(1870-1934)

Born: Yorkshire, England
Died: Santa Cruz, Calif.

Originally a surgeon in England, Mackenzie served in the Boer War and World War I, developing camouflage techniques. Obviously he learned something about manipulating perception. Mackenzie abandoned medicine and joined the great H.S. Colt to design courses in the British Isles. His greatest work was to come after he immigrated to the United States in the early 1920s.

Gorgeous, flowing, nearly biblical golf courses that always require thought, positioning and a proper dose of luck became the hallmark of Mackenzie's work. Each course has more to say about the environment it is set in than the architect that designed it.

Mackenzie was not captive to any nostalgic style or notion. His designs appear hand-crafted, revealing the essence of the site.

He practiced before the era of bulldozers, which left him little capacity to force golf holes where they didn't belong. Mackenzie was a master of the role of risk and reward in the placement of hazards, which many modern designers still don't get. He rhythmically combined modest golf holes with more heroic challenges, always allowing room for the lesser player to enjoy the game.

Many of Mackenzie's courses have become veritable cathedrals of the game. Routinely 10 of his courses are rated in the top 100 in the world by the major golf magazines.

His approach to providing fair and strategic golf without disrupting the site is a model for golf course design that lasts to this day.

A designer from the golden era of golf course design, in many respects Mackenzie is a man among boys. His book, Golf Architecture, published in 1920, contains the scriptures of what golf is all about.

Noteworthy courses

Augusta National Golf Course
Augusta, Ga. (1933)
One of the first true American golf courses. With Bobby Jones hitting test shots at his side, he created the perfect puzzle for the masters of the game. Notice that younger players virtually never win the Masters.

Cypress Point Club
Monterey Peninsula, Calif. (1928)
A very private museum containing 18 of the most beautiful, well-crafted, interesting golf holes on our planet. Having the most photogenic hole in golf (No. 16) doesn't hurt.

Royal Melbourne Golf Club
Australia (West Course 1931)
The best course south of the equator.

Blairgowie GC
Perthshire, Scotland (Rosemont Course 1927)
One of Scotland's top-ranked courses. An inland parkland layout cut out of dense forests and moorlands.

Lahinch Golf Club -- Old Course
Ireland (Old Course 1927)
Dr. Mackenzie reworked the Old Tom Morris 1892 layout on an incredible oceanside site. Left in a blind par 3 just for history's sake. Be careful on the 18th tee; you have to hit over the No. 5 and No. 6 fairways before reaching the 18th fairway.

Pasatiempo Golf Club
Santa Cruz, Calif. (1929)
Lovely, difficult test of golf, perfectly blended into the northern California coastal forest.

The Valley Club of Montecito
California (1928)
A gem that's very exclusive.

Ohio State University Course
Columbus, Ohio (Scarlet Course 1939)
Many great touring pros have played this very fine course, as it has hosted the NCAA championships many times.

Crystal Downs Country Club
Michigan (1933)
Brought golf to northern Michigan. Typical severe greens with views of Lake Michigan.