The NCG Top 100s Podcast: Alwoodley (and Augusta)
Dan Murphy and Steve Carroll explore the links between Dr Alister MacKenzie’s first course design, Alwoodley, and his most famous, Augusta National
It’s surely the cathedral of courses. That church of azaleas at Augusta National has the eyes of the world focused on it this week as the Masters once again gets our seasons under way.
It was designed, of course, by Dr Alister MacKenzie, whose incredible body of work also includes those paradise must-play venues of Cypress Point, Pasatiempo, and Royal Melbourne.
But do you know his first course was much closer to home for us in the UK? In West Yorkshire, no less.
The original can be found in Leeds, at Alwoodley Golf Club – a fabulous heathland that’s a fixture of both NCG’S Top 100 GB&I and England lists.
The NCG Top 100s Podcast: Alwoodley Golf Club and Augusta National
What sets this layout apart and can we find any echoes of Alwoodley in MacKenzie’s masterpiece in Georgia?
To discuss this wonderful course, and to explore those Augusta links, Dan Murphy and Steve Carroll chatted with Alwoodley course manager Matthew Brighton and consulting architect Clyde Johnson in the first episode of our new series of the NCG Top 100s Podcast.
Listen in the player below, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Visit the NCG Top 100s homepage for all this and much, much more.
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Steve Carroll
A journalist for 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long. A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A's prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.
Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men's Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.
A part of NCG's Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He currently floats at around 11.
Steve plays at Close House, in Newcastle, and York GC, where he is a member of the club's matches and competitions committee and referees the annual 36-hole scratch York Rose Bowl.
Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NTCJ exams at Darlington College of Technology.
What's in Steve's bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; TaylorMade Stealth 2 irons; TaylorMade Hi-Toe, Ping ChipR, Sik Putter.
