In 1914, Country Life ran a competition to design a golf hole to be built at a course in America. It was won by a GP from West Yorkshire, a former army surgeon who used ideas he had learnt about camouflage in the Boer War in his design. There were 70 entries and the judges awarded the £20 first prize to Dr Alister MacKenzie's ‘most ingeniously devised hole in which the player must use his own judgement, according to his driving prowess and the weather conditions, as to which of five routes he will adopt'.
A keen, but mediocre, golfer, Dr MacKenzie had been a founder member of Alwoodley Golf Club in West Yorkshire and had designed its course and carried out other design work in the region. But winning Country Life's competition gave him national and international renown and he went on to create courses in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina as well as around the rest of the British Isles. In the process, he revolutionised course design – and left a great monument to his career in the form of Augusta National, home to the Masters Tournament, which runs for April 8-11 2024.
Dr Alister Mackenzie's prize-winning design for a golf hole, which appeared in Country Life on August 1, 1914. 'A most ingeniously devised bole,' wrote the judges. 'All the different possibilities have been thought out with admirable care and completeness.'
The decision of Country Life's judges was visionary as, although Dr MacKenzie is now considered one of golf's greatest architects, his novel designs were originally too controversial for many.
In an article on military trenches for Country Life the following year, he wrote: ‘My ideas on golf course construction have been mercilessly criticised and condemned and it has taken me nearly 10 years to persuade the public that there is anything in my views... The whole secret of successful course construction and concealment in trench making consists in making artificial features indistinguishable from Natural ones and I have daily been attempting to imitate Nature.'
Bobby Jones (left) plays a shot on the eighth hole at Augusta in 1932, while the course was under construction, in front of his father, Bob Jones, Sr. (Colonel), Clifford Roberts, and Alister MacKenzie.
Ken Moodie, who, in 2009, refurbished the course at Alwoodley, explains that Dr MacKenzie created natural golfing features and bunkers when many architects were building more functionally shaped ones. ‘His appreciation of the Old Course at St Andrews and fondness for large, undulating greens made him adventurous in his green designs. He would accentuate the natural features of a site and wasn't afraid to move considerable amounts of earth to create a great golf hole and he built large bunkers on a scale not seen previously.'
In 1920, Dr MacKenzie published his 13 general principles of course design in his book Golf Architecture. These stressed that layouts should be challenging not penal, with the best designs those that pose strategic tests for all levels of golfer. He wanted to present even excellent players with shots they could not be confident of making, but also offer more than one route to a green, so that every player could select a strategy suitable for their own ability. He strived for variety and drama in his designs.
He advised arranging holes in two loops of nine, where possible, to create different wind conditions throughout the round; another principle was that every hole should be different in character. But, above all, he took a practical attitude five of his principles were for an absence of excessive rough delaying play by ball hunts; minimal or no blind shots; walks between holes to be short; the course should be beautiful; and the land should undulate, but involve no hill climbing.
In time, he gave up medical practice to work full-time on golf architecture from a ‘firm conviction of the extraordinary influence on health of pleasurable excitement, especially when combined with fresh air and exercise. How frequently have I, with great difficulty, persuaded patients who were never off my doorstep to take up golf, and how rarely, if ever, have I seen them in my consulting rooms again'.
This enabled him to travel for his design work and he eventually settled in America. There, he designed his most famous, and last, course: Augusta National. This is where the US Masters is played, the only one of golf's four major tournaments to be played over the same course each year.
Dr MacKenzie died in 1934, two months before the inaugural Masters. With its strategic design, beauty, wickedly undulating greens, sprawling bunkers and virtual absence of rough, Augusta National stands testimony to Dr MacKenzie's vision-and also to that of the three judges of the Country Life competition.
This article originally appeared in Country Life in 2014.
-
The wisteria clad cottage where Noël Coward and Ivor Novello held court at the height of their fameThe 17th-century Follejon Cottage just outside Windsor was a perfect escape from the city for Noël Coward and his circle of friends. As it goes on the market, Penny Churchill takes a look.
-
What were the code names of the three tunnels dug during the Second World War’s Great Escape? It's the Country Life Quiz of the Day, October 23, 2025Test your general knowledge this fine Thursday.
-
Sophia Money-Coutts: I can’t believe I’m saying this, but should dogs really be allowed in posh hotels?Dog lover, Sophia Money-Coutts, debates whether our canine companions should be able to accompany us to Five Star establishments.
-
England and the 1966 World Cup — which was stolen and later recovered by a dog called PicklesIn celebration of the footballing talents of Country Life's guest editor Sir David Beckham, we look back at the summer of 1966, when the England national team was on top of the world.
-
The Irish red and white setter: The rare beauty brought back from the brinkA history of Ireland’s original setter — the elegant, intelligent breed saved from extinction by devoted breeders and cherished as a symbol of the nation’s sporting heritage.
-
A handy five minute guide to Frieze — and the things you really don’t want to missThe London art fair returns this week.
-
The Lancashire heeler: A clever, compact and very rare terrier that was once described as having 'the same value as an ox'From cattle drover to companion, the Lancashire heeler is as versatile as it is rare.
-
The English bull terrier is mischief meets muscleFrom the 19th-century show rings to the homes of artists, royals and rock stars, the English bull terrier is one of our most original and loveable dogs.
-
How American political refugees, economic migrants and devoted Anglophiles are transforming LondonOne luxury restaurant, apartment and tennis court at a time.
-
‘Sex, Money, Race, Religion’: Unlikely pair Philharmonia Orchestra and Gilbert & George collaborate on one-off concertThe artist duo once declared music to be ‘the enemy’, but this hasn’t stopped them from teaming up at the Royal Festival Hall for the orchestra’s 80th anniversary.
