The Restoration Of Charles Hugh Alison's Hirono

The 1932, 1948, 1963, 1976 & 2015 Aerial Photographs
Historic aerial photographs almost always provide a fascinating insight into the earlier
character and evolution of golf courses. These photographs provide information regarding the
green shapes and sizes, the bunker numbers, locations, sizes and shapes, the fairway widths,
the extent and nature of the rough vegetation, the tree cover and the general landscape.
The best photos are ones which are taken from directly overhead and can be scaled for an
accurate comparison with the current day course. At Hirono, the earliest aerial photo directly
overhead is from 1948. The 1932 photograph was very interesting but was taken at an oblique
angle. The 1948 photograph is not very clear so the earliest photograph which provides really
interesting information is from 1963 followed by the one taken in 1976. These are wonderfully
sharp photographs and really show up the greens, bunkers and fairway shapes well. These old
aerial photos illustrate how the course had evolved over the years by our comparison of them
with the most recent aerial photograph of the course available.
The main change to the course routing at Hirono had been the movement of the 12th green.
This had been pushed further back twice since 1948 and had led to the par 3 13th hole being
completely changed in playing line.
One relatively frequent conclusion of these studies is that green sizes in particular have
become smaller over the years due to a need to reduce the maintenance input as a result of
lower manpower resources during the Second World War. In many cases, their former size was
never recovered. There was definite evidence of this at Hirono.
In general, the bunkering layout of the course had remained fairly faithful to Alison’s original
design. A few more had been added and some of the bunkers had seen a significant reduction
in size but this was much less evident at Hirono than it is at other courses. Where the bunkers
had changed was in relation to their character, with the roughness and detail being softened
and smoothed out over the years. Examining the great collection of early ground photos of the
course highlighted this.
Another major conclusion at Hirono was that the fairways were so much wider in 1963. This is
a common change to courses over the years but perhaps not to the extent that had occurred
at Hirono. There was evidence of the fairways becoming narrower between 1963 and 1976
and narrower still after that. As far as the landscape was concerned, the majority of the holes
were tree lined in 1948 but those tree corridors had narrowed considerably over the years.
The distant views shown in the early ground photos had certainly diminished as a feature of
the course with the growth of the trees. The overall historical review of the course, of which
the aerial photography comparison study was a significant part, proved extremely useful for
the preparation of the Masterplan and as an aid during the construction works. It has also
provided a fascinating historical record for the Club.
1963 Aerial Photograph