Mackenzie - Public Access?

[Tom Huckaby]

Joel - are there really even three original holes at Sharp?  I didn't think so... I recall reading about it in Daniel Wexler's first Missing Links book - I thought it was all gone.

In any case, even with three holes, well... it's a decent muni but not worth seeking out for any particular reason, wouldn't you say?

Now Pasatiempo, that is worth seeking out.  The Doak restoration work is fantastic.  There have been several threads on the subject in this forum.

TH

[Brian_Ewen]

Ally
The last I heard on the Hazlehead plans was the developers were moaning about the council dragging their heels on what to do .

Personally I hope it never goes ahead , all the talk of sub-air systems and Tom Watson re-designing , while talking about returning it to the original design at the same time , comes across to me that they dont know what they are on about .

My likes at Hazlehead are identical to yours . Love the par3's , especially 6 and 9 , and on 17 , its always trying to stop my second ending up in that hidden backside bunker that I love.

10 and 11 are a bit ...?

I take it you dont play much there nowadays ? .

I always get a few rounds in at Hazlehead in a season , and its always a toss up between there or Balnagask when I come into Aberdeen .

I know many hate all the blind shots of Balnagask , but I dont think I have ever played a links course that plays so fast and firm all year round . Many on here would love it but as with Hazlehead turn their noses up while heading further north  

Best Regards
Brian

[Andrew Balakshin]

I got this list from a book I own.

First Tier

Royal Melbourne
Kingston Heath
Royal Adelaide
Pasatiempo
The Jockey Club


Second Tier

Moortown
The Alwoodley
University of Michigan
Ohio State University
Blairegowrie
New South Wales

And there is a 9 holer in California called Northwood.

Hope that helps.

[Tom_Doak]

Andrew:

If anyone goes to Buenos Aires and shows up at The Jockey Club acting like it is a public golf course, they will be turned away in a hurry.  It's a great club and you will have to treat it like one (with a letter in advance, in Spanish) if you want to see it.

[Andrew Mitchell]

Andrew, I think Bingley St Ives is by Alistair's brother, Charles.  Tom Doak certainly includes it in his list of wrongly attributed courses.  Fulford is another that is often attributed to the wrong MacKenzie.

Mark
Whilst I don't doubt you or Tom Doak for a minute the club seem content to promote their association with MacKenzie on their website

[Andrew Balakshin]

Andrew:

If anyone goes to Buenos Aires and shows up at The Jockey Club acting like it is a public golf course, they will be turned away in a hurry.  It's a great club and you will have to treat it like one (with a letter in advance, in Spanish) if you want to see it.

Tom,

I was actually thinking that same thing when I wrote that post because I always thought the Jockey Club was VERY private. If I sent them a letter (in Spanish) would it be difficult to get on? even if I just wanted to walk the course?

The reason I am asking this is because I am thinking about backpacking in SA this fall and, although I wouldn’t have my clubs, would really like to see it.

[Bill_McBride]

For anyone interested in playing a genuine MacKenzie in the US, you must make the pilgrimage to Pasatiempo.  There's nothing close that is equally accessible.

Tom Doak, you've played or walked the Jockey Club and it's really worth a visit?  My wife and I are spending five nights in Buenos Aires in January and I really hadn't planned to take my clubs or even try to get out there, given the little I've heard about how little Dr MacKenzie is still present there.

Thanks for your advice.......

[Tommy Williamsen]

Palmetto in Aiken SC is private but not all that hard to get on. In fact if you stay at the Willcox Inn, an OUTSTANDING small hotel just down the street, they can always secure a tee time for you. It is a teriffic course.

I am not really sure that MacKenzie did as much work at Palmetto GC as is reported.

[Tommy Williamsen]

I have asked this before , but is Hazlehead the cheapest McKenzie in the world at £13 a round ?

It seems to me that Cavendish east of Manchester is about 15 or 20 pounds and Reddish Vale in Manchester is about the same.

[Brian_Ewen]

I was visiting a friend in Bolton once , minus my clubs , and he stayed very close to a golf course , which I later found out was Bolton Old Links .

I have kicked myself since,as its listed as a MacKenzie .

Anyone played it ? .

[Ally Mcintosh]

Ally
The last I heard on the Hazlehead plans was the developers were moaning about the council dragging their heels on what to do .

Personally I hope it never goes ahead , all the talk of sub-air systems and Tom Watson re-designing , while talking about returning it to the original design at the same time , comes across to me that they dont know what they are on about .

My likes at Hazlehead are identical to yours . Love the par3's , especially 6 and 9 , and on 17 , its always trying to stop my second ending up in that hidden backside bunker that I love.

10 and 11 are a bit ...?

I take it you dont play much there nowadays ? .

I always get a few rounds in at Hazlehead in a season , and its always a toss up between there or Balnagask when I come into Aberdeen .

I know many hate all the blind shots of Balnagask , but I dont think I have ever played a links course that plays so fast and firm all year round . Many on here would love it but as with Hazlehead turn their noses up while heading further north  

Best Regards
Brian

yeah brian, the two front nine par 3's are beautiful... in fact, i prefer the front nine i think... first three holes are pretty great too...

...you are correct in that i haven't played hazlehead for about 15 years now... funnily enough i rarely played balnagask but always had a lot of fun when i did...

the articles i read about the hazlehead development led me to the same conclusions... they were talking about it possibly being "the best course in the world", holding a major equivalent to the masters and possibly holding the ryder cup... then they were talking about keeping it at 6,200 yards... the only way i can see it being improved (or at least lenghthened) would be to eat into the forestry behind the 14th green and to the left of 15... agree about 10 and 11...

[Brian_Ewen]

Ally
How muni. is Hazlehead ? .

Its the only course I have been given a free drop from my regular golfing partners , after my ball ended up next to an elderly gentleman sleeping in the heather with an empty bottle of Buckfast laying beside him .  

[Ally Mcintosh]

Ally
How muni. is Hazlehead ? .

Its the only course I have been given a free drop from my regular golfing partners , after my ball ended up next to an elderly gentleman sleeping in the heather with an empty bottle of Buckfast laying beside him .  

haha... funnily enough, one of my non-golfing friends lost his virginity in the greenside bunker on the 16th at hazlehead...

...i don't believe there were any golfers playing the hole at the time however...

[Marty Bonnar]

Ally
How muni. is Hazlehead ? .

Its the only course I have been given a free drop from my regular golfing partners , after my ball ended up next to an elderly gentleman sleeping in the heather with an empty bottle of Buckfast laying beside him .  

haha... funnily enough, one of my non-golfing friends lost his virginity in the greenside bunker on the 16th at hazlehead...

...i don't believe there were any golfers playing the hole at the time however...

Ally,
and there was me believing sheep were only supposed to SH-SH-SHELTER in bunkers, too.

FBD.

PS How about us ENE-Scotland contingent (you, Brian, Farnsie et moi) making a wee pilgrimage to Caird Park in Bonnie Dundee sometime soon to see whether we can prove if it actually is 'The Lost Colt'...?

[Brian_Ewen]

Martin
I STILL couldnt tell the difference between a Harry Colt and a Harry Hill  

[Marty Bonnar]

Martin
I STILL couldnt tell the difference between a Harry Colt and a Harry Hill  

Why, Brian, but that's EASY!

The Hill is the one with the bunkers with HUGE collars.... hardeehar

FBD.

[John Shimp]

Here is a quote from MacKenzie re: Palmetto and his work there:

Probably the highest compliment paid to Palmetto was made by Dr. Alister MacKenzie in the May 1933 edition of the American Golfer Magazine.  MacKenzie said, “The alterations at Palmetto have been such a success that the Chairman of Bobby Jones’ executive committee at the Augusta National writes me saying, ‘We have only one serious complaint to make against you regarding the Augusta National.  That layout you designed at Aiken is liked so well that the Aiken colony does not seem to be the least bit interested in coming over to the Augusta National’.”

I don't know if MacKenzie himself was ever on the property but Wendell Miller redid greens including contouring and converting from sand to grass.  Also, extensive bunkering was done.  Anyone who has been to Palmetto will recognize the bunkers as having the MacKenzie styling from photos.  They have recaptured that styling in recent work carried out by the club.