American Legend
Born in 1874 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, A.W. Tillinghast would grow up to become not only a prolific golfer but one of the greatest innovators and architects of golf courses. Over one hundred years later, the courses he designed are still in usage today. However, when many people think about architecture, they don’t often imagine a peaceful putting green.
If anything, sports architecture conjures images of the Beijing National Stadium, or the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg or the Allianz Arena in Munich. Few appreciate the approach to creating physical spaces used for sporting, and wouldn’t think twice about design while passing an urban basketball court. Some sports in particular, like golf and Formula One racing, offer architects ample opportunities for creative innovation. For Tillinghast, it was his own love of golf that inspired him to imagine and create his own courses.
Tillinghast has designed, renovated, added to, or consulted on upwards of 250 golf courses across North America. However, he was a professional golfer before he was a course architect. Today, Tillinghast would be pleased to know that the PGA Tour’s finest play on his courses. Pros with consistent odds this season like Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy compete on Tillinghast putting greens, as well as legends like Tiger Woods and fan favorites like Bryson DeChambeau. In fact, the 2019 PGA Championship took place at Bethpage State Park (New York), which was co-designed by Tillinghast in 1936.
Old Tom Morris, the Scottish golf legend who is widely considered to be the founding father of the sport, even had his hand in molding the young A.W. Tillinghast. Not only did Tillinghast rely on Morris’s guidance to improve his golf play, but the young American was also exposed to classic courses from the earliest days of the sport in Scotland.
He played on many courses and visited their country clubs, learning about Scottish aesthetic on courses that Morris himself had helped to design and repair. Over the course of his career, Morris created or remodeled more than sixty courses throughout the British Isles, and it seems that Tillinghast took notes before returning to the United States to spearhead his own vocation as an architect.
Top Courses
Today, any golf pundit knows what a ‘Tillie course’ means: the course was designed by A.W. Tillinghast. Any golf fan also knows that a Tillie course carries a positive connotation. Not only is it a treat to play on a Tillie course (nonetheless compete in a PGA Tour), it’s an honor to visit as well, as the courses are known for being unique.
Most Tillie courses are located in New England, USA, given Tillinghast spent most of his life in this region. Ridgewood Country Club in New Jersey is one of his most well-known courses. At this course, players will find a ‘minefield of mounds’ as well as a Nickel-and-Dime 12th hole that is designed to confound and challenge players while pleasing fans with great play.
Nearby at the Somerset Hills Country Club, also in New Jersey, players come to enjoy the peaceful greens that have remained unrenovated since Tillinghast designed them in 1918. Though he used a template for one of the Redan holes, which are marked by a slight tilt and bunker blocks, the putting game is simply unforgettable.
Staying in New Jersey, the Baltusrol Golf Club Upper and Lower Courses are favored by enthusiasts and the PGA Tour, who regularly visits the Lower Course. Both courses continue to make their way to top lists for golf courses in the US and internationally. The lower in particular features bold architectural designs, many of which include bunkers that are designed to frame sloped greens, as well multiple ponds. In particular, the course is known for its par five 17th and 18th holes, where golf professionals are pushed to their limit.
However, Tillinghast’s great feat is widely considered to be the West Winged Foot Golf Club course (which also features an East). This course is known for its contours: the gentle, and often misleading, slopes that pepper golf courses. Many of these contours are designed like ‘mushrooms’, which present further challenges to players that cannot be assessed from a distance, but must be maneuvered during immediate play. If this sounds subtle, then consider that part of Tillinghast’s genius.
