St Andrews Eden-Major Colt

[Paul_Turner]

Of all Harry Colt's projects this had to be the ultimate compliment: selected to build the fourth course at the home of golf in 1913/4 (being picked by G Crump being a close second).

The course survived intact for 80 years and then the links trust chose to expand, which resulted in 7 holes coming to grief: 4 buried beneath a driving range and 3 more lost in Donald Steel's redesign.

I have seen photos of Steel's new holes and these appear wholly inferior when compared with Colt's remaining 11; I've yet to hear a good word for them.  In fact many locals choose to just play the first 9 which are all Colt's and leave the rest.

Here are some pics of some of Colt's great greens (the 4th looks wonderful too, not sure about the current 13th which I believe is his).


1st


2nd


3rd


5th


6th


7th


8th


8th from different angle


11th

Would love to hear comments, particularly from those who knew the course before the changes.  Were there many great greens lost like these?  Also anyone else who knows the course since the chnages.

I'll leave the final words to Keith Mackie from "Golf at St Andrews":  "In conclusion, it has to be said that generations of golfers who formed a great affection for the original Eden course will always question the necessity of ripping out its heart to create practice facilities which could so easily have been built elsewhere."

Photo Credit: Jeroen Pit

[Chris_Clouser]

Paul,

Simply amazing.  I am curious how much Colt's work here has affected architects such as Mackenzie and Maxwell as those greens just seem so similar to many of the ones I saw in Oklahoma and in pictures of Old Town by Maxwell. Those fairway undulations made me think of the 9th at Prairie Dunes as well for some reason.

Excellent as always Paul.

Chris

[Paul_Turner]

Chris

That's what T Doak speculates in his bio on Mackenzie; that these greens influenced him.  I think Makcenzie was with Colt when he built the course, but he denied any credit for it.

[Paul_Turner]

Here's the Golf Illustrated review, soon after the course opened.  Good to read a magazine review with strong opinions; aren't the current magazine reviews just a load of fluff?  The 14th that comes in for some harsh criticism has survived, I believe it's the current 8th: looks identical although the bunker has shrunk and no whins.

All good courses come in for some adverse criticism at some point in their life.

[Mike_Sweeney]

Wow ! That is beautiful ! If I ever need a reason to see St Andrews, this page is now bookmarked.

To give Donald Steel some credit, his work at Enniscrone in Ireland was very well received. I did not see the course prior to his adding some holes, but all the old members really liked his work. From what I am told, he replaced some very weak holes, but still it was well done. But then why would you touch anything at St. Andrews ?

Thanks for posting these pictures.

[Tom MacWood (Guest)]

Paul
Well done. It is fascinating how they analyzed their new designs back then. The fact that they were all active critics and in turn expected thoughtful criticism helped to elevate the art. A major benefit of GCA for modern design if you ask me.

What do you make of the criticism, do you think author considered Colt too penal for his tastes? I reckon one of GS's approaches ended up in the bushes on 14.

I like the house in the first photo - a subtle expression of Mackintosh.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

I saw this post and just clicked on it as fast as I could!

Paul and Jeroen, Excellent picture of my FAVORITE putting surface in Golf--the 7th, which not only is one of the best studies of golf architecture-the art, but also a definitive study on how a putting surface should work with natural features.

This picture, taken from the back left, behind the green facing the small, very evolved dune-line, is a blast to play with any pin position on the putting surface. the first time playing it, I literally spent a half-hour out there putting from every concievable angle watching how the swale was a dor or die sort of affair to negotiate. The pin position was front left, (Close to where the ball is in the picture) which of course made any run-up one of an even more deft touch, other wise the ball would take the swale and disappear behind the gorse covered evolved dune-line, still on the green.

My evenings in the Grey Ol' Toon during a three week stay usually consisted of walking in from the Eden with the last glimpse of sun hiding over the horizon--11:30-11:45pm. It is a very dear course to me, and it also taught me to understand the Old Course even better, because really, it was pretty amazing how well it emulated use of naturally evolved features over the constructed ones we are constantly bombarded with here in America.

I love these pictues, but am also alarmed to see such green. when I played the course(s) they were every shade of color you could imagine.

Just phenominal stuff.

Also, I to agree with Keith Mackie's quote, which I own not one, but two copies of that book!

[CHrisB]

Paul, thanks for dusting off my memories of this course and making me want to play it again!

Which holes on the back nine are Colt's?

Isn't the 17th loosely patterned after the Road Hole on the Old Course?  Don't know if it is Colt's or Steel's...

The criss-crossing par 3's, the 5th and 8th, might be more renowned if not for the Eden 11th at the Old course, which obviously is one of the great one-shotters in golf. I think that the 5th and 8th are the 2nd and 3rd best par 3's on any of the courses at St. Andrews (I like #9 New but not as much), but don't seem to receive the acclaim that they should.

[Paul Turner]

Chris

The 11th is definitely Colt (see the last photo).  From a routing map comparison, I believe the current 13th is too.  

The old 1,2,17,18 on the above plan are now driving range fodder; the old 16th and 12th were lost in the redesign.


Tommy

My favourite has to be that 1st green (old 3rd), perhaps the most beautiful green contours I've ever seen.  Similar to some at Prairie Dunes.  I remember seeing the complex from the Old Course and it's amazing since the terrain leading up is essentially a flat field (unlike the 7th).

Tom

Some of those old reviews are extremely harsh.  You should read some of them after St Georges Hill opened-it humiliated the pros who opened the course (can't recall their names) and there was some real wining.  So yes I think these guys were used to it and so Mackenzie's concerns over Cypress not receiving any adverse criticisms appear to ring true.  The magazines are also chock full of discussions on strategy... A chap called C H Ambrose is particularly interesting (great draughstman too), he was the boss at Worplesdon for a time.

And of course our "Brer Rabbit" was a great critic, whoever he was.  Even if I don't agree with a third of what he says on his hundreds of course reviews.

Mike

Yes, Steel has undoubtedly done some excellent work (I liked the look of his new holes at Enniscrone too).  But his part of  the Eden just doesn't look good.  The difference in quality is so obvious, even from pics.

Still hoping someone out there will have seen the course before and commenton the missing holes:  Tom Doak, Rich Goodale?

[Leslie Claytor]

I played the Eden in the early nineties after the Steel redesign and found the new holes abominable.  One of the first you play is a short par three cape hole around a small pond! in Saint Andrews no less.  How does that hole play when the wind comes up?  One of the finishing holes has a minature principals nose bunker no less than 1000 ft. from the original! What possesed them to make such a blantant copy in such close proximity?  I was really dissapointed in ther work especially in contrast to the brillance of the original.

The original Eden is a great golf course which is a pleasure to play and worthy of detail study.  As the preceding pictures attest, the contouring is fantastic.  I think the Eden is one of the first examples of "modern golf course architecture", and it's a shame the original course is not completly intact.

[Tom Doak]

Paul T:  I thought I had written about the Eden course in The Confidential Guide, but I'm at home and don't have the book with me.  Perhaps not, since theI  Old Course is covered in the Gourmet's Choice.

I played the original Eden course several times in the summer of 1982 while I lived in St. Andrews.  It was 5,900 yards and a par of 70.  It was often the locals' first choice during the summer when the Old Course was bombarded with visitors, and locals' annual passes were not valid on the Old.

The course was changed to accommodate a large practice facility ... an odd choice, but one that the Links Management Committee thought was inevitable because of all the visitors who complained about the lack of a driving range!  I've only seen the new holes once and they are quite uninspiring.

In truth, the majority of the original holes that were lost were quite flat, but most of them were interesting holes.  The old 1st was a short par-4, but with an angled green that forced you to play to one side of the fairway; the 2nd a longer par-4 with a good but not too severe green complex.  The present 1st green was originally played as the third hole, a 200-yard par 3 which was quite something!

The real casualty of the changed course was the original par-3 16th, with a wild rolling green of its own.  Combined with the original third, and the two criss-cross par-3's you have described (originally nos. 7 and 14), I thought the Eden had one of the greatest sets of short holes of any course I have seen.

The two finishing holes were not very inspired, playing back over the same flat ground as the first two.  The 17th was a bit tougher, but the 18th was a 260 yarder with a slight bowl of a green.  Even I made a two there on one occasion.

As I wrote in the MacKenzie bio, we could find no evidence of Dr. MacKenzie's actual involvement in the design and construction of the Eden, and MacKenzie went out of his way to give all the credit to Colt.  But several of those greens on the Eden are wilder than anything Mr. Colt ever built before OR AFTER ... so it's hard to believe they were Colt influencing MacKenzie, instead of the other way around.

I would have nominated the Eden as one of my historic landmarks, to stop it from being cannibalized for a driving range.  But it does raise the question of how many other good courses might have been so much better if their founders had been able to subjugate the need for a practice range.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Tom, thanks for the recollection!

As I have stated before, my favortie feature of the Eden site has to be the evolved dune line and how it was utlized for the routing. For a feature that realy isn't that large, the most semed to be made from it. Current holes 4,5,6,7,8,9, & 11 seemed to feature some part of the dune line, one way or another, and just like the use of features at the Valley Club of Montecito, an excellent guide for the student to see how natural features can be used, as well as importance, for the routing of a golf course.

Not many people talk of the 7th, another great hole witha pretty interesting green that is bisected in length with a swale. I love that hole too!

[Rich Goodale (Guest)]

Paul, Tommy et. al. are right.  There is some great golf on the Eden--at its best, as good as anything on the Old or the New.  I'm not old enough to have played the old holes , but I think that the new Steele holes are not bad, just out of character.  It's beyond the ability of most architects to make links holes out of pasture land.  The ones coming back from the pond (14-16?) are pretty strong holes, actually.

Anybody wanting to play the Eden and the New under primo conditions, should consider entering the annual Eden Trophy which takes place in August.  One round at each course from the tips to qualify and then match play over the Eden for the best 32 scratch and 32 handicap.  You get in by handicap, but last time I played it was only a 7 or 8 that was needed.  Lots of good golf and good fun.  2** on the Goodale Michelin Scottish golf tournament ratings.

[allysmith]

Rich et al,

The Eden in the 70s was an absolute Gem.

I was lucky enough to reach the semi-finals of the Eden Boys Tournament on a couple of occasions and loved the original layout of the course. Any one playing will recall that the Semi finals and Finals of the Eden tournaments were played on the 'Old Course'. What a thrill it was to walk down the 18th (if one got that far) and have an audience.

I remember most fondly the 4th and indeed the 18th with the old pivillion in the background.

I agree that the new holes are out of context but only the 13th and 14th can be considered atypical of links. Who ever thought up a pond on a links course should be shot.

It may be it was a demand of the Links Trust so we cannot blame the designer until that point is cleared up. The par 5 15th is a superb hole as is the very testing 16th. The 'new' 18th is a strange hole indeed little or no challenge but a bitch of a green to get at. Not dissimilar to the 15th at Downfield (another hole which needs serious re-design/tree felling)

In the 70s the Eden was consdered by locals to be a superior course to the 'Jubilee'. If Im not wrong I think it was £3 for a round ($5) and the greens were always superb. One could probably lift any one of the 18 holes and find a suitable place for it on the Old.

The 1st (formerly the 3rd) was a fantastic par 3 and the green like something out of the 'Himalayas' (St Andrews Ladies). I little quirky but so are many of the others.

The Eden is a typical example of a super course canibilised in the name of finance. It was not only the Driving Range which drove the change but also the earlier development of the Strathtyrum.

[Paul Turner]

Thanks to everyone for the responses.

Tom D

I agree some of those greens are wilder than anything that Colt ever built before or after.  I also couldn't find any credit for Mackenzie: in any of the contemporary reports like the one above (I don't think they were partners yet).  Perhaps Colt built such wild greens simply because they were within the context of St Andrews; greens like that just wouldn't fit at Muirfield, Portrush or Lytham?

(I thought in your book you suggested these greens could possibly have influenced Mackenzie?)

I've checked the modern routing and it wouldn't have been hard to have kept that old 16th green!  But I suppose they didn't want to start with a par 3 and so extended the old 3rd.

Harry Colt has had a few of his famous holes ploughed under recently, the latest one being The Royal (17th) hole at Hoylake: again replaced by Steel!

No ponds on links!! (Pat Ruddy is the worst offender)

[David Lott]

I played Edens numerous times during the lucky summer of 1998 when I lived in St. Andrews, mainly to soothe my ego after being battered each outing on the Jubilee. I usually went out alone and hooked up with whoever was there, invariably Scots or Brits on vacation. It was always a very pleasant round with much lower scores (I never got much wind on Edens, for some reason) and the stretch bordering the Old Course and along the estuary was as lovely and quiet a spot as I found in Fife. Parts of the second nine, and especially the pond, were strangely our of character, but the Scots didn't seem to mind too much, so neither did I. But (the pond issue aside) the weaker holes on the back are better than--say--17 and 18 at Macrahanish. And nobody steers people away from that course. As Dan Quayle might say to the Edens, "I've played Macrahanisn and--believe me--you're no Macrahanish." But Edens will always give you a lovely (and inexpensive) round of golf, and I doubt that there would much criticism if the course had been the way it is now from the beginning.

Except for the pond, of course. I always wondered if it had something to do with irrigation or drainage.

[David Lott]

Also, thanks for the photos--nice memories.