https://golfclubatlas.com/in-my-opinion/gholz-anthony-colt-alison-in-north-america-bowness-golf-club-1913/Anthony Gholz, our Feature Interviewee in December 2018, is here again to unfold more exploits of the great Harry Colt. This time, the subject matter is about the 27 holes that Colt designed along the Bow River (fans of Banff Springs know the river well).
John Hextall, a 20th Century visionary, purchased nearly 2,500 acres outside of Calgary on open, rolling land above the river, where he was determined to build the 'suburb perfect’. Wealthy folks would insist on living out there, in part because they could play 27 holes designed by Colt for free. Additionally, the expansive Bowness Park would be created on two islands in the river so that life could be celebrated in the great outdoors.
Anthony's meticulously researched and artfully presented piece captures the grandeur of Hextall's dream. Unfortunately, Hextall never enjoyed good health and passed away in April, 1914 without ever seeing the golf. Additionally, several months prior, the real estate boom went bust and this one-two punch of events meant that the project wallowed for several years. Fortunately, some of the other founders rallied and Anthony paints the picture of the 27 holes that opened in 1917:
In addition to an eighteen hole “championship” Colt designed a 9-hole Ladies course on the Bowness property, . The Ladies course was a figure 8 loop with five holes playing along the bluff overlooking the Bow River valley nearest the residential development. The big course lay further south and meandered back and forth along the ridge with forays up and down the drainage valleys that were both perpendicular and parallel to the ridge line. It was a spacious layout with grand views for miles in all directions. Unfortunately, after the loss of their wealthiest and most influential member several amenities were cut from the program, including the promised "special construction" of the greens. All 27 holes of the Bowness Golf Club had sand greens all the way through the Great Depression and WWII. Praise was quickly heaped on Bowness Golf Club, despite its primitive putting surfaces. In 1922, the club summoned Willie Park who set about improving the design. As Anthony explains, Park, among other things, planned to move three Colt holes from the rugged east end of the property. The work wasn't carried out until 1926 and by then, Park had died. Still, in 1926, the 27 holes must have been something special as some of the objections to Colt's work like the steep uphill 18th had been replaced.The Great Depression arrives and takes the Bowness Golf Club story downhill. It had financial struggles almost yearly and ultimately, goes into bankruptcy. In the late 1950s, some of its property was taken away for the Trans-Canada highway. The Ladies Course was the last bit of golf but it too succumbed in the 1960s. Today there is only the park, which is still the largest in Calgary according to Anthony.
Yuck. Here was a special piece of property that received the direct, hands-on attention from two of the all-time great architects, Colt and Park but is gone. Reading the piece you appreciate Anthony's dogged determination in following lead after lead to piece the facts together. One is surely moved by Hextall's vision and what was created but sadly resigned to what our game lost.
Congrats to Anthony for furthering our education and expanding our knowledge on Colt and Park - and on what surely must have been a special 27 holes in an invigorating environment.
Best,