38 The Old Course, incomparable, sits atop – forged by Mother Nature,” says Paul Mogford of Crafter + Mogford Golf Strategies. Golf has been played at St Andrews for over 600 years, originally with players going out and then playing the same holes back in the reverse direction. The course evolved naturally, but Tom Morris, greenkeeper between 1865-1903, is generally regarded as having had the most influence on the current eighteen hole layout. Old Tom’s predecessor, Allan Robertson, though, deserves credit too, as it was in his reign that the Road Hole took shape, and the fearsome green was constructed. Every golf designer owes something to the Old Course. Alister MacKenzie mapped it; Harry Colt sat on the Green Committee for many years; CB Macdonald learned the game there; Tom Doak caddied on it for a formative year. The creation of the strategic school of design, at the turn of the twentieth century, came about because golfers who loved St Andrews reflected on why the newer courses of the day fell short of the original, and learned its lessons: width to give options, hazards in the line of play and holes that only reveal their true nature over repeated plays. It is a stretch to say that the measure of a golf course’s quality is how it matches up to St Andrews, but not a huge one. The Old Course’s place in the hearts of golf architects could clearly be seen by the furore that arose late last year, when plans to modify the course for the first time in almost a century were announced. For many, the question of whether or not the changes would be an improvement was an irrelevance. The Old Course, they said, is the original, and therefore by definition the best. ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE #1 St Andrews The Old Course All photos: Mark Alexander Architects’ Choice Top 100 Golf Courses Placed in top ten by 69% of architects Placed at No.1 by 23% of architects “ Fife, Scotland
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