13 81-75 Monterey Peninsula (Shore) California, USA Robert Baldock, Mike Strantz, 1960 Mike Strantz’s extensive 2003 redesign of the Shore course at Monterey Peninsula would be his last work before cancer robbed golf of one of its most innovative architects. With an artist’s sketchpad as his most powerful design tool, the Shore course provides a series of stunning landscapes. Strantz sandcapped the site to create a surface that would encourage a ground game and reversed many of its holes in the direction of its famous neighbour, Cypress Point. Baltusrol (Lower) New Jersey, USA AW Tillinghast, 1922 From 1948 Rees’ father Robert Trent Jones was retained to improve and modernise Tillinghast’s dual courses at Baltusrol. Among the changes was the addition of seventy yards in length at the par three fourth hole on the Lower course, which some members feared made it too difficult. Trent Jones famously responded by stepping onto the tee, holing his shot and announcing: “Gentlemen, I think the hole is eminently fair”. Trent Jones’ son Rees, along with design associate Steve Weisser, is currently helping prepare the Lower course for the 2016 PGA Championship. Lyne Morrison says: “Baltusrol Lower gains a vote for providing the best-sited womens’ tees on a traditional member course played to-date. It’s so very satisfying to be engaged with the intended strategy from the tee – and clear confirmation that this can be done!” The Island County Dublin, Ireland Fred Hawtree, Eddie Hackett, 1890 The club’s founding members, the ‘Syndicate’, made the original voyage from the village of Malahide to the linksland of The Island in the late nineteenth century, and it remained only accessible by boat for the first 80 years of its existence. The construction of a new access road in the 1970s prompted the relocation of the clubhouse from its original quayside location and a subsequent rerouting and redesign by Fred Hawtree and Eddie Hackett. Both Jeff Howes and Martin Hawtree have made revisions since, but the course’s sense of natural evolution remains. Formby Merseyside, England Willie Park Jr, 1884 The northwest coast of England has rich pickings when it comes to links golf and Formby’s, with its rolling fairways and tall pines, give it a unique character that elevates it into the company of its Open rota neighbours. “Visiting the course changed my life as a golf course architect,” says Michiel van Der Vaart of Jol Golf Design in the Netherlands. “One hole after the other is breathtaking and full of character”. Harbour Town South Carolina, USA Pete Dye, Jack Nicklaus, 1969 Pete Dye had given Jack Nicklaus his first taste of design with a consulting role at The Golf Club in Ohio. But at Hilton Head Nicklaus had a hand in every hole, working alongside Pete Dye to create a design that remains one of the most distinctive on the PGA Tour. The European Club County Wicklow, Ireland Pat Ruddy, 1993 Located on Ireland’s fabulous coastline south of Dublin, the European Club has been the labour of love for architect and owner Pat Ruddy and his family for the past twenty years. Taking a long term view, the course has evolved over that time and is now recognised as one of Ireland’s best. that the mountain side property has over 300 feet of elevation change and yet it is still easily walked by the majority of members. The first, fifth and sixth holes each plunge downhill 100 feet before reaching the seventh hole at the lowest end of the course. The routing then makes a gradual ascent up the mountainside, however the climb never seems strenuous. It is also interesting to note that there is never a tee shot or an approach shot into a green that climbs more than 11 metres (36 feet). In other words the shots are always manageable. Not only did Thompson brilliantly manage the challenging elevation changes in the routing, but he also managed to capture and frame many spectacular views out over the city of Vancouver to the Burrard Inlet and also back to Grouse Mountain at the top end of the course. The finishing holes (15, 16 17 and 18) situated in the ‘upper bowl’ below the stately clubhouse and the soaring slopes of Grouse Mountain, are unmatched anywhere in the world for their combined challenge and beauty. Over and above the brilliant routing, the green complexes and bunkers are works of art in and of themselves. Thompson’s trademark high sand flashings and swooping grass capes give each hole a unique identity and distinct personality. If a golfer had just one round left to play in their life, Capilano would be an excellent choice. ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE #80 ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE #80 ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE #79 ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE #78 ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE #77 ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE #76 ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE #75 Photo: Aidan Bradley ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE #75
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