[Paul_Daley]

Neil: thanks for the elucidation on Mackenzie's lines. Do you think it was Alex Russell who installed the line at a later date? The two would have had untold discussions on lines. In what eventuated at RM, it's pretty clear that Mackenzie, at least mentally, adhered to the two-line adage. It shows on more than half the holes. 

Mark:
Your precied emphasis on how Mackenzie's principles were tied to economy in design and construction, leading to higher productivity, makes sense. One of the points I was trying to make, perhaps not too well, was that all of this was borne of his experiences at St Andrews. The Old Course is all economy; Mackenzie certainly was big on economy. 

[Mark Bourgeois]

Paul

I think with economy his biggest fight was with committees who only saw the cost of experts and not the value.  In my reading of his writings I saw economy as one of the ways he attacked that problem: a professional designer will save on construction costs.  This is especially true in considering the importance he attached to "finality in design."  He wrote in several places of poor construction -- and poor renovations -- that required a second or third pass.

Had they just hired him in the first place, they would have saved money.

The funny / ironic bit here is the discussion around how much time and effort Mac dedicated to his designs!

Oh -- St. Andrews.  I think he did like it for economy, but not necessarily in the way described above, not entirely.  Perhaps specifically it was for its "finality of design"?  And I think more significantly, it met his test of the "ideal."

Whaddya think?

Mark

[Mark Bourgeois]

Here's a MacKenzie quote from 1914:

"Personally, I am a strong believer in encouraging the individuality of the greenkeeper, and not interfering with his original ideas, unless they are in opposition to sound fundamental principles....Originality and variety are everything in golf."

This would explain a lot, yes?
1. His application of his principles in the field provided the underpinning or the support for him to use local assistance. The principles were an enabler -- his decision to use local assistance may not have been one merely of expediency.  He would have needed whoever he chose to understand and accept the principles.  The assistant's acceptance of this "intellectual capital" was part of the deal.
2. Electing to use local assistance boosted his productivity as Paul notes, but to the point of the quote it also enabled originality and variety.

If anyone's still reading this, would love to get his perspective on how the quote relates to MacKenzie's m.o.

Mark

[Adam Clayman]

Here's a MacKenzie quote from 1914:

"Personally, I am a strong believer in encouraging the individuality of the greenkeeper, and not interfering with his original ideas, unless they are in opposition to sound fundamental principles....Originality and variety are everything in golf."

Mark, Excellent stuff!  It also explains why, and how, the dark ages (1945-1989) came about. Especially that last sentence.

Poo pooing sound fundamentals is not a good thing.

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()