By Arden X. ’27

This past month marked one of the biggest sporting events in the year: golf’s Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. It is known in the golfing world to be the most prestigious and honored professional golf event to win. From its impeccable condition to extreme exclusivity to absurd spectator policies (like no phones or children under 6 allowed), The Masters is truly unique in every aspect. However, to truly appreciate The Masters, we first need to celebrate the designer of the course, Alister Mackenzie, widely agreed upon as the greatest golf architect of all time. 

Early Life and War Service

Mackenzie didn’t grow up with the game. He was born in Britain with parents of Scottish descent, and grew up with a father who was a doctor. At Cambridge, he pursued a Medical Bachelor (MB) in surgery. He had memberships to some golf courses nearby, but only played for leisure. 

His career both as a doctor and a golf architect changed dramatically when he served as a surgeon during the Second Boer War between the rebel Boers from the Dutch and the British in South Africa. During the war, Mackenzie was captivated by the camouflage tactics the Boers used to defeat the British multiple times in battle. He described the Boers’ tactics as “brilliant,” citing the “construction of artificial cover indistinguishable.” Mackenzie continued his career path in medicine, serving as a surgeon during World War 1. However, through serving time in both wars, he got very interested in the art of camouflage, studying with camoufleurs in the Boer War and even served part-time as an official camoufleur for the British Army.

After his time in both wars, Mackenzie fully transitioned to golf architecture. In between the wars, he had tried to apply concepts of camouflage to the golf course, even designing Alwoodley Golf Club in England and winning a magazine golf course design competition. Now that he had moved away from the medical business, he began the work that he would be remembered for. 

Mackenzie’s Ingenuity

Mackenzie is most known for his ability to blend in the natural undulations and hills with the golf course, making as few artificial adjustments to the landscape as possible. As he once famously proclaimed, “I am not the designer of the course. Mother Nature is the designer.” Not only did this make building golf courses easier, it made the golf courses much harder. Mother nature is a tremendous obstacle; for thousands of years, humans spent most of their time trying to conquer mother nature, from storms to mountains to treacherous landscapes. Mackenzie’s philosophy tried to utilize these natural obstacles and focus these challenges onto the golfer. 

For example, take hole 16 at Cypress Point, arguably one of the greatest holes in golf. It is also considered one of the hardest holes in golf. One can see how the green lies on a peninsula of jagged rocks and that the hole naturally follows the coastline of Monterey. Also, the wind generally blows into the golfer because of the sea, making it extremely lengthy. By utilizing the natural landscape of the area, Mackenzie created one of the most iconic holes in golf, while also providing one heck of a challenge. 

He was equally famous for his ability to disguise golf holes. Mackenzie believed in making illusions in the golf course to trick the golfer into taking unknown risks. His time studying camouflage during both wars certainly contributed to his philosophy of disguise. Take, for instance, the par-3 12th hole at Augusta National Golf Club. Below is an image of the hole from the players’ perspective:

From the player’s perspective, the green and Rae’s Creek just short of the green look relatively perpendicular to the tee box. The left and right side of the green looks relatively similar in distance in relation to the tee box. 

However, when looking from satellite view, hidden is the severity of the angle of the green and how much more slanted it looks than originally thought. The illusion can trick players into thinking that it’s a relatively simple hole, with an area to bail out on the left side of the green. But because of the deceiving angle, many players are caught by the trap and either hit it long of the green or short into the water. Even though Mackenzie designed this hole in 1931, it still tricks professional golfers in 2024 – even Tiger Woods has hit it into the bunker or into the water quite a few times! 

Mackenzie’s Legacy

Mackenzie died in 1934 in Santa Cruz, California in his home at Pasatiempo Golf Club. He called Pasatiempo “his greatest masterpiece,” ranking Pasatiempo higher than more notable golf courses such as Augusta National and Cypress Point. 

Even though Alister Mackenzie died a few months prior to the inaugural Masters tournament, his legacy as a designer still lives today. His concepts of illusion and blending into nature are some of the core concepts of modern golf architecture. Many golf architects still look up to Mackenzie and use his philosophy to design golf courses today. He has had a profound impact not only on golf architecture, but on the game of golf. Augusta National hosts the annual Masters, Royal Melbourne has hosted two Presidents Cups, and Cypress Point has been ranked the #2 golf course in the world for more than a decade, and in the top 10 since the inception of Golf Digest’s golf course rankings. In 2005, Mackenzie was posthumously inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. 

Below are a list of Alister Mackenzie-designed golf courses in Northern California, all of which are legendary to play (besides Sharp and Haggin): 

1. Meadow Club, Fairfax, CA
2. The Valley Club of Montecito, Santa Barbara, CA
3. Cypress Point Club, CA (Anyone willing to offer me a tee time here?)
4. Northwood Golf Club, Monte Rio, CA
5. Pasatiempo Golf Club, Santa Cruz, CA
6. Claremont Country Club, Oakland, CA
7. Green Hills Country Club, Millbrae, CA
8. Sharp Park Golf Course, Pacifica, CA
9. Haggin Oaks Golf Course, Sacramento, CA

So, the next time you watch The Masters or any other PGA Tour event held at one of the Mackenzie-designed courses, just know that the players are trying to weave and perfect their way through a landscape and layout that requires impeccable awareness to play well, all thanks to the legendary Alister Mackenzie.