[Mark Bourgeois]

Not sure if there's much interest in this but the SE Bureau chief of Golf Course Histories asked me to post the following items (he's not on here).

* February 1938 aerial -- 5 months earlier than the previously-known oldest aerial and shows bunkers already in on 17 green and the 1st of Maxwell's bunkers on 7 green (all would be in by July 1938). Unfortunately quality is not great.
http://golfcoursehistories.com/ANGC.html

* 1931 aerial of the grounds commissioned by the club
http://golfcoursehistories.com/ANGC2.html

* aerial comparison of Mack approach and putt course vs what's in the ground today (plus Olmsted Bros' short-course plan) -- as Josh Pettit, who discovered the plans, noted, these double greens were enormous
http://golfcoursehistories.com/ANGC4.html

* plans to demolish Berckmans house and replace with a more "modern" clubhouse -- scroll down:
http://golfcoursehistories.com/ANGC4.html

* 1932 topo of the grounds. This was commissioned by Olmsted and according to the correspondence was shared with and used by Mackenzie, although exactly how is unclear. Scale is 100 feet -- quite detailed and shows nicely how holes traverse that somewhat severe property
http://golfcoursehistories.com/ANGC3.html

Interestingly, the correspondence files of Olmsted Brothers notes, about the time the "decision" was made not to build a new clubhouse (not a decision as there was no decision to be made -- club was broke), that Roberts planned a membership drive. 18,000 membership invitations were going to be sent out! (That's how dire things were.)

[Patrick_Mucci]

Mark,

Great stuff.

Keep it coming

[Ben Hollerbach]

That 1932 topo Is phenomenal!

[Tim_Cronin]

Fantastic stuff!

[RJ_Daley]

Wow, wouldn't it be neat if the 1932 topo could be used for the next design contest? 

[Mark Bourgeois]

Thanks, guys. Regarding the topo, the contour lines correspond to two feet of elevation. The scale of the map is 1" = 100'. If someone would like to see a specific hole or part of the property let me know and I'll post an iso.

It took a while for Olmsted Bros to get a proper topo, which formed the basis for the yellow and green plan you may be familiar with from David Owens's book and blog. (That plan's main purpose was to sell housing lots.) There was trouble with the surveyor, who initially got some elevations wrong, did not provide the expected level of detail, and failed to document the kind and size of trees on the property.

Mark

[Lester George]

Good job Mark.  Thanks.

Lester

[Jeff_Brauer]

Love it.  Always knew it was a hard site to route  on, and that topo shows why - the big dome in the middle is rather inconveniently placed.....

[Mark Bourgeois]

Jeff,

Nice solution to use 14,15,17 as "switchbacks" up that dome, yes? Regarding the routing, what if I told you Mackenzie got it in the first three days he spent on the property?

Spent [July] 14, 15 and 16 in Augusta going over the property and conferring with the engineers and architects and working with Dr. MacKenzie and Robert T. Jones, Jr. on the golf course….Dr. MacKenzie laid out on the 200-scale map 18 holes and staked this roughly on the ground working with Bobbie[sic] Jones. I was with him part of the time but did not offer any suggestions other than that they avoid destroying planting in the valley of the sulphur spring.

-- William Bell Marquis, Olmsted Associates

[BCrosby]

Great stuff Mark.

I recall seeing a drawing for a proposed new clubhouse that was different from the picture you posted. It was a faux ante bellum planatation house with big columns. I don't remember where I saw it.

Note in your 1938 aerial the centerline "Principal's Nose/Woking" bunker on the 11th.

Bob

[Peter Pallotta]

Facinating, Mark, and fascinating how a bright-enough fellow like me could be so terrible at trying to figure such things out - i.e. I can't even begin to see what I think I might be looking at on that topo map.

Ah, the age old question: if the Dr. could find the routing in three days, was it because he came to the project already knowing what he was looking for, i.e. the kinds and lengths of holes he wanted; or because the site so clearly and quickly suggested what holes were possible that is was simple to throw out any preconceived ideas and just go what the land gave him.

Thanks for posting. Once again, you have proven your great value and worth to this site (despite what the behind the scenes muttering and complaining would suggest!)
  
Peter

[MikeMcCartin]

Love it.  Always knew it was a hard site to route  on, and that topo shows why - the big dome in the middle is rather inconveniently placed.....

That's interesting.  My first impression looking at the topo was that the large dome was the key to making a routing work on the site.  The broad dome interrupts the site's steep flow from clubhouse elevation to Rae's Creek, providing suitable intermediate locations for green and tee placement on the way down and, crucially, on the way back up.  Without the elevation provided by the dome, holes making the biggest climbs (namely 8 and 18) would be an order of magnitude more extreme than they are now (and they already are pretty extreme).   

MacKenzie is known for routings that use a site's greatest features as many times as possible in a multiple times in a given routing - the most famous example being the dune on the front nine at Cypress, but other examples include the small, abrupt hills that provide the backdrop, green and tee locations for 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 at the Valley Club.  In both of those examples, though not as extreme as at Augusta, the hills and dune serve purposes other than simply aesthetic - they provide a natural brake point for holes sited on downhill slopes and a natural elevated start to holes climbing in the other direction.  I think that's a big reason why neither Cypress nor the Valley Club come to mind as being routed on sites with much elevation change, when both in fact have more than you'd think.  The August routing uses the dome very similarly - 2 green, 3 tee, 7 green, 8 tee, 17 green, and 18 tee all use the elevation as either a brake or a jump start for a climb.  And since everyone who's been there comes away thinking that the site is really hilly, you can only imagine what it might be like without the dome serving the function that it does.

The real genius of Augusta's routing lies in embracing slope as a significant feature of the course and not something to mitigate with shaping/flattening or buying up more land with "usable" slope (if that was even an option).

[Niall C]

Mark

Fantastic stuff. Seeing how close some of the holes were to each other makes me wonder how many of the parallel holes were effectively double fairways and whether that was an intended aspect of the design.

He also seems to have managed to have most of the holes going either up or down the slope rather than across with a few notable exceptions with those exceptions offering the most interesting and exacting tee shots.

Niall

[Mark Bourgeois]

Bob,

Good catch. I went back to the Olmsted records; this was the *Olmsted* firm's suggested clubhouse, which they shared with Irvin, who said in so many words that was "too much clubhouse," although he said he liked its modular plan (= allowed for it to be built in stages). Interestingly (maybe), that wing stretching back toward what what then was 1 tee (today's 10)? Mackenzie had suggested the pro shop be located near the starting tee.

Niall, very interesting comment. Check out this September 1931 drawing by Olmsted Bros based on information provided by Mackenzie:



Note how many hole corridors blend together; 2,3,7, & 17 for example is one big field.

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