The early aerials available on BritainFromAbove turn up some surprising material. A series of photos taken in 1931 that were intended to highlight the resort town of Littlestone gave a partial look at the Littlestone GC. For those unfamiliar with the course's history, the original layout designed by WL Purves was remodeled in the mid-1920s by Alistair MacKenzie. Some of his ideas were immediately implemented (17th, 18th greens, e.g.) while others remained in his long-lost written report. From walking the course today, it's apparent that many bunkers have been removed over the years. It's also clear that fairways have lost width and rough has been allowed to grow to occasional obscene height. The 1931 aerial view can be assumed to show the course as MacKenzie left it.
The 2nd and 3rd holes have always been controversial. The 2nd green was set behind a dune which completely shielded it from view on the approach. In the 1970s, the committee decided to cut through the dune and open a view to the green. The committee claimed this work was originally suggested by MacKenzie although it's not clear that his report still existed by then. The original tee shot for the 3rd hole required a blind carry of another large dune with a massive bunker in its face. To ease this somewhat, the soil recovered from the excavation on the 2nd was used to create a flat area on top of the 2nd hole dune as a new tee for the 3rd. Although this still left a partially blind drive, the elevated tee made the drive much less threatening. The bunkers in the dune may have disappeared by then.
The 1931 aerial displays the 2nd and 3rd holes just a few years after MacKenzie had visited the course. The bunkers that have disappeared are marked with red x's, the two current fairway bunkers are marked in green. Ironically, they were added in the 1990s replacing two pairs of bunkers that bracketed the fairway. They were removed when the committee claimed that MacKenzie intended for the hole to be a dogleg left. This claim led some of the members to an intensive search for the MacKenzie report. It was never found although the club minutes showed that the report was done and MacKenzie received compensation.
What is most striking to me is the view the golfer would have had on the 3rd tee. The massive bunker facing was as threatening as the 4th at Royal North Devon or Royal St. Georges. There must have been continuing complaints about blind shots which eventually motivated the club to remove then on both the 2nd and 3rd. However, those were the only two blind shots on the course and they came early in the round. And given the overall flatness of the course, a little quirk early in the round should have been enjoyed.
