Golf Club Atlas
GolfClubAtlas.com => Golf Course Architecture => Topic started by: Neil_Crafter on June 29, 2012, 07:48:14 PM
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John Llewellyn has a great website called Golf's Missing Links which details the NLE courses of the UK and Ireland http://www.golfsmissinglinks.co.uk/
I believe Melvyn has highlighted John's website before on GCA. Searching through it for Mackenzie mentions I was intrigued to find the Dr's name associated with a little nine hole course at Rhayader in Powys, central Wales, that no longer exists. And although the course went out of use, the land appears to have reverted to a farm and it appears the greens, tees etc can still be seen in the landscape.
Golf started in Rhayader in 1908 but this course appears to have gone out of use with WW1 and the need for agricultural land.
John found a few pages on the Rhayader course that was established in the 1920s on a different site, in a local guidebook called "Rhayader on the Wye" published around 1926. In it they described the location of the course and that Dr Mackenzie of Leeds had planned the course, and included an extract from his original report and a plan of the course as he designed it and laid it out on the very hilly site. John records:
Following WW1 attempts were made to bring golf back to Rhayader. It eventually happened in 1924 when it was reported that members of the Golf club were making satisfactory progress in the task of bringing their course up to the standards which they had enjoyed before the war. By 1925 work had begun on the layout of the new course which was situated in the hills a mile from the town. The views overlooking the town and Wye Valley were superb. The course was laid out by the eminent golf architect, Dr Mackenzie who reported, “The site suggested for the new golf course is on a hill within easy access from Rhayader. The views are delightful and could hardly be surpassed by those on any English course. The turf is excellent, the ground is very dry , and notwithstanding the fact that I visited it during excessively wet weather there was no trace of dampness anywhere. The ground is somewhat hilly, but in the design of the holes I have attempted to reduce the hill climbing to a minimum. There are some first class natural features which would help in making a very interesting course”
(http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t65/Saabman2005/Rhayaderguidebookp1.jpg)
(http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t65/Saabman2005/Rhayaderguidebookp2.jpg)
(http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t65/Saabman2005/Rhayaderguidebookp3plan.jpg)
It seems the club folded in 1968 and the course went out of use.
This prompted me to take a look on Google Earth and the land that the course was laid out on. I have attached a contour map of the land which shows how hilly it is and I also overlaid the aerial with my reconstruction of where the holes were, based upon the plan. As John lives in Wales he hopes to go out to the land again and endeavour to locate greens and tees more precisely, which sounds like a fun exercise.
(http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t65/Saabman2005/RhayaderGolfLinksmap.jpg)
(http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t65/Saabman2005/Rhayaderreconstructionplan.jpg)
John also took some photos of the land when he visited and I have also attached these. The first of these is looking up on the alignment of the 1st hole, but he is not certain which holes the other photos may relate to.
(http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t65/Saabman2005/Rhataderphoto3.jpg)
(http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t65/Saabman2005/Rhataderphoto1.jpg)
(http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t65/Saabman2005/Rhataderphoto2.jpg)
(http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t65/Saabman2005/Rhataderphoto4.jpg)
It still surprises me that we are still finding previously unknown Mackenzie courses today, and I hope I continue to be surprised. Thanks to John for all his help with this, for making the discovery and allowing me to share it here on GCA.
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Crafty,
marvellous as always. Makes me more and more happy to be alive at the time when we're (re)discovering Dr Mac things. Aside, this also reminds me of my late teens and the splendid prog-rock group Camel with their wonderfully navel-gazing 'Snow Goose' with Welsh influences.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Snow_Goose_(album)
Cool,
best,
MB.
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Thankyou Marty, and I am pleased we are adding to your reasons to live ;)
And I see Camel had a couple of songs with Rhayader in the title. Nice.
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Neil
Fascinating, did Mackenzie list this course on the pamphlet you discovered? You from the few pictures it appears there were very few bunkers, if any.
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Neil
Very well done in following up with that. Kind of begs the question, if the land is still there undeveloped, we know the routing and the features of the course are still largely there, then why not re-open it in a modest fashion ? Kind of like an Askernish in the welsh hills, with sheep grazing the fairways. If someone could just lend me a mower...........
Niall
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That first hole looks positively Painswickian! About the same length too.
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I am not sure I would want to be walking up the 9th fairway when people are teeing off on #1. That playing corridor looks a little too narrow for comfort (and safety).
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Tom
No, this course was not included in any Mac list we have ever seen so it is totally new to us.
Niall
I'm sure it could be re-opened - in a low tech manner as you suggest - but I reckon you would want paramedics on standby as its rather steep!
David
Body armour and hard hats issued at the back of the 8th green :-)
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That first hole looks positively Painswickian! About the same length too.
Just what I thought Bill.
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Wonderful find, Neil. You're definitely the Indiana Jones of AM courses! It looks to me that one could easliy bring this back.
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Cheers David. Indiana Jones? Not likely ;)
But it could easily be brought back with a mower and some flags, holes and tee markers I reckon.
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Following his early triumphs at Alwoodley, Moortown and Reddish Vale, our Dr Mac does seem to have spent an awful lot of his time prior to the mid twenties messing around on completely unpromising sites like this remote and barren Welsh hillside before magically re-inventing himself as a world-renowned golf architect gracing the colonies with his presence...
You've got to admire the bloke!
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-57003330 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-57003330)
Sounds interesting!
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What a lovely story. Thanks so much for posting. Rhayader had precisely 35 members when last mentioned in the 1968 Golfer's Handbook, but it seems to have become the RIoWGC Bembridge of Welsh golf - the great lost 9-hole course. A potential rival might I guess be The Merionethshire Golf Club (as was) on the spit at Fairbourne, south of Barmouth, which was one of the seven founding clubs of the Welsh GU and is I think mentioned by Horace Hutchinson in his celebrated essay on Famous Courses for the Badminton Library (and is much discussed on Missing Links), but Rhayader's Dr Mac connection gives it special appeal. Anyway perhaps we should all go and give this very enterprising chap a hand with his scythe!
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Splendid.
Approx 30 mins by car west of Kington.
Gorgeous countryside.
Check out the red kites and the Elan Valley while your there.
atb
A 360* view on streetcam -https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.3071175,-3.5269556,3a,75y,141.9h,78.35t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipM_B033vdDd9pZ0is_j1SDOrjQfal_KZhf1LiJe!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipM_B033vdDd9pZ0is_j1SDOrjQfal_KZhf1LiJe%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya51.30318-ro-0-fo100!7i7168!8i3584 (https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.3071175,-3.5269556,3a,75y,141.9h,78.35t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipM_B033vdDd9pZ0is_j1SDOrjQfal_KZhf1LiJe!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipM_B033vdDd9pZ0is_j1SDOrjQfal_KZhf1LiJe%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya51.30318-ro-0-fo100!7i7168!8i3584)
Here’s a link to the full piece about the course on the excellent Golfs Missing Links website - [size=78%]https://www.golfsmissinglinks.co.uk/index.php/wales-64/1079-rhayader-golf-club-powys (https://www.golfsmissinglinks.co.uk/index.php/wales-64/1079-rhayader-golf-club-powys)[/size]
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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/16/sports/golf/rhayader-mackenzie-augusta-course.html (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/16/sports/golf/rhayader-mackenzie-augusta-course.html)
(https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/05/16/us/16golf-5/16golf-5-threeByTwoMediumAt2X.jpg)
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Splendid stuff.
Thanks for highlighting the NYT article Brian.
Below is an circa 1950's(?) postcard showing the view from and over the course. Bit steep!
Atb
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E1r1JcIXIAM8gzF?format=jpg&name=medium)
And playing over the old NLE course once again -
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FL6Z6_dXsAMTiGP?format=jpg&name=large)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FL6Z6_cXoA0PlDr?format=jpg&name=medium)
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Fabulous story. Thanks for this update:
(https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/05/16/sports/16golf-unearth6/merlin_187781001_37ba9870-8390-46ab-a72a-2cada5773cc6-superJumbo.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp)
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GCA way ahead of The Times!
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good stuff, saw the post this am then went back and now see this
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More info here:
https://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2021/5/16/chris-powells-mackenzie-obsessive-one-day-reclamation-is-featured-by-the-ny-times-golfcom (https://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2021/5/16/chris-powells-mackenzie-obsessive-one-day-reclamation-is-featured-by-the-ny-times-golfcom)
And here:
https://golf.com/travel/how-abandoned-alister-mackenzie-course-rose-from-ashes/ (https://golf.com/travel/how-abandoned-alister-mackenzie-course-rose-from-ashes/)
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This is a great story. When he says that he can get "obsessive" it is understatement at its best. Good for him.
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This is very neat!
This brings to mind a story I heard while working at Myopia in 2004 that I have mentioned on this site before.
A member owned the land that once housed the incredibly-named "Labor-in-Vain Golf Club" near Crane's Beach in Ipswich, MA, and never built upon this land, which has the classic character of New England farmland, with old trees on the borders, stone walls, etc.
This was a Wayne Stiles 9 that had gone out of use in the 50s after 25-30 years as a club.
In the early 90s, Myopia lent its grounds staff to the LIV property, mowed the long grass down, and opened the club for a couple weeks of play! I remember even once seeing a golf shirt with a Labor-in-Vain logo that was made for the occasion.
I've often fantasized about owning the property somehow and resurrecting the old 9, or at least just using it as a base to drool over the golf possibilities (no chance!) of the Crane's Beach wildlife refuge, 200+ acres of dunes adjacent to the popular beach.
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MacKenzie's 'lost' course at Rhayader, apparently his only course in Wales, has fascinated me for quite some time.
For the location of Rhayader in relation to Wales and the rest of the UK see - https://www.google.com/maps/place/Rhayader/@54.2673695,-3.6460794,1032287m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x486f955b89eec84f:0x50d8b23d498d100!8m2!3d52.301537!4d-3.510641 (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Rhayader/@54.2673695,-3.6460794,1032287m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x486f955b89eec84f:0x50d8b23d498d100!8m2!3d52.301537!4d-3.510641) - keep scrolling in and it should take you to the town. The old course is located a couple of miles west of the town.
I'm not going to go into historical or architectural or MacKenzie detail here, if you want to learn more about this it's best to read the piece in the splendid 'Golfs Missing Links' website - https://www.golfsmissinglinks.co.uk/index.php/wales-64/1079-rhayader-golf-club-powys (https://www.golfsmissinglinks.co.uk/index.php/wales-64/1079-rhayader-golf-club-powys) - and the other weblinks mentioned in the above reply's.
I recently visited 'the course' with camera (not clubs) in hand and this is what it looks like now.
The site is rocky, there are a couple of small quarry sites, and very steep. Really steep. It makes the likes of Painswick, Cleeve, Welshpool seem pretty modest in comparison. Heading up it is more a hike than a walk. Hardy golfers in those days when the terrain is considered plus the clubs and balls they were using and the clothes and footwear they were wearing. The ferns cover a considerable acreage and Mr Powell has done a great job in clearing so many of them. I was fortunate to visit on a fine day but imagine the location on a bad weather day, not that many bad weather days ever occur in Wales!
Below - open (and importantly then close after you) the gate that leads to the moorland/common where 'the course' is situated and sheep roam and graze. The track is used a lot by mountain bikers and off-road motorbikes. According to the map the apparent sites of the 1st tee and 9th green are on the rise opposite the house (the house visible at left in the photo).
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E6NEQbpWUAI3GUV?format=jpg&name=small)
Below - the routing map of MacKenzie's course plus a recent googleearth image of the hill it's sited on. The gate and track leading up the hill are at the extreme right in the googleearth image.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E6NEjeSXoAELXHk?format=jpg&name=900x900)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E6NEjeNXsAAZLBB?format=jpg&name=small)
Below - the 8th green (long downhill par-5) as seen from near the 1st green. The long par-4 2nd played from a tee to the right in this photo straight up the right side of the hill. The 2nd green was located past the level of the wood on the right.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E6NEQYUWEAAx08X?format=jpg&name=small)
Below - the 2nd green. There was a white marker 'flag' stuck in the ground near this point (see at right in photo) but slightly above it is a flat, small manmade plateau which could well have been the green (too big for a tee)? Maybe some naughty person or a gale moved the marker? The par-4 3rd hole then played right to left up and over the ridge line visible below the skyline in the previous photo. A significant carry needing quite a significant trajectory of tee shot.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E6NOhHhWEAMgnpI?format=jpg&name=small)
Below - indicative photos of holes 4, 5, 6 and 7 which sit on a slight plateau/saddle area above the first and last few holes.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E6NOhHcXMAA-3Gx?format=jpg&name=small)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E6NOhHgX0AAujl7?format=jpg&name=small)
Video - if you wish to view a short video taken from approximately the location of the 2nd green open this twitter link - https://twitter.com/i/status/1415049099649462277 (https://twitter.com/i/status/1415049099649462277) - which also highlights the amazing views over the wonderful countryside that is Mid-Wales. No Red Kites visible in the video but they can be seen hovering overhead.
Enjoy.
atb
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Some of the chat details may be a bit iffy but nice to see that others have been followed the same journey as me and made a pilgrimage to see the sight of Mackenzies Rhayader course - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n-ppxDBcLFY (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n-ppxDBcLFY)
I wonder what the ‘One Show’ episode mentioned when broadcast will highlight ?
Atb
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The site reminds me of a combo of Kington and Church Stretton.
Ciao