cricket Club, Wissahickon Renovation
When A.W. Tillinghast died, he requested that his ashes be spread “where he loved life the most”—along the Wissahickon Creek, a stream that winds through one of his finest designs, the Wissahickon Course at Philadelphia Cricket Club. Wissahickon is the most famous of Philly Cricket’s three courses. It opened in 1922, at the peak of […]
Mike Clayton – A Course Architecture Name to Know
Golfers astute enough to follow Australian course architect Mike Clayton on Twitter would recently have seen images of the work he and his partners Geoff Ogilvy, Mike Cocking, and Ashley Mead—known collectively as OCCM—completed on the 14th hole at Royal Canberra. The before and after images demonstrate just what Clayton and the team are capable […]
