[Patrick_Mucci]

On page 21 of his book about Cypress Point, he indicates that perhaps Alister MacKenzie is the greatest architect that ever lived.

While his body of work lacks in quantity, surely the quality is beyond outstanding.

Cypress Point, Augusta, The Valley Club, Pasatiempo, The Meadow Club and Crystal Downs.

Is he the greatest architect of all time ?

[Nigel Islam]

You left out some stuff down under too. I would have him at the top of my list with CBM. I think CBM though had a much better slugging percentage in fewer at bats.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Nigel,

Yes, that's true.

I've never played them but have heard that they are outstanding

[Keith Grande]

Pat,

If you're a true MacKenzie fan, I suggest a trip to Melbourne and playing Royal Melbourne, in addition to the other great courses in the Sand Belt.  Two weeks well spent down under.

Barring playing all the courses of the ODG "in the flesh", writers greatly influence our opinions as to which ones were the best.  There are certainly prolific architects, who happened to be in demand during the golden age expansion.  Are we rating best on the top courses in each architects portfolio?   Overall body of work?  Influence on other designers?  For most of us, we must rely on the written works of writers and historians.

With the advances in 3D technology, it would be interesting to convert old topo maps and architectral artifacts into a 3D video to "experience" the holes as they would have been when first constructed.  I think there are some video games which attempted to do something with the original Augusta National course.  

[Patrick_Mucci]

Keith,

I'd say the mean quality of their body of work

[Chip Gaskins]

I would say Geoff is spot on.  Royal Melbourne I feel is the best course in the world...  And having Cypress, Augusta, Lahinch, Crystal Downs, Meadow Club, Passa, etc to back it up is pretty top shelf.

[Mike_Clayton]

He gets points for transforming golf in Australia where he influenced so many courses including Kingston Heath,Royal Adelaide,Victoria,NSW and of course his monumental work at Royal Melbourne.

[Philip Caccamise]

If he isn't #1, he's certainly on the Mt. Rushmore of architects, along with Tillinghast, CBM/Raynor, and Ross.

But you could certainly make the case he's the overall #1.

[David_Elvins]

While his body of work lacks in quantity, surely the quality is beyond outstanding.

Is it a fair call to say his body of work lacks quantity? 

[Garland Bayley]

On page 21 of his book about Cypress Point, he indicates that perhaps Alister MacKenzie is the greatest architect that ever lived.

While his body of work lacks in quantity, surely the quality is beyond outstanding.

Cypress Point, Augusta, The Valley Club, Pasatiempo, The Meadow Club and Crystal Downs.

Is he the greatest architect of all time ?

No.

Pacific Dunes, Sebonack, Stone Eagle, Old MacDonald, Lost Dunes, and Ballyneal.
Need I go on?

[DMoriarty]

No.

Pacific Dunes, Sebonack, Stone Eagle, Old MacDonald, Lost Dunes, and Ballyneal.
Need I go on?

Just recently I was thinking about how Halls of Fame often have long waiting periods before players can be considered.   The same ought to apply to golf courses and golf architects.  I don't think we'll know where Tom Doak (or Bill Coore or Tom Fazio) fit in in the greater scheme of things for quite some time.

As for the original question, a case could be made for Mac.  A case could be made for Old Tom or CBM as well.

[Michael Whitaker]

I think a case can be made for Old Tom. He set the ideals for all that followed.

[Sean_A]

I spose much depends on one's idea of what qualifies an archie as Mt Rushmore candidate.   So far as I am concerned, if there is a cooling off period before proclaiming an archie as a Mountie, three places are a lock: Ross, Colt & Dr Mac.  The 4th spot is up for grabs, but I may go with CBM.  My only problem with CBM is his portfolio is small and I wonder what sort of influence he actually had on future architecture. I can be persuaded, but I would probably be more inclined to chip away one spot and leave it at three  

Ciao

[Matthew Mollica]

While his body of work lacks in quantity, surely the quality is beyond outstanding.

Is it a fair call to say his body of work lacks quantity? 

I found the OP unfortunately USA-centric, particularly given it pertains a globetrotting architect plying his trade in all corners of the globe., 90 years ago. MacKenzie's portfolio certainly doesn't lack quantity. Or quality. IMHO, Geoff is right, in that Alister is likely the greatest architect of all time.

[Tom_Doak]

I found the OP unfortunately USA-centric, particularly given it pertains a globetrotting architect plying his trade in all corners of the globe., 90 years ago. MacKenzie's portfolio certainly doesn't lack quantity. Or quality. IMHO, Geoff is right, in that Alister is likely the greatest architect of all time.

Spoken like an Aussie!

[Thomas Dai]

Turning this around for a moment.

We hear regularly about MacKenzie's best work.

Was it all good? Any not so good or even, dare I say it, bad?

Just asking.

atb

[Josh Stevens]

How much credit do you actually give him, given he was only in Melbourne for a few weeks

yes he laid out RMW, but Morcom and Russel then built the  thing in his absence.  Surely they get a bit of kudos for interpretation

[David_Elvins]

How much credit do you actually give him, given he was only in Melbourne for a few weeks

yes he laid out RMW, but Morcom and Russel then built the  thing in his absence.  Surely they get a bit of kudos for interpretation

Alternatively, all over the globe he was able to select great team members to this projects and convey his design principles/ideals/wishes clearly.  Surely that's one of the signs of a great architect?  All great feats of architecture are collaborations.

[Josh Tarble]

I believe Ross must be considered based on sheer volume and his ability to pull some fine courses out of lesser sites. 

I also think that Tom Doak and Bill Coore have a chance to be considered, but I think it needs to be seen how their courses stand the test of time.  (Which I think they will stand up extremely well.)

[Matt Kardash]

I don't get the obsession people have with ranking things, whether they be architects, courses, restaurants, whatever. I don't have a clue how anyone can say this is slighlty better than that, but not quite as good as this. Blows my mind.

[Ken Fry]

Turning this around for a moment.

We hear regularly about MacKenzie's best work.

Was it all good? Any not so good or even, dare I say it, bad?

Just asking.

atb

I'm with Thomas on this one.  Name Mac's least impressive golf course.

Ken

[Adam Clayman]

If Mike Keiser would hire him if he were still alive, when are we going to see an AM tribute course?

[Andy Troeger]

I don't get the obsession people have with ranking things, whether they be architects, courses, restaurants, whatever. I don't have a clue how anyone can say this is slighlty better than that, but not quite as good as this. Blows my mind.

I do get the fascination with ranking courses, but not architects. How do you even begin to make the comparison? Compare their top few efforts? The average of all the courses? (Not many voters eligible there). Some metric of how good the courses are based on the resources/land available? Sheer quantity?

At that point, it just becomes a very subjective exercise as to whose style one likes the best. We can all have our favorites, but I think calling one architect the "best" is pretty much impossible.

[JimB]

Turning this around for a moment.

We hear regularly about MacKenzie's best work.

Was it all good? Any not so good or even, dare I say it, bad?

Just asking.

atb

I'm with Thomas on this one.  Name Mac's least impressive golf course.

Ken

Of the courses that participate in the MacKenzie Cup I would suggest Green Hills although to be fair it was likely the most challenging site of the bunch as well.

[Greg Taylor]

If you can't objectively rank golf courses then you can't objectively rank architects - surely.

However you'd have a hard time saying he wouldn't be at least considered the best if you could rank objectively.

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()