Perry Maxwell: The Naturalist - Henry Shimp
Introduction:
Growing up in North Carolina, I was never a stranger to Perry Maxwell’s work with Old Town Club residing in Winston Salem. I’ve not played it a dozen times, but I’ve been out there at least 5-6. Even from my first couple times through I recall being taken aback by the usage of the creek on so many holes, and not just as eye candy or as a minor decorative piece, but as a center piece of each hole’s presentation and strategy. Holes 1, 2, 4, 8, 11, 12, 14, 15, and 17 all use the same creek as the fulcrum of their strategy. I had never seen such elegant and strategic usage of a central feature before, and I still feel hard pressed to think of one, save for the Barry or Swilken burns perhaps, that makes as much of an impact on both the play and aesthetic of that many holes on a golf course. Now, after Old Town, there isn’t a ton of Maxwell golf to be seen in the Carolinas or surrounding areas. His best and more prevalent set of work resides closer to my current home of Austin, TX, which arrives us at the real point of today’s piece. I have had the chance to go see more of Maxwell’s best stuff and have been turned onto his genius as an architect which I will elaborate more on in the coming pages. Of course, outlined by my 3 Core Takeaways as shown below:
Takeaway 1:
Maxwell had the ability to identify and get the most out of property’s best features as well as anyone.
Takeaway 2:
An OG minimalist, Maxwell believed that a golf course was meant to be found not created as much as anyone to ever partake in the craft.
Takeaway 3:
Maxwell’s greens are often more cunning than meets the eye with his signature “Maxwell rolls” included to provide challenge on and around the greens.
Takeaway 1:
As discussed regarding Old Town Club, Maxwell had the ability to figure out the natural elements of a site that needed to be highlighted in its routing and the overall feel created by a golf course and make sure they got the attention they deserved.
While Old Town is as good an example of this as any, I also think of Southern Hills’ creek usage, as well as the new Hanse restoration work done at Colonial. These are another 2 courses where the value squeezed out of a central hazard was immense. Another example that I believe you all will have heard of is Augusta National. While Augusta is an Alister Mackenzie through and through, Maxwell left as much of an impact on Augusta as any architect not named Alister Mackenzie and although I have not found substantiation to this in the literature, it is reasonable to surmise that Maxwell’s knack with the natural elements, particularly creeks, had a lot to do with Amen Corner and the incredible usage of Rae’s Creek. Mackenzie once said of Maxwell “I thought his work more closely harmonized with nature than any other American golf course architect.”
Maxwell did in fact serve as Mackenzie’s “Midwest associate” and while the credit still goes to Mackenzie for these courses, Maxwell oversaw day to day construction at the likes of University of Michigan Golf Course, Ohio State University Golf Course, and Crystal Downs, among others. To be trusted by Mackenzie to collaborate on designs and execute multiple of his courses is perhaps the greatest substantiation of Maxwell’s ability to marry a natural aesthetic with human intervention to create great golf.
Takeaway 2:
Maxwell once said, “The less of man’s handiwork the better a course.”
How we strayed so far from that for many years in architecture is beyond me, but the current model being run by the likes of Tom Doak and Coore and Crenshaw of finding supreme land and then executing the best marriage of a great routing of holes across that land with minimal movement of dirt, for the most part, is what is creating for some of the better stuff we have seen in some time. Connecting this with my first point on Maxwell’s ability to identify and highlight the best of a property, I would be remiss to not give ample coverage to what many, myself included, consider his masterpiece, Prairie Dunes. While the entire course is special, the second nine clearly trumps the front. To get even more granular, it is the middle part of the second nine where the true magic of Prairie Dunes reveals itself. While I think it would be a bit much to compare this stretch of golf to the end of the round at Cypress Point or Amen Corner, we as golfers have an innate Spidey sense of when we are experiencing a hole or set of holes that are truly special. It’s that feeling that you are currently on the 1% of 1% of golf landscapes in that moment. That is how I felt around the holes 12-15 juncture (as shown below) at Prairie Dunes.
While the front nine may show off a bit more of the “dunes” that the course’s name would lead one to expect, the back captures the intimacy of the dunes as well as the forest that the property is situated within, highlighted by the cottonwoods that inform much of the strategy and decision making to be made at the 12th. As evidenced by the view from the tee above, the trees that frame the final 100 yards of the 12th will have to be contended with at some point. The question that is asked of the player is when do you want to take them on? Choose driver or 3-wood and the intent is to have a mini wedge shot in that all but takes them out of play on the second shot should the tee ball be successful. Choose a driving iron and the intent is to have a full wedge or short iron in that leaves some potential tree interaction on the approach, but largely eliminates their challenge. Choose a 4 or 5 iron and the intent is to have a short-mid iron that definitely keeps the trees in play on the approach. Again, when and how do you want to take on the trees is the question. That coupled with the hole location, wind direction, firmness of the greens, and in the moment feelings are the variables at play to make a key tee ball decision to set up the approach seen in the picture below.
The other juncture of the golf course that shows off the aforementioned cottonwoods is the 14th green and 15th tee. As seen below, the 14th green is beautifully framed by trees and presents a green that looks a bit more intimidating than it is due to its infinity view from the fairway. While the trees don’t have as much to do with the hole’s strategy as perhaps the 12th, the hole’s aesthetic appeal is just as high.
The 15th is much the same. While the trees *shouldn’t come into play often, the shoot they create on the mid-length par 3’s tee ball is one of those elements of the course that give it character and individuality. The picture below shows the view from behind the 15th green where you can see back to the nook in the property where your tee ball is hit from on the 15th. While I am all for trees being kept only for strategic purposes, there is always a place in the game for stuff that is just flat cool, and if a 200-yard shot out of a shoot of trees that connect the site of the previous hole’s green isn’t a cool feature that is worthy of preservation, I don’t know what is. It is these sorts of elements that Maxwell understood as well as any architect I know, at least from my experience with his golf courses.
Takeaway 3:
While Southern Hills may be the exception, the majority of Maxwell courses I have mentioned are not necessarily long.
Old Town and Prairie Dunes are two prime examples of courses that are not long but use the land and greens to create challenge. I’ve not played many Maxwell greens that are in any way encroaching on that line of unfair or unplayable should they get too fast, but I also can’t recall many where you have a straightforward putt from more than 12 or so feet. Great usage of the land’s features and highly challenging lag putting may be the 2 hallmarks of Maxwell architecture. Again, while it’s not his own, the principles of Augusta National make so much sense given the other stuff we have seen from Perry Maxwell. Broken down into its most basic components, Augusta National being the ultimate example, but most of Maxwell’s work also following suite, the recipe is: find great land and use its best features for aesthetic and strategic purposes. Let the topography of the land dictate tee to green play. Give the player chances to score with strong approach play, but immediately challenge them immensely on and around the green when anything less than a great shot is hit.
What Maxwell nails with his greens is that not only are they immensely interesting and equitable to the approach shot, but they are also equitable to the length and difficulty of the hole at hand. This seems so simple, but it amazes me how often architects overlook simple things. It feels logical to give a player a larger target on a longer hole such that the odds of hitting the green are higher, but then once the green is hit there will be plenty of challenge on a lag putt. On the flip side, a shorter hole should have a smaller, more undulating green that only gives you a good chance to make a putt if you really hit it close and is more likely to reject your ball. Not all architects are able to get these simple concepts right, but Maxwell did it as well as anyone.
Conclusion:
There are many great principles to be learned from Perry Maxwell, but perhaps none greater than his push to highlight the best of a property.
I am always amazed at his courses how the best holes are not the ones that the most intricacy was put into, but rather the ones where he seemingly found the best parts of the land and placed a tee box, bunkers, and a green site strategically among the land movement and natural features. Southern Hills’ second hole as shown below is one of my favorite examples of this. A beautiful creek that meanders across and along the fairway, one strategically kept tree along the landing area’s left side, and a green that sits in front of the same creek that wraps around the backside of the hole. The change in grade of the hole is essentially zero, and it would have been easy to avoid the complex movement of the creek. Maxwell instead took it head on and made one of the more interesting holes tee to green I’ve played in some time. And, to the surprise of no one, if you hit it close, you’ll have a nice look. If you leave yourself 50 feet, expect to contend with at least a “Maxwell roll,” or two.
