Herbert Bertram Strong

Herbert Bertram Strong was born at Ramsgate, Kent, on 13 February 1880. He entered golf as a caddie, professional and clubmaker around Royal St George’s at Sandwich. This links education supplied knowledge of wind, bounce and surfaces, but Strong did not become a cautious imitator of British tradition. After emigrating to the United States in 1905, he developed a far bolder language. He first worked as a professional, including appointments at Apawamis and later Inwood, where he remodelled the course from 1912. Strong also participated in the early organisation of the PGA of America. He remained a capable player—finishing ninth in the 1913 U.S. Open—but architecture gradually became his principal occupation. Engineers Country Club established his legend. On rugged Long Island ground, Strong directed holes in every possible relationship to slope: straight uphill, along crests, from summits into hollows and from one hill to another. Highly contoured, tiered greens with false fronts became the principal arbiters of play. Deep bunkers reinforced intimidation, but correct approach position was often more important than simply avoiding sand. Canterbury, Saucon Valley Old, Metropolis and Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu confirm his aptitude on difficult sites. At Saucon he used land with comparatively little disturbance. At Richelieu he confronted extreme elevation change. At Ponte Vedra, the Ocean Course’s ninth hole of 1928 is frequently described as the first island green in the United States, although later remodelling complicates interpretation of the original. Strong argued that the architect’s duty was to build natural beauty into every feature of play. His beauty was not gentle. He believed a poorly executed shot should sometimes pay a very high price. This severity attracted criticism: Walter Travis considered certain Engineers holes excessive, and Robert Trent Jones or later architects softened several Strong courses. He died from a heart attack at Fort Pierce on 8 October 1944. The portfolio is smaller than those of prolific contemporaries but possesses rare originality. Strong was among the first to treat the green as a complete sculptural architecture and to accept that a course could provoke, surprise and occasionally unsettle the golfer. His boldness anticipated modern figures such as Pete Dye and Mike Strantz.