Architect’s appointment comes after club researcher discovers 1926 film believed to show the only moving pictures of Charles Blair Macdonald
By Richard Humphreys |
Mid Ocean Club in Bermuda has hired Gil Hanse to restore the 1922 Charles Blair Macdonald golf course.
The appointment comes after club researcher Rick Skelly uncovered a silent 1926 film in the Smithsonian Institution archives that features, what is believed to be, the only moving pictures of Macdonald.
“I was blown away when I found the footage,” said Skelly. “I was reviewing a longer film with classic 1920s Bermuda images when it suddenly switched to Mid Ocean Club and the first tee. And I see this older gentleman, thicker set, take this backswing and immediately I’m just stunned and think, ‘That’s C.B. Macdonald right there!’
“I was merely hoping to find imagery of the course to help the design team, but to seemingly find Macdonald at our club was really cool. It was only later we realised there was no known footage of Macdonald and what we had was probably something very special.”
While work continues to verify the identity, with other experts soon being consulted, there is preliminary consensus it is seemingly Macdonald.
A historic photo of the fifth… (Photo: Mid Ocean Club)
… and how the hole looks today (Photo: Mid Ocean Club)
Hanse has led Macdonald restorations before, including at Sleepy Hollow, The Creek Club and Yale Golf Course. “Macdonald is on my personal Mount Rushmore of golf architects, so it’s an honour to have the opportunity to work on another of his courses,” said Hanse. “He only built 10 or 12 golf courses, depending on how many you credit to him. The fact that we now have a significant opportunity at Mid Ocean Club, means the world to us.
“Every single golf course Macdonald worked on was impactful, not only from the standpoint of that particular club, but in the world of golf course architecture.”
According to Hanse, the fifth hole at Mid Ocean Club, with a diagonal drive over Mangrove Lake from an elevated tee, is one of the most audacious of Macdonald’s Cape holes, and “one of the greatest holes in the world of golf.”
Watch: An interview with Hanse about Macdonald’s design.
“Ultimately our goal is to be faithful to Macdonald and restore his work,” said Hanse, who first visited Mid Ocean Club 40 years ago while on honeymoon with his wife Tracey. “With the archival information and, ultimately, having a presence on site and being on the machinery myself, we will have an opportunity to get in the ground and faithfully restore what Macdonald and Raynor built on the property.”
The first green with the second hole behind it (Photo: Mid Ocean Club)
“The ninth hole at Mid Ocean Club is from an elevated tee hitting across a lake to this beautiful fairway sitting in a valley as it rises up to a green that’s on the precipice,” said Hanse. “From the green restoration standpoint, this is one of the most exciting opportunities. The restoration of the greenside bunkering provides plenty of visual cues. The restored views are going to be breathtaking. In the original design there were no trees to the right-hand side of the green complex, so you can see across the water and the bay to the other side – that perspective, and restoring that scale, is one of the better opportunities we have on the entire property.”
Austen Gravestock, chief executive and general manager of Mid Ocean Club, said: “Gil is unsurpassed for his attention to detail in the restoration of some of the world’s greatest golf courses, and we are excited for what he will bring to Mid Ocean Club. In a place of rare and exquisite natural beauty, we’re also delighted to have worked closely with the government of Bermuda to create a first-of-its-kind ‘environmental management plan’ to deliver a net conservation gain across the property as a result of this project, including expanding and enhancing habitat for native plants and wildlife.”
The course will close for earthworks in autumn 2027.