Hugh Alison

[Tony_Muldoon]

Hugh Alison

Thanks to Mike Whittaker for sending me the link and Kudos to Adam Lawrence for the best bio of Hugh Alison I’ve ever read.  Until now I’d always thought he was the quiet one of Colts partners but, read on...



http://www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/Article/Hugh-Alison-the-sadistic-sidekick/2052/Default.aspx




PS Adam it’s a small thing but although SGH hill is often referred to in that way, Niall has posted on here of a Glasgow course by OTM that had housing and I have a copy  ot the masterplan of Thurlestone including housing, that both predate it by 20 years.  Walton Heath, Huntercombe and Sunningdale were all planned with housing in mind. It depends on the exact definition but I’m sure SGH was the first of its kind but not the first housing golf course combination.

[Sean Remington (SBR)]

Very interesting article.  Thanks for sharing.   Alison spent some time in the Washington D.C. are in the middle teens.  Is credited with Chevy Chase Club and Burning Tree Club.  Not sure about others?   I have always wanted to learn more about him and his travels.

[Ken Kearney]

Great read... well done Adam...
It would seem that Alison spent some time in Ireland (1907/1908) although information is scant. He "resided" at Foxrock GC for a period and is recorded as holding the course record there of 32 strokes...
If anybody can shed light on his Irish activities, I would be greatly interested.

Thanks
KK

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

Nice article Adam.

I think the Alison bunkers mentioned in the article were called "Arrison" bunkers.

According to the book "Swinley Special", the Alison bunker at the 4th (I think) at Swinley is amusingly called the "Arrison" bunker. I think it comes from the fact that the Japanese were unable to pronounce Alison corrrectly.

Ken,

The only info I have on Foxrock that might be loosely related to Alison is a paragraph from the 4 January 1913 Irish Times:

"Mr. H.S. Colt, the brilliant golf architect and Secretary of Sunningdale Golf Club, has been, I understand, at Foxrock this week. The Foxrock Club engaged his services for suggesting further improvements in the course. I do not know if Mr. Colt is visiting any other courses about Dublin."

[Jim Eder]

Thanks for the heads-up to the great article. It leaves me wanting to learn more.................. Fantastic, thanks.

[Niall C]

Tony

The course you are referring to is the Kelvinside course which was a 9 hole course laid out by Old Tom with the assistance of Willie Fernie in 1896. The course was on the land of the Kelvinside estate which has long been developed out and is a fairly salubrious area in Glasgow. At the time the estate was on the fringe of the expanding city and the owner developed some up market sandstone mansions. The course was nearby but in no way overlooked by the houses, indeed quite the opposite. Access to the course was restricted to the "residenters" of the estate ie. house owners, but I doubt that would be much of a selling point for the houses given the rudimentary nature of the course. Indeed I haven't found any marketing material for the houses so can't say if it was ever used as a selling point.

All in all, I wouldn't quibble necessarily with Adam's view about St Georges Hill. Perhaps Kelvinside was a stepping stone to the type of developments that SGH became.

Certainly a great article by Adam. I have some articles that Alison did for one of the golf mags in the 1930's re his Japanese courses together with a nice appreciation of Alison by Charles Ambrose. Maybe you could do me a favour and post them for me as I still haven't learned the knack.

Cheers

Niall

[Neil_Crafter]

Niall
For someone of your talents posting photos should be a doddle.
Just get yourself a Photobucket account (free), upload your images there. Then copy the IMG code which is the last of the four codes they show for each of your images, paste it into the posting box here at GCA and voila! Photos in your posts. So simple even an architect (me) can do it!
Neil

[Sean_A]

Adam

I really enjoyed the article - well done.  One question if I may.  I never really dawned on me that Alison may haved lived in the US for nine years following WWI.  Your piece seems to suggest he did so.  Do you know if Alison made many trips back to England during this time or if he may have been dividing his time between both sides of the pond? 

Ciao

[Tom MacWood]

Sean
He went back and forth. Typically he would come over in March or April, and stay for four to eight months depending on what he was working on. I don't believe his wife travelled with him to the States.

The great majority of his designs/redesigns were in North America (30+). At the height of the 'golden age,' and the peak of his design career, he was considered one of the premier golf architects in N. America - one of the four or five top shelf designers in America in the 1920s. 

[Tony_Muldoon]

Anyone know more about Alison’s family and background?

It used to be that the sons of the Gentry took the following roles.
The first inherited the property and titles (if anything)
The second took a commission to one of the forces, Army or Navy.
The third joined the Clergy.

If this was the case then it seems that Alison was a reluctant student and then ‘going into trade’ was a step down from the natural order of things. If only his father could have known the regard we have for him now.


Both MacKenzie and Morrison enjoyed a drink or ten and outside the home Colt was popular company.  Oh to have shared a glass or two with them.

Can someone check,but from memory the Alison letters immediately post war in Colt and Co, are from an address in Eaton Square, always one of Londons more fashionble places for ones Pied a terre?

[Bill Hyde]

Thanks for this link, it reminded me that I have to wage a war at my club (CC of Detroit) which has been attributing the course to Colt for some time now. We have Colt on balls, shirts, trophies, even inter-club tournament names. Poor old Alison was the Rodney Dangerfield of sidekicks...I will fight to get him the credit he deserves for our course or get kicked out trying. On the other hand, it's somewhat moot as the course was changed substantively in the 50s by RTJ, in the 90s by RTJ Jr., with subsequent bunkering by Foster 2005 and new greens/tees (and god bless him, tree removal) by Doak in 2010.

[Tom MacWood]

Anyone know more about Alison’s family and background?

It used to be that the sons of the Gentry took the following roles.
The first inherited the property and titles (if anything)
The second took a commission to one of the forces, Army or Navy.
The third joined the Clergy.

If this was the case then it seems that Alison was a reluctant student and then ‘going into trade’ was a step down from the natural order of things. If only his father could have known the regard we have for him now.


Both MacKenzie and Morrison enjoyed a drink or ten and outside the home Colt was popular company.  Oh to have shared a glass or two with them.

Can someone check,but from memory the Alison letters immediately post war in Colt and Co, are from an address in Eaton Square, always one of Londons more fashionble places for ones Pied a terre?

If I remember correctly Alison's father was a cop. Speaking of drink I knew he hadn't finished school but never knew why. That is a pretty amusing story. I don't know what were his drinking habits later in life, but he sure looked like an old man when he was in his forties. The fact that he was a very good athlete (first class cricketer) as young man makes his physical decline even more dramatic.

[Adam Lawrence]

Anyone know more about Alison’s family and background?

It used to be that the sons of the Gentry took the following roles.
The first inherited the property and titles (if anything)
The second took a commission to one of the forces, Army or Navy.
The third joined the Clergy.

If this was the case then it seems that Alison was a reluctant student and then ‘going into trade’ was a step down from the natural order of things. If only his father could have known the regard we have for him now.


Both MacKenzie and Morrison enjoyed a drink or ten and outside the home Colt was popular company.  Oh to have shared a glass or two with them.

Can someone check,but from memory the Alison letters immediately post war in Colt and Co, are from an address in Eaton Square, always one of Londons more fashionble places for ones Pied a terre?

If I remember correctly Alison's father was a cop. Speaking of drink I knew he hadn't finished school but never knew why. That is a pretty amusing story. I don't know what were his drinking habits later in life, but he sure looked like an old man when he was in his forties. The fact that he was a very good athlete (first class cricketer) as young man makes his physical decline even more dramatic.

He gave his father's profession as Chief Constable of Somerset on the New College register. I don't know whether that was an honorary position in 1900, though I suspect it probably was. More research needed.