Australians - Alex Russell?

[Jason_Henham]

Tom Mc,

Russell was a high-profile member of Royal Melbourne and Club Champion. In the mid-20s, the Club President, who was in the UK at the time, persuaded Dr Mackenzie to come to Australia for the purpose of building A golf course at Royal Melbourne's new home in Black Rock. I believe it was on his arrival that his impressions of Russell and Morcom were formed. I'd imagine that he would have been on the lookout for talent, knowing that he wouldn't be around for the implementation of his design.

Jason

[Rory Brannigan]

Gentlemen,

I know of a Melbourne writer who has almost completed a book on the lives and achievements of 34 Australian and New Zealand golf course architects, dating from 1890-1980.

I think, from what I have heard, that many of the questions raised on this topic will be answered when the book is published.

I believe the book is the result of over 30 years of research, so it it should be worthy of reading.

[TasmanianDunes]

A manuscript has been written on Alex Russell by a local well-known sandblet golf historian, I believe it is going to press soon.  Hopefully it will reveal all!

Russell did spend some time in the UK before he worked with Mackenzie in the Sandbelt.  I understand he was a also a descendant of the Russell's of Elie, who settled in Tasmania's central highlands and were close friends of the Reid's, who introduced golf after arriving from Leith in 1822.

I think its great that Mackenzie's bedtime achievements off the course are being to light, afterall, if he hadn't been struck off the medical register, he would never have become a golf course architect and filled all of our lives with such joyous golf courses!

[Mark_Huxford]

There is a book about Paraparaumu that was published during the club's 50th jubilee. Unfortunately I don't own it which is a bit strange but I will endeavor to hunt through it next time I'm in the clubhouse and find out those answers properly Tom.

The timeline of PBGC is as follows however;

1931 Stronach Patterson and D.O Whyte aquire land.

1946 Alex Russell begins work assisted by Whyte - who was one of New Zealand's better players at the time.

1949 Course is opened for play.

There was a course here between 1931 and 1946 but from what I can gather it was not a serious attempt. I will try to find out a little more about it though and also if the club itself had been formalized prior to the Russell course opening.

Rory,
That sounds fascinating. Who is the author?

[T_MacWood]

It appears we will soon have books written on Morcom, Russell and A/NZ golf architects, the question still remains will they provide any concrete facts or simply more theories? I believe the answers to the MacKenzie/Russell questions lie outside of Australia, most likely in the US and/or UK--just like the articles written by MacKenzie for Golf Illustrated(UK). What does Doak's new book reveal of MacKenzie's Australian activities?

[TasmanianDunes]

G'day there Mark Huxford in NZ

I was just speaking on the phone to Philip Russell, Alex Russell's son.  If you were wondering about his influences, Philip said that when his father was in Scotland, they took a house in Gullane each summer, and played all the courses around there, including Muirfield.  I guess he missed actually being there during Tom Simpon's revision (much earlier?).  He also recalled that his father received Blues at Cambridge in both Golf and Tennis.  Do Cambridge play at Rye?  I recall Doak raving about one of the Oxbridge short courses, maybe that was Cambridge's course and Russell enjoyed its subtleties?

Philip Russell is very elderly now, but retains lots of recollections about his father's designs with Mackenzie around the sandbelt.  Next thing we know, Philip will find his father's lost manuscripts on the 'innovative school of golf course design'.  I tip Sleeping Bear Press to release it next year- the third in the trilogy of lost maunscripts, and we'll all be able to buy the leather bound limited editions collector's set- 'Mackenzie-Ross-Russell-Scotland's Architectural Diaspora'.

TasmanianDunes

[Brian Walshe]

There was an article about Flinders Golf Club on the VGA website (www.golfvic.org.au) a couple of months ago that talked about MacKenzie's involvement.  It claimed that the work he did was peformed around 1904 (that's from memory I can't find the article on the site) when he visited his cousin at Flinders.

Did MacKenzie visit Australia prior to 1926?