Willie Park, Jr.

[Jeff_Mingay]

The name Willie Park, Jr. instigates comparatively little discussion these days, which seems to me to be very unfortunate.

Park's turn of the twentieth century works at Sunningdale and Huntercombe in the heathlands, completed in 1901, were really the first inland golf courses to exhibit links characteristics and principles, and natural aesthetics, as I understand.

Those early heathlands works developed for Park a reputation as an expert in the infant fields of golf course design, construction, and upkeep, which lead to over 70 golf course designs in North America prior to his death in 1925.

Again, Park goes comparatively unappreciated today as a pioneer. Of his North American courses, I've visited Calgary,  Weston in Toronto, Mount Bruno (pre McBroom), Ottawa Hunt (post McBroom), as well as Meadowbrook and Red Run in suburban Detroit. That's it. These golf courses have suffered terribly from natural evolution and blatant redesign. I suspect there's very, very, very little authentic Park left here in North America. (Although that may soon be remedied, we'll see...)

Are there any other Park designs left out there today that continue to exhibit the pioneer spirit, creativity, and imagination this two-time Open championship seems to have possessed? Just curious.  

[Gerry B]

Jeff:

I have played Calgary twice and it is hard to say which part is Park and which part is Tom Bendelow (Medinah #3) - I suspect the latter -who is also credited as course designer. Nice course in the heart of the city -some more penal bunkers are in order but some interesting green complexes and elevation changes. The 2 finishing holes are fabulous. Club has a predominately older membership that probably likes it just like it is and it is always in great shape. And you have to love the elevator between # 10 green and #11tee box - like a couple of courses I have played in Japan.

Is Maidstone not a Willie Park course? Have not played it  -but heard it is wonderful.

[Tyler Kearns]

Jeff,

   Southwood CC in Winnipeg was originally designed by Willie Park Jr. The first revisions to the course occured only 4 years after its completion, with Stanley Thompson re-designed 5 greens. The course is situated adjacent to the University of Manitoba, and is bisected into three parcels of land by major roads. The course is quite short, and many players cite the fact that the driver is taken out of their hands as a major downfall. Conversely, the greens are fantastic which is attributable to both the original architecture and the work of a talented superintendent. Four greens were re-built in the not so distant past, and the reason for it remains unclear, but they do stand out as being much less interesting than the others. I do not know if the roads bisecting the course were the cause of any renovations over time?

Tyler Kearns

[T_MacWood]

Sylvania in Toledo is a gem....why it is not better known is beyond me.

[Mike_Sweeney]

Jeff,

Maidstone is obviously well liked here at GCA (except for Mr Ward ). I have not played any of the Park courses in CT, although I have walked a few holes at Madison CC. It is a very tight property, very flat and close to but not on Long Island Sound. New Haven CC and Woodway seem to be well respected but maybe not inspiring. Driving by Woodway in Darien again looks tight and they just built a new clubhouse in a new location, so the routing probably changed.

The other one that I have played besides Maidstone is Greate Bay at The South Jersey Shore. The property has been chopped up over the years by condos, roads and a new clubhouse which again changed the routing. There were some great holes and I understand that Archie Struthers who is the Owner or GM and the architect of Twisted Dune has done some nice work to take it back to its Park heritage. Maybe he will see this post or others who may have played it more recently than I.

[ian]

Jeff,

I can tell you the Canadian courses I know.

Park Jr laid out Beaconsfield, which was renovated by Thompson some 20 years later. The back nine routing is worth seeing, its a very outstanding use of one dominant limestone ridge on almost every hole. Gibralter is amazing, one of Canada's finest threes.

Laval-sur-le-lac (green) is Willie Park Jr, and much of the origional course is there (hidden in the trees). Some really great threes on the back are ruined by large trees. Worth playing, and I know somebody who can arrange the game for you.

Islesmere GC is very intact and much of the orgional bunkering still exists. The bunkering is quite detailed and a times very bold. I thought Strong had renovated the bunkers like the best of the ones at Laval, until I saw the old aerials which confirmed that the bunkers were Willie's. Mind blowing stuff, compared to the simplicity of Weston. Club is very french.

I have not seen Whitlock, I'm not sure why really!

Weston is OK, but the bunkers have nothing to do with Park.

Bruno is real interesting and at times very good, but not the great secret gem people assume is hiding in the mountain. Trees need to go to return what was intended.

Toronto Hunt is a nine holer around the corner from the house, but like Ottawa Hunt, it loks like a McBroom course, nt a Park course.

Isn't Royal Ottawa a Willie Park? Its about to be redone by Cooke.

[Jeff_Mingay]

Tyler,

I'll be blunt, do you know what the principle reason for putting green reconstruction and so many other changes to classic courses in our country (Canada) has been? A contemporary golf architect's desire to make money. Period.

We have so few golf architects here in Canada these days who are principled. Which I guess I should accept, because I agree, people choose a living and they're free to do what they need to do to generate income.

But, geez... so many of our classic courses have been altered for the sake of sending a bill, it's sickening.

[Jeff_Mingay]

Ian,

As you know, I'm yet to see any of Park's historically significant work in Quebec, unfortunately. Islesmere sounds like it's worth the trip. (I think you had told me that before... I must have had a few too many Labatt at that point in the conversation last time!)

Ottawa Hunt and Toronto Hunt are a disaster, two historic courses in Canada that would have been much better served in the long run retaining their history. Ottawa Hunt is definitely a eye-opening study - much like Inverness in Toldeo - on "modernization". Yet, if go to Tom McBroom's website, you can read about how he respected Willie Park, Jr.'s original design and restored the course to Park's original intent. What a joke.

Royal Ottawa has a ton of potential. But, as far as I know, it's Tom Bendelow's work originally. Perhaps Park visited and did some remodeling work later? I'm not sure.

Nonetheless, Cooke's work over past decade or so at Royal Ottawa (I think he's been working with the club that long) is very "modern" in appearance. And far from comprehensive.

I visited a few years ago and was astonished at how much the original green parameters had shrunken in over the years. None of them had been expanded back out to their original margins. Many evergreen trees have been planted as well, and as a result, the course is very, very claustrophobic.
Moreover, a bunch of new bunkers and several new greens contrast greatly with original features.  

It's quite disappointing, 'cause I think Royal Ottawa has tremendous potential to capitalize on its history. It's kind of a Canadian version of Myopia Hunt, Garden City, old Inverness... that vein. If some of those classic features were reinstituted, along with a classic aestheic, Royal Ottawa would become again one of Canada's most unique golf courses, complimenting by one of golf's most attractive, and historic clubhouse overlooking the 18th green.

I fear though, we have another Ottawa Hunt on our hands.

[Peter_Herreid]

Perhaps I am not remebering correctly and Jeff Goldman can set us straight, but isn't Olympia Fields North a Willie Park, Jr. design?  

I know it was worked on leading up to last year's Open, but I would think a fair amount of that course is still fairly true to Park's original design.  I'll have to go back and re-read T. Lavin's "My home course" piece...

Peter

[kwl]

olympia fields is was a w. park venue.
as you stated, many have been changed. red run was recently revamped/modernized by ray hearn (over the last year and complete?)

[Michael Moore]

This here is a picture of the seventh green at the Castine Golf Club in Castine, Maine, a largely untouched Park Jr. nine holer. I hope that one can make out the severe ridge which vertically bifurcates this green.

I love this kind of design, in which a small amount of dirt has been moved and piled up a very short distance away.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Philmont South in Huntingdon Valley, PA is a Park design from 1907. Small undulating greens characterize this course, the original course at Philmont. The North is a Flynn/Toomey design built in the 1920s.

Steve

[Pete Lavallee]

New Bedford CC, in Mass. has the orignal 9 holes by Park with Ross adding 9 more. My recollection was that the Park holes were far superior to the ones Ross added, granted the fact that the Park holes occcupy the more interesting terrain. The course just recently had restoration/renovation; I'de be interested to here opinions on how it came out.

[Jason Mandel]

Philmont South,

although others probably know more about this than I, i believe some of the orignial holes here have been changed, and maybe even the greens.  it's a tight little course but does have some very neat holes, in particular a couple of the par 3's.

This was the orignial course for Philmont, until they brought Flynn in to do the new course.  there is a lot of architecture in that south course, and every summer when they have their north/south better ball, they get the greens at ridiculous speeds, especially on the south course, and it becomes one of the tougher test of golf.

[Robert Mercer Deruntz]

If you think Rulwich messed up Yale, you still might find it hard to believe what he did to Woodway!Woodway was a great layout with some really cool holes--that is; as long as you could visiualize it with literally 5,000 less trees!  Woodway and its trees--the club takes great pride in how they took a huge open meadow and created a golf course that weaves through an overgrown forrest.  The clubhouse was moved recently at extemely great expense and resulted in the compromising of 3 holes.  A new par 3 18th now exists.  This green is probably 3X the size of the other 17 greens and features several tiers, some Rulwich style bunkers, and a pond.  Those who have played Rulwich courses have played this hole several times before--this hole is the very definition of generic!  

[Bill Weber]

I don't know how original the front at Tumblebrook in Bloomfield, Ct. is but it is clearly a delight and IMO better than the newer back.

[Chris_Clouser]

Was it my imagination or did Olympia Fields at one time have a course profile on this site?  

Where did it go?

[tlavin]

Chris,

I wrote a profile of Olympia Fields in the "My Home Course" section of this website.  OFCC North is a Park design, with very few major modifications over the years, except for relentless lengthening and deepening of fairway bunkers.  There are at least a dozen holes that look exactly the way they looked in the '20s.

[Nick_Ficorelli]

Jeff:
You should probably see Battle Creek C.C.
It had a Bill Newcomb hatchet job but the routing is intact, I believe ,and working on a small piece of property his effect appears to be minimized.

[Craig Disher]

Jeff,
Rolliing Road GC outside Baltimore is a real gem. It is almost unchanged except for the loss of large cross bunkers on the back-to-back par 5s. It's on a tight piece of property (one hole requires a tee shot over the preceding green) and is only a little over 6000 yards but his use of the elevation changes makes it play much longer.

The course is in Catonsville, a suburb SW of Baltimore and on a reasonably clear day from the clubhouse there's a great view of the Baltimore harbor 10 miles away.

I don't think Park designed any courses farther south than this.

[Jonathan Davison]

I sure a lot of Willie Park jnrs early work was in and around the North East of England, we have a number of his courses.
Newbiggin, Hartlepool, Tynemouth and Goswick, with maybe only Newbiggin which still looks and feels like an original. From his early designs he certainly got the most from the landscape. What interests me is that many wonderful architects have worked in the north east of England but nobody talks about our courses or history within the game.

[Jeff Goldman]

Let me second Terry Lavin's view that OFCC North is quite similar to the time it was built (no surprise; Terry knows far more about the course than I ever will).  The routing is the same, and I was stunned to see pictures from the 1920s showing holes that look eerily similar to what you see today - same tree coverage, and some really deep bunkers more reminiscent of the course now than before the recent work.  I do not know how much the greens have changed, but it appears that 15 of the greens have been affected only by time.  Changes to note:  Originally a couple of holes had bunkers dead center up the fairway (17 and 12(??)), which were removed in preparation for the 1928 Open, and hole 3 (12 at the US Open) now has two greenside bunkers below the green on the right (stair-step fashion), whereas in the 20s there appears to have been just one big catcher's mitt.  I do not know when that changed.  Also, a small pond was added in the 1960s short right of the green on 18.

Jeff Goldman

[archie_struthers]

 


Man, its tough playing golf in the Northeast again! Hard to bite on the global warming theory the last couple years around here.

I'm sitting here lookin through the mist at a couple of Park holes here at Greate Bay. His design of the Ocean City/Somers Point Golf Course (1923) was reconfigured by George Fazio with help from his nephew Tom in the early 70's at which time the club became known as Greate Bay.

A lot of Parks' original work still shines through with some beautiful, if simplistic greeen complexes similar to many you will find at Olympia Fields. The seventh green at Geate Bay is one of the finest greens I have ever seen, wickedly difficult with some of the most subtle green gradations anywhere. Much of Parks course is intact at Greate Bay with Fazios' major work being the addition of lots of formal bunkers which replaced the native sand areas.

Willie supposedly did some tweaking of the Atlantic City Country Club while in town, predating the redo by Mr. Flynn and recently our own Tom Doak. I will do some more research on this.

Don't forget Sunningdale, which many think is Parks' real epiphany. I'd like to have some of our overseas brethren chime in on their observations on this one.

As to Greate Bay, Parks' use of false fronts and smallish greens has made even the existing course, that will someday soon be extensively restored, wery resistant to scoring, The competitive course record four years after changes to #'2,3, 10& 16 is 67, just three under par. Hard to believe but true!

[Mick]

Jonny Davidson,

I too hail from the North-East (Cramlington), but left before I took up the game.  In doing some research I notice that Braid and Colt also laid a few tracks in the area.  Knowing how unspoiled and spectacular the scenery is up the old coast road (used to go to seahouses all the time), you must get some great sea views from places like Dunstanburgh (Braid), Bamburgh (Rochester), and Alnmouth (the newer, Colt I think).  Maybe you could give a little more info on Newbiggin or start a thread or two detailing some of the places you've played.  Alnmouth Village (4th oldest track in Britain) sounds brilliant.  

Its no real surprise that the North-East gets little mention in golf lore, it's the North-East we always get overlooked and quite frankly given the prices at some of these courses, I hope it stays that way at least until I can get back to play them.

Mick

[Tyler Kearns]

Jeff,

    I appreciate the blunt response, and couldn't agree with you more.    It is sad that architects who wax eloquent about classic architecture have perpetuated the deconstruction of many great golf courses all over North America. Often the best advice an architect can give is to leave the golf course alone, and therein lies the catch 22. Principles matter, they may not always pay the bills, but the do help one sleep at night!!

Tyler Kearns