H. (Henry) Chandler Egan was a two-time U.S. Amateur champion who became better known in the northwestern United States for the golf courses he designed in the first quarter of the 20th century: Eugene (Ore.) Country Club, West Seattle Golf Club, Eastmoreland Golf Club (Portland), Tualatin (Ore.) Country Club.
Waverley Country Club in Portland, site of the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur this week, also has the Egan touch. According to the club Website, Waverley was first laid out by John “Jack” Moffatt and club members in 1896. In 1912, Egan took on a rerouting of the club, again with the help of club members. The layout lasted 100 years until Gil Hanse, architect of the 2016 Olympics golf course, was hired in 2012 to restore Egan’s “classical design elements.”
Another Egan course doesn’t belong in the same conversation, and it’s no fault of Egan’s. After playing Seaside Golf Course on the northern Oregon Coast in 2012, we wrote:
… Egan signatures are much in evidence: tiny greens, ancient trees tucked close by and in one case right in front of the greens, rolling fairways, economical use of the lay of the land.
So, with a course created by one of the great golf architects in American history, the current proprietors need only give a little attention and their course would be a true nine-hole icon. That, apparently, is how much attention they give — very little.
The layout is provocative, the greenside trees lend a touch of distinction, and the coastal greenery would be interesting no matter the designer. But the teeboxes are shabby and unkempt, the mowing is perfunctory, and the greens — well, the local rule is you get a free drop if you land in one of the islands of brown dirt and bristly grass marring the greens on Nos. 5 and 6.
It’s not for us Roadies to say how much reverence should be paid to the legacy of Chandler Egan. Courses change, and their evolutions to better suit the modern game offer no slight to the original designer. At Seaside, there may be no disrespect intended to Egan … the course’s players, however, deserve a little more than they get.
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Check out the flyover of individual Waverley holes, narrated by Oregon native Peter Jacobsen, a Waverley member. This is Jacobsen on the No. 3 green, which slopes drastically from back left to front right, making a shot out of the left greenside bunker impossible to stop: “This is one of the most unique greens I’ve ever played in my golf career … Just wait until you get a look at this third green. It’s spectacular.”
Jacobsen, a two-time Champions Tour winner, is not in the field for this week’s Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship in Victoria. Colin Montgomerie is defending champion after a playoff victory over Scott McCarron last year. Monty, Monty, Monty … we like us some Monty.
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