Bobby Jones and Alister MacKenzie went one-and-done
April 5, 2006
By Joe Passov Architecture/Course Ranking Editor
A lot of great teams went out on top. Take the Beatles, for instance, or the cast of Seinfeld. Duos that bowed out at the peak of success include Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis and in golf course design, Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish.
No team, however, ever made a more spectacular debut, only to close up shop, than Bobby Jones and Alister MacKenzie, co-designers of the Augusta National Golf Club. When the course opened in January 1933, it was hailed as the "world's wonder inland golf course." It still is.
But despite the acclaim, the two never worked together again. In fact, MacKenzie died before he could see his finished creation. However, even with recent course changes that Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer have questioned, the architectural magic created by Jones and MacKenzie is firmly in place. You just have to know where to look.
For many years, one of the enduring mysteries among architecture scholars was why Jones chose MacKenzie to help him design his dream course, rather than Donald Ross. After all, in the 1920s, Ross was the unquestioned king of southeastern designs and had crafted many of the top layouts Jones had experienced , such as Scioto, site of Jones' 1926 U.S. Open win and Pinehurst No. 2 along with Jones' home course, the Atlanta Athletic Club at East Lake and his summer course in the North Carolina mountains, Highlands Country Club.
Quite simply, Jones selected MacKenzie because of two words: "Saint" and "Andrews." While it's true that Jones had thoroughly enjoyed MacKenzie's work at Cypress Point and Pasatiempo during a 1929 visit to California, the two had actually been acquainted before that. Perhaps Dr. MacKenzie's work at those two California tracks tipped the scale, but in reality, it was a mutual love for St. Andrews that formed the basis for the collaboration.
Tiger Woods loves the openness at St. Andrews, just like Bobby Jones.Getty Images
In the early 1930s, MacKenzie penned his second book on the subject of golf courses and design and called it "The Spirit of St. Andrews." In it he wrote, "I doubt if even in a hundred years' time a course will be made which has such interesting strategic problems and which creates such enduring and increasing pleasurable excitement and varied shots."
MacKenzie added, "St. Andrews is a standing example of the possibility of making a course which is pleasurable to all classes of golfers, not only to the 30 handicap players but to the plus 14 man, if there ever was or will be such a person."
Which is exactly what Jones wanted for Augusta National.
As Jones historian Sidney Matthew notes, Jones had first encountered MacKenzie when he obtained a line drawing map that MacKenzie had prepared for the Royal and Ancient Golf Club in 1924. Jones studied the topographical map frequently prior to his victorious visits to St. Andrews in 1927 and in 1930. Thereafter, he hung the map on the wall of his law office, where it remained until his death.
Moreover, in 1927, MacKenzie presented Jones with a copy of his first book, "Golf Architecture," which he wrote in 1920. In it, he espoused his 13 General Principles of Architecture. Among them were:
The emphasis should be placed on natural beauty, not on artificial features
There should always be an alternative route for the weaker player, yet a sufficient number of heroic carries to challenge the stronger player
There should be a complete absence of the annoyance caused by the searching for lost balls (meaning, an avoidance of utilizing heavy rough in the design), and
The beginner should not be continually harassed by losing strokes from playing out of sand bunkers
It's clear that his admiration for the spirit of St. Andrews—and for the design philosophy of MacKenzie—are brightly illuminated in the layout of the Augusta National Golf Club. The course opened with fewer than 30 bunkers and today, has just 43. Until a few years ago, there was no rough whatsoever; today, there's a player-friendly "first cut," hardly the stuff in which you'll lose a ball. Heroic carries abound, at holes such as the 12th, 13th and 15th, yet the majority of the holes can be played with a putter if need be—just the way MacKenzie liked it. As for natural beauty? In April, name a prettier inland golf course on earth. It can't be done.
The No. 13 at Augusta is one of the ultimate risk/reward holes.Getty Images
Dr. Alister MacKenzie died on January 6, 1934, a few months before the first Masters was played. He passed away in Santa Cruz, California, in his home alongside the sixth hole at Pasatiempo Golf Club, which remains today the finest public-access example of MacKenzie's design philosophy. Situated about 45 minutes north Pebble Beach, Pasatiempo is chock full of magnificent par-4s, such as the 11th, which Byron Nelson once called one of the toughest tests he had ever faced and the 16th, which was MacKenzie's favorite hole he ever designed.
If you happen to be in Augusta this week and have a craving for MacKenzie, check out the Palmetto Golf Club in Aiken, S.C., just across the river from Augusta. Palmetto is a private club that opens its doors to outsiders for one week a year—Masters week. Its 19th century ambience and MacKenzie greens are well worth a side trip, especially if you need a MacKenzie fix.
Bobby Jones outlived MacKenzie by 37 years, but much of that time was spent crippled by disease. He consulted on the design of just two other courses. In 1947-48, he worked with the "other" Bobby Jones, Robert Trent Jones Sr., on the design of Peachtree Golf Club in his hometown of Atlanta. Twelve years later, he helped out George Cobb when the latter was laying out the petite but gorgeous par-3 course at Augusta National.
Jones and MacKenzie had only one shot at design together. And they got it absolutely right.
Joe Passov is the Architecture and Course Ratings Editor of GOLF MAGAZINE.
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