Alister MacKenzie (August 30, 1870 – January 6, 1934) was a Scottish surgeon who was internationally known as a golf course architect. During
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, he also made contributions to military
camouflageCamouflage is a method of crypsis that allows an otherwise visible organism or object to remain indiscernible from the surrounding environment through deception. Examples include a tiger's stripes and the battledress of a modern soldier...
, which he saw as closely related to golf course design (MacKenzie 1920, pp. 128-131; Behrens 2009).
MacKenzie was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England, where he later became a teacher at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School.
Alister MacKenzie (August 30, 1870 – January 6, 1934) was a Scottish surgeon who was internationally known as a golf course architect. During
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, he also made contributions to military
camouflageCamouflage is a method of crypsis that allows an otherwise visible organism or object to remain indiscernible from the surrounding environment through deception. Examples include a tiger's stripes and the battledress of a modern soldier...
, which he saw as closely related to golf course design (MacKenzie 1920, pp. 128-131; Behrens 2009).
Background
MacKenzie was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England, where he later became a teacher at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School. Initially trained as a medical doctor, he served as a surgeon with the Somerset Regiment in
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
during the
Second Boer WarThe Second Boer War , commonly referred to as The Boer War and also known as the South African War , the Anglo-Boer War and in Afrikaans as the Anglo-Boereoorlog or Tweede Vryheidsoorlog , or the Engelse oorlog was fought...
(Doak 2001).
Camouflage service
During his wartime service, MacKenzie became interested in camouflage, which was effectively used by the Boers. As a result, during World War I, when he once again served in the military, he worked not as a surgeon but as a camoufleur. In a lecture he gave on the subject, he said that “The brilliant successes of the Boers [during his service in South Africa] were due to great extent to their making the best use of natural cover and the construction of artificial cover indistinguishable from nature” (MacKenzie 1934, p. 42).
Golf course design
Following World War I, MacKenzie left medicine entirely, and began to work instead as a golf course designer in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, in association with Harry Shapland Colt and Charles Alison, with whom he formed the London firm of Colt, MacKenzie & Alison. He excelled at golf course planning, although he himself was not a good golfer. He was one of the first persons who had not been a leading golfer to become a prominent course designer (Doak 2001).
By his own admission, he thought he had learned a lot about the golf course planning from having designed camouflage. There are references to the latter in his first book on course design, called Golf Architecture (MacKenzie 1920), such as when he writes that “there is an extraordinary resemblance between what is now known as the camouflage of military earthworks and golf-course construction” (p. 128), or later, when he states that there “are many other attributes in common between the successful golf architect and the camoufleur. Both, if not actually artists, must have an artistic temperament, and have had an education in science” (pp. 129-130). In that same book, he also writes that “the chief object of every golf course architect worth his salt is to imitate the beauties of nature [and presumably also the hazards] so closely as to make his work indistinguishable from nature itself.” [1]
MacKenzie worked in an era before large scale earth moving became a major factor in golf course construction, and his designs are notable for their sensitivity to the nature of the original site. He is admired for producing holes that offer an ideal balance of risk and reward, and for designing golf courses that challenge yet also accommodate players with a range of skills.
Legacy
In the 1920s he moved permanently to the United States, which is where he carried out his most notable work, although he continued to design courses outside that country as well. Today, he is remembered as the designer of some of the world’s finest courses, among them Century Country Club (
Purchase, New YorkPurchase, New York is a hamlet of the town of Harrison, in Westchester County. Its ZIP code is 10577.Purchase is home to Purchase College, which is part of the State University of New York system, Manhattanville College, a private liberal arts college, and the headquarters of PepsiCo, Inc,...
),
Augusta National Golf ClubAugusta National Golf Club, located in the American city of Augusta, Georgia, is one of the most storied and exclusive golf clubs in the world. Founded by Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts and designed by Alister MacKenzie on the site of a former indigo plantation, the club opened for play in...
(
Augusta, GeorgiaAugusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia. The City of Augusta and Richmond County governments merged operations in 1996; as of September 2008, the Augusta-Richmond county population was 192,851, not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the...
),
Cypress Point ClubCypress Point Club is a private golf club in California. The club has a single eighteen hole course, one of eight on the Monterey peninsular near Monterey, California. The course is well known around the world for its series of three holes that play along the Pacific Ocean: the 15th, 16th and 17th,...
(
Monterey PeninsulaThe Monterey Peninsula is located on the central California coast and comprises the cities of Monterey, Carmel, and Pacific Grove, and unincorporated areas of Monterey County including the private community of Pebble Beach.-Monterey:...
,
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
),
Royal Melbourne Golf ClubRoyal Melbourne Golf Club is widely regarded as Australia's most prestigious and celebrated golf club. It is located just south of the main urbanized area of Melbourne. Its two courses are each ranked amongst the best in the world by many international golf course ranking bodies and publications...
(Melbourne, Australia),
Pasatiempo Golf ClubPasatiempo Golf Club in Pasatiempo, Santa Cruz County, California. Designed by the famous Scottish architect Alister MacKenzie, the course is famed for its breathtaking scenery and rich golf history. MacKenzie claimed that it was his best ever layout, ahead of even Cypress Point and Augusta...
(
Santa Cruz, CaliforniaSanta Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the United States of America. As of the 2006 census estimate, Santa Cruz had a total population of 54,778, up 0.3% from the 2000 Census...
),
Crystal Downs Country ClubCrystal Downs Country Club is a private country club near Frankfort, Michigan. Designed by golf course architects Alister MacKenzie and Perry Maxwell in 1929, the par-70, 6,518 yard course offers views of Lake Michigan and Crystal Lake....
(
Frankfort, MichiganFrankfort is a city in Benzie County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,513 at the 2000 census. The elevation of Frankfort is 600 ft above sea level. The city is situated with Lake Michigan to the west, Lake Betsie, formed by the Betsie River before flowing into Lake Michigan, on...
), Lahinch Gold Course (Lahinch, Ireland), and Meadow Club (
Fairfax, CaliforniaFairfax is an incorporated town in Marin County, California, United States. Fairfax is located west-northwest of San Rafael, at an elevation of 115 feet...
) [see extended list of his courses below].
He died in
Santa Cruz, CaliforniaSanta Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the United States of America. As of the 2006 census estimate, Santa Cruz had a total population of 54,778, up 0.3% from the 2000 Census...
. Discovered after his death was an unpublished manuscript on golf and golf course design, which was posthumously published as
The Spirit of St. Andrews (MacKenzie 1995).
Further reading
- Behrens, Roy R. (2009), CAMOUPEDIA: A Compendium of Research on Art, Architecture and Camouflage. Dysart, Iowa: Bobolink Books. ISBN 9780971324466.
- Doak, Tom (2001), The Life and Work of Dr. Alister MacKenzie. New York: John Wiley. ISBN 9781585360185.
- MacKenzie, Alister (1915), “Military Entrenchments” in Golf Illustrated. Vol 3 No 1, pp. 42-45.
- MacKenzie, Alister [unsigned article, but authorship claimed by MacKenzie] (1919), “Entrenchments and Camouflage: Lecture by a British Officer Skilled in Landscape Gardening” in Professional Memoirs, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army and Engineer Department at Large. No 47, pp. 574-638.
- MacKenzie, Alister (1920), Golf Architecture: Economy in Course Construction and Green-Keeping. London UK: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent and Co. Ltd.
- MacKenzie, Alister (1934), “Common Sense of Camouflage Defence” in The Military Engineer. Vol XXVI No 145 (January-February), pp. 42-44.
- MacKenzie, Alister (1995). The Spirit of St. Andrews. Sleeping Bear Press. ISBN 1-886947-00-7.
- Muirhead, Desmond (1995), “Symbols in Golf Course Architecture” in Executive Golfer (July).
- New York Times (1934), “Alister MacKenzie Links Designer, Dies.” (January 7), p. 31.
Selected courses
- Crystal Downs Country Club
Crystal Downs Country Club is a private country club near Frankfort, Michigan. Designed by golf course architects Alister MacKenzie and Perry Maxwell in 1929, the par-70, 6,518 yard course offers views of Lake Michigan and Crystal Lake....
, Frankfort, MichiganFrankfort is a city in Benzie County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,513 at the 2000 census. The elevation of Frankfort is 600 ft above sea level. The city is situated with Lake Michigan to the west, Lake Betsie, formed by the Betsie River before flowing into Lake Michigan, on...
(1929 with Perry Maxwell), 10th best Course in U.S. Golf Digest 2007-08
- Meadow Club, Fairfax
- Places :Cities and towns in the United States:* Fairfax, California* Fairfax, Iowa* Fairfax, Minnesota* Fairfax, Missouri* Fairfax, Ohio* Fairfax, Oklahoma* Fairfax, South Carolina* Fairfax, South Dakota* Fairfax, Vermont* Fairfax, Virginia...
, CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
(1927): Classic layout overlooking Mt. Tamalpais was MacKenzie's first design in America.
- Claremont Country Club, Oakland, California
California is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
(1929): Located in the Oakland hills.
- Titirangi Golf Club, Titirangi
Titirangi is a suburb of Waitakere, one of the four cities of the Auckland urban area in northern New Zealand. It is a residential suburb located 13 kilometres to the southwest of the Auckland city centre, at the southern end of the Waitakere Ranges....
, Auckland, New Zealand (1926): A true championship course in natural surrounds. One of the top courses in New Zealand.
- The Old Course at Lahinch Golf Club in Ireland
Ireland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
(1927): Mackenzie reworked the original layout by Old Tom Morris layout on a stunning oceanside site. He left in a blind par 3 just for history's sake.
- The Portland Course at the Royal Troon Golf Club
Royal Troon Golf Club is a links golf course located in Troon, South Ayrshire, Scotland. The club was founded in 1878, and its Old Course is now one of the host courses for The Open Championship, one of the major championships on the PGA Tour and European Tour.The 2004 Open Championship was held at...
, in Troon, Scotland. A worthy and challenging companion to the Old Course, the many-times Open Championship site.
- Rosemont course at Blairgowie Golf Club, Perth and Kinross
Perth and Kinross is one of 32 unitary council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dundee City, Fife, Clackmannanshire, Stirling, Argyll and Bute and Highland council areas. Perth is the administrative centre...
, ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
(1927): One of Scotland's top-ranked courses. An inland parkland layout cut out of dense forests and moorlands.
- The No. 1 course at Hazlehead Park
Hazlehead Park is a large public park in the Hazlehead area of Aberdeen, Scotland. 180 hectares in size, it was opened to the public in 1920, having formerly been the estate of Hazlehead House, home of William Rose, shipbuilder....
, AberdeenAberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city and one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. It has an official population estimate of .Nicknames include the Granite City, the Grey City and the Silver City with the Golden Sands...
, ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
- Cypress Point Club
Cypress Point Club is a private golf club in California. The club has a single eighteen hole course, one of eight on the Monterey peninsular near Monterey, California. The course is well known around the world for its series of three holes that play along the Pacific Ocean: the 15th, 16th and 17th,...
, MontereyThe City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Variants of the city's name are recorded as Monte Rey and Montery. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of 2005, the city population was 30,641...
Peninsula, CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
(1928): A beautiful, well-crafted, course with a famously photogenic 16th hole. Rated the fourth greatest course in America by Golf DigestGolf Digest is a monthly golf magazine published by Condé Nast Publications in the United States. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's competitive golf. Condé Nast Publications also publishes the more specialized , and Golf World Business. The...
in 2005.
- Pasatiempo Golf Club
Pasatiempo Golf Club in Pasatiempo, Santa Cruz County, California. Designed by the famous Scottish architect Alister MacKenzie, the course is famed for its breathtaking scenery and rich golf history. MacKenzie claimed that it was his best ever layout, ahead of even Cypress Point and Augusta...
, Santa Cruz, CaliforniaSanta Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the United States of America. As of the 2006 census estimate, Santa Cruz had a total population of 54,778, up 0.3% from the 2000 Census...
(1929): A beautiful course and a difficult test of golf, perfectly blended into the northern California coastal forest.
- West Course at Royal Melbourne Golf Club
Royal Melbourne Golf Club is widely regarded as Australia's most prestigious and celebrated golf club. It is located just south of the main urbanized area of Melbourne. Its two courses are each ranked amongst the best in the world by many international golf course ranking bodies and publications...
, MelbourneMelbourne is the capital city and most populous city of the State of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne city centre is the anchor of the larger geographical area and statistical division known as the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area – of which Melbourne is...
, AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
(1931): Regarded by some as the finest course south of the equator.
- University of Michigan Golf Course University of Michigan
The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor is a public research university located in the state of Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university, the flagship campus of the University of Michigan, and one of the top public universities in the world...
, Ann Arbor, MichiganAnn Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. It is the state's seventh largest city with a population of 114,024 as of the 2000 Census, of which 36,892 are university or college students...
(1931): One of the first and finest on-campus golf courses in the United States.
- Haggin Oaks Golf Course, Sacramento
Sacramento, an Italian-, Spanish- and Portuguese-language word meaning sacrament, is a common toponym in parts of the world where those tongues were or are spoken....
, California. Popular golf course in northern California. Site of the California State Fair Championship. Ben Hogan won his first professional check at Haggin Oaks.
- The Valley Club of Montecito Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the west coast, between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the sea, and having a Mediterranean climate, it is called California's...
, California (1928)
- Northwood Golf Club Monte Rio, California (1928)
- The Scarlet Course
The Ohio State University Golf Club is located at 3605 Tremont Road, Columbus, Ohio 43221. It was founded by L.W. St. John, . The golf club has two classical golf courses called Scarlet and Gray. The Scarlet was completed in 1938 and the Gray was finished later in 1940...
at The Ohio State UniversityOhio State University is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the largest single-campus university in the United States. Ohio State is currently ranked by U.S...
, Columbus, OhioColumbus is the capital and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. It is the county seat of Franklin County, although parts of the city also extend into Delaware and Fairfield counties...
(1931): One of the best collegiate golf courses in the United States.
- Augusta National Golf Club
Augusta National Golf Club, located in the American city of Augusta, Georgia, is one of the most storied and exclusive golf clubs in the world. Founded by Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts and designed by Alister MacKenzie on the site of a former indigo plantation, the club opened for play in...
, Augusta, GeorgiaAugusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia. The City of Augusta and Richmond County governments merged operations in 1996; as of September 2008, the Augusta-Richmond county population was 192,851, not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the...
, USA. (1933): Bobby JonesRobert Tyre "Bobby" Jones Jr. was one of the greatest golfers to compete on a national and international level. He participated only as an amateur, primarily on a part-time basis, and chose to retire from competition at age 28.Explaining his decision to retire, Jones said, "It is something like a...
chose MacKenzie ahead of Donald Ross to co-design the only course in the world which stages The Masters every year. Rated the greatest course in America by Golf DigestGolf Digest is a monthly golf magazine published by Condé Nast Publications in the United States. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's competitive golf. Condé Nast Publications also publishes the more specialized , and Golf World Business. The...
in 2009.
- Green Hills Country Club
Green Hills Country Club, located in Millbrae, California, is often referred to as the San Francisco Peninsula’s “hidden gem”. Green Hills is a private members-only country club located on the San Francisco peninsula approximately 20 minutes south of the city....
, Millbrae, California (1930) (The Union League Golf and Country Club of San Francisco). A magnificent layout, often called the "gem" of the San Francisco Peninsula.
- Sharp Park Golf Course, Pacifica, California
Pacifica is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean between San Francisco and Half Moon Bay.-Overview:The City of Pacifica is spread along a six mile stretch of the north central California coastal beach and hills, nestled in several small valleys spanning between...
(1932)
- Tijuana Country Club, Mexico (1929).
- Buenos Aires, Argentina (1931) Jockey Club: The area's most noteworthy course and the must-play in San Isidro, which hosts two full-length courses designed in his prime in 1930. The Red is the championship layout.
- Royal Adelaide Golf Club
The Royal Adelaide Golf Club is a private golf club in Adelaide, South Australia. It is widely acknowledged as ranking with the best in Australia, and has a world ranking that fluctuates around 50....
, AdelaideAdelaide is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of South Australia, and is the fifth-largest city in Australia, with a population of more than 1.1 million. It is a coastal city situated on the eastern shores of Gulf St. Vincent, on the Adelaide Plains, north of the Fleurieu...
, AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
(1926)
- Cavendish Golf Club, Buxton
Buxton is a spa town in Derbyshire, England. It has the highest elevation of any market town in England. Located close to the county boundary with Cheshire to the west and Staffordshire to the south, Buxton is described as "the gateway to the Peak District National Park"...
, DerbyshireDerbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains...
, EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
(1925), whose design has been largely unaltered .
- Cork Golf Club, Cork
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster...
, IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
(1927).
- Teignmouth Golf Club (1924), Devon, England. Situated on top of Little Haldon, 800 feet above sea level and with views of Dartmoor, the Teign Estuary and the Exe Estuary