Harry Shapland Colt

Who was Harry Shapland Colt?

Henry Shapland "Harry" Colt was a golf course architect born in Highgate, England. He worked predominantly with Charles Alison, John Morrison, and Alister MacKenzie, in 1928 forming Colt, Alison & Morrison Ltd. He participated in the design of over 300 golf courses in North America, South America, Europe, Australia, Asia, and Africa. Colt's courses of note in the UK include Sunningdale, Rye, Camberley Heath, Stoke Park Club, Calcot Park, Goring and Streatley Golf Club, Hendon Golf Club, the East & West Courses at Wentworth Club. He performed extensive redesigns of Sunningdale and of Muirfield and the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, two of the courses on the rota for the Open Championship. In Canada, his courses for the Hamilton Golf and Country Club and the Toronto Golf Club are highly respected. He also designed in 1914 the first Spanish course bigger than 4.300 yards, the Club de Golf Sant Cugat, promoted by the Barcelona Traction Light and Power Company Ltd. While it is often joked that "the sun never sets" on a course designed by architect Robert Trent Jones, this is actually true for the works of Colt and his collaborators.