The Spirit of St. Andrews
Alister MacKenzie is well known among students of golf. He rightfully earned his place in the ranks of great golf course architects. By himself or with others he designed hundreds of golf courses, including Augusta National, Pasatiempo, and his greatest work, Cypress Point.
Nonetheless, he never felt that any of his courses improved upon the delights to be found in playing The Old Course at St. Andrews.
During 1933 and 1934 he wrote this book, but died before it could be published. Family members eventually re-discovered the manuscript, and golfers can all benefit from its recent publication.
The architect has a definite voice, and very definite opinions. MacKenzie had several obvious character traits, many of which are on display in this book. He is not shy. He does not mind expressing his opinions forcefully. He had a keen dislike for most golf committees. He also knew what he was doing, as anyone who has had the good fortune to play his courses can tell you.
Again and again MacKenzie stresses the critical features of St. Andrews that he tried so many times to recreate elsewhere—the undulating ground, the multiple routes for successful playing of the holes, and the ability to keep golfers entranced by the endless sense of possibility.
In short, The Old Course has a sense of sport about it, and many other courses forget that basic ingredient. To MacKenzie, nothing was worse than a series of narrow, straight fairways, high rough, and repeated pitch shots to the green. Go over with your mind’s eye the back nine at Augusta, or find a picture of the 18th green at Pasatiempo, and you’ll understand MacKenzie’s approach to design.
One chapter, “Economy in Golf Course Construction,” is a well-articulated, patient explanation of why golf course owners and developers should use a well-trained golf course architect. He effectively makes the economic and logical argument for the use of professionals, while also recognizing the basic problem with his profession:
An architect’s fee is often less than a hundredth part of the total capital expenditure, and surely this is a small sum to pay for the assurance of perpetual prosperity. * * * The unfortunate thing about golf courses is that every professional and almost every golfer thinks he can lay out a golf course.
MacKenzie intersperses many of his pieces with jokes and humorous stories. Some are dated, and some would now be called politically incorrect. Many of them are still funny, though, and all of them help illustrate the points he makes in the book.
The good doctor reads like a man who would have been a pleasure to know as a friend and golfing companion. He understood that golf is a game, and that the golf course architect’s role is to keep the game fun and interesting for as many people as possible.
He succeeded tremendously in meeting that requirement, and this book helps show us why.
Review date: October 4, 1998