[Neil_Crafter]

Luther Koontz is one of the architects/builders who received first hand tuition from Dr Alister Mackenzie - and this happened in South America in 1930. And yet very little is known about him or the courses he built and designed. Is it because he stayed in Argentina after Mackenzie left?

Cornish and Whitten do not list him at all, which is a significant oversight. The Doak et al book on Mackenzie has a few paragraphs on him, together with a couple of the courses he designed.

Well what do we know about him?

He was born Luther Henry Koontz in New Carlisle, Ohio on 26 December 1898, to parents Albert and Edna. Albert was originally from Maryland, while Edna was a local Ohio girl. Luther had an elder brother Earl, nine years his senior. In the 1920 census they were living on a farm in Bethel, Clark County, Ohio, and the father's occupation was a farmer.

Koontz enlisted in the army at the end of WW1, his registration card being dated September 12 1918. He was part of the SATC at Ohio State University in Columbus until his honourable discahrge in December 1918.

Luther studied Agricultural Engineering at OSU immediately after WW1 and graduated in 1923, being featured in the OSU Yearbook for that year.



Sometime after his graduation Koontz went to work for Wendell Miller & Associates and became familiar with golf course construction. When Mackenzie's trip to Argentina was confirmed, it appears he asked Miller for an engineer to accompany him on his trip - and Koontz was the man chosen. Mackenzie left NYC bound for Buenos Aires in January 1930, with Koontz accompanying him. Mackenzie was in South America for nearly three months, visiting Uruguay but predominantly based in Buenos Aires during this time. This must have been a great learning experience for the 31 year old Koontz, but also a very busy time with much consulting work and plan preparation, as well as starting construction at The Jockey Club which began in February, along with other courses.

A news item in the National Greenkeeper magazine from May 1931 gives quite an insight into the work of Mackenzie and Koontz in South America (thanks to Sean Tully):



The article clearly states Mackenzie designed 7 courses during his stay. Interesting to speculate on what they were. That's it for now, and I'll shortly add the list of courses that I have been able to find that are connected to Koontz, with help from Christoph Meister.

 

[Phil_the_Author]

Neil,

Another wonderful discovery for you and all of those involved in the Mackenzie project! Congratulations!

[Neil_Crafter]

Koontz stayed in South America after Mackenzie returned to England in April 1930. Koontz was married before he went to South America,  to an Ohio girl in Thelma Louise Ink Koontz (born 9th May 1899), as they were listed as living with his parents in Bethel, Ohio in the 1930 Census. After Luther had decided to stay in Argentina it would seem that Thelma moved down from Ohio to be with Luther. I can find no record of them having any children, and when they returned to the US in July 1938 to visit their families, there were no children on the arrival forms, either in the UK where they travelled first after leaving Argentina, nor upon entry to the US. In the UK they were listed as staying care of Swift and Company in London's EC1 area - Swift & Co were large meat processors in the Argentine and elsewhere, and were presumably one of Luther's clients.

The OSU Journal of October 1938 reported on Koontz's return to Ohio:



Interestingly it says that he was working on a course for the Parks Service in the south of Argentina, and that he had watched the British Open while in the UK. The write up in the El Golfer Argentino magazine will be interesting to see, as I understand David Edel has this magazine.

Koontz worked in his adopted country of Argentina, but also in Chile, Brazil and Uruguay. He passed away in June 1970, aged 71 from kidney cancer, as his death notice records:



His courses will come in my next post.

[Neil_Crafter]

Thanks Phil, appreciate the thought.
Nice to have been able to find a photo of him today as I have never seen one before - although I understand there is a pic of him with Mackenzie in the El Golfer Argentino magazine according to David Edel. I went on to one of the online College yearbook sites and purchased a subscription which enabled me to grab his photo.

[Niall C]

Neil

Well done to you and Sean. Looking forward to seeing whats David E can offer.

Cheers

Niall

[Neil_Crafter]

OK, lets list the courses that Christoph and I have been able to identify. This is pretty much been done by online research, so some of these attributions may be not necessarily 100% watertight. We would of course welcome any additions or alterations to this information! We will do it on a country by country basis and the courses are in no particular order.

ARGENTINA

SIERRA DE LOS PADRES GOLF CLUB, Sierra de los Padres, Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires Province - 18 holes
The course was built in 1955, originally designed by the engineer Luther Koontz, and constructed by Alfranco S.A., a company in charge of the urbanization of Sierra de los Padres.

OLIVOS GOLF CLUB, Buenos Aires - 36 holes originally, now 27 holes
The course was designed by Luther Koontz and opened in 1952

MARAYUI COUNTRY CLUB, Chapadmalal, Buenos Aires Province - 9 holes
Course originally designed by Luther Koontz, later rebuilt by Ron Fream. Year not known.

SANTA TERESITA GOLF CLUB, Santa Teresita, Buenos Aires Province - 9 holes
Designed by Luther Koontz, course opened in 1958.

GOLF CLUB SIERRA DE LA VENTANA, Sierra de la Ventana, Buenos Aires Province - 9 holes added
Koontz added a new nine to the existing nine hole course in 1951

GOLF CLUB ARGENTINO, Del Viso, Buenos Aires Province - 18 holes
Designed by Koontz in the 1950s when the club moved from their earlier location in Palermo. Koontz had an involvement in their earlier course, designing a drainage system. Perhaps he made design changes as well, although this is not confirmed.

CLUB NAUTICO SAN ISIDRO, San Isidro, Bueno Aires - 18 holes
Originally planned by Mackenzie in 1930, but the club had difficulties and only 9 holes had been built by 1936. In 1948 Koontz was put in charge of making an 18 hole course and this was finally opened in 1955.

CLUB AMANCAY, High Sierra, San Juan, original 9 holes, now 18 holes
Koontz designed a 9 hole course for this club which was established in 1958.

GOLF CLUB VILLA GESSELL, Villa Gesell, Buenos Aires, original 9 holes, now 18 holes
The course was designed by Koontz and opened in 1967.

LINKS PINAMAR, Pinamar, Buenos Aires - originally 9 holes, now 27 holes
Koontz designed 9 hole course in 1944, the "Cancha Chica". Additional 18 holes built in 1983

NECOCHEA GOLF CLUB, Quequen, Necochea - original 9 holes, now 18 holes
Koontz designed a 9 hole course on moving terrain near the ocean with maritime pines. The later nine holes (not by Koontz) is flatter and further inland.

MARINE IGNACIO GOLF CLUB, Rio Cuarto, Cordoba - 18 holes
Designed by Koontz in 1955, the club was formed later in 1959.

CHAPELCO GOLF, Pilar, Buenos Aires Province - 6 holes originally
A 6 hole course was laid out by Koontz in the 1930's for Henry Martin, an Englishman who had purchased a site of 33 acres in Pilar. Landscaping of the site included a cricket ground and a 6 hole golf course laid out by Koontz. In late 1980s Nicklaus designed a new course on the expanded site.

JOCKEY CLUB DE ROSARIO, Rosario, Santa Fe - 18 holes
Designed by Koontz, first nine opened in 1958 and the second nine in 1960.

SAN ANDRES GOLF CLUB, San Andres, Buenos Aires province
Koontz redesigned some greens on the course laid out by Mungo Park, according to David Edel, years not known.

SAN NICOLAS GOLF CLUB, San Nicolas, Buenos Aires - 9 holes originally
Koontz designed an original course of 9 holes starting in 1958. The course has been changed since.

LLAO LLAO GOLF CLUB, Bariloche - 9 holes originally
According to internet sources the course was designed by Alberto del Solar Dorrego and constructed by Luther Koontz, date not known.

LOS LAGARTOS COUNTRY CLUB, Buenos Aires - original 18 holes
Possibly designed by Koontz in 1969 (one year before his death), and later extended to 27 holes by the Serras in 1988.

CHACO GOLF CLUB, Chaco
Nine holes built in 1944 and shortly after 12 were in play, designed by Koontz with Arthur Short.


CHILE

LA DEHESA GOLF CLUB, Lo Barnechea, Santiago, Chile
A design by Koontz in the mid to late 1950s, according to David Edel (from El Golfer Argentino magazine).

CLUB DE SPORT FRANCES, Santiago
In 1955 a flat 18 hole course was laid out and shortly after Koontz was called in and he designed a 12 hole course, along with a pump system to irrigate the course with river water.


BRAZIL

SAN FERNANDO GOLF CLUB, San Fernando Vila, Cotia - 18 holes
New course by Koontz, opened in April 1958.


URUGUAY

CAMPO DE GOLF DEL CANTEGRIL, Punta del Este - 18 holes, 9 holes added
Course was originally a 9 hole layout by Alex Philp for the Punta del Este Golf Club. On this site and with additional local government land, Koontz extended it to an 18 hole course in 1947. Whether he simply added a new 9 or whether he modified any of the original holes is not known.


That is 23 courses by my reckoning, not far short of the 27 or so that David Edel thinks Koontz designed. Hopefully we can find a few more.

[JNC Lyon]

This is a great thread.  Koontz looks like he was a talented individual who was also important in spreading the game throughout South America.  Ran, shouldn't this be stickied?

[Neil_Crafter]

Thanks JNC
Koontz did not come from a golfing background I believe and so came at the game from an engineering and construction perspective. Having three months direct exposure to Mackenzie obviously made quite an impression on the young man, so much so that he decided to stay in Argentina to build golf courses, eventually to become a designer in his own right. He is an overlooked architect and as one of Mackenzie's "progeny", like Alex Russell here in Australia, has been of interest to me for a while, but I have now had the chance to do a bit of digging. I'm heading off on holiday with my family for the next few days so my attention to this thread will be a bit sporadic. Thanks.

[noonan]

There is a 18 hole course in New Carlisle.... Sugar Isle.....too bad he did not design this. New Carlisle is lss than 20 miles from Urbana where the Dye family has their roots.

[Randy Thompson]

Neil,
Thanks for the information, I know most of the clubs. I am in the middle of redesigning and constructing three greens and surroundings for Sport Frances. I knew they opened in 58 or 59 but had no idea it was an original Koontz design since the web site states designed by the North American Sr. Coonse. You left me a little confused on the six holes in Pillar called Capelco. Did Nicklaus design something in late 80`s and never got built?? I know they had a the little par three course and driving range next to the AAG driving but I thought they never actually designed anything until the mid to late 90`s and that was Capelco in the Patagonia.

[Neil_Crafter]

Randy
Thanks for the post and info that you are working at the Sport Frances course. Interesting that they had Koontz's name spelt as "Coonse". I googled that name but couldn't find anything.

I'm sorry if I confused you about Capelco. I just reported on what I found on the internet. Are the Pilar Capelco and the Nicklaus Capelco different locations?

David Edel emailed me a photo of Koontz from El Golfer Argentino magazine and its certainly the same man as the yearbook photo I found. If David is ok I will post it here. Hopefully David can chime in here on the tentative list of Koontz courses I have posted.

[Randy Thompson]

Neil,
Chapelco is in the south of Argentina and from what I know, it was Nicklaus`s first design in Argentina and signed in the early to mid 90īs and constructed around 2000-2003. Pilar is a suburb of Bunos Aries about forty five minutes from the city and a second home area. I have a course there and about two miles from it, Nicklaus has his first signature course, They have nine holes open now for about a year and half now but can`t seem to get the last nine built for whatever reason. Never heard of Chapelco, Pilar?

[Justin Ryan]

This thread brought to mind an investigation into another possible Mackenzie course at http://www.thegolfforum.com/index.php?showtopic=3869&hl=burnley

[Neil_Crafter]

Justin
The date of that post at the Golf Forum on April Fool's Day should give you some clue as to it's validity! It's done in jest and there is no information to link Mackenzie with the Burnley course - unfortunately! Would be a nice story if it was true.

[MClutterbuck]

OK, lets list the courses that Christoph and I have been able to identify. This is pretty much been done by online research, so some of these attributions may be not necessarily 100% watertight. We would of course welcome any additions or alterations to this information! We will do it on a country by country basis and the courses are in no particular order.

ARGENTINA

OLIVOS GOLF CLUB, Buenos Aires - 36 holes originally, now 27 holes
The course was designed by Luther Koontz and opened in 1952

CHAPELCO GOLF, Pilar, Buenos Aires Province - 6 holes originally
A 6 hole course was laid out by Koontz in the 1930's for Henry Martin, an Englishman who had purchased a site of 33 acres in Pilar. Landscaping of the site included a cricket ground and a 6 hole golf course laid out by Koontz. In late 1980s Nicklaus designed a new course on the expanded site.

LLAO LLAO GOLF CLUB, Bariloche - 9 holes originally
According to internet sources the course was designed by Alberto del Solar Dorrego and constructed by Luther Koontz, date not known.

Neil,

I came across this posting today while searching for another matter. This might have been discussed in another thread, but I believe I can make certain clarifications.

Olivos Golf Club is seen as Koontz best work, and the course remains a top 10 in Argentina and recently hosted the innaugural Americas Golf Cup, a team event that was going to be played by Tiger and Kuchar representing the US.

Chapelco Golf is a course designed by Nicklaus Design and Jackie Nicklaus in the early 2000s in San Martin de los Andes, Patagonia. It opened about 8 years ago and is also considered a top 10 course in Argentina. Beautiful area and soon a great golf destination with the first 9 holes of the Greg Norman course opening this month.

There is no Chapelco course in Pilar and I doubt there has ever been one. Henry Martin had a huge estate in Pilar, Buenos Aires, where he indeed have cricket grounds. I believe it is here where Koontz might have designed a small course. The estate was transformed into a country club development with polo fields, tennis courts and golf in the late 80s. The course opened in 1989, and was designed Ken Dye of Finger Dye in collaboration with Caprile Golf. The course is Championship quality and will host the Argentine Open this year. They also built a 9 hole course with lakes, a similar concepto to ANGC. I can try to find out some more about Koontz's involvement if interesting to you through the descendants of Henry Martin.

The original Koontz 9 holes at Llao Llao are incredibly pretty but not mucho of a golf course. The second 9 are not good.

I can find out a lot more about some of the clubs with time. I have friends that are members at most of those clubs.

M

[MClutterbuck]

Neil,

I can confirm that the land Henry Martin acquired in Pilar was and is 740 acres approximately. The 33 acres you reference might have been the "garden" of the main house. I have confirmed with a direct descendent that spent summers in that property, that it included the cricket field and a "small golf course". I have no confirmation it was Koontz that designed it, but it is likely.

I speculate here, but it seems those Koontz holes were replaced bt the 9 hole par 3 course which are adjacent to the club house (former main house of the property) and the new 18, the polo fields and the housing are on what used to be farm land.

I can also confirm the property was always called Martindale, not Chapelco.

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