12 WH I TMAN, AX L AND & CUT TEN Brantford Golf & Country Club is the fourth oldest club in North America, with its origins dating back to 1879. This is an impressive feat in and of itself. However, what many may fail to realise is that thew original 18-hole golf course was a Thompson, Cumming and Thompson design, with much of the design input coming from Stanley’s older brother Nicol Thompson. Nevertheless, Stanley did cut his teeth as a designer at Brantford. In fact, Brantford seemingly represents one of the early launching points of his solo career, and that of Canada’s greatest golf course architect. The 2021 season marked the centennial of 18 holes being played at Brantford. Many changes had occurred over that time, including a major 18-hole renovation and a rerouting of the golf course in the mid-1960s by Stanley Thompson’s protegee Robbie Robinson. Since then, both major and minor bunker projects had been completed and in-house adjustments made to the golf course. However, none of these efforts had been carried out in a holistic manner spanning the entire property. The result was a mixed bag of architectural styles. As Taking a holistic approach to a Canadian gem Keith Cutten of WAC Golf reflects on the design firm’s course-wide renovation at Brantford Golf & Country Club WAC Golf ’s renovation at Brantford has touched the entire property Photo: Andrew Harvie
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