Golfing News & Blog Articles

A golf hole, humanly speaking, is like life, in as much as one cannot judge justly of any person’s character the first time one meets him. Sometimes it takes years to discover and appreciate hidden qualities which only time discloses, and he usually discloses them on the links. C.B. MACDONALD

Anything stereotyped should be avoided on a golf course; all construction work should follow the irregular lines of nature. Any contractor who informs a committee that golf courses can be constructed on contract as they would build a clubhouse is either absolutely ignorant of golf course architecture or is trying to hoodwink the golfing public. It would be just as reasonable to expect an artist to estimate the amount he charges for a painting, according to the quantities of paint and materials he uses. ALISTER MACKENZIE

I forgot where it happened but in the middle of a round which I was regarding with the usual distaste, a small voice within me said, you know, you don’t have to do this and I thought, No, by God, I don’t. A great wave of relief came over me and on D-Day 1968, I put the clubs up in the loft with the water tanks, closed the hatch, removed the steps and walked away. Nor have I for one second regretted it. 
HENRY LONGHURST

What a jolly course it is, to be sure! What a jolly place to play, too, for we shall probably have had it reasonably to ourselves. It shares with Muirfield, among the great Scottish courses, the merit of being the private property of the club, and that is a merit that grows greater every year. It is a beautiful spot, moreover, and we may look at views of Arran and Ailsa Craig and the Heads of Ayr if we can allow our attention to wander so far from the game. Tradition and romance cluster thickly round Prestwick...
BERNARD DARWIN

It must no be supposed, however, that the man whose only golfing asset is his ability to drive a long ball is to have things his own way. He is to be taken care of side hazards which will demand of him as fine control of his long shots as is demanded of the shorter driver, before he can obtain the full benefit of his extra distances. WILLIAM LANGFORD

Golf is a game, and talk and discussion is all to the interests of the game. Anything that keeps the game alive and prevents us being bored with it is an advantage. Anything that makes us think about it, talk about it, and dream about it is all to the good and prevents the game becoming dead. ALISTER MACKENZIE

How often do we see horrible symmetrical-looking pits, with faces smoothed out to the same angle, and the pleasant surroundings spoilt thereby! And very likely some old railway sleepers are used to prevent the sides of the hazards ever looking natural. What can be more incongruous in a sand bunker on a seaside course? H.S. COLT

How often do we see horrible symmetrical-looking pits, with faces smoothed out to the same angle, and the pleasant surroundings spoilt thereby! And very likely some old railway sleepers are used to prevent the sides of the hazards ever looking natural. What can be more incongruous in a sand bunker on a seaside course? H.S. COLT

Using hazards for the purpose of interest alone, he may use them in the way of emphasis to bring out the highlights of a hole. They can be made formidable or small. Often a tiny pit placed in just the right spot, so small that it can have little effect upon actual play, can be a mental hazard with tremendous effect upon the morale of the golfer. But to place such a pit is as truly an art as one revealing scratch of a pen by a Rembrandt which we ordinary mortals could not duplicate with a thousand scratches…the pseudo-golf architect will have the faint glimmerings of an idea and will try to catch it with numerous bunkers; whereas the true artist will place just one bunker upon the sore spot and it is done. Such a bunker is the Road bunker in the face of the seventeenth green at St. Andrews. To have placed such a bunker required rare imagination and audacity. MAX BEHR

Golf without St. Andrews would be almost as intolerable as St. Andrews without golf. Here the children make their entrance into the world, not with silver spoons in their mouths, but with diminutive golf clubs in their hands. Here the Champion is as much a hero as the greatest general who ever returned in triumph from the wars. Here, in short, is an asylum for golfing maniacs and the happy hunting-ground of the duffer, who, armed with a rusty cleek, sallies forth to mutilate the harmless turf. ROBERT BARCLAY (1892)

Golf has been played on Gullane links for over 350 years. As far back as 1650, the weavers of Dirleton played the weavers of Aberlady annually on Old Handsel Monday. However, there was no organized club until early last century , when some local farmers banded together to play golf. This club became defunct about the end of the feather ball period (1848) but it was resuscitated in 1859 and, as the East Lothian Golf Club, still holds meetings today at Gullane. The oldest club in continuous existence at Gullane is Dirleton Castle, founded in 1854 by “shopkeepers, working me and artisans.” Weavers, farmers; artisans; their appreciation of Nature’s golfing bounty at Gullane has spread worldwide. Golf on Gullane Hill was a lucky combination of wind, sand, rock, rabbits, wool, feathers and gum. ARCHIE BAIRD

As much of the original site as possible should be retained so that the site-spirit, the genius loci is still evident, indeed is celebrated after the golf course is finished. Attempts to re-grade the site totally or reconstitute it in the mold of Pine Valley, Cypress Point or Scottish links courses, sooner or later feel hollow.
DESMOND MUIRHEAD