PGA Tour LatinoAmerica Visits The (Legendary) Jockey Club...
/While there is no television, keep an eye out for some of the social media posts of players and officials from Buenos Aires.
The VISA Open de Argentina tees off Thursday at The Jockey Club's Red Course, one of the last but reportedly best-preserved Alister MacKenzie designs. (The original 16th, pictured to the right has been softened since MacKenzie's day.)
According to architect Mike DeVries, who has consulted on limited restoration efforts for the huge club:
Dr. Alister MacKenzie's design for 36 holes at the Jockey Club was the impetus for him to leave the United States at the beginning of the Depression in 1930. His two courses, the championship Colorado (red) and Azul (blue), were constructed efficiently by Luther Koontz, his associate that came from the USA to build the two courses and others in South America. The land is flat and the soil is heavy, making drainage a main factor in any construction project in Buenos Aires. MacKenzie devised a swale system that would help the property drain faster and utilize the dirt cut from such swales to build up his green platforms, making for difficult approaches and recoveries on the sloped putting surfaces.
DeVries explained more about the course in this GolfClubAtlas.com thread.
And GCA proprietor Ran Morrissett reviewed the Red Course in 2007 here and here, with many photos of the bizarre but fun mounding employed by MacKenzie and Koontz and also used at Augusta National.
A few social posts have already appeared, started with this from
Latin Tour is pretty fancy this week. Alister MacKenzie designed Jockey Club in Buenos Aires. @PGATOUR_LA @TronCarterNLU @ClubProGuy pic.twitter.com/A6vs7VD1tG
— Devin Carrey🇨🇦 (@DevinCarrey) November 14, 2017
And this one from George Bryan is especially fun in showing off the crazy contours as only a Bryan Brother can:
If you're looking for something old school, this film from the 1970 World Cup there features some sweet (legendary) swings, including Roberto De Vicenzo, Vicente "Chino" Fernández, Tony Jacklin and Lee Trevino.