Eddie Hackett (1910–1996)
was an Irish golf course architect.
Eddie Hackett was born in
Dublin, Ireland
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cen ...
in 1910. As a boy he suffered from
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
, the effects of which left him without the strength or stamina to play active sports. He began playing golf with his father, and as a teenager got a job at his home club
Royal Dublin Golf Club
The Royal Dublin Golf Club, founded in 1885, is Ireland's third oldest golf club. It is a private members' club, with an 18-hole links course on Bull Island, Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The championship routing that we recognise today ...
. By the 1930s, he had worked his way up as a golf professional, making clubs and competing in tournaments. In 1939, he became the head golf professional at
Portmarnock Golf Club
Portmarnock Golf Club is a links golf club in Portmarnock, County Dublin, Ireland, located close to Dublin Airport.
The golf course is often rated as one of the top courses in the UK and Ireland and is also often included in lists of the top 10 ...
.
Design philosophy
Unlike the better-known of Hackett's contemporary golf course architects like
Pete Dye
Paul Dye Jr. (December 29, 1925 – January 9, 2020), known as Pete Dye, was an American golf course designer and a member of a family of course designers. He was married to fellow designer and amateur champion Alice Dye.
Early life
Dye was ...
and
Robert Trent Jones
Robert Trent Jones Sr. (June 20, 1906 – June 14, 2000) was a British–American golf course architect who designed or re-designed more than 500 golf courses in 45 U.S. states and 35 countries. In reference to this, Jones took pride in sayi ...
, who commonly move tons of soil to create their courses, Hackett worked like the architects of a bygone era, laying out a course on the land as he found it. As Hackett said himself, "I find that nature is the best architect . . . I try to dress up what the Good Lord provides".
While his designs show his appreciation of the classic Scottish links where he refined his game, his own designs rarely include the forced carries or the blind shots sometimes found on older links such as
Carnoustie
Carnoustie (; sco, Carnoustie, gd, Càrn Ùstaidh) is a town and former police burgh in the council area of Angus, Scotland. It is at the mouth of the Barry Burn on the North Sea coast. In the 2011 census, Carnoustie had a population of 11,3 ...
or
Royal Troon
Royal Troon Golf Club is a links golf course in Scotland, located in Troon, South Ayrshire, southwest of Glasgow.
Founding and early years
The club, which now has a total of 45 holes, was founded in 1878, initially with five holes. It lies adj ...
.
The majority of Hackett's courses are true
links courses, defined by having been built on rolling, sandy ground adjacent to the sea, with native fescue grasses and few if any trees. This "linksland" (a word comes from the Old English 'hlinc' = rising ground) is ill-suited for farming or commercial use, and it was on linksland that the game of golf was developed over 500 years. Hackett also designed or revised a handful of parkland courses (inland, built on soil and frequently wooded).
Courses
Below is a partial list of courses which Eddie Hackett designed or modified.
:(
* Modified existing design)
Further reading
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hackett, Eddie
1910 births
1996 deaths
Golf course architects