Molly Gourlay

Molly Gourlay "The game is something of a triangular contest conducted between one player and another, with the course itself as a third party to be reckoned with as an antagonist, the last of these being the very interesting combatant with whom the architect is primarily concerned."

Molly Gourlay was an accomplished golfer and golf course designer. She won the English Ladies Amateur, French Open, Belgian Open, and Swedish Ladies Amateur, all in the 1920s, and she was the captain of the British Curtis Cup team three times.

Gourlay worked with Tom Simpson in renovating the Old Course at Ballybunion in 1936 as well as Carlow and County Louth, both in Ireland, soon after. She is also credited with helping Simpson design Schloss Mittersill Golf Club in Austria in 1936.

Molly's design philosophy revolved around making the game as accessible as possible and once wrote, "Nothing is more depressing than constantly finding oneself in severe trouble, and, as the less skillful type of player is vastly in the majority, his requirements must be given sympathetic consideration, especially when by doing so there is no need to simplify the task of the scratch golfer."

Image(s) courtesy of Asian Golf Industry Federation.com