Steven Lapper (Panelist since 2009; has played 84 of the Top 100): So many names jump out as legitimate contenders for this highly subjective question. George Thomas, William Flynn, Walter Travis, Alex Russell, Harry Colt, James Braid, Old Tom Morris, Perry Maxwell … the list could go on and on.
All of these names are associated with famous courses but who, outside of fellow golf architecture fans, has ever heard of William Herbert Fowler? Only those who’ve had the good fortune to play the likes of Walton Heath, Beau Desert, Eastward Ho, Saunton GC, Berkshire Red & Blue, or Aberdovey, or came away beaming about his contributions to the likes of Cruden Bay, Royal North Devon (Westward Ho), Burnham & Berrow or Royal Lytham & St. Annes, will recognize his name.
Fowler courses appear to the eye as natural and easy flowing linksland or heathland golf, yet typically find defensive bunkering coupled with devilishly undulating greens. Blind shots combine with nuanced deception amid humps and hollows and demand talented thought and accuracy on every shot. His inventive Berkshire Red course, with six par-3s, six par-4s and six par-5’s, laid the groundwork for Coore & Crenshaw’s modern gem: Cabot Cliffs.
Fowler’s own masterpiece, Cape Cod’s Eastward Ho, is a rollercoaster of unadulterated fun and joy. The land, an ancient terminal moraine, is a pure up-down-sideways-and back adventure from tee through green. Few other courses, even in the architecturally-rich U.S. Northeast region, possess such movement, yet never find an ounce of repetition amongst their eighteen holes.
With a nod to my fellow panelists here, the truly most underrated are indeed the amateurs whose immersion into a single property have produced such wonderful golfing gems. The common ingredient for the likes of a Fownes, Crump, Wilson or Neville was vision, and the ability to learn and borrow excellence from others. They remain underrated solely because they never sought a portfolio, only unique exception.
Jeff Lewis (Panelist since 2003; has played 97 of the Top 100): Easy question. Harry S. Colt. Now, how could Harry Colt be the most underrated designer ever? Muirfield? Portrush? Sunningdale? The Hague? Swinley Forest? Milwaukee CC? Pine Valley? Lytham and St. Anne’s? Hamilton? H.S. Colt is not getting enough recognition?
He is underrated because he is by far the best architect ever. The depth of his accomplishments is completely unmatched. What makes him the best? Colt leaves the most gentle impression on the terrain of any architect. From MacKenzie, Tillinghast, Macdonald and Ross to Dye, Coore, Doak and Hanse, all of the greats have a style that one cannot fail to recognize almost immediately when we find a course of theirs that is intact. Colt’s touch is so light that we only see the land itself, not the architect. Chances are that wherever one lives in the world, not too far away we can find a Colt or Allison course. Go find it. You will not be disappointed.
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https://www.golf.com/travel/2020/02/22/course-rater-confidential-underrated-architect/
2020-02-22 12:18:10Z
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