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Ran Morrissett

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John Beaumont's IMO piece on Bradford GC is now posted
« on: February 18, 2013, 09:57:09 PM »
Courtesy of John Beaumont we are treated to the story of the Bradford Golf Club, a little known Fowler design outside of Leeds in Yorkshire.

The story is a quite interesting one. According to John, a seven hole course was laid out on Baildon Moor by Mr. R. Hutchison in 1891. Two more holes were added the following year and then Old Tom Morris soon followed with an additional nine. A better location was acquired in 1898 and head golf professional W.C. Gaudin helped the members lay out an eighteen hole course. That effort sustained the club until 1922 when Herbert Fowler of Fowler & Simpson was called in to overhaul it. An intriguing aspect is John’s notation that Colt and MacKenzie each offered advice to the club in 1919 but for whatever reasons, their plans were not implemented!

John deftly describes Gaudin’s original course and his nine greens that Fowler incorporated into the final rework. John points out that working within the framework of the existing course posed distinct challenges for Fowler. To no one’s surprise, Fowler made the most of the situation. For instance, he better incorporated the two knolls Birkin Hill and Greenhouse Hill into the new design. Bradford seems rife with Fowler character, namely it requires good golf without being contrived. That’s my big kick now – courses that snuggle into the landscape void of fussy design features. Tangentially, that’s why I am such of fan of this web site’s recently profiled courses including Desert Forest, Cabot and We-Ko-Pa.

By 1922 Fowler had become a colossus both literally and figuratively. His work at Walton Heath some twenty years earlier had cemented his status as a lead architect during Britain’s great golf expansion and he had just completed his magic at Eastward Ho!, the 18th at Pebble Beach and Los Angeles CC. Bernard Darwin had many kind words for his work.

This is John Beaumont’s third In My Opinion piece and another fascinating story told uncommonly well. While I am admittedly biased as England is my favorite country for golf, I must say that his previous entries (Reflections on Ganton and Reflections from England) are among the finest reads on the entire website. A trained lawyer, John is a published author on topics ranging from the law to Catholicism. He is presently putting the finishing touches on a book about American converts to the Catholic Church. This will be a companion piece to his 2010 publication, ‘Roads to Rome’. Both are substantial ~700 page tomes.

It is such a delight to enjoy professional-grade writing and learn more about a lesser known design by one of the all-time greats. Hopefully, you will relish this submission and join me in urging John Beaumont to be a more frequent contributor.

Cheers,
« Last Edit: February 19, 2013, 01:16:45 PM by Ran Morrissett »

Jon Wiggett

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Re: John Beaumont's IMO piece on Bradford GC is now posted
« Reply #1 on: February 20, 2013, 05:04:22 PM »
Excellent piece by John. I have played Bradford GC quite a few times and always found it enjoyable. Well worth a visit if you are in the area.

Jon

Tony_Muldoon

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Re: John Beaumont's IMO piece on Bradford GC is now posted
« Reply #2 on: February 21, 2013, 08:02:10 AM »

John it's a lovely piece and a fine tribute to the Course. Thanks for taking the time and sharing it here. 

There was some discussion of Fowler recently but we definitely need to know more.

“Fowler felt that only side hazards should be put in during construction and that any cross bunkers should be left until he could see how the ball would run. In any case he believed that bunkers on the sides and especially near greens were the prime requisite, that players sliced and pulled more than they topped and that as a slice was the greater fault more bunkers should be placed on the right. He was noted for using bunkers relatively sparingly. Bunkers, he thought, should be shaped like an old hip bath, not with a steep bank and flat base as at many inland clubs but having a gradual curve from top to bottom so that balls did not lie hard against the face but ran down towards the centre. However they should be deeper than on most courses. Indeed, they became known as “Fowler’s graves”. So long as a green was well guarded and the approach shot difficult the hole would always be considered a good one, far more so than if its main difficulty lay in the tee shot. As for tee sites, themselves, these were usually simple. His greens were often right on the natural grade and often simply extensions of the fairway. Others were carefully placed on small rises to add some additional difficulty. The one thing he never seemed to do was to add mounding or other backings to add definition, he chose instead to embrace what was always there. Overall his style was not full of grand flourishes and would be best described as understated.”


I also found the following of note.
“It is interesting, from a historical perspective in relation to golf architecture to note the difference in style between the remaining old 1899 greens and the ones created by Fowler in 1922. The Fowler greens have a more attractive roll with more gentle surrounding moundwork, whilst the older greens are less attractively contoured and more abrupt in style.”
There has been discussion on here regarding the differences between the so called Golden Age architects and the earlier ones that were heavily criticised by Simpson amongst others.  Interesting to see the evidence as to differences still there in the ground.

I didn’t know  that as early as 1922 he was working with Frank Harris, who were closely associated with Colt.

Thanks again.

I can never understand why Ran doesn’t post the link!
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/in-my-opinion/herbert-fowler-and-the-bradford-golf-club/ 
Let's make GCA grate again!

Thomas Dai

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Re: John Beaumont's IMO piece on Bradford GC is now posted
« Reply #3 on: February 22, 2013, 09:25:57 AM »
John,

Thanks for posting this very nice piece. Fowler courses always seem to have something about them, a kinda quiet subtleness.

All the best

Rich Goodale

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Re: John Beaumont's IMO piece on Bradford GC is now posted
« Reply #4 on: February 22, 2013, 04:05:37 PM »
Superb review, but of far more importance vis a vis Bradford is can they hoist the FA Cup on Sunday?  If so it would be like Bradford GC getting a 10 from Tom Doak, even if evanescently.

Hope so...
Life is good.

Any afterlife is unlikely and/or dodgy.

Jean-Paul Parodi

Adam Lawrence

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Re: John Beaumont's IMO piece on Bradford GC is now posted
« Reply #5 on: February 24, 2013, 01:13:40 PM »
League Cup, not FA Cup. And no, they couldn't
Adam Lawrence

Editor, Golf Course Architecture
www.golfcoursearchitecture.net

Principal, Oxford Golf Consulting
www.oxfordgolfconsulting.com

Author, 'More Enduring Than Brass: a biography of Harry Colt' (forthcoming).

Short words are best, and the old words, when short, are the best of all.

Rich Goodale

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Re: John Beaumont's IMO piece on Bradford GC is now posted
« Reply #6 on: February 25, 2013, 11:58:43 AM »
What was the score, Adam?  My electronic devices are all programmed to filter out anything relating to futabol...
Life is good.

Any afterlife is unlikely and/or dodgy.

Jean-Paul Parodi

James Boon

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Re: John Beaumont's IMO piece on Bradford GC is now posted
« Reply #7 on: February 25, 2013, 05:24:03 PM »
Well this article confirms it. For years I've always chosen where my brother and I may play, but occasionally I let him. A couple of years ago we played Hollins Hall, a new course near Bradford / Shipley but one that was a little dull at times, but I spotted a course next door and wondered what it was like? After John's wonderful essay and pictures, its clear now that we should have played Bradford GC next door instead, and my brother is never choosing where we play again!

Rich, Bradford got a good hiding, losing 5v0 to Swansea in the League Cup Final, but still a great achievement to get that far!

Cheers,

James
2023 Highlights: Hollinwell (Notts), Brora, Aberdovey, Royal St Davids, Woodhall Spa, Broadstone, Parkstone, Cleeve, Painswick, Minchinhampton, Hoylake

"It celebrates the unadulterated pleasure of being in a dialogue with nature while knocking a ball round on foot." Richard Pennell

Tommy Williamsen

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Re: John Beaumont's IMO piece on Bradford GC is now posted
« Reply #8 on: February 28, 2013, 01:50:11 PM »
Wish I had know of this course when I was in Leeds a few years ago.  Thanks for such a well written and detailed piece. 
Where there is no love, put love; there you will find love.
St. John of the Cross

"Deep within your soul-space is a magnificent cathedral where you are sweet beyond telling." Rumi

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