Books on Alister MacKenzie

Much has been written about Alister MacKenzie, and indeed his own books are well known and still very relevant today.

Enthusiasts may be intrigued and interested to read the latest book published in July 2001 by Clock Tower Press, entitled
The Life and Work of Dr Alister MacKenzie
The co-authors are Professor James Scott, Tom Doak, and Raymund Haddock.

  • Professor James Scott is formerly Dean of Medicine at Leeds University, and not a golfer, but became fascinated by Alister MacKenzie a former medical student at Leeds University.
  • Tom Doak is a well known US Golf Course Architect and writer who is a member at Crystal Downs, a highly rated MacKenzie course in Michigan overlooking both Lake Crystal and Lake Michigan. This is a short course by modern standards, but very strategic with many small sloping greens which run very fast in the summer months. The course is usually closed by heavy snowfalls for five months or so from October. Tom was the architect for Pacific Dunes in Oregon, which has attracted much attention for a new course.
  • Raymund Haddock, who is the grandson of MacKenzie' s second wife Hilda, found the lost transcript for "The Spirit of St Andrews" in his attic some years ago. Ray' s father transcribed this book for Alister MacKenzie in the early thirties, soon after travelling from the UK to join his mother Hilda and Alister at Pasatiempo where they were living. This book was first published in 1995 and contains a foreword by Bobby Jones, who asked MacKenzie to work with him on the famous course at Augusta.
The Spirit of St Andrews

by Alister MacKenzie.

This is the lost manuscript mentioned above and was written well over 60 years ago. MacKenzie never minces words and his views on golf, golfers and courses remind us that not only was he a brilliant architect, but also one of the most provocative characters of his day.

Golf Architecture

by Dr A. MacKenzie.

This book has a subtitle "Economy in course construction and green-keeping" with a foreword by Harry Colt.

Golf Architecture

by Dr A. MacKenzie.

This book has not yet been released
Publisher: Sports Media Group (September 2006)

Alister MacKenzies Cypress Point Club

by Geoff Shackelford.

This book has some remarkable old photos of MacKenzie and the original work on Cypress Point. MacKenzie insisted that a photographer followed him round the course during the design and construction in 1928 to make a record of all the work that was carried out on what he described as the most stunning piece of land he had ever seen.