Canterbury is that rare Golden Age course that feels like only one architect (and a Golden Age one at that!) has had his mitts on it. Other courses like Scioto, Oak Hills, Oakland Hills, Inverness, etc. that like to host championships ala Canterbury lack a cohesive architectural style throughout their eighteen holes. Unfortunately, because these courses have hosted more events recently, they hog the spotlight more so than Canterbury. This is a great shame but typical of today: course's that add glitz like water hazards (think the insipid pond on the 3rd at Inverness or that weak attempt at incorporating the creek at the par 3 6th at Oak Hill) at great cost to its membership somehow triumph over courses that remain truer to the game's roots like Canterbury. How crazy is that?
For nearly a decade, Canterbury has worked closely with Bruce Hepner from Renaissance. Not many people know that fact as the work has been slow and steady. Nothing headline grabbing has occurred other than the usual (trees felled, fairways widened back to their bunkers, greens recaptured back to their fill pads, etc.). Importantly, Bruce has done what all great architects should strive to do when working on such a gem: make themselves invisible. If anyone can point to a single specific thing or feature that Bruce has done, I would be shocked. Instead, we are all free to marvel and appreciate Strong's routing over the rolling countryside.
You don't ever feel that Strong got in his own way and tried too hard to dazzle you with his brilliance like some modern architects (and owners). Sadly, I wonder if any modern architect even tries to build a course like this anymore or is the need for eye-candy paramount these days? Canterbury doesn’t seek to be visually dramatic via huge bunkers with crumbling faces, etc.. The holes just flow along with one engaging shot after another with little to disrupt the golfer from the game - there is minimal opportunity to lose a ball and it is a quick walking course with short green to tee distances.
I took the photos for this profile in both the spring and late in the summer. After the second visit, I told my host the more courses I see, the more I appreciate Canterbury. Bruce has commented as well that upon each return, his appreciation continually climbs based on the subtle nuances found throughout this design. There are a few eye-popping moments (fourth tee, fifteenth tee, sixteenth tee) but in general it is just really good golf, one hole after another. Congratulations to Canterbury for their stewardship of this design and also to the LEGENDARY Green Keeper Terry Bonar who will be concluding his forty plus year
stay here toward the end of next year.
Canterbury hosts the 2009 Senior PGA Championship and thankfully, for a change, the host course will be worthy of any and all attention that it receives.
Cheers,
PS As an added bonus, the mythical monster Tom MacWood (not to worry – this isn’t GolfClubAtlas.com’s version of SI’s swimsuit issue
) appears in one or two of the photographs.