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Adam Lawrence

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New Le Touquet find
« on: June 13, 2017, 07:33:30 AM »

Here is an interesting little snippet from John Morrison's regular golf column in 'The Bystander' from 1936.


We previously believed that Colt himself was the chief architect of La Mer at Le Touquet. Not so, according to the man's partner!



Adam Lawrence

Editor, Golf Course Architecture
www.golfcoursearchitecture.net

Principal, Oxford Golf Consulting
www.oxfordgolfconsulting.com

Author, 'More Enduring Than Brass: a biography of Harry Colt' (forthcoming).

Short words are best, and the old words, when short, are the best of all.

Rich Goodale

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Re: New Le Touquet find
« Reply #1 on: June 13, 2017, 08:59:24 AM »

Sorry Adam, but I find this post ignorant and insensitive.

Japan illegally invaded and occupied Manchuria in 1931--one of the precursors of World War II.  Why was Morrison gadding about Japan in 1936 4-5 years after the beginning of the Manchurian atrocities and only a year before the Germans bombed Guernica?  True artists, e.g. Picasso, got it right and Morrison got it very, very wrong.


Rich
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David Davis

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Re: New Le Touquet find
« Reply #2 on: June 13, 2017, 09:04:23 AM »
Interesting that they said he did Tokyo, I'm pretty certain that was not the case. I wonder if he meant another club. Komyo Ohtani laid out the current course in 1940.


[font=arial, ​helvetica, ​sans-serif][/size]Very interesting on Le Touquet however. [/font]
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Adam Lawrence

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Re: New Le Touquet find
« Reply #3 on: June 13, 2017, 09:17:22 AM »

Sorry Adam, but I find this post ignorant and insensitive.

Japan illegally invaded and occupied Manchuria in 1931--one of the precursors of World War II.  Why was Morrison gadding about Japan in 1936 4-5 years after the beginning of the Manchurian atrocities and only a year before the Germans bombed Guernica?  True artists, e.g. Picasso, got it right and Morrison got it very, very wrong.


Rich


He wasn't. Can't you read? The Japanese fella was in the UK.
Adam Lawrence

Editor, Golf Course Architecture
www.golfcoursearchitecture.net

Principal, Oxford Golf Consulting
www.oxfordgolfconsulting.com

Author, 'More Enduring Than Brass: a biography of Harry Colt' (forthcoming).

Short words are best, and the old words, when short, are the best of all.

Rees Milikin

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Re: New Le Touquet find
« Reply #4 on: June 13, 2017, 09:19:21 AM »

Sorry Adam, but I find this post ignorant and insensitive.

Japan illegally invaded and occupied Manchuria in 1931--one of the precursors of World War II.  Why was Morrison gadding about Japan in 1936 4-5 years after the beginning of the Manchurian atrocities and only a year before the Germans bombed Guernica?  True artists, e.g. Picasso, got it right and Morrison got it very, very wrong.


Rich


So what does that have to do with what was written in the article?

Tom Dunne

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Re: New Le Touquet find
« Reply #5 on: June 13, 2017, 09:00:52 PM »
Interesting that they said he did Tokyo, I'm pretty certain that was not the case. I wonder if he meant another club. Komyo Ohtani laid out the current course in 1940.


[font=arial, ​helvetica, ​sans-serif]Very interesting on Le Touquet however. [/font]


David, Tokyo Golf Club had an Alison course when Morrison was writing in 1936. It had to abandon it when its property was requisitioned by the Emperor during the run-up to WWII. The club moved another x miles west of the city, and the next course was designed by Ohtani, working in the mode of Alison.

ward peyronnin

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Re: New Le Touquet find
« Reply #6 on: June 14, 2017, 10:47:13 PM »
maybe it doesn't really matter. I am not sure what is left of Le Touquet of the original design. Although the inward nine is very pleasurable it was recovered from the Bosch ploughing it down for air strips. There are still satisfying holes but a true restoration would be very problematical and I would hope anyone undertaking would turn up my Cruden Bay Galvin Green wind shirt i foolishly abandoned
"Golf is happiness. It's intoxication w/o the hangover; stimulation w/o the pills. It's price is high yet its rewards are richer. Some say its a boys pastime but it builds men. It cleanses the mind/rejuvenates the body. It is these things and many more for those of us who truly love it." M.Norman

Patrice Boissonnas

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Re: New Le Touquet find
« Reply #7 on: June 15, 2017, 09:17:26 AM »
Nice finding Adam, very interesting piece of information indeed.

Having worked at le Touquet for the past 6 years together with Frank Pont, here is what we know about the origins of La Mer course:
I remember seeing a press article in some local paper showing Harry Colt visiting the site for the future course with the owners of the club. We know for sure that the Colt company was commissionned for this job. Now as always with Colt Alison and Morrisson working as partners the question is who did what...
The earliest course plan we have (1928 or 29) is signed by Colt and Alison.
In a March 1930 letter to the members, the then Director of le Touquet golf club explains that work is moving on well under the supervision of both Colt and Alison. The course finally opened in 1931.
Obviously le Touquet was 100% designed and built by Colt & Co. There is little doubt that Alison's share of the work was quiet significant. But I don't believe Colt can be dissmissed as the (co)designer of le Touquet.
Maybe it would be fair to Alison that we quote his name together with Colt everytime we mention the designer of the course, but isn't it the case with many other "Colt" courses??

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