Eddie Hackett (1910–1996) [1] was an Irish golf course architect. Eddie Hackett was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1910. As a boy he suffered from tuberculosis, the effects of which left him without the strength or stamina to play active sports. He began playing golf with his father, and as a teenager got a job at his home club Royal Dublin Golf Club. By the 1930s, he had worked his way up as a golf professional, making clubs and competing in tournaments. In 1939, he became the head golf professional at Portmarnock Golf Club. [1]
Unlike the better-known of Hackett's contemporary golf course architects like Pete Dye and Robert Trent Jones, who commonly move tons of soil to create their courses, Hackett worked like the architects of a bygone era, laying out a course on the land as he found it. [2] As Hackett said himself, "I find that nature is the best architect . . . I try to dress up what the Good Lord provides". [3]
While his designs show his appreciation of the classic Scottish links where he refined his game,[ original research? ] his own designs rarely include the forced carries or the blind shots sometimes found on older links such as Carnoustie or Royal Troon.[ citation needed ]
The majority of Hackett's courses are true links courses, defined by having been built on rolling, sandy ground adjacent to the sea, with native fescue grasses and few if any trees. This "linksland" (a word comes from the Old English 'hlinc' = rising ground) is ill-suited for farming or commercial use, and it was on linksland that the game of golf was developed over 500 years. Hackett also designed or revised a handful of parkland courses (inland, built on soil and frequently wooded).[ citation needed ]
Below is a partial list of courses which Eddie Hackett designed or modified.
The Old Course at St Andrews, also known as the Old Lady or the Grand Old Lady, is considered the oldest golf course in the world. It is a public course over common land in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland and is held in trust by the St Andrews Links Trust under an act of Parliament. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews clubhouse sits adjacent to the first tee, although it is but one of many clubs that have playing privileges on the course, along with some other non-clubhouse owning golf clubs and the general public. Originally known as the "golfing grounds" of St Andrews, it was not until the New Course was opened in 1895 that it became known as the Old Course.
James Braid was a Scottish professional golfer and a member of the Great Triumvirate of the sport alongside Harry Vardon and John Henry Taylor. He won The Open Championship five times. He also was a renowned golf course architect. Braid is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
A links is the oldest style of golf course, first developed in Scotland. Links courses are generally built on sandy coastland that offers a firmer playing surface than parkland and heathland courses.
William Park Jr. was a Scottish professional golfer. He won The Open Championship twice. Park was also a successful golf equipment maker and golf writer. In his later years, Park built a significant career as one of the world's best golf course architects, with a worldwide business. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2013.
Donald James Ross was a professional golfer and golf course designer. Ross was born and raised in Scotland but moved to the United States as a young man. Ross designed dozens of courses across North America and is generally regarded as one of the top golf course designers of all time.
Tom Doak is a golf course architect. He has 6 courses ranked among the top 100 in the world according to the "Top 100 Courses in the World" March 2021 list compiled by Golf Magazine. These include Pacific Dunes in Oregon, Ballyneal in Colorado, Barnbougle Dunes in Tasmania and Cape Kidnappers in New Zealand. Doak lives in Michigan.
Tom Bendelow (1868–1936), nicknamed "The Johnny Appleseed of American Golf" and "The Dean of American Golf", was a Scottish American golf course architect during the first half of the twentieth century. He is credited with having designed some 600 courses in a 35-year span. Six of his designs have received historic designation by the National Park Service for their significance.
Ballyliffin is a small village located at the north-western tip of Inishowen, County Donegal, Ireland.
Termonfeckin or Termonfechin is a small village and townland in County Louth, Ireland. It is within a civil parish of the same name, and is 8 km (5.0 mi) north-east of Drogheda. The population of the village almost quadrupled in the period between the 1996 and 2022 census, growing from 530 to 1,983 inhabitants.
The Royal Dublin Golf Club, founded in 1885, is Ireland's third oldest golf club. It is a private members' club, with an 18-hole links course on Bull Island, Dublin, Ireland. The championship routing that we recognise today was by designed by Harry Colt in the 1920s. Over a three-year period from 2004 the links was extended under the guidance of golf architect Martin Hawtree.
Paul Dye Jr., commonly referred to as Pete Dye, was an American golf course designer and a member of a family of course designers. He was married to fellow designer and amateur champion Alice Dye.
Charles Blair Macdonald was a major figure in early American golf. He built the first 18-hole course in the United States, was a driving force in the founding of the United States Golf Association, won the first U.S. Amateur championship, and later built some of the most influential golf courses in the United States, to the extent that he is considered the father of American golf course architecture. He is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
The Golf de Granville Baie du Mont St Michel is a 27-hole golf course located at Bréville-sur-Mer (Manche), approximately 4 miles north of Granville, Normandy, France.
Portmarnock is a coastal suburban settlement in Fingal, Ireland, with significant beaches, a modest commercial core and inland residential estates, and two golf courses, including one of Ireland's best-known golf clubs. As of 2022, the population was 10,750, an increase of 13.5% on the Census 2016 figure of 9,466.
Geoffrey St John Cornish was a golf course architect, author, and a fellow of the American Society of Golf Course Architects. He designed over 200 courses, including 9-hole additions, around the world.
County Louth Golf Club is a links golf course located in the village of Baltray, County Louth in Ireland. It is situated approximately 4 miles from the town of Drogheda.
Tuam Golf Club is a parkland course located in Tuam, County Galway. Founded in 1904, it has been an affiliated member of the Golfing Union of Ireland since 1940.
Charles Dundas Lawrie was a Scottish amateur golfer, administrator, and golf course architect; described as one of golf architecture's finest representatives.
The 2000 Senior British Open, for sponsor reasons named Senior British Open presented by MasterCard, was a professional golf tournament for players aged 50 and above and the 14th British Senior Open Championship, held from 27 to 30 July at Royal County Down Golf Club in Newcastle, County Down, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.