[Jeff Schley]

Was looking through some official golf club history from Barwon Heads as I maybe heading to OZ next winter.  I was interested in just how crafty some wording is so as to give some PR benefit, without a commitment. They claim Dr. Mackenzie visited on his trip down under in 1926.  What do you think of this wording:


In 1926 Dr Alexander Mackenzie, considered to be the world’s foremost golf course designer, visited the course, was consulted on the course design, and appears to have reinforced the design ideology of a links course at Barwon Heads.



1. "consulted on the course design".  Seeing as 18 holes were complete by 1922, what exactly does this mean?



2. "appears to have reinforced the design ideology of a links course at Barwon Heads". Maybe he said, looks like a links?



I know everyone wants to maximize their brand and history so as to give themselves the full benefit of whatever architect may have worked on their course, but this is one of the most ambiguous statements I have read.https://www.barwonheads.golf/cms/the-club/since-1907/official-history/

[Duncan Cheslett]

This made me smile.


In my part of northern England, many golf clubs claim a similarly tenuous MacKenzie connection. This though, is possibly the cheekiest I've seen.


"Consulted on the course design" could simply mean that he was asked his opinion of the course layout. Dr Mac might well have said that he hated it but the statement would still be true!


"Appears to have reinforced the design ideology of a links course at Barwon Heads" is a masterpiece in ambiguity without straying into the territory of untruthfulness.


I envisage a conversation in the clubhouse between the club captain and MacKenzie along the lines of;


"So, Dr MacKenzie, what do you think of our course?"


"Ay Laddie, it's okay. Do you have another spot of that whisky?"


"No worries, mate - my shout!"......"You see, we were aiming for a Scottish style links course here in Australia."


"Ay, happen the land's linksy enough, but why did you kill all the rabbits and plant all those fuckin' trees?" 



 

[Matthew Delahunty]

Mackenzie visited Australia between October 1926 and January 1927.  He was paid 1200 pounds by Royal Melbourne GC but visited many other clubs at a fee of 250 pounds.  In and around Melbourne he visited and provided reports and recommendations at Royal Melbourne, Kingston Heath, Victoria, Metropolitan, Flinders and Barwon Heads.  At Royal Melbourne he designed holes on the new land and recommended changes to existing holes on the old Sandringham course.  At Metropolitan, his work included redesigning certain holes and bunkering of others.  At Victoria and Kingston Heath, his work consisted of bunkering plans on new courses which had already been laid out but not bunkered.  At Flinders, he produced a course plan for a revised layout but only portions of the plan were implemented.  One can assume that he also provided a report to Barwon Heads.  The Mackenzie chronology suggests that this may have been a verbal report rather than a written one.  It would appear that the club does not retain written records of Mackenzie's recommendations.  This is probably the reason why the club's website contains such vague statements. I do not know of any changes to the course which came about because of any of Mackenzie's recommendation but there may have been some but it's probably fair to say that there probably weren't any major changes to the layout as a result of his visit there.

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