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THE GOLF COURSE<br />
A.V. Macan was not just a great<br />
architect, he was also a perceptive<br />
and accomplished writer, and so it is<br />
appropriate to use his own words as an<br />
introduction to the course:<br />
“The Colwood course is difficult,<br />
though wherein the difficulty lies<br />
is rather hard to define. It is not<br />
imaginary, as everyone who has<br />
played it has had the same experience.<br />
Difficult it is to score on, and while the<br />
holes in general are comfortably within<br />
the reach of two shots – there is only<br />
one real three shotter – fives and even<br />
sixes keep appearing on one’s card.<br />
Even the four one shot holes do not<br />
seem to help as much as they should<br />
toward keeping somewhere near an<br />
average of fours. While the bunkers<br />
from the tees are few, there are many<br />
clumps of timber within the reach of<br />
straying tee shots, so that while the<br />
course is by no means narrow, slices<br />
and hooks receive severe punishment.<br />
It’s what Bernard Darwin describes<br />
as a good Protestant course. You’re<br />
either in heaven or hell; there is no<br />
half way purgatory in the form of a<br />
too flattering rough. This may be the<br />
reason that the tee shots at Colwood<br />
seem to keep one in a perpetual state<br />
of anxiety over the imaginary evils that<br />
may happen to one if a shot goes badly<br />
astray.<br />
The greens are also closely<br />
guarded, and keen, so that no matter<br />
how one plays it is impossible to<br />
eliminate from one’s mind the thought<br />
of visiting the traps. Good bunkers<br />
insist on asserting themselves. They<br />
do not object to being avoided; but<br />
they refuse to be ignored. The<br />
Colwood bunkers are to this extent<br />
good – they are also deep, so that,<br />
unjust as it may be, a mistake does<br />
frequently cost more than the<br />
one stroke we consider equitable<br />
punishment.”<br />
Canadian Golfer Magazine,<br />
February 1922<br />
John Low, regarded as the father<br />
of golf architecture, and a great<br />
inspiration to Macan, noted long ago,<br />
“No game depends so much as golf on<br />
its arena for success: on an interesting<br />
course an interesting game will be<br />
played; on a badly planned one the<br />
game will be dull.”<br />
Macan has certainly provided us with<br />
the former.
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