Dr.MacKenzie's Hazlehead GC

[Brian_Ewen]

Guys
I was looking through some of my golf photos from pre-digital days and found these from Hazlehead GC . I have seen a lot of Dr. MacKenzies courses discussed here but never a mention of this one , good or bad .

Hazlehead No.1 is probably regarded as the best municipal course in the City of Aberdeen and the locals have always known it as being designed by Alister MacKenzie . It was only when I got my copy of the Spirit of St.Andrews back in 1995 that I realised all wasnt as it seemed .

Even though it was not named in the book , I am 99 per cent sure that Hazlehead is the course that MacKenzie slates in pages 107-109 of the Spirit of St.Andrews . For those of you , who havent read the book (surely not) the story was that it was a very rocky terrain and Dr.MacKenzie decided to turf over the rocks giving it a links feel , rather than dynamiting the course . Unfortunately a few years later the committee decided to do exactly what Dr.MacKenzie advised them against doing , and dynamited the fairways and flattened them out .

I must admit , I was really looking forward to the Doak/Scott/Haddock book , "The life and work of Dr.Alister MacKenzie" because I thought they might have sourced other information on the course , but alas it never got a mention apart from the index at the end.

The last few years the course has been in quite bad condition , the greens and fairways are suffering because the trees surrounding the course are in a dire need of pruning . But in these days of cut-backs the local council will not release money to do the job .

The course nowadays is certainly flat and a little bland in parts for my taste but there is some nice holes and I particularly like the par 3 5th in the first photo.

I wish I could find where the rest of the photos went as I only have these two but I dont stay to far from the course , so I will take my digital camera along someday , if there is interest .

I would love to hear comments from any MacKenzie fan that has played the course and their thoughts on it nowadays . Has anybody seen any articles about the course in other golf books ?.

Brian


The par 3 5th


The 18th green

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Thanks for the pics Brian.

It's sad, but MacKenzie did seem to have a solemn regard for this course and the way it was more or less changed right from the outset. I think it's funy when you go back in the book and see how he spins his little yarns regarding Aberdonians, it shows you how unhppy he was with the whole thing. Plus, it sounds like the job got to be somewhat of a nightmare during the construction of the course.

Please do try to get back there and get some more pics. It would be neat to see if there is anything realy good looking left.

[Tom_Doak]

Brian,

I have never seen the course, however Dr. Scott turned up a lot of material about the controversy in his research.  MacKenzie's fight with the council was quite public and made the papers up there.  As I remember, the project went way over budget because they were working on swampy soils and the ground didn't freeze in the winter as MacKenzie had hoped, making the clearing work much more difficult.

I have some clippings about it in my files if you're really interested.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

I'm interested Tom!

[Brian_Ewen]

Tom
Yes please , I am very interested .

Brian

[allysmith]

Brian,

Excellent photos as usual.

I think I may be able to get some aerials of the course from the mid 70s for you.

I remember being told Hazlehead suffered from neglect during the last War and never really recovered. As you know part of the reason for its most recent decline is the fact it suffers from a lack of investment.

There have been many moans from golfers that only a small proportion of the revenue raised from season tickets is put into the course. Much of it is used to subsidise other gardens and parks in Aberdeen City (Bit like our Car Tax)

I beleive that much of its Grandeur could be restored if the bulk of revenue raised by season ticket holders and visitors were put back into restoration.

The Good Doctor certainly sems disapointed at the 'improvements' but I learned from an old lad that the Aberdonians were equally impressed with him!!!

[Tom_Doak]

I have looked back in my file and unfortunately don't have copies of the clippings themselves.  What I have is copied out of the Aberdeen Press & Journal at the time of MacKenzie's death ... instead of just an obituary they headlined it "Fierce Controversy Recalled / Hazlehead Golf Course / Death of Dr. MacKenzie Its Architect".

The paper says that in 1923 Aberdeen Town Council agreed to pay 8000 pounds sterling for the course development, and that MacKenzie gave an assurance that the work would not cost more than 10,000 pounds.

On 25 January 1925, MacKenzie reported back that his estimate had been based upon the assumption that the price obtained for the timber would pay for the clearing and uprooting [grubbing] of stumps, but this had not been the case.  The cost to date was 10,415 pounds and they were not nearly done yet.  The final cost was reported at something around 18,000 pounds.  They concluded,

"Throughout the formation of the course there was a fierce public controversy over the nature of the work.  Dr. MacKenzie was widely criticized in respect of his estimating, his drainage plans for the moss and his general layout.  But despite all the criticism the present course at Hazlehead is practically identical with the scheme prepared by the architect."

Apparently they like to have it both ways in Aberdeen!

[ForkaB]

In Paul Theroux's great (if dark) "Kingdom by the Sea" he refers to Aberdonians as people who would "crawl over a steaming dunghill to pick up a lost ha'penny by their teeth."  I am not surprised that there were budget controversies at Hazelhead......

[JohnV]

Rich, that quote reminds me of one that someone said to me the other day, "They are so cheap that if you told them it cost a quarter to s**t, they'd throw up instead."

[ForkaB]

Very Good, John!

Although, I must add that Aberdonians are a very fine and generous people, regardless of what is soemtimes said of them....

[Brian_Ewen]

Tom
Thanks for very much for the info.

I must get to my local library and have a look for myself at the Press and Journals from those years and glean some more .

Its embarrassing that there has been constant bickering about money for this course since its beginnings to present day . But hey , because of their penny-pinching  its probably an untouched MacKenzie , well apart from some dynamiting .

Today you still see outcrops of rocks on the fairways and its covered by a local rule of a free drop for a ball laying one foot of a outcrop.

If the course wasnt in such poor condition , I would be advising GCA'ers to put it on their list of must plays , I mean Doctor MacKenzie did say this was the best inland course in Scotland .

Rich
I remember the Paul Theroux book , wasnt it the Happy Valley Nightclub that impressed him so much about Aberdeen ? .

Brian

[Brian_Ewen]

Guys
First , apoligies to Tommy for taking two years to get some updated pics. of Dr.Macks work here in Aberdeen .

These were taken last week in some lovely unseasonal weather . Course was in a lot better condition than in past visits, even though the greens were being hollow tined .

Feel silly calling it bland in the original post , but I think this comes from very little challenge off the tees . Not many fairway bunkers , so you only have trees to worry about ,  and its short enough to keep driver in the bag most of the time .

Must admit , the course does grow on me the more I play it , and I think the par 3's are really nicely done .

If you dont mind no frills Scottish municipal golf , then I would urge you consider it , if in the area .

Is there a cheaper MacKenzie in the World ? .

Hazlehead is £15.25


1st. - Par4 - 309yds.
Straightforward opener that slightly doglegs left up to the green guarded by two bunkers on the right .


2nd - Par4 - 385yds.
Very tight fairway that needs a prune in some places . Green is guarded by a bunker on the left .


3rd - Par4 - 366yds.
Fairway bunker 57 yards out from a green guarded by 3 bunkers .


4th - Par4 - 326yds.
Straightforward par4 with a green protected by a long curving bunker on the right


5th - Par3 - 174yds.
What a lovely par3 this is to play , and my favourite hole on the course .
Unfortunately the hole shoots directly into the sun , something my camera seems to hate .


6th - Par4 - 400yds.


7th - Par4 - 385yds.
Lovely downhill hole that slightly doglegs left .


8th - Par4 - 309yds.
Some of the remaining boulders can be seen here on the short par4 8th.



9th - Par3 - 186yds.
Another lovely par3 that plays into the sun .


10th - Par4 - 383yds.
Across the road to the 10th and 11th , the highest part of the course gives you views of the Granite City .


12th - Par3 - 195yds.
With that bunker 35 yards short of the green , the hole plays much longer than it looks , the bunker on the right gets me every time .


13th - Par4 - 379yds.
Nice par 4 that plays very tight .


14th - Par4 - 430yds.
Tough par 4 to a two tiered green , with an island bunker in fairway .


16th - Par3 - 166yds.


17th - Par5 - 478yds.
Quite an easy downhil dogleg left par 5 , but this huge bunker on the left side of the green is totally hidden from the fairway , and gets me every time .


18th - Par4 - 385yds.
Short downhill par4 that finishes in full view of the clubhouse .

[T_MacWood]

Thanks for the pictures.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Brian,
Thanks for the images.

Are they many left for dead/grassed in bunkers on the course?

[Brian_Ewen]

Tommy
I cant think of any .

Brian

[Brian_Ewen]

This article in the Press and Journal brought a wry smile to my face . Although it is about the retirement of the Pro. at Hazlehead , it mentions that the incoming new Pro. will change the name of the Shop to "MacKenzie's" in tribute to the man .

70 odd years after they dynamited his design .

I can see the Good Doctor with a smile on his face today .






NELSON SAILS IN AND SIGNALS END OF AN ERA
09:00 - 01 February 2006
 
A 42-year LINK with the Hazlehead professional's shop officially ended this week.

Dundee-born Ian Smith, who was originally appointed the City of Aberdeen golf professional in 1964, has retired.

Yesterday was the first day of the post-Smith era with Colin Nelson, the professional based at the municipal facilities and the man in charge of the golf shop business.

Nelson, Glasgow-born in 1968 but brought up in South Africa, returned to Scotland to do his PGA training under Ian in the late 1980s and early 1990s and stayed on to become a member of the Hazlehead shop pro staff.

Ian Smith's son Alistair, himself a golf professional, worked in Germany for nine years and came home in the mid-1990s with a view to following in the footsteps of his dad at Hazlehead.

Unfortunately, Alistair became a victim of MS which meant Ian was never really able to hand over the reins completely and, in recent years, had to return to the shop full time as his son's ability to work became increasingly restricted.

"I am proud of the fact I built the Hazlehead business up from nothing. I succeeded Tom Whyte who had died by the time I moved up from my Hesketh Golf Club appointment in 1964," said Ian who had a top-10 finish in the Centenary Open of 1960 over the Old Course, St Andrews.

"It was a job which entailed long hours, whether in the golf shop or out on the practice range teaching, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Coming to Aberdeen all these years ago was the best move I could have made. I have absolutely no regrets.

"Being based at a municipal course meant that I was regularly coming in contact with new people, unlike a club post where you are really restricted to the membership."

Many of the assistant professionals trained by Ian went on to become leading club pros, such as Ronnie MacAskill, now director of golf at Royal Aberdeen, Ronnie Urquhart, the Ellon Golf Club professional, Glenn Taylor, who became Newmachar's director of golf, Graham Everett, who moved to Deeside Golf Club before becoming head pro at Burrhill Golf Club, Surrey, and Craig Ross, who went to South Africa where he now holds a high-ranking position in its PGA.

"I like to think I set a lot of young lads on their way to a good future as club professionals. There's a lot of satisfaction in that," said Ian, president of the north-east Golfers' Alliance and a fairly regular competitor on the Wednesday winter circuit.

Smith's name over the Hazlehead golf shop will be coming down, but won't be replaced by that of Colin Nelson.

The Hazlehead No. 1 course was designed by Alexander (Alister) Mackenzie, one of the greatest golf course architects of the 20th century. Alister is best known for designing Augusta National, home of the US Masters. Hazlehead was opened in 1927 and, with two 18-hole courses and a pitch-and-putt facility, became one of the busiest municipal golf venues in Scotland.

"The shop is going to be known as Mackenzie's as a tribute to the course designer," said Colin who is looking forward to putting his own stamp on the Hazlehead business.