Walter Travis - Golf Course Design

Golf Course Design

Travis became a student of the layout and design features of golf courses early in his golfing career as the result of trips to Great Britain. In late 1901, Travis wrote an article, published in the Bulletin of the USGA, titled, "Impressions of British Golf". He observed that in "England and Scotland....you have golf--Golf in its best and highest form". He referred to the "radical difference in their physical configurations in relation to our courses." He was impressed with the lack of trees, the number and placement of bunkers, the natural undulations of the greens, and the quality of turf.(Travis, 1901) In a later article, Travis presented his ideas for the design of a "first class" golf course (Travis, 1909) In this article, Travis emphasized the importance of soil that provides natural drainage, land that is more or less undulating--neither flat nor hilly..but a judicious blending of the two extremes and trees of any kind are none-existent--as they should be, and holes should be so laid out as to provide for the playing of every conceivable sort of stroke, with every club in one's bag. He noted, diversity of play should be the aim of the architect of a first-class course. (Travis, 1909)

Some have characterized Travis as a "penal designer". However, a careful study of his writings leads to the conclusion that he was a firm believer in "thinking" and "strategic" golf; with the golfer given opportunities to avoid difficulty with well-considered and executed shots.(Travis, 1905)

Travis's first project as a golf course architect was his collaboration with John Duncan Dunn in the 1899 design of Ekwanok Country Club in Vermont. However, much of Travis's early acclaim and notoriety as a golf course designer may be traced to his extensive remodeling of the Garden City Golf Club's Devereux Emmet course, that was unveiled when Garden City Golf Club hosted the 1908 U.S. Amateur Championship. In all, nearly 50 golf courses bear his mark, either as an original design, or as a remodeling project. Through Travis's consultations with the original designers, several noted courses reflect his influence, including Pine Valley Golf Club, National Golf Links of America, and Pinehurst No. 2. (Labbance, 2000)

Travis could lay claim to being the first "U.S. Open Doctor" with his remodeling of the CC of Buffalo and Columbia Country Club courses just prior to their hosting the U.S. Open in 1912 and 1921 respectively.

Travis remained active as a designer to the end, making a last visit to inspect the construction of his course at the Country Club of Troy a month before his death on July 31, 1927. (Labbance, 2000)