The Level Playing Fields of Birkdale

For this year's Open, Martin added back tees on the third, sixth, 10th, 11th and 16th, tightened the entrances to nine greens, added fairway bunkers on 10 holes and fashioned new dunes along the perimeters of half a dozen holes. In all, 16 holes have been changed and 155 yards have been added, pushing Birkdale to a par 70 of 7,173 yards. Despite all that reconstruction, the club has not recontoured its fairways. "That's not something we would ever consider," says managing secretary Michael Gilyeat. "We are what we are. That's what sets us apart from the others. We prefer that we've been carved within the sand hills rather than over them. We're not Royal St. George's, with its high holes and blind shots. There's no view at all of ever trying to create such conditions. That would be quite radical for this club."

Based on the results of the previous eight Opens at Birkdale, it's fair to say that when the weather is calm, the course can be a breeze. Johnny Miller overtook Seve Ballesteros with a flurry of birdies for a six-shot win in 1976, and Ian Baker-Finch had an outward nine of 29 in his final-round 66 to win in 1991. But when the winds howl, Birkdale can become a brute, extracting uncharacteristic scores, like 77s from Jack Nicklaus in 1965 and Tiger Woods in 1998.

But the most astonishing statistic is that no British, European or South African golfer has ever won an Open at Royal Birkdale?only Americans and Australians have been victorious. That anomaly has nothing to do with flat fairways favoring Americans and Australians. It's merely a matter of timing. Royal Lytham, across the bay, was once the Open venue where American professionals could never prevail. Tom Lehman broke that jinx in 1996. Sooner or later, perhaps this year, some European or South African will break through at Birkdale. After all, it's a level playing field for everyone.

The Hawtree family (from left): Frederick G., Frederick W. and Martin
Photo: courtesy of Hawtree Ltd

THE ROYAL FAMILY OF GOLF DESIGN

Those seeking a dynasty in golf design don't have to keep up with the Joneses. They have to keep up with the Hawtrees.

Hawtree Ltd. is the oldest continuous golf-design firm in operation. The three generations who have reworked Royal Birkdale Golf Club have designed or remodeled nearly 500 courses in 96 years, the bulk in the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe but also in Morocco, South Africa, El Salvador, India, Ukraine and even one, back in the 1970s, in Iran. They have designed only four courses in North America, which is why most Americans have never heard of them.

Frederick G. Hawtree, trained as a greenkeeper, started the company in 1912 (six years after Robert Trent Jones Sr. was born), when he constructed Croham Hurst in Surrey to the design of James Braid. (Some say F.G. designed the course for Braid, a five-time Open champion whose design business was one of his many activities.) Hawtree then maintained the course while moonlighting in design. After World War I, Hawtree formed a full-time business with another five-time Open champion, J.H. Taylor. Much like professional golfers today dabbling in design, Taylor would appear at initial interviews and at official openings; Hawtree handled the designs and day-to-day operations.

The firm of Hawtree & J.H. Taylor Ltd. was best known for establishing among the first public courses, municipal and daily-fee, in Britain. In 1938, F.G.'s son, Frederick W. Hawtree, joined the company, and when Taylor retired after World War II, the company became Hawtree & Son.

After F.G. died in 1955, Fred W. retained the Hawtree & Son company name in hopes that his twin sons, John and Martin, born eight years earlier, would join him. John went into telecommunications, but Martin, after attending the University of East Anglia (whose campus had been built on the site of one of his grandfather's municipal courses), joined his father's business in 1972.

In the '60s and '70s, Fred Hawtree was the premier architect in Europe, handling such highly regarded projects as Royal Waterloo in Belgium, the reworking of Killarney in Ireland and the expansion of Hillside Golf Club next to Royal Birkdale. He also did two courses in the United States, King's Grant (now The Links) in New Jersey and Mount Mitchell in North Carolina.

Fred, who retired in the 1980s to research and write books on golf architecture, died in 2000. Even before Fred's death, Martin elevated the company's profile. He has handled the remodeling of Lahinch in Ireland, Vilamoura in Portugal and Carnoustie in Scotland for the 2007 Open. His only American design is Reems Creek in North Carolina, opened in 1989. His first Canadian design, Tarandowah Golfers Club in Ontario, opened last year. Last summer, Donald Trump hired him to design the proposed Trump International Golf Links near Aberdeen, Scotland.

The evolution of Hawtree design styles, from the functional rudiments of F.G. to the austere efficiencies of Fred W. to the elaborate intricacies of Martin, can best be found at Royal Birkdale. Martin savored the opportunity to follow his grandfather and father there. "It was the most enjoyable job I've ever had," he says. "I feel a special affection for, even an obligation to Birkdale."