Whilst he may not be well known in America he deserves a place at the top table of golfing personalities. His three open wins came either side of WW11 which effectively robbed him of his best years. He chose to be a golf professional at a time when his peer group looked down on such a thing. He did shocking things like practice! He was also quite the dandy, lived a wonderful life and as Daniel Wexler has written he was undoubtedly “One of the towering figures in British golf...”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Cotton_(golfer)
Yesterday I played my second Cotton Course and was amazed that I had never previously heard of Cannons Brook GC, only 30 miles from my house. He seems to have taken to Architecture after his playing career in the 60's and C&W list less than 20 full size courses but I don’t think any of them could be considered 'prestigious' commissions that might have allowed him to choose the land or have a large budget. Perhaps the best known course is Vale de Lobo in Portugal, where he latterly resided in great style. Wiki list Penina?
“
The best is always good enough for me”The two I have played
Abridge 1964. It's been a few years but I really liked it. Can't recall that much detail suffice to say it's frequently been used as a base for Open Regional Qualifiers.
Cannons Brook GC. 1962. This is right in the heart of Harlow, a new town and unlikely to ever win a competition for most beautiful anything, which is perhaps why it gets few visitors and doesn't even have local reputation. But C&W say he worked with Colt and Morrison in 1937 at St Mellons and if I'd been told this was their work I could easily have believed it. Great subtle greens, including this one the wonderful 14
th. holehttp://www.canonsbrook.com/course2/hole_by_hole/Tom Simpson would be smiling. The approach is down hill and the green is built up, but not as much as it would appear with the result that putts that are clearly down hill are not! Sunken greens, fairway bunkers, great variety and brilliant use of features make for exciting matchplay. When the clay is baked there are numerous features encouraging you to feed you ball in.
A few bunkers have been filled in and there's a new 10
th green but they seem to be the only changes.
NB Twilight rates at £15 also reflect the hard job clubs have of employing a proper compliment of greens staff. So don’t' expect Augusta,Essex and you wont be disappointed. This year will be especially difficult for the Club as their Head Greenkeeper recently died.
I would still rate the course as a 5 and with tlc it could easily be a 7.
Anyone thoughts on his courses?