I’d be lucky enough to list two of the architects I listed in the other thread, not merely because their work is close, but , having played in many countries around the world, I still admire them for the quality of their work.
Eric Apperly is first on my list of local architects. His entire portfolio of courses is pretty much within that 250 mile radius, yet his work was of the quality that, if he had the profile of MacKenzie or Ross, most on here would consider him one of the greats.
His 2 most famous courses are Newcastle (my home course) & NSW. He worked on NSW only 7 years after MacKenzie finished it. The changes are significant enough (Creation of the 6th, 14th & 17th, re-routing of the 5th, 15th & 16th, the deleting of the 2 weak par 4’s to make the par 5 8th, & so on) that I believe much of NSW’s greatness is more attributed to Apperly.
Newcastle is a superbly routed course where he utilised the dunes brilliantly & in the case of the 5th & 6th discovered holes that many architects would not have found.
He also designed the original layout at The Lakes, which was considered better than what they have had for the last 30 years. Duntryleagues is a lovely country course & Castle Hill only shows his routing these days. Pymble & Manly both reasonable club courses on extremely average sites.
I apologise for my Eric Apperly rant. I am a little passionate.
My list:
1. Eric Apperly (See Above)
2. Alister MacKenzie (NSW)
3. Prosper Ellis (a number of reasonable local club courses)
4. Ross Watson (Magenta Shores, Horizons, decent renos at Royal Sydney, Concord, Bonnie Doon)
5. Bob Harrison (The Vintage)