- Address1 Mid Ocean Drive, St.George's, Bermuda
- Championships hosted
Set on the northeastern tip of Bermuda in wealthy Tucker's Town, is one of the world’s finest golf courses. The “Father of Golf Architecture”, Charles Blair Macdonald and his associate, Seth Raynor, originally laid out the Mid Ocean Club course and it opened for play in 1924 adjacent to the Atlantic.
In The Evangelist of Golf, George Bahto commented as follows: “Macdonald and Raynor traveled to the island and drew up several possible routings from relief maps of the area, finally settling on one. Once the planning stages were complete, Macdonald left Raynor to attend to the actual construction, assisted by Charles Banks and Ralph Barton, a construction supervisor. It was Banks who later built the Castle Harbour course on the adjoining property.”
“When the course opened in 1924, Mid Ocean set a new standard as the finest inland course in the world. Rather than succumb to the temptation of forcing scenic cliff-top holes at the expense of good golf, Macdonald and Raynor showed great restraint by skilfully routing Mid Ocean to take full advantage – first and foremost – of the natural contours of the site.”
The Atlantic Ocean does not play a major part in the design of Mid Ocean it merely provides a beautiful backdrop to a number of holes, the majority of which are set back a little further inland among the stately pines, the pretty glades and the dramatic valleys.
The course was lightly modified by Robert Trent Jones in the 1950s when he added new tees and bunkers. Today’s layout is a stern test, especially when the trade winds are freshening, but with numerous tees to choose from it’s also a very enjoyable course for the handicap golfer. Perhaps Mid Ocean's most notable and most treacherous hole is a Cape template, the 433-yard par four 5th, with its elevated tee atop a hill with a glorious view across the shimmering Mangrove Lake.
If you are only remotely interested in golf, a walk round Mid Ocean is a joy and naturally you must wear the mandatory Bermuda length shorts. Contrary to Mark Twain, Mid Ocean is most definitely not “a good walk spoiled”, we tend to agree with Mr Twain’s alternative saying, "you die and go to heaven, I'll stay here in Bermuda".
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Long Island-born Seth Raynor ran a successful surveying business before being hired by Charles Blair Macdonald in 1908 to inspect the property that would become The National Golf Links of America.