The Restoration Of Charles Hugh Alison's Hirono

Biography Of Charles Hugh Alison
Charles Hugh Alison was born on the 5th of March 1883 in Preston, Lancashire.
He was educated at Malvern College in Worcestershire. He then attended New College, Oxford for two years,
achieving two blues for playing for Oxford University against Cambridge University in the 1903 and 1904
University Golf Matches.
It is believed that Alison began to assist Harry Colt from 1906 in his course design business. In 1908, Alison
was appointed secretary of Stoke Poges Golf Club (now called Stoke Park), a course which Colt designed and
opened in 1909.
After the war in 1918, Alison was assigned to a committee (in place of Colt) tasked with designing the four
remaining holes to be designed at Pine Valley following the death of George Crump. Alison produced a five
page report which led to significant changes to the course, including the rebuilding of five greens.
Over the following nine years in the US, Alison designed more than twenty new courses including the Country
Club of Detroit. However, it appears his experience at Pine Valley was perhaps most important in shaping his
beliefs for future design work.
In 1929, Colt was approached by Komo Otani from Tokyo GC.
Otani studied in England and, like many other Japanese golfers
who studied in Britain, he admired the courses outside London,
many of which had been designed by Colt. This led to Colt
agreeing to the commission and he demanded a fee of £1,500
plus expenses. However, concerned by the long voyage, Colt
sent Alison in his place.
Alison arrived in Japan on the 1st December 1930 on a boat from
California with George Penglase, an American greenkeeper who
would stay on as construction foreman after Alison returned to
the US. His first project was Tokyo Golf Club located on relatively
flat terrain north of Tokyo which was opened in 1932. He then
designed Hirono, which had a much more interesting terrain
and was regarded as possibly the best golf course in Japan.
He also designed the Fuji course at Kawana, though this was not completed until 1936, remodelled
five holes on the (now) East Course at Kasumigaseki GC, originally created by amateur architect Kinya
Fujita, and almost completely redesigned the Naruo course near Osaka.
Throughout the 1930s, Alison continued to travel the world, working on the Royal Selangor course in
Kuala Lumpur. He then worked in countries such as Morocco, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
After the Second World War, in which Alison worked in ciphers, he moved to South Africa, completing
minor works at some other courses. He died, aged 70, in Johannesburg on the 20th of October 1952.