55 wasn’t enough, he lost his home in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles in the January wildfires. Thankfully, the online golf architecture community came together and raised money to help get him back on his feet (you can donate by searching his name on gofundme.com). It isn’t an exaggeration to say that the Maggie project is what has kept him going. Maggie Hathaway does not occupy an expansive property. It is essentially a square some 220 yards on each side, with an additional tongue of land that is 150 yards long and just over sixty wide. In this twelve acres of land are nine holes of golf, a driving range and the ‘clubhouse’. But once the Hanse team is done, there will be few such small areas anywhere in the world that contain as much golf, and as much golf interest. Tommy and his team are incorporating many of the most famous green designs in golf into the course: a Redan, Biarritz, Eden, you name it. What makes the Maggie project important for golf is, without doubt, its community aspects. Even after years of regeneration, the surrounding area is not affluent. Yet the nature of urban development means it is cheek by jowl with some of the wealthiest areas on the planet, making it a stark reminder of the inequalities of modern life. From the golf course, the skyscrapers of downtown Los Angeles are clearly in view. SoFi Stadium, where the Chargers and the Rams play NFL football is only two miles away. The topography of the Los Angeles area means that both the Hollywood sign and the Griffith Observatory can be seen from the golf course. I have been visiting Los Angeles for over twenty years, but it was only when I visited Maggie Hathaway that I realised how close wealth and poverty were in the city. I had not realised, until I visited the course with Tommy, that his family has deep roots in the area. As a part of the work, the first green will move perhaps twenty yards, making the aiming point the spire of Saint Eugene’s Catholic Church a few blocks away. Tommy pointed it out and said to me ‘My aunt and uncle were married there’. When it reopens, possibly as early as late this year, I hope the people of the area enjoy playing golf at Maggie Hathaway, and that a huge number of young Angelenos discover our great game in its twelve acres. But most of all, I hope Tommy can sit in the parking lot in his car, wave his arm at the course and say with pride ‘I did that’. “ Once the Hanse team is done, there will be few such small areas anywhere in the world that contain as much golf” Work in progress on the fourth green, a double plateau design. The course is expected to be ready for play before the end of 2025 MAGGIE HATHAWAY Photo: Hanse Golf Design
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzQ1NTk=