Art and Architecture
Paintings by Michael Miller

GolfClubAtlas.com is pleased to bring you thepaintings of Michael G. Miller, who has painted in a 19th century style in both still life and golf landscapes since 1985.

After having received formal training at UCLA Extension and the Brentwood Art Center, Mike benefited from the ‘one on one’ mentoring of Mr. Gene Mako in Los Angeles. Through these latter teachings, Mike developed an appreciation for the work of 19th century masters such as Henri Fantin-Latour, Jean Baptiste Chardin, Eugene Boudin, Winslow Homer, W. M. Chase, J.A.M. Whistler, Robert Henri, Frank Benson, and John Singer Sargent.

At the same time, Mike worked as the Head Golf Professional at Mountain Gate CC and then as the Head Golf Professional at Riviera Country Club from 1993 to 1998.

The dual career of painter and golf professional have merged into one as Mike paints full time now. In doing so, he calls on his experience in golf, a keen interest in golf course design and an intense interest in painting to produce noteworthy golf landscapes.

His one-man exhibition in the main gallery of the World Golf Hall of Fame Museum in St. Augustine, Florida ran to great acclaim. Golf architecture fans like Gil Hanse have acquired his paintings and Ben Crenshaw has one in his collection as well.

According to Hanse,

“The game of golf has been blessed with many talented artists focusing on the beautiful grounds upon which the game is played. In this era the work of Mike Miller is head and shoulders above the other artists focusing on golf. His paintings clearly evoke the feelings of the work of Harry Rountree, capturing tones and moods that pervade golf courses. As opposed to the mainly illustrative work of his contemporaries, Mike is able to put on canvas the subtle shades and nuances that add to the texture and feel of a real golf course. His focus on historic paintings has also resurrected many discussions about the true look and character of a golf course. I love old golf courses and new courses that feel old, Mike paints in a style that is able to capture that feeling perfectly.”

The paintings below are grouped by decade according to how the holes would have appeared at that time.

1910s

36 x 48 inches, Oil on Panel, Painted 2001. The original version of Macdonald’s ‘Cape’ was a 305-yard par-4 with a green situated far to the right of this version, perched atop Bull Head’s Bay. Macdonald constantly tinkered with his dream course, believing that a ‘first class course can only be made in time. It must develop. The proper distance between holes, the shrewd placing of bunkers and other hazards, the perfecting of putting greens, all must be evolved by a process of growth and it requires study and practice.’ The hole is longer today and the green was moved, but is still guarded by water, though not as dramatically as the original.

1920s

29′ x 40′, oil on panel: Sunningdale Golf Club, Berkshire, England. Architect: H.S. Colt. Constructed in 1922, Colt’s bunkering on the New Course was unlike anything seen in golf then – or now. Redefining ‘natural’, this medium length par 3 of 162 yards features some of the most artistic hazard work ever created. The ‘encircling’ character of the bunkers has the effect of causing the fairly large green to appear smaller to the golfer. Add elements like wind and weather and this is a small green indeed. Nonetheless, the bunkers’ shapes and depths allow for escape if the recovery shot is well played.

36′x48′ o/p A great par 3 of 217-226 yards; the tee shot is usually a full wood over the lake, rough grass and a road. It is often said it is a hole ‘where only God can make a three.’ Architect George Crump is reported to have felt that the green had too much ’squareness,’ but died before he decided what to do with it. As the title indicates, this painting depicts a windless summer day that would best allow the player a chance at avoiding the abundant areas of trouble.

36 x 48 inches, Oil on panel, Painted 2001. Winged Foot’s 190-yard par-3 tenth was considered by A.W. Tillinghast to be ‘the best par-3′ he ever built. From a slightly elevated tee, the player looks down on this well-bunkered green. Miller has illustrated the hole from the view of a golfer walking to the green, giving some sense of the massive scale of the bunkers and green complex. The Winged Foot terrain is relatively level, so to create these features and build them with a somewhat natural appearance, a great deal of fill was used and talented shapers did some of their finest work here for Tillinghast. The bunkers look remarkably similar today, however, Tillinghast’s original green has evolved into a smaller green than as depicted here in the late 1920s.

1930s

This classic 181 yard par 3 is depicted from the 1930’s when the trees had grown up and filled out somewhat since Crump’s day. Although a seemingly redan type par three because of the severe slope down and left from the right side of the green, it actually has a distinct character of its own. This hole calls for a right to left tee shot in order to reach the back left pin placement as the green funnels down to the front left. While any tee shot reaching the putting surface is a job well done, 3 (and even 4) putts are not uncommon on this severely sloped and undulating surface.

1950s

36′ x 48′, oil/panel. This view form the rocks left of the famous 18th, depicts one of the great finishing holes in golf before the encroachment of condos and homes on the right side of the fairway. The ever present threat of the rocky beach and blue Pacific is the prominent feature of this hole and therefore was used in this unusual perspective as the central focus of the painting.

1990s

24′ x 32′ oil on canvas. This mid length par 3, another example of the genius of George Thomas, features the inspirational concept of a bunker within the boundaries of the putting surface. This painting was done after the excellent restoration of #6 by architect Ron Forse in the 1990’s. The home atop the canyon wall behind the green was omitted from the painting as it only serves to distract from what is otherwise one of the more beautiful views in golf.

2000s

24″ x 32″ oil/canvas The very short but very demanding 18th requires pin point accuracy, both off the tee and with the approach. This view from the left side offers the best angle and view to reach the putting surface, although even if reached in regulation, the green offers many problems for a less than well judged and struck putt. It is not a bad idea to stay below the hole with your shot to the green, even if one is left with a chip shot.

The beautiful Tom Doak restoration of Alister MacKenzie’s bunkering is readily visible in this view up the finishing hole. With the California mountains in the background, the 18th and 15th greens positioned left and right below the elegant clubhouse, the Valley Club remains a journey back to the taste and charm of the old world.

This par 3 can be played form several different tees, all of which have been artfully set by architects Ben Creshaw and Bill Coore, at various angles and distances to this very steep multi-level green. Nonetheless, each of these variously elevated tees requires a shot into the prevailing Pacific breeze. A breeze that can play havoc with any shot that is less than solidly struck. Although there is a forced carry to the approach and green complex depicted here, a shot that misses the green left, right or long (as one can readily see) is in for some serious problems. Insofar that this hole appears so late in the round, it obviously reserves the potential to spoil the round of anyone who thinks they are going to tame Bandon Trails.

24′ x 32′ oil on canvas. This reachable in two,dogleg to the right par 5 still has some subtle problems for the player who misses to the right of the green. The green slopes from left to right and is very narow in the back right pin placement. The beautiful and stately trees behind the green make this hole particularly attractive and were therefore used to highlight the sun breaking through on an otherwise cloudy day.

Michael G. Miller’s 32 x 40 inch, oil on canvas depicts looming weather on the 445 yard par 4 from a cross-course perspective. In 1938, Charlie and Mary Reynolds Babcock donated 165 acres to help establish the Old Town Club next to their historic estate, now showcased as The Reynolda House and Gardens. At his investment firm – Reynolds & Company – Babcock once hired Clifford Roberts, the co-founder of the Augusta National, who had just commissioned Perry Maxwell to reconstruct many of Alister MacKenzie’s original green sites for The Masters Tournament. Delighted with the results, Roberts recommended that Babcock also retain Maxwell to design his employer’s new course in Winston-Salem.The Golden Age of golf architecture likely ended at this juncture, because Old Town remains the last significant design by any architect prior to World War II.

For information on commissioning Mike Miller to paint a specific hole for you or your club, please contact him directly on 765.393.3388. Limited edition prints are also available for the paintings featured above. Final edition prints are signed, numbered and titled, on Somerset Velvet paper, either cut or torn (deckled) edges, sprayed with UV protective coating, packed in clear sleeve with foamcore backing. Mike Miller can reached at mgmfineart@gmail.com or through his web site www.michaelgmillerfineart.net.