How to build a golf course

Would you like to build a golf course……. In 1923 ???

2023-24.

Over the past year or so, we have been briefed about the plans to rebuild some aspects of our course in the coming years. Plans that will change the length and alignment of a few holes, change the design of all the greens and surrounds, including the bunkers, and change some of the tees. And the final result will be a course of similar length and par rating to our current course, but with some holes quite different and hence we will have a different course from the one we have become so familiar with.

But this narrative is not about the future, but a look back to the early years, trying to visualise just what had to be done to produce the course which has effectively been the same since 1933. I hope it might help us understand the challenges which were so effectively overcome and which now lie hidden from our casual gaze.

1923.

We can try to visualise the first 9 hole course set up in the few months after the club secured the land and was able to start building a golf course.

E J Hyde reports in his book “The History of Pennant Hills Golf Club” “The only preparation for play was to run a lawn mower over those places selected for greens without any attempt to build up or improve them, and they provided some weird putting surfaces.”

I expect that the standard putt was a ‘hit and hope’ putt in those earliest months.

Almost certainly the tees were also a flatish place similarly chosen and mown. No work was put into making these temporary tees and greens properly as the real focus was on making an 18 hole course.

The first 18 holes …1924 Over the next few years, the course was laid out for several iterations of 18 holes, as more land was cleared and new ideas to achieve a better overall design were produced, refined and implemented.

We know rather little precise detail about the way in which greens and tees were constructed.

We are told the greens in the first few years were surrounded by strands of wire to stop the cattle grazing on the greens. After a few years, following complaints from members, the club stopped renting out the land for agistment to local dairy farmers.

However, in post war years, when the quality of the greens had deteriorated due to short manpower (1 man !!) during the war years, the club recognised that the greens had fallen into a very bad state.

‘The greens had reduced in size and the putting surface was very poor. None of the original greens had been drained properly when built and this contributed to their defects… hard surface such that water and fertilizers could not penetrate.’

There was a lot of debate about the solution, but eventually it was decided to rebuild all greens with proper drainage. Eric Apperly, a former Australian and NSW Amateur Champion, who had established himself as a golf course architect, was asked to provide plans. His designs were accepted and most of the greens were bulldozed to get rid of the couch grass roots, were reformed, drained properly and planted with Agrostis Tenuis, a form of bent grass. Sadly he died suddenly before the plans were started and the work was supervised by the Course Staff.

It was reported that the new grass gave an excellent putting surface, free from invasive grasses.

The fairways were given a lot of attention after the war and were covered by Kikuyu and Blue Couch, both of which gave “good cover for heavy soil and were impervious to paspalum”, a notorious weed prevalent at that time.

The ‘final’ layout in 1933.

The final 18 hole layout as we know it now was completed in 1933.

The 6th hole was built, and the short par 3 1st hole was combined with the Par 4 2nd hole to form the par 5 1st we play today.

And as E J Hyde reports about the 6th: “ A lot of filling and levelling has to be done ….”, and it is about this ‘filling and levelling’ that this next narrative will try to explain.

Have a look over the hedge.

For over 80 years there was no hedge beside the 6th, 9th or 18th tees.

This photograph from 1994, shows the 6th tee and the steep slope away towards Devlins Creek.

It is worth a ‘peek’ anywhere along the hedge, or else step through the gap in the hedge near the green and just look in both directions.

You can get a fair idea of the slope supporting the tee/and fairway and understand more of Hyde’s comment about ‘ a lot of filling and levelling’.

This does not show how far down the slope goes… but I can assure you that in past years, when the undergrowth was less prevalent, I had on many an occasion scrambled down the slope in a vain (stupid!) attempt to find a very poorly hit tee shot of mine or one of my playing partners. The slope was STEEP and required ‘mountain goatesque’ skill to clamber up to the top.

Today, the slope is hidden from the tee by the Viburnum hedge planted in 2015.

I thought about E J Hyde’s comment that a ‘lot of filling and levelling ‘ had to be done and decided to try and work out just what the ‘lay of the land’ was before the construction commenced.

Please bear with me if the technique is rather crude, but I think it is a fair attempt at understanding what a huge project it turned out to be.

In preparing for this article, I decided to venture into the ‘wilderness’ below the 6th tee and fairway and try to establish just how big a task it was. I measured the angle of the slope of the supporting fill and also the angle of the natural land below the tee and fairway.

A crude measurement shows that the bottom of the slope is about 9 metres below the current flat tee area with the angle of the slope varying between 40 and 55 degrees.

To get an idea of how steep the original slope was we can see the line of the fence behind the tee. It drops away at a very steep angle.

A view from the M2 end of the tee gives an idea of just how the right hand side of the tee was built up and, to me, suggests that almost all the current tee area had to be built across a slope of about 30 degrees from the current path to the bottom of the natural ground.

If we move a long way forward to the 9th tee, again a peep over the hedge show a steep slope supporting the tee. So, it seems that what would have been land which sloped away from left to right, was ‘reclaimed’ to provide flat tees for the 6th and the 9th and also part of the fairway for the new 6th hole.

The amount of soil to build up the area was quite massive and would appear to have had to be imported as there would not have been spare soil available within the course boundaries.

This photo is looking from near the 6th tee towards the 9th tee. It gives a pretty good idea of how much fill had to be added to provide the tee and fairway.

I have drawn lines to show the level of tee and fairway and the depth when the slope meets natural ground.

The following photos try to establish the slope of the original land.

The fence gives a good idea of how steep the natural land slopes as it drops very sharply behind the tee, This simplistic line diagram attempts to show how the fill was added to the natural slope of the land prior to the hole being created.

And below is a view from behind the tee, showing the land dropping away steeply.

What I have tried to explain are two things. First, what a bold proposal it was to decide to make this otherwise ‘useless’ area into the great par 3 6th hole we have, and second, to indicate the extent of ‘fill and levelling’ that E J Hyde noted in his book.

And another thing to ponder, was the type of bulk transport and earth moving equipment available. A few minutes search on Google, will provide some idea of what was available. Primitive??

9th Tee. Extending the theme of steep slope to support the tee, we see the same thing over the hedge at the 9th. Again we have a 55 degree slope and like on the 6th, there would have been a fair amount of fill to level the tee area to what we have today.

The two photos below show the ‘tee’ area above the 9th in 1925 and now. It clearly shows a lot of soil was added on the right side of the tee to produce the tee we have today.

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8th Green Of all the holes on the course, the 8th green has an interesting origin.

It was first built in 1928, when it was the 10th hole. Because the land sloped steeply from where the green was to be built, there was a need to build a high support at the back of the green.

This photo indicates the slope on which the 8th green was eventually constructed.

This was achieved with over 90 cartloads of rock, which was taken from the (now) 10th tee area. The rock was removed to extend the length of the then 12th (now 10th) hole by moving the tee back from the edge of the gully. This required the removal of many stones between the edge of the gully and the clubhouse.

But let us remember that in 1928, there was no vehicular crossing of the Gully (that did not come until 1965 when the low level bridge was built below the 1st tee) So how was the rock taken to the location of the 8th green? It would need to have gone out onto Copeland Road, up to a gate somewhere near the current gate to the maintenance shed, and then across to the 8th green site.

The record mentions ’90 cart loads’. So what sort of cart was it? Was it a motor truck? Or was it a horse drawn cart?? I suggest it was most likely a horse drawn cart.

The minutes mention the hiring of horse and cart several times and eventually the purchase of a horse and scoop. One draught horse, one park Cart (8” tyres) Draught harness and mower (horse drawn) 30” cut. The Greens staff were being well equipped!!!

So I think we can begin to see with what ‘primitive’ equipment by today’s standards the early course was being constructed.

I measured the height and slope of the support behind the 8th green.

It has a 55 degree slope. My calculation makes the height of the green about 7 metres. The width is about 25 metres. So we can see that the amount of fill would be substantial. 90 cartloads in fact!

17th green and 18th tee.

This next narrative has at last removed a great confusion I have held about the photo below. I was always confused about its alignment.

So….

Now, this description may seem a little convoluted, but again bear with me as I try to explain the sequence of course changes in these early days.

This photo taken in 1932, of the 18th tee and green, may seem a little confusing compared with what we see today. The Clubhouse is to the left behind the tree on this side of the gully and behind the tall trees well behind the green and also well to the left. This indicates the alignment then was different from today.

And it was. This 2023 photo from where the 1932 photo was taken, has the original green overlaid approximately in its location. The original clubhouse is where the Beecroft Terrace is now, behind the trees on the left.

17th green.

The earliest 17th green was on the flatish area of what is now the fairway.

In this 1930 aerial photo of the course it is difficult to discern just where the 17th green and 18th tee were. I have marked where I think the original 17th green might have been (after manipulating the image).

The second aerial below, taken in 1943, clearly shows them in their current location.

The 17th hole was only 271 yards, (250 metres). In October 1932, as part of the plan to increase the length of the course, the minutes describe ‘the removal of the 17th green to a position behind the 18th tee’ (i.e the 18th tee in the 1932 photo above). Then in Nov 1933, ‘a new green was constructed for the 17th, with foundations laid by stone from the vicinity of the 1st green’. (this hole was 348 yards (318 Metres), its current length now. This is the elevated 17th green we play today.

If all this is a bit too confusing, briefly it says the 17th was in a different location from now before it was located to its present site which had to be built up at the back using stones from elsewhere.

The 18th tee had to be moved laterally.

I hope the marked aerial below of the 17th and 18th might help with visualising all this.

Then in Nov 1935, ‘the 17th green was widened by using the ‘heap of soil beside the 13th green’.

While not mentioned in any of the minutes, the construction of the current 17th green resulted in the 18th tee needing to be moved to the right, to its present location and alignment, as the new 17th green would prevent the 18th tee being ever extended backwards to make the hole longer.

Such moving, and subsequent work, including in Nov 1937 “ extension of the 18th tee by 8 yards”…. And October 1941 GREENS' COMMITTEE. “Gen. Heane read his report and recommended that at 18th Tee, a rubble wall be constructed in cement, which was agreed to… “ allowed the tee to be extended in width and length.

The current Viburnum hedge again obscures the steep slope of the supporting bank on the right, but it is easy to peer over and see that, like the 6th and 9th, substantial soil was used to support the widened and lengthened tee.

And finally the 18th green.

The original 18th green was located on the flat area just beyond the edge of the gully and the hole was only 90 yards. The Board decided to move the green back up towards the clubhouse, to be just below the putting green to achieve a longer hole. This involved a huge amount of earthworks. We read that Harry Small, a Board member and owner of the Small’s Chocolate Company, hired a bulldozer and was regularly seen driving it and remaking the 18th green and surrounds.

I did a ‘Google’ to see what a 1934 Bulldozer looked like. Can you picture it pushing piles of dirt up the slope from just across the gully, to where we putt out today? It is hardly a nimble looking machine and don’t you just love the crank handle!!

Whatever the difficulties, the end goal was achieved and we have what many consider one of the great finishing holes in Sydney Golf Courses, especially from the back tees.

Just trying again to visualise what had to be done, a look at early photos of the 18th helps us understand the challenges.

The clubhouse and putting green are behind the stand of trees. The trees needed to be removed, and the green built, while the area on top of the original green up to the lip of the new green needed to be filled and the slope groomed. There is a lot of Rock there needing attention.

This photo taken in 1958 helps us visualise what happened back in 1934. The original green was where the lower flat area is and the slope from green to the lower part is now continuous like today.

In 1995, when bunkers were reconstructed, we get an idea of how the slope was refined.

So now we can understand why we have an 18th green with a steeply sloping fairway from the flat just over the gully to the green. All done 90 years ago.

We could look further at several greens that required significant fill to create a flat green…e.g 6th and 17th greens. Both were built on sloping land and required significant build up to correct for the slope.

Summary.

Harking back to 1922, when the committee tasked with finding a suitable site to establish a golf course were shown our current site.

They rejected it as ‘being too rough for a golf course’.

In the light of the above narrative I think we can now visualise somewhat the ‘landscape’ that original committee saw, sloping everywhere and not providing an encouraging scene for traditional golf courses with extensive flatish areas for fairways and greens.

It has been said… partly in jest… that Pennant Hills Course only has 18 flat lies…. All on the tees!

What I have tried to do in this narrative, is to demonstrate that for many holes, the tees, fairways and greens required significant work to help create a good course layout, as there were few chosen hole locations which were on the flat, and much work needed to be done to create the overall course layout which has stood the test of time as a course of natural sequence, interesting hole locations and length, and so pleasant to look at each time we play. I think the diagram below helps explain how an ‘unfriendly’ location, because of its underlying slope, was reclaimed to help build a green or tee, numerous times over the course.

We have to admire the ‘grit and determination’ of those early Board members who turned their vision into reality. Or as we might say “ they turned a sow’s ear into a silk purse”. And we need ‘grit and determination’ to meet its challenges. For example, to hit across the gully at the 18th and hopefully onto the green!!

2024 and beyond?

So what of those who will change the course in the coming years?

After what has been described, surely their task will be ‘a piece of cake’!!