Chronology of Mackenzie's presence is now posted

[Ran Morrissett]

Courtesy of Mackenzie scholars Bob Beck in Pasatiempo and Nick Leefe in Leeds, GolfClubAtlas.com now has posted under In My Opinion a careful chronology of the known places and days/months where Mackenzie was from 1907 until his death in 1934.

Take 1932 for example:

March at Augusta National (S-CP, TM)

April at Augusta National (DHS, TM)

At Crystal Downs (DHS)

Pasatiempo (H)

Fall at Pasatiempo (W)

I think I am on firm footing in saying any architect would consider that a good year indeed!!

Of course, it is ironic that we are posting such a meticulous accounting on Mackenzie this week. The course he is most famous for by virtue of television doesn't nearly reflect his design beliefs as well as Pasatiempo or Alwoodley or Cypress Point or Royal Melbourne or...

Nonetheless, the amount of factual information contained herein is amazing. Did anything substantive come of his consultation at Royal Sydney on November 11th, 1926? How would you have liked to have been at Riviera the day George Thomas and Mackenzie toured it in the spring of 1928? Talk about giants in architecture! I didn't realize that Mackenzie was at Crystal Down in both 1929 right as the Depression was commencing and a full three years later in 1932. I never appreciated how frequently he returned to Alwoodley, the list goes on and on.

Plus I've always wondered about gaining a sense of an architect's own design evolution by studying the courses he worked on in chronological order. Did the architect take more design risks early in his career or later? When did he do his boldest greens? Are world class holes equally spread throughout his career or was there a turning point when his designs went to another - be it higher or lower - level?

Clearly what Bob and Nick have presented us here is ideal for such a study. It is worth noting that this is revision 10 (!), with the first one having been completed four years ago. Nobody cares more about Mackenzie and his work than these two gentlemen and we are very lucky that they elect to share their labour of love with us here.

Also, this chronology remains a work in progress and corrections/additions are always well received. Please send such information to Bob at pasabob@comcast.net.

Cheers,

[JESII]

Of course, it is ironic that we are posting such a meticulous accounting on Mackenzie this week. The course he is most famous for by virtue of television doesn't nearly reflect his design beliefs as well as Pasatiempo or Alwoodley or Cypress Point or Royal Melbourne or...


Cheers,

I think it's probably fair to say, Ran, that their generosity is firmly planted in your relationship, as it should be, because some of the lunatics on here could scare even the most generous person away  .

A further irony about Augusta is that the changes that have moved the course away from MacKenzie's design beliefs are rooted in its presentation in the same media that has made it so famous.

[Eric Franzen]

Impressive work!

Still no mention of Tijuana CC which is credited to MacKenzie by various questionable sources.

I thought about playing it when I visited San Diego a month ago. Business matters brought me to Trump National instead  

[Tony_Muldoon]

I think it's great when this DG is used for posting original material and hopefully this can help lead to more of the same.

However back in January I did alert GCA to another course Mac worked on, Fulwell GC, and I believed that Keith was in touch with Nick Leafe courtesy of Mark Rowlinson.  There are existing minutes to back this up. I will send an email to check the information has been passed on.

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forums2/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=21596

Looks like version 11 won’t be long.

[Marty Bonnar]

I have a bunch of stuff from 1921 regarding MacKenzie's visits to Dunfermline for a site recce, various committee meetings and construction supervision at Pitreavie.

Interestingly, the Mack/MacK debate is fuelled a little even then, with some reports using one and some the other (1921, mind!)

I'd be happy to forward details if necessary.

FBD.

[Sean_Tully]

Martin-

The more information the better! Just sent Bob some more info the other day. Should have some more updates as I get through some more SF Chronicle newspapers. He sure did get around.



This is a wonderful source of information that can only help in the research for any club that is trying to figure out their history. It seems that far too many clubs have attached his name to their course. Information here can start to answer some questions to his whereabouts to places such as Stockton CC for example. I have never seen a reference to his being there and I have a reference to Sam Whiting designing the course.

My current research is to go through the SF Chronicle looking for any pertinant golf info. I am in Nov. of 1923 and can't wait to get to 1925 when he arrives in California.  

Thanks to Mr Beck and Mr. Leefe for putting this together and having it posted on GCA for all to see and make some additions to the timeline!!

Tully

[Patrick_Mucci]

Plus I've always wondered about gaining a sense of an architect's own design evolution by studying the courses he worked on in chronological order.

Did the architect take more design risks early in his career or later? When did he do his boldest greens?

Are world class holes equally spread throughout his career or was there a turning point when his designs went to another - be it higher or lower - level?

Ran,

I don't think you can draw any conclusions with respect to an architect's creativity without having a parallel chronology of his life, his biography.

Was his marriage in shambles or was he in bliss ?
Did he or his family have health problems, financial problems ?
Did he have a good or bad family life ?
Given the mode of travel, did his time away from home take its toll on his personal and family life ?
Were there periods of despair, inspiration, rejuvenation ?
And, were they associated with events in his life ?

I think it would be interesting to overlay the two chronologies and study the creative efforts in the context of his life during his designing years.

We know that Crump took his life.
What had to be going on in his mind, in his life, to bring him to resort to such a tragic end.  Was it interwoven with his work at Pine Valley, or from external forces beyond his control.  Did he feel that he had exhausted his creativity ?  Was he frustrated, did he have "writer's block"

Studying, in tandem, their architectural work and their lives might prove interesting in the context of your question regarding their periods of their most productive or creative work.

We should discuss this at Rachel's.[/color]

[Phelps Morris]

This is interesting...

Mackenzie is not only a master architect, but also apparently a  magician, being two places at once...i.e. Michigan and California....

I assume Doak's book (the sources sited) probably already looked into and resolved the discrepency, but it's interesting that in the 'official' Crystal Downs history...it states that Mac and Maxwell arrived on site in Oct 1928 as Mac was convinced to stop by the site while heading east on his way to England...

(The chronology states he was in California during this period and apparently never went to England around this period)  

The club history further goes on and states Mac and Maxwell worked together around the clock to develop the routing of the course (with Mac delaying a number of ships in the process) until it was completed during that trip...Construction of the front nine began in the spring of 1929 (with Perry onsite) and it opened for play at the end of the summer...The back nine was not opened until 1933 at construction was delayed due to the depression...which would explain the visit back to the site in 1932...

[Tom_Doak]

Patrick:

There is no question that your list of "outside influences" does have an effect on one's designs.  I can confirm that events such as having a son, getting divorced, and falling in love again all have a profound effect on one's psyche and one's art.  

For some, too, changes in design style come from travel experiences, although most of mine came before I got to build a course on my own.  The only change I can think of is that my attention to building beautiful bunkers went up significantly after my first trip to Australia, just after we'd built most of High Pointe, and you can see that influence in my courses to this day.

However, Ran has left out that at some point, the influence of the client and of the property make their presence felt, independently of personal growth.  Dr. MacKenzie went from building tons of bunkers at Cypress Point and Pasatiempo to building very few at The Jockey Club and Augusta and Bayside.  Was that the impact of Bob Jones?  Of the Depression?  Or simply of going to work on three sites with poor soils and no sand handy?

Phelps:  I'm in Scotland instead of at home so I can't double-check my sources on MacKenzie's time at Crystal Downs.  I'm a little surprised at the 1932 date for a second visit by the Doctor, if only because he didn't mention any of those great holes when writing The Spirit of St. Andrews.