6 minute read
Perry Maxwell's standing on the rise
The ninth hole at Prairie Dunes inspired Ed Oden to fall in love with Perry Maxwell's work The elevation of Perry Maxwell
by ed oden
founder of perrymaxwellarchive.com
In 1982 when I was 21 and in the early stages of my obsession with golf, I bought a book called “100 Greatest Golf Courses – And Then Some” published by Golf Digest. I spent hours looking at the photos of courses I could only dream about playing. One picture in particular stood out – a photo of the 9th hole at Prairie Dunes. The rumpled fairway was enthralling and far more like St. Andrews - the one and only links course I had played at the time – than anything I had seen in the U.S. The book gave partial design credit to Perry Maxwell, along with his son Press. I noticed that he was also credited with Southern Hills too. But one solo design and shared credit for another didn’t suggest that Maxwell deserved a spot in the pantheon of all-time great golf architects. Dick Wilson would have been the better bet, with nine solo efforts in the top 100 and three co-designs.
Fast forward to today, as we eagerly await the return of major championship golf to Southern Hills, and it’s a different story. Multiple Maxwell designed courses now routinely appear in each of the major golf course rankings. The quality of his work is widely lauded by both golf architecture geeks and the public at large. And Maxwell is generally considered to be one of the greatest and most influential “golden age” golf architects. Perhaps not quite in the rarified air of MacKenzie, Ross, Tillinghast and the Macdonald/Raynor combo, but not far behind. So how did we get from there to here? Until recently, Perry Maxwell was arguably the least appreciated golden age architect. One reason is likely that, unlike Macdonald, MacKenzie, Ross, Tillinghast, George Thomas and Robert Hunter, Maxwell never wrote about golf course architecture. The absence of published works, the predominant media of the time, meant that Maxwell’s name recognition was never as high as some of his contemporaries. His low Q rating during his lifetime certainly didn’t set him up for recognition after his death.
However, not long after publication of that book from my youth, the prevailing wisdom of what constitutes great golf course architecture transitioned from the heavy use of bunkers and water hazards
emblematic of the heroic style of design championed by Robert Trent Jones, Dick Wilson and others who dominated the post-WWII golf architectural landscape to the less-manufactured minimalist style of a new breed of architects who drew inspiration from and were more inspired by the design philosophies of pre-WWII architects. Tom Doak, Bill Coore and other disciples of Pete Dye brought renewed appreciation to MacKenzie, Macdonald, Raynor, Ross and Tillinghast in the 1990s. Doak’s “The Anatomy of a Golf Course” and “Confidential Guide to Golf Courses” amounted to a siren call for the “Back to the Future” movement. Courses like Crystal Downs, a MacKenzie and Maxwell collaboration, and Old Town, a Maxwell solo effort, were rediscovered. The renaissance started by the modern minimalist architects coincided with the emergence of the internet. Suddenly, anyone interested in golf design had access to more information than ever before and could connect with others who shared their passion. Of particular note, GolfClubAtlas. com became the leading forum for golf architectural discussion and a breeding Perry Maxwell ground for the minimalist concepts espoused by the new golden age architects. By the late early 2000s, there was a merger of minds between the professional golf design world and golf architectural enthusiasts coalescing around golden age concepts. The end result was a renewed interest in the work of pre-WWII golf course architects. Initially, the focus was on MacKenzie, Ross and Macdonald/Raynor. But other golden age architects soon started to receive more attention, including Perry Maxwell. Chris Clouser’s 2006 book,
Where steak is the star and great steak is the rule, not the exception. Our steaks are crafted from the finest custom-aged U.S. Prime midwestern beef, known for its excellence in marbling, texture and flavor.
A neighborhood spot where you can get comfortable, discover new irresistible favorites while enjoying eclectic hand-crafted cocktails, local brews and extensive wine list at our energetic horseshoe bar. At Redrock Canyon Grill, you’ll savor the southwest in a fun and nostalgic atmosphere.
A casual, upbeat restaurant with a modestly priced menu featuring traditional American classics prepared from scratch daily.
Broken Arrow 251 E Hillside Dr., Broken Arrow, OK 74012 • (918) 355-9177
Crystal Downs in Michigan is one of Maxwell's greatest
“The Midwest Associate,” took that interest to a new level as the first comprehensive look at Maxwell and his work.
More recently, golf architect and Maxwell devotee Colton Craig formed the Perry Maxwell Society in 2019 to provide a forum for interested individuals to gather both virtually and in person in appreciation of Maxwell. About the same time, I launched PerryMaxwellArchive.com, which is a factually based online archive of documentation and information about Maxwell, including a detailed timeline with linked source materials. While the Society and the Archive serve different purposes, they share a common goal of raising awareness about Perry Maxwell and his life and work.
The final piece of the Maxwell resurgence puzzle is the restoration of several of his most important designs by some of the most acclaimed golf architects of current times. The PGA Championship at Southern Hills will be played on a course that Gil Hanse took back to its roots, with bunkers, greens and hole corridors that closely resemble Maxwell’s original 1935 design. A few hours down the road in Ardmore, Tom Doak has restored Maxwell’s first course, Dornick Hills, as close as possible to what Maxwell built. And in Winston-Salem, NC, Bill Coore, whose love of Maxwell has its genesis in frequent play at Old Town Club while on the Wake Forest golf team, painstakingly restored the course to the full glory of Maxwell’s original design. Hanse, Doak and Coore have all been publicly open about their reverence for Maxwell. Their desire to help restore some of Maxwell’s best designs serves as a testament to their view of his architectural bona fides and has elevated Maxwell’s stature among golf architecture enthusiasts.
When you add it all up, Maxwell’s reputation as a generational talent was always well deserved, although only recently recognized. So, if you have an opportunity to play one of his designs, whether it be Southern Hills or an off the radar course, take it. If you’d like to learn more about Maxwell, grab Chris Clouser’s book. If you want to gather with other golfers interested in Maxwell, consider joining the Perry Maxwell Society. And if you want a deep dive into the history of Maxwell’s life and work, go down the rabbit hole of the PerryMaxwellArchive.com. You won’t regret it.
