Hugh Alison, as he was known to his friends, was educated in Worcestershire at Malvern College before going on to study history, law and divinity at New College, Oxford. He represented the university in the 1903 and 1904 Varsity matches and in the second of these contests, he famously pitched onto the 18th green at Woking from the clubhouse verandah roof.

Alison’s sporting prowess also extended to the cricket pitch, where he played first class matches for Somerset. With all this extracurricular activity away from the cloisters, it’s perhaps no great surprise that he never completed his studies. In fact, after being sent home several times, he was eventually expelled from the college.

He could play a bit (reaching the fourth round of The Amateur Championship in 1906) and a career in golf soon opened up for him after leaving Oxford when he became the secretary of Foxrock Golf Club in Dublin. He was there for only a short time before returning to England to become the first secretary of Stoke Poges Golf Club (with its new course designed by 

) in 1908, earning £13.6s.8d a month plus a small accommodation allowance.

Whilst there, he assisted Colt with the design of several courses in the Greater London area before The Great War intervened, which saw him become an Army captain working in ciphers. When hostilities ceased, Alison was assigned to North America to drum up business, designing more than twenty new courses during a nine-year tenure on the other side of the Atlantic.

Regarding his time spent in the United States and Canada during the 1920s, Henry Lord and Peter Pugh in 

Masters of Design – Great Courses of Colt, MacKenzie, Alison & Morrison

 wrote: “His eye-catching bunkering, often severely large and deep in equal measure, can call for courageous shots,” with one commentator “likening his elevated, built-up greens to those of the Americans 

Alison was a founding member of the International Society of Golf Architects, along with architects such as 

 and Tom Simpson. Formed in 1929, the society operated from secretary Tom Simpson’s office at his home in England.


A high point in Alison’s design career came during a short trip to Japan at the end of 1930, accompanied by his construction foreman George Penglase, when he built several new layouts – such as Tokyo, Hirono and Kawana – and revised others, like Nauro and the East course at Kasumigaseki. To this day, large, steep-faced bunkers in the land of the Rising Sun are referred to as ‘Alisons’.

During the 1930s, Alison worked on projects in places as far apart as Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and South Africa. He also collaborated with design partner 

 on several course designs in the Netherlands before World War II interrupted proceedings, causing him to re-enlist for the Army’s decoding department.

Alison moved to South Africa with his wife in 1947, revising a number of courses in that country before he passed away five years later, less than twelve months after the demise of his great friend and mentor, Harry Colt. John Morrison was then left to run the company for another decade until he too died in 1962.

It’s true to say that C. H. Alison is one of the most overlooked Golden Age architects, largely because his work was carried out on behalf of Colt Alison & Morrison Ltd, with Harry Colt given the architectural credit for projects that should really be attributed to his much-travelled design associate.

 by Cornish & Whitten: “Alison was co-author (with Colt) of 

Golf Courses: Design, Construction and Upkeep

, edited by M. A. F. Sutton (1933, revised 1950)”.

“The architect’s many influences contributed to his distinctive style. He followed strategic design principles, believing that risky shots should be justly rewarded with improved angles. However, when considering the era he operated in, his courses were often long and difficult; which, again, was a legacy of his experience at Pine Valley (where he had previously worked). Alison’s bunkering was highly personalised, being usually grand in scale, frequently deep and often downright intimidating.”


 by Toby Cumming: “In the decade after WWI, Alison spent much of his time in North America. When George Crump died in 1918 with several holes of Pine Valley still unfinished, the club formed an advisory committee to oversee completion of construction. Alison joined the committee in place of his boss and mentor Colt, and his report saw significant changes made to the course.

The course appears to have made significant changes to Alison too, with his appreciation of the fiendishly difficult Pine Valley showing through in his later design work. Alison maintained an office in Detroit in the 1920s on behalf of Colt, and he designed standout courses at the Country Clubs of Detroit and Milwaukee. He also laid out a course over a very different landscape at Sea Island in Georgia.

Alison’s travels continued throughout the 1930s, and he worked in Malaysia, Morocco, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. His most influential course from this time, however, was at Royal Hague (1936).”

Known as Hugh to his friends, he famously pitched onto the 18th green at Woking from the clubhouse verandah roof. He later became the first Secretary at Stoke Poges and to this day, large, steep-faced bunkers in Japan are referred to as ‘Alisons’.

C. H. Alison

Alison studied history, law and divinity at Oxford and represented the university in Varsity matches. In one of these contests he famously pitched onto Woking’s 18th green from the clubhouse verandah roof.

Sam Berriman

Victoria

Australian Amateur

Australian PGA

Australia

Huntingdale Golf Club was officially established in 1941 but it has a history that goes as far back as 1896 when Surrey Hills Golf Club was formed.

That club broke up in 1914 then some of the original members got together and founded the Box Hill Golf Club. In 1924, the club moved to a different site and became the Eastern Golf Club. When land became available to some of their members in 1938 at the old Melbourne Hunt Club grounds, Charles Hugh Alison – a partner of the legendary Harry S. Colt – was engaged to design a new 18-hole layout and so the Huntingdale Golf Club finally came into existence three years later.

Alison, incidentally, was a fascinating character who spent some time in the 1920s designing golf courses in Japan – but that’s another story for another country. He never actually walked the site here and the layout was planned in his study back in England with construction carried out by Sam Berriman, the club curator for many years.

American architect Dick Wilson advised the club (on cutting back trees and modifying some bunkers) during his visit to Australia in 1959.

Where Huntingdale Golf Club has really made its mark on the Australian golf scene is its annual hosting of the Australian Masters. Most of the winners of the gold jacket since 1979 have been home grown but notable overseas winners include Bernhard Langer (1985), Mark O’Meara (1986), Michael Campbell (2000) and Colin Montgomerie (2001).

Huntingdale plays long and fast with greens maintained in “Masters” condition all year round. Back- to-back par fives at the 6th and 7th holes are particularly demanding on the front nine and the closing par fours at holes 16 to 18 are some of the toughest finishing holes in competitive golf.

The course was extensively revamped in recent times by the design combo of Jack Newton, Graeme Grant and John Spencer.

Huntingdale

Settlers Run

Oceania

Where Huntingdale Golf Club has really made its mark on the Australian golf scene is its annual hosting of the Australian Masters.