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Ian Larson

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Extinct Max Behr across the street from LACC South?
« on: February 03, 2008, 01:26:04 PM »
As I was looking at old aerials of LACC from 1934 I noticed a golf course across the street from the South Course. I was told that it was an old Max Behr and it was called Westwood Country Club or Westwood Golf Club. In its place now are the skyscrapers of Century City. Anyone know about this extinct layout?
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TEPaul

Re:Extinct Max Behr across the street from LACC South?
« Reply #1 on: February 03, 2008, 02:16:57 PM »
C&W doesn't attribute any Westwood to Behr but that doesn't really mean much. But if those boys out there in California who are some real Behr experts don't know about it I would be very surprised.

There's a real irony here, it would seem, with Behr and most of the courses he did out there. That is Maxie created a very interesting two-part philosophy he called "Permanent Architecture" and some of his ads even had that on them but most everything Maxie did seems to be about the least permanent it could get.

Some of it was destroyed by Nature (the very thing he tried to design to prevent), and a lot of the rest was massively redesigned or just used for something else.

The contradictions with Maxie go on. Here's a guy who just slammed Joshua Crane in the 1920s for trying to apply a mathematical analysis and formulae to architecture to determine its quality---but yet towards the end of his life Maxie developed his own philosophy based on his own numerology to explain all things, I guess.

The guys was something else but MAN, could he ever write!! :)

Oh, sorry, that was pretty complex too.

I don't know why a guy who seemed to make so much sense with his ideas on permanent architecture could have this happen to so many of his courses.

But I don't think it was Maxie's fault really. It probably just has to do with the fact there are so many total nutcases out there in California.

And if it's not their fault that so much of his architecture went down the tubes then it must be George Bush's fault somehow because everything else wrong in this world now is his fault.
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Michael Robin

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Re:Extinct Max Behr across the street from LACC South?
« Reply #2 on: February 04, 2008, 12:17:27 PM »
Wow, the only prior use of that land that I was aware of was that it use to be part of the Back Lot for the 20th Century Fox Studios, and when they sold off the land to developers, the area became known as Century City. Did not know that there was a golf course there before.
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Ian Larson

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Re:Extinct Max Behr across the street from LACC South?
« Reply #3 on: February 04, 2008, 12:34:02 PM »
Michael, thats what I was told about that land as well. Whether or not it was a Behr design still is to be proven. I lent the pictures to a colleague but as soon as I get them back I will scan and post them.
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Tim Leahy

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Re:Extinct Max Behr across the street from LACC South?
« Reply #4 on: February 04, 2008, 12:46:04 PM »
See if you can bring out Tommy Nac, he is the LA golf historian. Maybe he will still answer an IM.
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Craig Disher

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Re:Extinct Max Behr across the street from LACC South?
« Reply #5 on: February 04, 2008, 12:53:59 PM »
Ian,
I asked the same question of Tommy a couple years ago when I saw a 1938 photo of the site. By then, buildings had been constructed and only the remnants of a few holes were visible. It wasn't clear whether the course extended from Santa Monica Blvd all the way to W. Pico or if it only filled about half the site. In the 1938 photo holes are visible in the northern half; the southern half is excavated and contains a few buildings. The course could have been either 9 or 18 holes. Was the course still intact in 1934?
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David Stamm

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Extinct Max Behr across the street from LACC South?
« Reply #6 on: February 04, 2008, 07:50:19 PM »
I think the course you are thinking of, Ian, is a course called Westwood Pay-as-you-Play GC (No joke, that's the name.) It was a Behr and it was just as the name suggests, you payed as you played. If I remember right, TN told me it was across the street from Hillcrest. In either case, I'm almost positive it's the same course.


BTW, there was a few of Behr's courses in this area and they are all NLE.
« Last Edit: February 04, 2008, 07:58:55 PM by David Stamm »
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"The object of golf architecture is to give an intelligent purpose to the striking of a golf ball."- Max Behr

Todd Rohrer

Re:Extinct Max Behr across the street from LACC South?
« Reply #7 on: February 04, 2008, 08:05:18 PM »
Hey David,

Do you know if it was pay-per-shot?  I don't think I could ever have afforded that concept...
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Allan Long

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Re:Extinct Max Behr across the street from LACC South?
« Reply #8 on: February 04, 2008, 08:16:20 PM »
In the Cheviot Hills area of LA, Behr did some work on the original California Country Club not far from Hillcrest.

In the Course section of C&W's book, they list that Behr did work on the current California CC in Whittier, but he was dead before the current course was built. In his bio section though, they correctly identify that he did work on a California CC that no longer exists.

I'm not sure if that is this course or not, but I believe that the original California CC was in Century City.

You out there Tommy?
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I don't know how I would ever have been able to look into the past with any degree of pleasure or enjoy the present with any degree of contentment if it had not been for the extraordinary influence the game of golf has had upon my welfare.
--C.B. Macdonald

David Stamm

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Extinct Max Behr across the street from LACC South?
« Reply #9 on: February 04, 2008, 08:23:05 PM »
Quote from: Allan Long on February 04, 2008, 08:16:20 PM
In the Cheviot Hills area of LA, Behr did some work on the original California Country Club not far from Hillcrest.

In the Course section of C&W's book, they list that Behr did work on the current California CC in Whittier, but he was dead before the current course was built. In his bio section though, they correctly identify that he did work on a California CC that no longer exists.

I'm not sure if that is this course or not, but I believe that the original California CC was in Century City.

You out there Tommy?


Tommy's not coming out, but I'll try the best I can. California CC was also known as Cheviot Hills. As I said, I'm almost positive the course Ian is referring to is Westwood-pay-as-you-play GC. I remember TN telling me it was one of the first daily fee courses of it's kind.
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"The object of golf architecture is to give an intelligent purpose to the striking of a golf ball."- Max Behr
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