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2007 PGA Championship – Perry Maxwell, Golf Course Architect at a Glance

TULSA, OK –

Chris Clouser, author of “The Midwest Associate” may have compiled the most comprehensive synopsis of Perry Maxwell’s body of work as a golf course architect. “Actually, Maxwell is misunderstood by many people” he notes with a hint of regret in his voice. “For example, he wasn’t Mackenzie’s associate, he was his partner.” Clouser goes on to explain that, during their period of collaboration (1924-1935) “Mackenzie would get the contracts, then they would collaborate n the design. Then Maxwell finished everything.” History reflects this arrangement at such famous places as Crystal Downs and The University of Michigan Golf Course, but did you know they also did Oklahoma City Country Club and Melrose Country Club in Pennsylvania?

Clouser found a Maxwell quote in an article published late in Perry’s life where Maxwell was quoted as saying that he believed he was involved with the original or complete redesign of roughly seventy courses and did some work on almost fifty courses more. His career took him to twenty-one different states. This timeline, which made its way from Clouser through golf course architecture expert and aficionado Wyatt Halliday, can only clearly affirm fifty-two original designs and twenty-seven renovations in only 20 states, but this list is the most comprehensive to date.

“Maxwell’s career was a little weird” Clouser admits with a sheepish grin and a hint of puckishness in his voice. “He had three distinct styles. First and best known is what I call ‘Oklahoma style'” he continues energetically. “Most of his designs in Oklahoma are remarkably consistent: simple lines with most holes pretty straight and dog-legs around 45 degrees average and then his greens had his trademark rolls” he finishes. Maxwell had simple bunkers early in his career; not the standard saucers you see at Southern, but also not the blown out bunkers of say a Coore and Crenshaw design.”

Clouser pauses almost reverently, seeming to revitalize himself to recount more of the interesting tale of the banker turned designer, who turned to golf design at the impetus of his wife, who died tragically a few years later of appendicitis. “After Mackenzie and for most of his stuff outside Oklahoma, he developed a more artistic flair in bunkering. It became more flamboyant with rough edging, looking a little closer to Coore and Crenshaw and Tom Doak. This was a conscious decision to depart from his earlier work” Clouser notes instructively.

“Then I find a third style in two of his courses – his first and last, Dornick Hills in Oklahoma and Oak Cliff in Dallas.” Clouser notes almost reverently that these courses were modeled after the fabled template holes he studied at National Golf Links of America and other Charles Blair Macdonald designs. “Macdonald was clearly an early influence” Clouser remarks emphatically. “At Oak Cliff you have a cape hole, a bottle, a knoll, and variations on an eden and a redan. Then Maxwell came up a couple on his own. When he found a similar land form on a property he’d build a similar hole” Clouser reckons. One example is a tee shot to plateau, then drop shot to the green. These were mostly shorter-to-medium length par-4s.

Clouser finishes his review of the list of Maxwell courses with this notation:

“Currently, there are five courses prior to the Lakewood construction and eleven courses after the Lakewood construction that need to be identified to meet the Maxwell number. One of the largest possibilities is the window of time between 1926 and 1933 in the Philadelphia area, as Maxwell had an active office in the area, but no documented work during that period of time. Another is post World War II in Texas along what is now the I-35 corridor as he took several jobs during this period in this area and only a few are documented. The likelihood also exists that several courses from the early days of his career in Oklahoma are not identified as they fell under during the Depression or during World War II. It is known that he also did work on a course in Connecticut but no members of the Maxwell family know the details of the work as Perry only mentioned it as some additional work that he took on during his career. Using these as the basis for further investigation it is hopeful that one day a complete list of his work can be identified.”

Solo Designs by Perry Maxwell

Dornick Hills Golf & Country Club Ardmore, Oklahoma 1913 – 1923

Twin Hills Golf & Country Club Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 1920 – 1923

Duncan Golf & Country Club Duncan, Oklahoma 1921

Buffalo Hills Golf Club Pawhuska, Oklahoma 1922

Bristow Golf Club Bristow, Oklahoma 1923

Shawnee Country Club Shawnee, Oklahoma 1923

Indian Hills Country Club Catoosa, Oklahoma 1924

Muskogee Country Club (redesign) Muskogee, Oklahoma 1924

Kennedy Golf Course (NLE) Tulsa, Oklahoma 1925

Highland Park Golf Course (NLE) Tulsa, Oklahoma 1925

Edgemere Golf Course Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 1925

Riverside Country Club Tishomingo, Oklahoma 1925

Hillcrest Country Club Bartlesville, Oklahoma 1926

Hardscrabble Country Club Fort Smith, Arkansas 1926

Pennsylvania Golf Club (NLE) Llarnech, Pennsylvania 1924

Cushing Country Club Cushing, Oklahoma 1929

Ponca City Country Club (redesign) Ponca City, Oklahoma 1929

Rochelle Country Club Rochelle, Illinois 1929

Princeton Country Club Princeton, Kentucky 1931

Hillcrest Golf Course Coffeyville, Kansas 1932

Brookside Golf Course Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 1934

Mohawk Park Golf Course Tulsa, Oklahoma 1934

Iowa State University Golf Course Ames, Iowa 1934 -1937

Oak Hills Golf & Country Club Ada, Oklahoma 1935

Southern Hills Country Club Tulsa, Oklahoma 1935 – 1936

Arkansas City Country Club Arkansas City, Kansas 1937

McPherson Country Club McPherson, Kansas 1937

Topeka Country Club (redesign) Topeka, Kansas 1938

Blackwell Municipal Golf Course Blackwell, Oklahoma 1939

Mount Pleasant Country Club Mount Pleasant, Texas 1939

The Old Town Club Winston-Salem, NC 1939

Reynolds Park Golf Course Winston-Salem, NC 1940

Walnut Hills Golf Club (NLE) Dallas, Texas 1940

Duke University (Never constructed) Durham, North Carolina 1940

Gillespie Golf Club Greensboro, North Carolina 1941

Lawton Country Club Lawton, Oklahoma 1948

Co-Designed with Art Jackson

Lincoln Park Golf Course (second course) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 1926

Co-Designed with John Bredemus and Marvin Leonard

Colonial Country Club Fort Worth, Texas 1934

Co-Designed with Alister Mackenzie

Melrose Country Club Cheltenham, Pennsylvania 1924 – 1926

Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club* Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 1927

Crystal Downs Country Club Frankfort, Michigan 1928 – 1931

University of Michigan Golf Course Ann Arbor, Michigan 1931

Ohio State University Golf Course ** Columbus, Ohio 1935

*co-design in contract only

**construction by Maxwell, design by Mackenzie

Co-Designed with Press Maxwell

Prairie Dunes Country Club Hutchinson, Kansas 1937, 1957

Lakewood Country Club Point Clear, Alabama 1944 – 1947

Austin Country Club Austin, Texas 1946 – 1948

Excelsior Springs Golf Course (NLE) Excelsior Springs, Missouri 1947

Grandview Municipal Golf Course Springfield, Missouri 1947

Oakwood Country Club Enid, Oklahoma 1947 – 1948

Kentucky Dam Village Kentucky Dam Village, KY 1948

Camp Hood Golf Course (NLE) Camp Hood, Texas 1948

Randolph Oaks Golf Course Randolph AFB, Texas 1948

F.E. Warren AFB Golf Course Cheyenne, Wyoming 1948

Bayou DeSiard Country Club Monroe, Louisiana 1949

Palmetto Country Club Benton, Louisiana 1950

University of Oklahoma Golf Course Norman, Oklahoma 1950

Oak Cliff Country Club Dallas, Texas 1951

River Hills Golf Club (NLE) Irving, Texas 1951

Lake Hefner Golf Course Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 1951

Renovations by Perry Maxwell

Lincoln Park Golf Course (green renovation) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 1926

Philadelphia Country Club (one hole and greens)Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1933

Pine Valley Golf Club (three holes) Clementon, New Jersey 1933

Sunnybrook Golf Club (greens) Flourtown, Pennsylvania 1934

Gulph Mills Country Club (five holes) King of Prussia, Pa 1934 -1938

The National Golf Links of America (unknown) Southampton, New York 1935

Dornick Hills Golf & Country Club (three holes) Ardmore, Oklahoma 1936

Links Golf Club (greens) Long Island, New York 1936

Oaks Country Club (six holes) Tulsa, Oklahoma 1936

Augusta National Golf Club (eleven holes) Augusta, Georgia 1937-1938

North Fulton Golf Course (up to four holes) Atlanta, Georgia 1937

Merion Golf Club (greens) Ardmore, Pennsylvania 1938

Hillandale Country Club (green renovation) Hillandale, North Carolina 1938

Huntington Crescent Club (unknown) Long Island, New York 1939

Rockaway Hunting Club (unknown) Long Island, New York 1939

Maidstone Golf Club (renovation plan) Long Island, New York 1939

Westchester Country Club (unknown) Westchester, New York 1939

Twin Hills (greens) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 1939

Colonial Country Club (three holes) Fort Worth, Texas 1940

Brook Hollow Country Club (greens) Dallas, Texas 1940

Hope Valley Country Club (all greens) Durham, North Carolina 1940

Clearwater Country Club (all greens, four holes) Clearwater, Florida 1940 – 1945

Saucon Valley Country Club (two holes) Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 1944

Salina Country Club (four holes) Salina, Kansas 1945

Lincoln Homestead Park Golf Course (greens) Springfield, Kentucky 1948

Omaha Country Club (several holes) Omaha, Nebraska 1951

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