Arguably, and in the minds of many inarguably, Harry Colt is the greatest golf course architect of all time. His work has inspired golfers, and very importantly budding designers, for more than 130 years. My first encounter with his portfolio, admittedly at a time when I was struggling to recognise one end of a golf club from the other, was back in 1978 at just the second course I played. Not that I would have known it back then, but Limpsfield Chart in Surrey may well have been an early beneficiary of his creativity. Colt played here a number of times with his friend, the 9-holer’s professional Douglas Rolland, whom he tempted away to take the same position at Rye Golf Club.
Looking down over the par-3 penultimate hole at Prestbury
(Image credit: Prestbury Golf Club)
My love of courses was ignited around this time, and in the days before club websites and social media, I relied on a small number of course directories to inform and inspire days out and trips further afield. In planning these, certain design credits kept coming up; James Braid, Alister MacKenzie, JH Taylor, Old Tom Morris and more. Above all, the name of Harry Colt shone brightly. Soon the penny dropped and I realised that almost without exception, his name was a mark of quality, a Michelin star of the golfing world, a listed building of the great outdoors. With no real knowledge of course design or what made a good course great, I knew early on that I wanted to play as many Colt courses as possible.
What Is A Colt Course?
The par-3 fifth at Alnmouth is beautifully sited above the beach on the peaceful Northumbrian shore
(Image credit: Geoff Ellis (golfworking.co.uk))
Good question! This leads us to something of a grey area. Colt’s work is extensively and very well documented, and there are many experts with tremendous knowledge on his life and legacy. The problem I have is that at times, some of the information is conflicting. It effectively relies on hand-written, typed and anecdotal evidence that goes back a century. We know that as well as his great solo efforts, he frequently collaborated. In any team effort, it can be hard to assign specific credit. More confusingly, as well as designing courses from scratch, Colt often modified the work of others. In turn, others also modified his work, making it very difficult in some places to know just exactly who did what! And while a modification can sometimes just be a tweak, sometimes it was pretty much a complete redesign.
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