If you divide North America into four quadrants (northeast, southeast, etc.) and ask people to pick a favorite based on sheer beauty, the Northwest would surely fair at or near the top. Yet, the very images that it conjures (verdant, lush, rainy) may also explain why it historically (at least pre-Bandon) places at the bottom of the four in terms golf quality, despite the Irishman Vernon Macan's body of work and Stanley Thompson's beacon of great architecture at Capilano.
Why else the Northwest lagged, I am not sure. Macan did his best (!) yet he may have been ahead of his time. Macan's own personal favorite, which he called “his crowning jewel" and "the course I wish to be remembered by” was Shaughnessy. Yet, here is what Mike Riste, Macan's biographer and this month's Feature Interviewee, says:
"The course has changed since Mac’s death. The members detested the sloping greens that required the run-up shot. At Shaughnessy Mac introduced an entirely new design technique into northwest golf architecture. He placed fairway bunkers in strategic spots near the centre of the fairway to control the distance the players were driving the ball. He placed extreme emphasis on the fact he believed the centre of the fairway was not the position for the player’s drive. Mac placed a large landing area on one side of the central bunker and a smaller more challenging area on the opposite side. If the low handicap player chose the challenging side and placed his tee shot perfectly, Mac rewarded the player by sloping the green towards the player for the second shot."
Look at Macan's own multi-option drawing of the 6th at Gorge Vale found in the Feature Interview to see what is meant by center line hazards! That hole could be lifted straight from the GolfClubAtlas.com Carthage playbook
. However, with such features gone, so too fades away the memory of Macan ... until recent times.
Several spirited Macan threads took place earlier in the year as the result of the release of Mike's book Just Call Me Mac. In addition, we published Dale Jackson's My Home Course article on Royal Colwood
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/in-my-opinion/royal-colwood/ last fall. Just look at the photo of the 7th hole circa 1930 and you know we are dealing with a unique talent. According to Mike, Macan did it the right way too, spending lots of time on site and always making sure that the average player had means to get around while still challenging the best. In addition, Macan took great pains to deal up front with the wet chilly weather conditions as Mike details in his answer to the ninth question. (Nowadays, improvements in agronomy have helped and certain areas like Pronghorn and Bandon feature as firm and fast conditions through the green as can be found in North America).
Like George Thomas in the southwest, Macan inspires devotion once you delve into what he did for the game and his innovative mind. By shedding light on the man and his work, Mike hopes that clubs blessed with a Macan course will take note. Certainly, that has been the primary off chute from the information published on the likes of Ross and Tillinghast and their corresponding societies. As Mike notes, "Today golf clubs are showing great pride in the fact their course is a Ross, Thompson, Thomas, or Mackenzie design. Now the Macan clubs have the opportunity to proudly display the fact their course is a Macan design."
Mike Riste's book Just Call me Mac is being sold through the
www.bcgolfhouse.com website. The book is a fund-raising project to replace the roof on the British Columbia Golf Museum. Hope everyone enjoys this month's Feature Interview as it is on a man that deserves to be better known and appreciated.
Cheers,