The Harry Colt Legacy: Is He Golf’s Most Influential Course Designer?

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.

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?

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.

I have a friend who is a keen golf historian, John Slater, who has done a great deal of work on the history of the club where we are both members, Colt’s 1923 design at Tandridge. I am extremely grateful for his advice, and by the same token, if you spot anything you dispute, I very much point you in his direction! Colt also acted as an adviser for others. For example, not so many people realise that he assisted JF Abercromby with his design at The Addington. My take on what constitutes a Colt course is therefore rather more artistic than it is scientific, but adheres to the principle that directly or indirectly, he was heavily influential!

Colt’s Design Principles

So what is it about his courses that make Colt designs so appealing? My personal appreciation of a course is greatly influenced by its setting and topography, and Colt was a master at taking full advantage of this while still incorporating his own ethos and principles. He was always keen for the course to look as natural as possible, to look as though it was designed by nature. This is contrary to many popular modern designs, often for good reason, but still something I value highly. Colt wanted the land to dictate the routing, to the extent that he was not averse to back-to-back short holes (Brancepeth Castle 9&10), or the same with par 5s (Hallamshire 14&15). He was not a massive fan of trees, “… a fluky and obnoxious form of hazard”, though he was still keen on a limited number providing they were of good quality.

He also felt that greens should be defended by what surrounds them rather than excessive borrows and undulations. He was a proponent of risk and reward, believing that good play should be rewarded while bad shots should not be punished too harshly. In general, I get the impression that he very much wanted golf to be fun! As a mid-teen handicapper, I greatly appreciate the balance Colt sought between testing the best (not me) and welcoming the regular golfer (me). As my interest in golf developed, I realised that almost subliminally at first, I was playing more and more Colt courses. This was over 20 years before I started to write about golf and I was then working in IT. As such, every visit was made as a fan. Helping to run various societies and organise days out with friends, I found myself focusing on Colt designs and was lucky that much of his finest work was close to where I lived.

All Courses Great And Small

The Golf Monthly Top 100 and Next 100 will be updated here and in print during April, but taking the current lists into account, then more courses bear the Colt stamp than that of any other architect. From big hitters such as Muirfield, St. George’s Hill, and the current number one, Royal County Down, to less well-known courses such as Castlerock, Southerndown and Royal Wimbledon. And happily, for every film star, there is a fine but less well-known actor that will surprise and delight, often for a far more welcoming green fee. Within an hour or two from home, I can get to Barton On Sea, Betchworth Park, Blackmoor, Denham, Frinton, Old Fold Manor, Sunningdale Heath and many more.

Elsewhere there are Colt courses dotted throughout the country and in all corners of the UK and Ireland. Back in the late 1980s, one course I was desperate to play but which was extremely elusive was Swinley Forest in Berkshire. This was before email, and the club was notoriously shy of visitors. I wrote to the secretary, explaining my enthusiasm and how earnest I was in my quest, with the most plaintive request for a 4-ball. No joy, it was members and their guests only. I tried again the following year with the same result. It’s a sign of my optimism and/or desperation that I tried yet again the following year, and this time I was thrilled to receive a reply saying in the most charming way that because I had been in contact a number of times offering so much information, he felt he had come to know me and would grant my request.

Further Afield

Over the years I have been involved with various societies, and way before working in golf we went on trips all over the UK&I. This took us to the likes of Royal Portrush, which I need to get back to as I have still not seen the new holes, and Muirfield. We also trusted the Colt name implicitly which took us to the likes of Alnmouth, Came Down, Clyne, East Devon, Newquay, Prestbury and Pyle & Kenfig. I am now lucky enough to have played Colt courses in eight countries; the five home nations plus France (Le Touquet and Chantaco), Spain (Real Malaga), and in the Netherlands (Utrechtse de Pan, Hilversumsche and Kennemer). The one that I would love to play, of course, is Pine Valley in New Jersey, frequently cited as the finest course in the world. Slater has, but I’m not in the least jealous!

Researching this potshot look at the work of Colt has reminded me yet again of how much I love his courses. Late last year, I added the most recent one to my tally when I spent an extremely enjoyable morning at Harborne Golf Club on the outskirts of Birmingham with my colleague Jeremy Ellwood and their welcoming manager, Darren Murphy. Knowing little about it before the day, I was very impressed by the variety, the changes in elevation, the Colt trademarks and the fine work that is going on to reinstate the original design. My own tally is now well in excess of 100 of his courses, and if you want a benchmark to guide your own golfing travels, I don’t believe you could do better than trust in Colt. In looking at various compilations of his glittering portfolio, I have spotted quite a few that have gone straight on to my hitlist for this year. Look out Ulverston, stand by Sonning.

Harry Colt Biography

Colt was born in London in 1869, the year that Young Tom Morris earnt £6 for winning his second Open Championship at Prestwick. Already a fine player, he studied law at Cambridge University where he became captain of golf. On graduating as a solicitor, he worked in London and then Hastings in Kent where he was naturally drawn to membership at Rye. Despite hjs legal training, Colt was more fascinated by the rules of golf than the laws of the land. He was elected a member of The R&A and was twice winner of the Jubilee Vase on the Old Course at St. Andrews. His first exposure to course design came in 1894 when he assisted with the course at Rye, subsequently becoming the club’s Honorary Secretary.

In 1899, he applied unsuccessfully for the post of Secretary of the R&A. This was despite support from the likes of Arthur James Balfour, the future Prime Minister, and leading amateur golfer Horace Hutchinson. Two years later, Sunningdale welcomed Colt as their Secretary, initially on a full-time basis but becoming part-time as his design work progressed, collaborating on a number of projects with Dr Alister MacKenzie. He left Sunningdale in 1913 and in the aftermath of the Great War, his services were in great demand. He worked both alone and with his partners, CH Alison and JSF Morrison, and his output was prolific. In addition to many British courses, his legacy exists in the USA and Canada, Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Spain and Sweden. He died in Oxfordshire in 1951, aged 82.