Cruden Bay - Simpson/Fowler or Old Tom?

[Wayne_Kozun]

On the writeup of Cruden Bay on this site (I presume it was done by Ran) it states:

Tom Simpson and Herbert Fowler arrive at Cruden Bay north of Aberdeen on the east coast of Scotland. They see this incredibly convoluted piece of linksland. What do they do? They build a golf course all over the place. Some holes are pure linksland, one is on top of a ridge, one is in a bowl, one falls off a ridge and others are sandwiched between the ridge and the North Sea.

Yet on the Cruden Bay golf club's web site they state:

The original course, on the present site, was commissioned by the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNSR) following the expansion of the railways at the end of the 19th century, designed by Old Tom Morris of St Andrews, and opened in 1899.  Its opening was celebrated with a professional tournament, after which the winner Harry Vardon received the princely sum of £30. The present layout of the course is a result of it being redeveloped in 1926 by Tom Simpson and Herbert Fowler, although many of Tom Morris' original greensites and basic routing are still in evidence.

Well how much of Old Tom's work remains at CB?  

I apologize if this has been covered before but a search for "cruden bay morris" turned up nothing.

[Gary Daughters]

Wayne,

Cruden Bay is kind of a weird place.  I interviewed the pro about this time last year, and he referred to the course as "just a simple Old Tom Morris layout."  Or somesuch.

Which is patently ridiculous.

It seemed to me from that encounter that the club, or at least the pro, is intent on minimizing the Simpson/Fowler legacy.  Some marketing thing, I guess.  I really don't get it.

Simpson and Fowler's followup to Morris original work was quite extensive, I believe.  Others with greater knowledge might chime in on this, but I believe that Simpson in particular considered Morris to be rather pedestrian.

If there is one hole at Cruden Bay that "feels" like Morris, I would say it is the par 4 #13, one of the course's finer, simpler and perhaps least talked about holes.

Incidentally, Simpson referred to Cruden Bay's #18 as one of his favorite golf holes in the world, an assessment that no one to my knowledge has yet figured out.

[Tom_Doak]

I have never seen a definitive history of the evolution of Cruden Bay.  At first glance, it would surprise me if Tom Morris did the holes up over the hill [9 thru 16] ... I would have guessed he kept his original routing on the linksland where the first seven and last two holes and the St. Olaf course now reside.

However, Simpson chose not just the 18th hole but the sixth and eighth among his favorites, so one would presume he made some significant changes to those.

[Gary Daughters]

The club's official history is "A Century of Golf at Cruden Bay,"
published in 1998.

The book refers to Old Tom Morris as "the main architect of the Original Course," which is described in some detail by a snippet from something called the "1908 Guide to Cruden Bay."

According to this, Morris did indeed lay out 18 holes, including some over the hill.  Most of the holes described in the guide bear little resemblance to the course as it plays today.

Here's what the book says about Simpson/Fowler:

"It was during (their) partnership that that they redesigned the Cruden Bay courses in 1926."

That's it.

Except for this:

"Tom Simpson.. created the golf course we know today."

[Brian_Ewen]

And the one name that gets missed as usual is Archie Simpson .

I would be very surprised if the original design didnt have some of his hand in it .

I remember thinking that the change to the tee and bunkering at the 9th a couple of years ago , was a revert back to the Old Tom design ( His 10th ) , but I cant find what made me think that now .  

[Neil_Crafter]

In the book 'The Architectural Side of Golf' written by Simpson in conjunction with H N Wethered (father of Joyce and Roger) there is included a delightful sketch by Tom Simpson of the approach and green of the 6th hole at Cruden Bay. Don't think he would have included this unless it was one of the holes he redesigned there.

In the excellent biographical piece on Tom Simpson in issue 8 of 'Golf Architecture', Tom MacWood wrote:

"The following year (1909) Simpson wrote an article profiling Cruden Bay. Within this article he detail's the course's strengths and weakneses, some recent changes and goes on to suggest additional alterations to improve the links. Further, in an article on the use of plasticine models published in 1911, Herbert Fowler wrote that he had been introduced to the idea by Simpson's models for the greens at Cruden Bay. It appears Cruden Bay was one of Simpson's first design projects - likely before joining Fowler."

It would appear that Simpson was working at Cruden Bay prior to 1909. precisely what he did I am not sure and perhaps Tom MacWood may have more information about this up his sleeve.

cheers Neil

[Brian_Ewen]

Gary
Strange that the Pro. ( Robbie Stewart ? ) would say that , because he did the write up of the present day course in the Centenary Book , and raves about Simpsons design .

[T_MacWood]

I did a little digging on Cruden Bay when I was researching Tom Simpson and the course has a pretty confusing evolution. I don't think anyone has complete handle on yet, including the club history. There are still a lot more questions than answers.

It appears there was a nine opened in 1897, I'm not certain who the architect may have been, perhaps Morris. In December of 1898 (Golf Illustrated)  it was reported a new golf course and hotel will shortly be opened. In February '99 (GI) it is reported that Archie Simpson is making final alterations. In March (GI) it is reported the new course has been laid out under the advice and superitendence of Archie Simpson. Later in March The Times announces the grand opening of the course laid out under the advice of Old Tom Morris! In 2/1900 (GI) the Cruden Bay pro AN Weir is carrying out additional improvements and alterations.

My impression is by the late 1890's Old Tom was more or less an icon in the golf world. Having his name attached to a new golf course was a big deal. I also get the impression he was slowing down a bit (he was pushing 80)....although he was still considered the foremost expert on growing grass and greenkeeping, IMO he was more advisor than active designer. Archie Simpson was a pretty accomplished architect in his own right. I think he designed nearby R. Aberdeen and some other good courses in the area.

And as Neil mentioned in 1909 Tom Simpson wrote an article in GI analysing some recent changes to CB, and he made a number of other suggestions. TS became a golf architect in 1910. In 1911 Herbert Fowler wrote an article on plasticine models, saying that the first time he was introduced to them was at Cruden Bay by Simpson. I believe Fowler & Simpson were involved at CB long before in 1926. In fact I would not be surprised if the two men did not meet and become partners at Cruden Bay

[Tom_Doak]

I don't have Whitten's book handy so I'll just ask a stupid question:  was Herbert Fowler even still practicing as late as the 1920's?  Most of his work with which I'm familiar was done before the Great War.

Having Archie Simpson involved prior to Tom Simpson might well cause Archie's name to be misplaced over the years.

[T_MacWood]

Tom
Fowler was still practicing in the twenties altough not as actively as before. His American work including LACC and Eastward Ho! as well as the courses at Saunton and Berkshire all in the 1920s.

[ForkaB]

There is quite a bit of OTM still there at Cruden Bay.  I'm not at home with access to the club history, but off the top of my head I can think of the bathtub green at 14 and the magnificent 6th green which Simpson so much liked.  This is ironic since Simpson was dismissive of OTM's work in his writings.  I agree with Tom Doak that the significant input that Archie Simpson had to CB might have led some people to confuse his work and presence there with that of Tom Simpson.

[T_MacWood]

At one point I tried to figure out the changes between 1899 and 1909 and the present, but I can't find the info. For example the 13th hole was originally 239 yards according to the club history, in 1909 it is 520 yds long.

Based on the fact the 1926 date is cited so often and the fact that T. Simpson illustrated Cruden Bay holes in The Architectural Side of Golf (1928) it is likely he went back in the 20s and made some more changes.

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