Old Tom Morris - (1821-1908)

Tom Morris, four time British Open Champion, was the head pro and greenkeeper at the Old Course in St. Andrews for 40 years. He is reponsible for the finishing the form of the Old Course that we have today. For this reason alone he is among the most influential of all golf course architects. He advanced the science of greenkeeping, for example, top dressing putting greens with a layer of sand to smooth them and encourage new growth. He was also a design innovator. He is credited with the "two loops" design, where the 18 holes are separated into two nine hole loops that start and return to a clubhouse. He designed about 30 courses, including two in Ireland: Royal County Down (1891) and Lahinch (1893). Both courses are unequivocally regarded as masterpieces.

Alister MacKenzie - (1870-1934)

MacKenzie was born in England of Scottish parents. He was a surgeon by profession during his early adult life, and did not become involved in course design until after World War I. In Ireland, MacKenzie extensively reworked Old Tom Morris' Lahinch. Golf courses are evolving things, and it's not uncommon for them to be reworked every generation or two. Just as Old Tom Morris' work made the Old Course what it was to become, MacKenzie is to be credited for shaping the design of Lahinch.

MacKenzie was one of the first globe trotting golf architects. He designed in Australia, South America, North America, and Great Britain and Ireland. In the United States his most famous courses are Cypress Point, Crystal Downs in Michigan, and Augusta National Golf Club, the home of the annual Masters Invitational golf championship.

Alumni Society members will be interested to know that Alister MacKenzie designed the Ohio State University Scarlet and Gray Courses. MacKenzie also designed the University of Michigan Golf Course.

H.S. Colt - (1869-1951)

Harry Shapland Colt was a Cambridge educated English golf course architect of late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was among the most prolific and influential ever. Although Colt was an accomplished golfer, he was the first course architect not be be a pro player. Before Colt most architects worked solely in the field while creating a new course. Colt was the first to use a drawing board, and extensively consider the placement of trees within a course design.

He designed courses throughout the world including France and the United States, where he collaborated on the renowned Pine Valley in New Jersey. A celebrated original architect in his own right, he was also heavily involved as a course redesigner. Notable examples of his work in Ireland are County Sligo (Rosses Point), Royal County Down, Royal Belfast, Royal Dublin, and Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.

Robert Trent Jones, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman

They're all in or getting into the act of designing golf courses in Ireland. The late Robert Trent Jones was given a spectacular piece of land near the fabled Ballybunion Course and designed Ballybunion New in 1984. Arnold Palmer had a hand in the course called Tralee in County Kerry. Near Dublin is Mount Juliet, designed by Jack Nicklaus in 1991. The courses just mentioned are big budget high impact places. These courses do have detractors, among their many admirers.

Sometimes there is a tendency for the "celebrity architects" to wish to make a bold statement, which leaves some golfers wishing for the more refined understatement found at the older courses, or for example at an Eddie Hackett course such as Waterville. Greg Norman began construction of a golf course in Doonbeg (a small village not far from Shannon) in 1999. It is located on was Norman calls "the best piece of land available in the world today" and is certain to be stunning and celebrated when completed.