Harry Colt – Words by Frank Pont
Harry Colt and his various partners were prodigious in their design and redesign of golf courses during what can best be described as the “classic” era for golf course architects. Despite a torrid economy immediately after WW1, whilst his competitors saw a diminution of commissions in the UK, Colt and his partners remained very active. Additionally, their travels were more widespread. Having focused international activities on Canada and the US before the war, later years brought opportunities in Ireland, France, The Netherlands and Spain. By that time, Colt himself was too infirm to travel but his partners Hugh Alison and John Morrison became intrepid trekkers, undertaking work all over Europe, North America and Japan.
We have so far carefully examined over 120 Colt courses and are fortunate enough to count 31 of those as current or former clients.
What can we learn from examining this significant body of work?
In short, unlike some other renowned architects of that era, the passage of time did little to change Colt’s core design principles when designing or redesigning a course – for the most part, he was very consistent in his approach. As an example, when examining a Colt course, if you see an even number of bunkers within a green complex, the chances are the design has been changed. If you see hazards used in a symmetrical manner, you can be pretty confident that subsequent tinkering has taken place. If greens are isolated from the rest of the course by thick rough on all sides, they are almost definitely not in keeping with the original design. If a tree is directly in the line of play, it was almost certainly planted after he left. These basic principles and several others are what define Colt’s work and, to a great extent, that of his partners.
For clubs that are fortunate to be the custodian of a Colt course, we believe that it is important to respect its architectural heritage. It is easy to lose the key features that define Colt’s work but far harder to put them back once they have been lost. In our 20+ years of analysing Colt courses, we have yet to find one that has improved having had its core architecture fundamentally changed from the original design.
So if a course has been changed in such a manner, why bother to do anything about it? What does it matter? Along with Alister MacKenzie, Tom Simpson, Herbert Fowler, Seth Raynor and CB Macdonald, we regard Colt as one of the most talented architects to have influenced the game of golf. His basic edicts of asymmetrical design and risk remain entirely pertinent today. His ability to design courses which required a minimal amount of earth to be moved (certainly in comparison to today’s courses) and delivered a simple, natural beauty whilst testing a golfer’s brain as well as his or her brawn is almost beyond compare.
Fortunately, unlike some of his peers, Colt was not averse to putting his thoughts into writing and employing photographers to record his creations. We are continuously studying such information and will continue to do so.
Should you happen to be the custodian of a Colt company course, we are always keen to visit new (to us) and familiar ones, even more so if we can help return their key characteristics to something closer to their roots and fulfill their potential. Please feel free to e-mail us at colt@cdpgolf.com if you have any questions.