Harry Colt at Portrush and Newcastle: One Architect, Two Masterworks
Harry Colt's work at Royal Portrush (1932) and Royal County Down (revised 1920s) are the two most-discussed designs in Irish golf. The piece takes them together — the same architect's hand on different ground — and asks what they share and what the ground forced apart.
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Eddie Hackett: Forty Years of Irish Links on Almost No Money
Eddie Hackett designed or revised more Irish links courses than anyone else, often with very small budgets and on ground that rewarded following…
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Martin Hawtree's Brief at Portrush: Two New Holes Into Dunes Nobody Had Played Over
The R&A required two new holes at Portrush to bring The Open back; Hawtree's 7th and 8th used dune ground the club had never routed through. The piece…
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Tom Fazio's Adare Manor: What a $40 Million Rebuild Buys
Tom Fazio's 2018 rebuild of Adare Manor's parkland course was commissioned with the Ryder Cup in mind and involved moving significant quantities of…
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Arnold Palmer at Barrow: A Links Architect by One Course
Arnold Palmer designed Tralee Golf Club at Barrow on the Dingle Peninsula in 1984 — his only links in Europe. The piece asks what an architect trained…
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Old Tom Morris at Lahinch and Rosses Point: The Oldest Hands in Irish Golf
Old Tom Morris laid out both Lahinch (1892) and County Sligo at Rosses Point, making him the earliest named architect on two of Ireland's most durable…
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