By Lou Cutolo

ELMSFORD, N.Y. (January 22, 2012) - Scores of different architects have shaped the golf courses of the Met Area, which boasts designs by A.W. Tillinghast, C.B. Macdonald, Seth Raynor, Devereux Emmet and Robert Trent Jones, just to name a few. But when you are sitting around the 19th hole discussing that great course you just tackled, do the names William Mitchell, Alfred Tull or John Van Kleek come up? Probably not.

If you play any of Suffolk County’s public golf courses on Long Island, you have William Mitchell to thank. Mitchell was the architect for most of the courses built by the county in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Given some prime waterfront property, he designed Bergen Point Golf Course in West Babylon, Crab Meadow Golf Course in Northport, Indian Island Golf Course in Riverhead, and West Sayville Golf Course.

Mitchell was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1912 and started the way many of the game’s great architects did: as a greenkeeper, at Lake Sunapee Golf Club in North Sutton, N.H. After serving as a navy pilot in World War II, Mitchell opened a design and construction firm, and is credited with 150 original designs and some 200 remodeling jobs. His most famous, or infamous, remodel may have been Timber Point Golf Course in Great River, N.Y.

In 1971 Suffolk County acquired Timber Point and hired Mitchell to add a third nine, and in doing so he had to destroy six holes from the original course. After the redesign, Timber Point lost most of its strategic appeal. But don’t blame Mitchell, he was just doing his job. Mitchell also designed Old Westbury Golf and Country Club, site of the 1983 and 2005 Met Open, and where the championship will return in 2013.

Mitchell’s design characteristics included greens with back to front slope and sizes based on the length of shot being played into them. For example, Mitchell’s long par fours would typically have large green with bunkers to the side, allowing golfers to run shots onto the green, while his short par threes would have smaller, well-protected putting surfaces. He is also credited with coming up with the term Executive Course, which are shorter, less challenging golf courses designed to be played quickly and introduce beginners to the game.

One of our other forgotten architects was Alfred Tull, who had his hands on over 50 courses in the Met Area. He and his brother William were part of a construction firm that built courses for A.W. Tillinghast, Walter Travis and Devereux Emmet. In 1924, Tull joined Emmet as a design associate before opening his own practice in 1934. During his time with Emmet, Tull helped with the design or redesign of Huntington Country Club and Nassau Country Club on Long Island, and Bedford Golf and Tennis Club in Westchester County. On his own, Tull designed the Country Club of Darien and Rolling Hills Country Club in Connecticut; Muttontown Club, Indian Hills Country Club and the Yellow Course at Bethpage State Park on Long Island; and Mendham Golf and Tennis Club in New Jersey. Tull had the ability to walk the land and envision the routing and holes without the aid of a map. Once finished, Tull would transfer the course from his mind to topography maps, which were then used by the construction crew in building the course.

John Van Kleek has probably seen more Met Area golfers play his courses than any other architect in history. After graduating from Cornell University with a degree in landscape architecture, Van Kleek formed a partnership with Wayne Stiles. With offices in Boston and Florida, Van Kleek and Stiles would go on to become one of the busiest firms in the country. The partnership ended in 1929, and Van Kleek started working for the New York City Parks Department under Robert Moses. In this position, Van Kleek remodeled all of the city’s courses, adding his own design changes to each.

In addition, Van Kleek built original designs at Forest Park and Kissena Park in Queens, Silver Lake Golf Course on Staten Island, and the Split Rock course at Pelham Bay/Split Rock in the Bronx. He also built the original course at Mosholu in the Bronx, which is now home to The First Tee of Metropolitan New York. Compared to other architects, Van Kleek didn’t do work on the largest quantity of golf courses in the Met Area, but his designs and redesigns are among the busiest public facilities in the Met Area.

When talking about golf course architects, Mitchell, Tull and Van Kleek will probably not be mentioned in the same sentence as Raynor, Tillinghast, Emmett, Macdonald or Jones, but they have had a major impact on the Met Area golf. If variety is the spice of life, then we have been blessed when it comes to the variety of courses in our area. So next time you are out playing a new course, take a few minutes to find out about its history. You may be surprised by its origins, and learn the name of a golf course architect who will leave your buddies scratching their heads next time you are in the 19th hole.