and Ireland. Guided by the experienced hand of architect Stephen
Kay, Emerald assembles a not-your-usual-suspects list of holes for
homage. Gleneagles Resort in Scotland is the beneficiary of three
facsimiles, while relatively-unknown gems like Southport & Ainsdale,
Nairn, Royal Portrush and Waterville receive their due.
In 1914, Alistair MacKenzie was not yet the architect who would
develop Cypress Point, Royal Melbourne and Augusta National. He
was a physician with notions of grandeur, but it took a Country Life
magazine contest for him to gain confidence in his ideas. MacKenzie’s
design for a multi-faceted par four hole took the first prize. The hole
was built at the Lido Golf Club on Long Island, but the Lido was
severely redesigned and the hole lost. Enter Stephen Kay who, at the
behest of golf writer Brad Klein, built this hole as the 7th at Emerald
Golf Links. A massive sand bunker replaces the ocean, but all other
elements are fa