Golf Architecture

by Alister Mackenzie, Alexander Mackenzie

Excerpt: ... GOLF ARCHITECTURE CHAPTER I GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMY IN COURSE CONSTRUCTION AND GREENKEEPING Economy in course construction consists in obtaining the best possible results at a minimum of cost. The more one sees of golf courses, the more one realises the importance of doing construction work really well, so that it is likely to be of a permanent character. It is impossible to lay too much stress on the importance of finality. Every golfer knows examples of courses which have been constructed and rearranged over and over again, and the fact that all over the country thousands of pounds are flittered away in doing bad work which will ultimately have to be scrapped is particularly distressful to a true economist. As an example of unnecessary labour and expense, the writer has in mind a green which has been entirely relaid on four different occasions. In the first instance, it was of the ridge and furrow type; the turf was then lifted and it was made dead flat. A new secretaiy was appointed, and he made it a more pronounced ridge and furrow than ever; it was then relaid and made flat again, and has now been entirely reconstructed with undulations of a more natural outline and appearance. In discussing the question of finality, it is well to inquire if there are any really first-class courses in existence which have been unaltered for a considerable number of years and still remain, not only a good test of golf, but a source of pleasure to all classes of players. Is there any existing course which not even the rubber cored ball has spoilt? And, if so, what is the cause of its abiding popularity? The only one I know of is one which has been described as "a much-abused old course at a little place called St. Andrews, in the Kingdom of Fife." This...

38 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1920

About the author

B. 1870

Reviews

[Adam Kohl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this interesting, I will probably read some landscape architecture books in the future.

[Nolan O'Reilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little hard to understand cause so old but nevertheless was interesting to hear the raw thoughts of one of the greatest golf architects of all time. Bought this book as more of a collectors item than anything so it was worth it.

[Alexander Socinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a golf architecture enthusiast, a must read. Much of what Mackenzie writes about is still relevant in today’s design landscape, no pun intended