H. L. "Cargie" Rymill writes on British Golf Architecture, "Golfing" April 1924

[Neil_Crafter]

Another article I found in an issue of Golfing from April 1924, was by one of my home town heroes, Adelaide architect Herbert Lockett "Cargie" Rymill. For those of you unfamiliar with the Rymill name, "Cargie" was one of the two original architects of the Royal Adelaide course at Seaton (and the Club's Hon Secretary for a number of years), designed the 18 holes of the West Course at Grange, and the first nine holes of the Glenelg Golf Club course. But perhaps his best known Adelaide creation is the Kooyonga Golf Club at Lockleys, in Adelaide's western suburbs. Rymill found the land, established the club and designed the course from 1923 to 1925 and kept tinkering with it for a number of years later. For many years Rymill was a law unto himself at Kooyonga, a benevolent dictator, until he was overthrown in a "coup d'etat". In between he persuaded the committee at Kooyonga to send him to Britain to study the golf courses and their architecture.



I have been researching Rymill for a number of years and wrote a profile of him in an issue of Golf Architecture magazine a few years ago. He did no work outside of South Australia but was recognised in Melbourne as a genuine expert on golf architecture and wrote on the subject for the Melbourne newspapers.

So I was very pleased to find this article of his impressions of his trip to Britain in late 1923.

[Andrew Summerell]

Thanks Neil,

His opinions on some subjects like blind holes & rough around the greens seems to be quite modern for that time.

Do you know exactly what courses he played on that trip or just from the ones he mentioned in the article?

[Sean_A]

This is a most interesting article.  The man seems to be very modern in his design and maintenance approach - particularly the aprt about wanting to take the putter out the hands of players when off the green.  This comment also shows taht short grass areas did exist back in the day - I know some folks have expressed doubt about this. 

The most interesting thing I read was Cargie's concern over plateaux greens, greenside bunkering and contours being too sharp.  Considering this was written in 1923 does anybody else think this could be a swipe at Colt?  So far as I know he was the man who really pushed this sort of design in the UK (partly to eliminate any hint of blindness - ironically).  Combine this swipe with the comment about St Georges Hill and Sunningdale and it would seem he didn't hold Colt in high regard.   

Thanks for posting this article Neil!

Ciao

[Peter Pallotta]

Yes, thanks Neil. What a jaunty and happy soul Cargie seems to have been.  Oh, to be a good enough golfer to pull off playing in a suit, tie and fedora!

I like the praise he lavishes on Walton Heath. 

Peter

[Neil_Crafter]

Andrew, Sean and Peter
Glad you enjoyed it. He certainly does express some quite modern opinions and I think you are probably spot on with your assessment that the plateaux greens was most likely a dig at Colt. And he seemed to develop a relationship with Fowler whom he met on his British trip, as can be seen in the following advert he placed in one of the Melbourne newspapers touting for work in implementing Mackenzie plans after Mac's 1926 trip (not that it worked). You will also see he was an agent for Sutton Seeds too.

Whether he was a jaunty happy soul all the time is debatable! Rymill was a handy golfer but he took the game up relatively late in life. His father was wealthy and he did not work because he needed to. His daughter is still alive and lives in Tasmania, she was a fine golfer as was her brother Bill (multiple State Champions both of them), whom I knew from his days as President of Kooyonga when I was younger. Both grew up playing golf at Kooyonga.

"Cargie" did write something else on his trip to Britain but I don't think it was as specific as this one in terms of the courses he played. He wrote: "The one fault I found with the latest courses laid out in England and Scotland was the great sameness in the holes on the different courses and as soon as I looked out the window of the train I could tell if Colt, Mackenzie or Fowler laid them out."

[Sean_A]

Andrew, Sean and Peter
Glad you enjoyed it. He certainly does express some quite modern opinions and I think you are probably spot on with your assessment that the plateaux greens was most likely a dig at Colt. And he seemed to develop a relationship with Fowler whom he met on his British trip, as can be seen in the following advert he placed in one of the Melbourne newspapers touting for work in implementing Mackenzie plans after Mac's 1926 trip (not that it worked). You will also see he was an agent for Sutton Seeds too.

Whether he was a jaunty happy soul all the time is debatable! Rymill was a handy golfer but he took the game up relatively late in life. His father was wealthy and he did not work because he needed to. His daughter is still alive and lives in Tasmania, she was a fine golfer as was her brother Bill (multiple State Champions both of them), whom I knew from his days as President of Kooyonga when I was younger. Both grew up playing golf at Kooyonga.

"Cargie" did write something else on his trip to Britain but I don't think it was as specific as this one in terms of the courses he played. He wrote: "The one fault I found with the latest courses laid out in England and Scotland was the great sameness in the holes on the different courses and as soon as I looked out the window of the train I could tell if Colt, Mackenzie or Fowler laid them out."

I am guessing that it wouldn't have taken any great eye to figure out who designed what of these "new" courses if Cargie looked at the bunkering - especially if the choice was between Fowler, Colt and Dr Mac.  Fowler was much more spasmotic with his bunkering - not so scientific or pretty.  Colt and Dr Mac were much more studied in how they placed bunkers, but their styles were very different.  The one clear exception would have been Berkshire, but I spose this was built after Cargie's trip.  Its amazing how similar Berkshire is to Colt courses around London (which is really why I think Simpson had a large role in finishing these courses).  I spose Simpson was slightly later, but I am surprised there was no mention of Park Jr.  Perhaps he was in the States during this time.     

Neil - thanks so much for posting the stuff you find.  A lot of it is fascinating.

Ciao

[Neil_Crafter]

"Neil - thanks so much for posting the stuff you find.  A lot of it is fascinating."

Thanks Sean
I will endeavour to lift my fascinating quotient! 

Rymill would have picked up on the stylistic differences pretty quickly, even as a one time visitor, but I think the greater point he was making was the similarities between different Colt courses, etc., hence leading to the "sameness" criticism that he makes.

[Peter Pallotta]

Neil - thanks. Among the many interesting bits is how Fowler speaks of the "art" of golf course architecture, which I tend to think of as a modern concept that's used to mean the other side of "craft".  But as in many of the ads from that period, the "art" in Fowler's sense includes/goes hand in hand with expertise in irrigation, grasses, soils etc.  Also, I always enjoy the offer found in those early ads to remodel courses along 'modern lines'. Can you imagine if any of the architects here went out to say that they'd be willing to renovate any course along modern lines?

Peter

[Lyne Morrison]

Thats a nice find Neil.

I had to smile on reading the article - modern opinions indeed - or is it a case of everything old being new again. Concern over blind holes, maintenance practices and cost, safety issues, water issues, the ruin of valued traditional work and disregard for etiquette (..and what's more not only out here in the colonies). I like that he was genuinely appreciative of TOC. 

Neil - one wouldn't want to be playing in that get up this week in Adelaide.

Cheers, Lyne

[Neil_Crafter]

Peter
Good pick up on Fowler's use of the word "art". "On modern lines" was one of Mackenzie's favourite sayings and here we have Rymill using the same phrase.

Lyne
45.5 deg C today here in Adelaide around 110F, and that's hot by anyone's measure. I reckon old "Cargie" may have even taken the coat off today.

[Sean_A]

"Neil - thanks so much for posting the stuff you find.  A lot of it is fascinating."

Thanks Sean
I will endeavour to lift my fascinating quotient! 

Rymill would have picked up on the stylistic differences pretty quickly, even as a one time visitor, but I think the greater point he was making was the similarities between different Colt courses, etc., hence leading to the "sameness" criticism that he makes.

Neil

I too often feel like the Colt heathland courses around London are similarish.  Its not surprising given the nature of the land and the number of courses he built.  However, once one gets away from the heathlands, Colt's work is quite varied and often times very subtle.  I still am quite amazed by what Colt designed at Burnham.  The variety of holes and use of the land is excellent.  Same for other places like Portrush.  Its a shame Colt didn't do more work on the seaside as I tend to think this is where his imagination shined the most.

Ciao   

[Rich Goodale]

Great stuff, Neil

I love the picture of the Alps at Prestwick, and wonder if Pat Mucci would love the replica at NGLA as much as he does if the bank were maintained that way and the replica allowed less leeway than was designed in by Macdonald!  I also am fascinated by the apparent fact that the 7th green at Troon used to be a blind second into a bowl.  It is one of my favorite holes in golf, and my first instinct was to applaud the removal of the dune in front of the green, but on reflection, the fact that even if there were a dune still there, you could see all that is important about the hole (including pin position) from the highly elevated tee, which would add to the complication of the hole.  I'm still mulling over the alternatives....

In general, Rymill's opinions strike me as honest and refreshing.  I think all of us could take a lesson from this great South Australian in not bowing and scraping to the conventional wisdom, but rather expressing what you see and feel when you play a golf shot, hole or course, and not what somebody else said yesterday or even 20-100 years ago abo0ut these things, under a very different set of conditions.

Thanks again

Rich

[Jeff_Mingay]

Neat article, Neil. I have to thank you for posting it as well.

I like Rymill's ad, too. Particularly the fascinating declaration that he's "prepared to supervise the work of carrying out Dr. Mackenzie's proposed alterations to any course". Fascinating.

Rymill actually makes it sound like this was potentially "big business" 

[Neil_Crafter]

Jeff and Rich
Rymill was certainly his own man and not afraid to air his often strong opinions about things. This got him into trouble often during his time as Secretary at Royal Adelaide, eventually causing him to leave there and seek out his own course, which was to be Kooyonga, into which he immersed himself heart and soul. Rymill did manage though to insinuate himself in the inspection party when Mackenzie came to Royal Adelaide in 1926 and even managed to take Mackenzie on a brief tour of Kooyonga while he was here. Don't know what Russell thought of Rymill's offer - or whether he knew about it or even cared. In the end it was no business at all for Rymill as he got no work out of this proposition at all.

Sean
Yes, you've picked up on what I think Rymill was getting at.