Russell and Morcom after Mackenzie's Visit

[Ian Andrew]

Did Russell and Morcom continue to correspond with MacKenzie during the construction of Royal Melbourne and other courses around Australia? What do we know about the rest of the construction process for Royal Melbourne? We know he never went back to Australia, but did he continue to correspond through telegrams? Did he make changes to the plans, or were they all handled by Russell?

I have no idea why I haven't asked these questions before.

[Tom_Doak]

Ian:

Neil Crafter has a lot more details on this than I do, but there is evidence that MacKenzie and Russell corresponded for a year or more after his visit.  Russell also spent some time in the UK so it's possible they met again there.

Also, John Green's book about Royal Melbourne includes a couple of different maps of the course that show MacKenzie made some changes to the layout AFTER a new block of land was acquired, which was after he had left the country.

[Mike_Clayton]

Ian,

I suspect Neil Crafter will know more about what happened after MacKenzie left at the end of 1926 - or early '27
Russell did Yarra Yarra and Lake Karrinyup on his own a few years later. Paraparaumu also.
 Morcom had nothing to do with Karrinyup (on the other side of the country and probably Russell wasn't there that much either) but presumably he spend time at Yarra Yarra where the holes and the work looked to be fantastic from the evidence of the aerials.
My guess is between them Morcom and Russell had a pretty good idea about what they were doing. They had been with MacKenzie and they had his book - and they were both great at what they did.

I look at the amazing 11th green at Yarra one night with Tom Doak and his guess was that MacKenzie must have had some influence on it because it was so wild. But that was done in the early 1930s - maybe 1932.

[Ian Andrew]

Tom,

Thanks, I wasn't sure whether Mackenzie did the revisions or whether Russell did.
That helps me out a lot.

Mike,

How good was Russell?
He obviously understood MacKenzie's idea well, did he have some interesting ones of his own.
I'm realizing I know too little about him.

[Andrew Bertram]

I asked the question of our historical guys last month what communications, if any,  Russell had with Mackenzie while he was doing Yarra.

There is a note on file from one of the Club Committee at the time that suggests that Russell did send Mackenzie a copy of the Yarra Yarra plans before the build started.

There is nothing to suggest there was any correspondence back from Mackenzie.

[Ian Andrew]

Andrew,

You have to believe that communication went back and forth between them.
Otherwise what sort of partnership would that have been.

I have a report from Alison that mentions his correspondence with Colt on the subject.
I had always assumed a similar relationship existed.

[Mike_Clayton]

Ian,


The four courses he did - The East, Yarra Yarra, Paraparaumu and Lake Karrinyup are all really good.
The best holes on the East are on the main paddock and with six of those seven holes being on the Composite Course. The holes over the road are still excellent and the long second shot up to the par five 10th green is one of the best in Australia.
Yarra Yarra was fantastic. Sadly some of the best Russell greens - 4 and 8 - were changed and boundary problems have forced alteration to 3 and 12 and neither are close to being as good as the holes he left.
Paraparaumu's 17th is a brilliant split fairway hole and he did 3 great short holes, none of which have a bunker in play. 16 and 5 have none and 2 has a couple half way to the hole in a ridge that are not in play. It is really fun to play and,like Yarra Yarra, it isn't long but there is a lot of thoughtful golf.
Karrinyup had no Morcom construction influence and consequently it was not in the class of the Melbourne courses.
We rebuilt all the greens and bunkers a few years ago and it seems quite a bit better now.

Here is something about what was a pretty diverse and interesting life. It was written by Bill Whitton - his father won 5 Australian Opens and he and Russell were hugely influential figures in Australian golf.



'Alex Russell (1892-1961), grazier, soldier, golfer and golf course architect, was born on 4 June 1892 at Geelong, Victoria, son of Philip Russell, grazier, and his wife Mary Gray, née Guthrie, both of whom were born at Geelong. The family owned Mawallok, a sheep-station near Beaufort. Alex was sent to Glenalmond College, Perthshire, Scotland, for his early schooling. Returning to Australia, he attended (1908-11) Geelong Church of England Grammar School where he became a prefect, captain of cricket, and a member of the football and shooting teams; he also gained prizes for mathematics, English and divinity. In 1912 he travelled to England and entered Jesus College, Cambridge, to study engineering.

On 9 October 1914 Russell was commissioned in the Royal Garrison Artillery. While serving on the Western Front, he was wounded twice, awarded the Military Cross and promoted (1918) acting major. At Holy Trinity Church, Chelsea, London, on 14 September 1917 he had married Jess Lucy, daughter of F. W. Fairbairn. The young couple sailed to Australia and settled at Sandringham, close to the Royal Melbourne Golf Club. Alex won the Australian Open in 1924, the Australian foursomes in 1924 and 1926, and the Victorian and South Australian championships in 1925. Jess won the national ladies' foursomes in 1926 and 1927, and came second in the ladies' amateur championship in 1927, 1930 and 1932.

In 1926 Russell assisted the Scottish architect Alister Mackenzie to design Royal Melbourne's new west course at Black Rock; he and Mick Morcom, the club's greenkeeper, supervised construction and the links were opened in 1931. The new east course, which Russell designed (1930) and helped to build, opened in 1932. He also designed courses at Lake Karrinyup, Perth (1928), Yarra Yarra, Melbourne (1929), and Paraparaumu Beach, near Wellington, New Zealand (1951).

For a short period in the mid-1920s Russell had been private secretary to Prime Minister S. M. (Viscount) Bruce. In 1932 Alex and Jess moved to Mawallok. He developed the station's merino stud, won prizes for his sheep, and presided (1950-51) over the Australian Sheepbreeders' Association. During World War II he worked for the Australian Red Cross Society as deputy-commissioner (1941-42) in the Middle East and chief commissioner (1943-46) of the field force which operated mainly in the South-West Pacific Area. In the eighteen months between these two appointments he served in the Militia as camp commandant at headquarters, I Corps, joined the Australian Imperial Force on 4 August 1943 and directed amenities organizations at headquarters, New Guinea Force, Port Moresby, and Land Headquarters, Melbourne. In October he was transferred to the Reserve of Officers with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was mentioned in dispatches.

Russell was appointed a knight of grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem in 1948. He was president (1936) of the Old Geelong Grammarians, a committee-member (1944-48) of the Melbourne Club, a councillor (1929-55) and life member (1933) of the Royal Melbourne Golf Club, and captain (1946-49) and president (1950-52) of the Barwon Heads Golf Club. In retirement he lived at South Yarra. Survived by his wife, and their son and two daughters, he died of hypertensive cerebrovascular disease on 22 November 1961 at Heidelberg and was cremated with Presbyterian forms. His estate was sworn for probate at £223,068. Greg Nuttman's charcoal sketch of Russell is held by the R.M.G.C.'

[Ian Andrew]

That was awesome. Thanks for the write-up.
Amazing how many of the architects served in the world wars.

I really liked his work on the East Course too and agree with the 10th being a standout.
I happen to love the 9th green too.

I thought the threes at Yarra were standouts.
Loved the 15th green and the 11th is just plain awesome.


You make it sound like Morcom and Russell needed each other to be very good and MacKenzie's expertise to be brilliant.

[Mike_Clayton]

Ian,

Karrinyup probably proves your thesis. On the other side of the country, no Morcom, no MacKenzie and travel was long and difficult to Perth in the early 30s. And, by the sound of it, he was getting into the sheep farm at the same time.
The construction lacked all the sophistication of his Melbourne work.

[Tom_Doak]

Ian,

Karrinyup probably proves your thesis. On the other side of the country, no Morcom, no MacKenzie and travel was long and difficult to Perth in the early 30s. And, by the sound of it, he was getting into the sheep farm at the same time.
The construction lacked all the sophistication of his Melbourne work.

Mike:

Didn't MacKenzie have a look at Karrinyup when he landed in Perth en route to Melbourne in 1926?  Or was it some other course?

[Mike_Clayton]

Tom,

My understanding was that Karrinyup was done in the early 30s. They have Russell's original green drawings in the clubhouse - post MacKenzie's 1926 visit.
I am not sure where else he may have gone in Perth. None of the other clubs claim a MacKenzie heritage - and they would if they could claim even 15 minutes of his time.

[Josh Stevens]

Karrinyup land was purchased in 1927, Russell's first visit was Feb 1928 and course construction stretched into the early 30's.  So no Mackenzie influence.  Russell did apparently pop in to check on progress on the way back from the UK as Perth was a required fueling stop for the ships.

Not sure what else Mackenzie could have visited in 26' as few if any current clubs existed in their present locations at that time.

[Mike_Clayton]

Josh,
 Russell apparently made an alternate routing with a clubhouse down by the lake and told the club the course would be better from down there. It would be fascinating to see what he and MacKenzie might have come up with if not for the club's wish to have the clubhouse at the top of the hill.
One of the problems with the routing is the tee shots at 2,13 and 18 up and over those steep hills. I am sure a different routing would have avoided that.

[Josh Stevens]

Did he ever actually produce a map of that routing, or did he just suggest it as an option to consider?  I suspect the latter, the committee of the day were unanimous is having the clubhouse on top of the hill.  The original drawings do allow for another 9 holes to the west, and it is flatter out there, but that land is now housing.

But ultimalty all the land falls toward the lake, so no matter where you put the clubhouse, surely you are still going to be up and down hills or across slopes.

[Mike_Clayton]

Josh,

I assume there is no routing drawing - but also assume having told the club it would be better beginning down at the bottom of the hill he came up with something that worked.
It was amazing how much land the club owned at the beginning.

[Josh Stevens]

Yes, conceived in prosperty and born in depression as the club history says.  Depression plus WWII put paid to all the grand plans. Ah well, the best laid plans etc etc

[Neil_Crafter]

Ian
Interesting questions. Alex (pronounced as Alec with a hard 'c') Russell was a wealthy grazier (the family property was 'Mawallok" near Beaufort in the western Districts of Victoria) and an amateur golf course architect. As a Cambridge man who had served in the Royal Garrison Artillery in France and Belgium in WW1 he had a lot in common with the older Mackenzie. No surprise they hit it off when they met in Melbourne.

I have done a lot of research into Alex Russell, following on from the work into Russell that Yarra's late Hedley Ham started. I visited with his son Philip a few times in Barwon Heads before he passed away a couple of years ago. He kindly allowed me access to all his father's photos and memorabilia - unfortunately there was nothing architecture related. Handled Alex's Military Cross which was beautiful.

I am planning a book on Russell that I have been in discussions with Paul Daley about. And Dr John Green of RM is also helping out with some research.

Apart from the 5th West green - which Mackenzie had built while he was still in Melbourne - every green on the West and East courses are Russell-Morcom greens. There was quite a delay between Mackenzie leaving Melbourne in November 1926 for Sydney and the West course starting construction. In fact the East course opened in 1932 only a year after the West was opened. The West construction was delayed due to internal wrangles at the club about the clubhouse and also the acquisition of additional land parcels. In the meantime Russell had built Yarra Yarra and had started Lake Karrinyup.

There is a newspaper report of the day saying that Russell had sent a plan of the YY course off to Mackenzie for comment in early 1927 but with Mackenzie's hectic travel schedule it was probably a while before he saw it and replied. No evidence that he replied to my knowledge and as Andrew B said he checked with the archives and there is no evidence at the club. You have to imagine that he replied as the job was certainly a Mackenzie Russell partnership project. But for certainty, likely we will never know.

As for plans of RMGC, there is a hand drawn pencil plan that is undated that is clearly in Mackenzie's hand, but is undated, given the land parcels shown I'm quite certain it was contemporaneous with his time in Melbourne. No evidence of any Mackenzie green plans and I can only think that there were none drawn. The club does have all Russell's hand drawn green plans for the East though. Sadly these are not a patch on Mackenzie's green plans, Russell appears to have drawn them with a fountain pen and they do not have the ethereal character of Mac's plans.

When Mackenzie stopped over in WA at Fremantle on the "Otranto" on October 19th 1926 he "looked at the Fremantle and Perth courses and was far from impressed", according to an article in the Melb newspaper The Herald of November 10. He did not look at the site for LKCC as the project was yet to be envisaged.

Clayts - there is a Lake Karrinyup routing plan by Russell on display in the clubhouse when I was there last which was 4 or so years ago now. But to my knowledge no alternate routing exists at the club.

While Russell has solo credit for Yarra Yarra, RM East, Lake Karrinyup and Paraparaumu, he has joint credit for RM West and was involved in redesigning courses like Riversdale and Peninsula and consulted to Royal Adelaide, Glenelg, The Australian, NSW amongst others in later years.

Hope this helps you Ian. In summary, my thoughts are that Mackenzie imparted his vision to both men, built a hole to show them the way he wanted things done and left them to get on with it in his absence. We can be grateful they did such a fantastic job, with greens never bettered in Australia in the 80 odd years since. Never mind the bunkering and the rest of the course!

cheers Neil

[Matthew Mollica]

I am planning a book on Russell that I have been in discussions with Paul Daley about. And Dr John Green of RM is also helping out with some research.

That sounds really exciting Neil - best of luck compiling it.
Great work devoting your energies and skill to a man who thoroughly deserves a great account of his life penned.

I for one cannot wait to get a copy.

Matthew

[Ian Andrew]

Thank you Neil, as always
...and everyone else.

Wow, I always blindly assumed there were green sketches for RM.

[Jeff_Mingay]

Neil and Clayts,

Like so many other great courses throughout the world - ie Pine Valley, Pinehurst, National GL of America, Merion-East... I could go on, of course - how much of the greatest of RM, Yarra Yarra and the best of those others Russell/Morcom are credited for is related to tinkering over years + evolutionary factors?

In other words, would you say they 'nailed' those designs - at RM, Yarra Yarra, et al - right out of the gate, or were they permitted/in positions to tinker with these designs over a number of years (a al Ross at Pinehurst, Macdonald at NGLA)? And that some natural evolution over almost a century now has been key, too?

[Josh Stevens]

Perth in 1926 would not have been golfing nirvana.  Fremantle would have been on its current site but probably rough.  Perth golf club probably on the river banks and a flat mud plain and cottesloe would have been still on its original seaview site - nice but small.

Also in the days before good irrigation - would have been tough on a course in summer in those days.

[Tom_Doak]

Neil and Clayts,

Like so many other great courses throughout the world - ie Pine Valley, Pinehurst, National GL of America, Merion-East... I could go on, of course - how much of the greatest of RM, Yarra Yarra and the best of those others Russell/Morcom are credited for is related to tinkering over years + evolutionary factors?

In other words, would you say they 'nailed' those designs - at RM, Yarra Yarra, et al - right out of the gate, or were they permitted/in positions to tinker with these designs over a number of years (a al Ross at Pinehurst, Macdonald at NGLA)? And that some natural evolution over almost a century now has been key, too?

Jeff:

Claude Crockford must receive some credit for the long-term success and veneration of Royal Melbourne.  He certainly had a way with the native plants, as well as the turf, and the native roughs of Royal Melbourne are not a small part of its success. 

However, remember that Morcom was not only the constructor of Royal Melbourne, he was still the superintendent for a number of years going forward, so he really wore two hats, and it's hard to know how much of its success is due to one skill over the other.  Still, the photos of Royal Melbourne from the 1930's would indicate that they came pretty close to nailing it right out of the gate.

[Tom_Doak]

Thank you Neil, as always
...and everyone else.

Wow, I always blindly assumed there were green sketches for RM.

Ian:

It's possible that there were green sketches for Royal Melbourne, but no one has ever mentioned them.

Interesting, though, because MacKenzie DID do green sketches for Titirangi when he was there, just one month later.

[Ian Andrew]

Tom,

I'm glad you brought up Crockford.
His work saving and cultivating native material is well written about. It can be found on line with some patience. I love some of his views on condition, particularly his comment about there being on too much emphasis on colour over playing characteristics. I enjoyed reading his book (thank you for sharing that).

Did you know he initially wanted to be a golf architect?

[Jeff_Mingay]

This brings up a very interesting general point about the role of the golf course superintendent in architecture. I mean, the architect leaves and who's left to maintain not only the turf, but the golf architecture - obviously, the superintendent.

In the past, I've argued that there's not enough taught about golf architecture at turf schools (most likely not in all cases), but it should be a very important part of the cirriculum. As we here know, maintaining a golf course isn't just about growing/cutting grass but maintaining conditions condusive to high-quality golf and, just as important (I think), the integrity of the golf architecture.

I suspect that's why Crockford was so good - he knew, and had as much interest in architecture as he did turf and ideal playing conditions. Even in my relatively short career, I've worked with and met golf course superintendents who are much better than others at just that - maintaining the integrity of the architecture, along with their other responsibilities.

All superintendents should learn about Mr. Claude Crockford!