10 / 28
10
|
By Design
provided an annual report to the
Canadian National Railway,” he
explains. “He also produced a
renovation plan drawn in November
1926 indicating his intended
changes to the bunkering, including
the addition of multiple new
landforms and the introduction
of high sand faces to make the
bunkering far more visually
impressive.” Photographs from the
Canadian Amateur tournament in
1929 show that the changes had
been made to the course before
Banff Springs opened.
“I think of Harry Colt’s Toronto
Golf Club as our landmark course.
But I also believe Thompson’s work
surpassed Colt in Canada and he is
our most influential designer. As an
architect and as a historian I always
wanted to know when that exact
moment Thompson had his epiphany
was. I had previously thought this
came at Banff Springs, but I’m no
longer sure. The more I ventured
down the path, the more I believe
that it came at Jasper Park.”
Not all research projects will
rewrite history. But they do help
to inform today’s architects of the
decision-making process taken by the
designers of America’s first courses.
“Golf course architects from the
pre-1940 era were forced to utilize
the natural terrain to a maximum
due to limitations in equipment and
budgets,” says Ray Hearn, ASGCA.
“These historical jewels and ‘lay of
the land’ masterpieces influenced
early golf course design in America
and still do today.”
Hearn completed a renovation of
the Herbert J. Tweedie-designed
course at
Flossmoor CC
in Illinois,
and says the use of historical
documentation was a vital part of his
work there.
“Thanks to access to Flossmoor’s
100 Year Anniversary Guide, I was
able to look at the course’s original
routing and its evolution over time, as
well as the cultural and social history
of the club,” he explains.
Hearn also accessed old
newspaper articles about the course,
including one from 1918 by George
O’Neil, a renowned professional
golfer and architect in his own right,
who included the seventeenth hole
at Flossmoor on a list of the best 18
holes in the US he compiled for the
Chicago Daily Tribune.
Materials such as these enabled
Hearn to make an informed choice
as to what he felt the best course
of action for Flossmoor would be
going forward. “The routing of the
Flossmoor course has for the most
HISTORIC MATERIALS
A 1929 article by George O’Neil (left) helped inform the work Ray Hearn,
ASGCA, completed at Flossmoor Country Club. Also pictured is the original routing
of the course, which was initially named Homewood Country Club