Although Corley-Smith does not credit Macan with much of this work, the club views itself largely as a Macan design and certainly some of the greens are very typical of him.
Dale, I was until recently a member of a Macan course in Portland (Columbia-Edgewater), and wonder what you see as as "..greens..typical of him."? I am seriously interested as I saw nothing consistent in style at CECC and haven't played any other Macan courses except California Club. Please elaborate!
I have played CECC once and have discussed the course with two or three members. In playing the course and through discussions, it seems likely there is very little left of the original greens, they mostly have a more modern feel. The routing though is pure Macan, there is something to way he built courses that brings a similarity from course to course. I have played a fair number of his courses - Shaughnessy, Fircrest, Inglewood and some others and I always feel somehow "at home". I can't explain it but have talked to others who feel the same way.
What makes a Macan green? He wrote an article on the subject which I can post if anyone is interested. He also published bits and pieces in other articles two of which I will quote. These were dug up by Mike Riste from the BC Golf Museum and Jeff Mingay.
"I design some of my greens to suit the run-up type of shot. This is one of the great shots in golf, but very few of today's top players can execute it. That is why they criticize my work."
"Today, the uninformed believe a green should be constructed with the slope from back to front, so that it will retain the ball. In brief, this suggests the shot should be a mechanical operation and the result a mathematical certainty. This is not the game of golf. Golf was not conceived as a mechanical operation but rather full of fun and adventure. Many things could happen to the ball after it pitched on the green. The ill-happenings were not regarded as ill-fortune or ill-luck, but part of the adventure, and the more skilled found methods to overcome the risks of ill-fortune."
I would say his trademarks regarding greens would be:
- greens are mostly open in front (except perhaps short par 3s and 4s) to allow a run up shot.
- he made liberal use of false fronts, sides and backs
- he frequently built greens sloping front to back
- he was not afraid to slope greens quite severely - we have 2 greens at Royal Colwood that were rebuilt as green speeds increased and there are more examples at other courses)
- to me, though, the biggest feature he used was a lot of internal movement in the greens, slopes and ridges did not flow from the surrounds into the greens but are frequently contained within the greens themselves
For me Macan was a genius at routing, probably as good at building greens and saw bunkering as a necessary feature but did not embrace them with the artistry of Mackenzie or Tillinghast.