John Jacob “Frank” Pennink was born in the city of Delft, which lies between The Hague and Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

After moving to England, he was a pupil at Rose Hill School and Tonbridge School in Kent – playing cricket against Clifton College at Lord’s – before enrolling at Magdalene College, Oxford, where he played golf for the university from 1933 to 1935.

Once he’d completed his studies, his opted for employment within the insurance industry, which is what both Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus did in their early years.

Away from work, Frank was one of the top amateur players in Great Britain, winning the English Amateur Championship at Saunton in 1937 then repeating this feat at Moortown the following year, when he also played in the victorious Walker Cup team at St Andrews.

Unfortunately, World War II then intervened, curtaining his golfing activities, and he enlisted in the Royal Air Force, serving as a Squadron Leader. After the war ended, he became a sports journalist, writing golf articles for the 

comments about this period in Frank’s life by saying: “he became well known for his informed comment of golf, his intimate knowledge of the game and its exponents being a great advantage.”

Authors Geoff Cornish and Ron Whitten then take up the story in their book 

: “In 1954 Pennink joined the established course design practice of 

. He eventually headed the firm that came to be known as Cotton (C.K.), Pennink, Lawrie and Partners Ltd.

He was the most active designer in the firm, handling courses in Britain, the Continent, Africa and even the Far East. He was a founding member of BAGCA (the British Association of Golf Course Architects) and served for a time as its president.”

 and Cameron Sinclair joined the design company in the mid-1960s and Donald told us: “Because of his connections and availability, Frank undertook nearly all the overseas work, particularly in Holland and Portugal.

His father was Dutch and Frank was a Europhile who served the European Golf Association and should have been President but that is another story.”

Frank was also heavily involved in golf administration, becoming President of the English Golf Union in 1967. He was a Walker Cup Selector for many years and was part of the backroom team when the 1971 Great Britain team won the biennial event for the first time since he’d been a player in 1938.

In an architectural career lasting the best part of four decades, Frank Pennink designed literally dozens of courses in many far flung corners of the world; from Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore in Asia to Morocco and Zambia in Africa.

In Europe, he laid out or renovated courses from Denmark and Sweden in the north to Italy and Portugal in the south. He also built or added to quite a few courses in the Netherlands, including extensions to the courses at Kennemer and Rosendaelsche, both of which currently reside within the Continental Europe Top 50.

His Portuguese designs at Vilamoura (Old) and Palmares in the Algarve, though modified in more recent times, also occupy similar lofty positions within our European rankings.

Frank was also active elsewhere in Europe and, according to Donald Steel, “he did much pioneering work in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary.”

Within England, Pennink created or remodelled golfing layouts all the way from Seaton Carew at Hartlepool in the northeast to the West course at Saunton in the southwest.

He added nine holes to the Silverburn course at Royal Aberdeen, did the same at Castlerock in Northern Ireland (creating the much-loved 9-hole Bann layout), and fashioned the 18-hole Old course at St Pierre in Wales with Ken Cotton.

A number of “Royals” were also modified by Frank down the years, including Royal Lytham and St Annes in 1952, Royal Liverpool in 1966 and Royal St George’s in 1975.

In later life, Frank lived in Forest Row, East Sussex, close to Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club, where he worked right up to within days of his passing away in 1984.

 by Keith Cutten, the author has this to say about Frank:

“His design philosophy was aligned to that of the Golden Age architects, such as Colt and Simpson. Frequently, though, Pennink was called upon to perform when constrained by a tight project budget; heightening his sensitivity to saving his client’s money.

This reality made him focus on three aspects of design: creating simple yet effective greens, limiting the use of fairway bunkers; and creating relatively simple green surrounds.”

“His design philosophy was aligned to that of the Golden Age architects, such as Colt and Simpson. Frequently, though, Pennink was called upon to perform when constrained by a tight project budget; heightening his sensitivity to saving his client’s money." Keith Cutten

Frank Pennink

In an architectural career lasting nearly four decades, Pennink designed dozens of courses in many far flung corners of the world; from Indonesia and Malaysia in Asia to Morocco and Zambia in Africa.

Donald Steel grew up as a young boy in Hillingdon on the outskirts of London during a time of bombing raids and air raid shelters. His father was a surgeon, physician and Medical Director of a large hospital and his mother was a nursing sister.

He learned to play the game as a junior at Denham, his father’s club, where John Sheridan was appointed professional in 1946. John was the son of Jimmy Sheridan, the Sunningdale caddie master, and both men served their respective clubs for more than half a century.

Cricket was Donald’s first sporting love and he played for Fettes College, Edinburgh for four years, becoming the first person from a Scottish school to play in the Public Schools XI against the Combined Services at Lord’s in his final year, 1956.

He then enrolled at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a Batchelor of Arts degree in Agriculture in 1960.

 from his university days and the journalist invited him to help out when the 

 started up in February 1961. He began as golf correspondent for the weekly newspaper on a 6-month trial period, making him the youngest specialist writer in Fleet Street at the age of 23.

His involvement in golf course design began with a story he was writing about 

, who was building two layouts at St Pierre and Ross-on-Wye. They kept in touch and a couple of years later, Ken invited Donald to work with him in his design practice in 1965.

Donald takes up the story, in an extract from his own website: “He became a partner of Cotton, 

 and Charles Lawrie. All three were fine golfers and men of great kindness and integrity. Their help and influence provided the perfect grounding for any young protégé.

On the death of Cotton in 1974 and Lawrie in 1976, Steel and Pennink worked with Michael Bonallack for five or six years but, on Pennink's death and Bonallack's appointment as Secretary of the R&A, both in 1983, Steel's thoughts turned to the founding of his own company in 1987. It proved a roller coaster ride.

Since 1987, Donald Steel has travelled more widely than any golf course architect in the world. This has entailed two thousand flights as well as half a million miles at the wheel of his own car, rental cars or enjoying the luxury of being driven. His passport bears the stamp of 25 countries.”

 joined Donald’s practice soon after it was established at the end of the 1980s and they remained with him until he became President of the English Golf Union in 2006.

From Donald Steel's website:
On the Churchillian assumption that a man is fortunate if his work and pleasure are one, Donald Steel has had forty five years doing what he has loved best. In his chosen careers of golf writing and golf course architecture, a balance of interest has given the best of both worlds. Still does.

What is more, it has earned unprecedented recognition from his two professional bodies. He has served as President of the Association of Golf Writers (1993-98) and the British Association of Golf Course Architects (1986-89).

If watching champions and studying new land passes as work, the playing side of a varied life shows (or, at least, did) that he can practise what he preaches. Proficient enough to have taken take part in the 1970 Open Championship at St Andrews, and to have represented England at International level, he was a regular contestant in amateur championships and occasional professional events (as an amateur).

In addition, he won the Oxford and Cambridge Golfing Society’s famous President's Putter on three occasions – 18 years apart. Serious Fun, a phrase adopted by Steel in 1985 and used in the title of the Society’s History, rings true.

Paul Daley, who edited a scholarly appraisal of Melbourne's great Sandbelt courses as well as several volumes on golf course architecture, paid a notable compliment:


"To assist Donald in his line of work, three skills are at hand:

At each of these elements, one may find others who may be more proficient. But, if you take these skills as a package and take a composite rating, Donald Steel is, in my opinion, the leading golfing personality in the world, and among the top 5 in our game's glorious history."

 added spice to his indoctrination by winning the first two Open championships that Steel covered. Altogether Steel reported 32 Opens in succession. After leaving the Telegraph at the end of 1989, he continued to write for Country Life having, in 1983, become only the magazine’s fourth regular writer on golf. He followed the distinguished line of Horace Hutchinson, Bernard Darwin and Pat Ward-Thomas.

“My first ‘solo’ design was the 9-hole course for Harrow School on a piece of ground full of ups and downs – hence not much use for anything else except army exercises. Radley, Charterhouse, Bradfield and Wellington followed suit. Such courses provided something for everybody in introducing a new dimension to school activities.

Greatness in a course is the sum of its individual holes. The overall length is of little consequence. Courses come in all shapes and sizes. There are no rules or formulae relating to the sequence of their design. The land dictates. Architects are the judge and must make the best of what they are given. Nobody criticizes Cypress for having successive par fives, successive short par fours and successive par threes.

Architectural teaching has always been based on the principle that strategic architecture is more worthy than the Penal school of thought. That is why a study of the Old Course at St Andrews used to be a must. The strategic belief is providing alternatives, highlighting positional play, recognising the ability to flight the ball, encouraging guile and ingenuity, and rewarding skill. The punishment must fit the crime. Good architects tempt and tease not torment. Subtlety and sympathy are the substance of strategy.”

Planet Golf:
Aside from boasting an impressive Amateur resume, Donald Steel is a respected golf writer and historian who started in the design business in 1965 with Frank Pennink. Steel subsequently established his own practice and has since famously consulted at all of the British Open championship venues. He has also designed a number of new golf courses from scratch.

Lorne Rubenstein:
Mackenzie and Ebert worked for a Renaissance man of golf. He wrote golf for the 

, a British national newspaper, for nearly 20 years. He contributed a column under the title ‘A Golf Commentary’ for the English magazine 

 was the first book written specifically about links golf, and it’s a classic itself. Steel is as gifted a speaker as a writer; for years, he’s been one of the most engaging and sought-after after-dinner speakers in the game.

Books of which Steel was author, co-author, editor or co-editor include.

The Shell International Encyclopedia of Golf

 – with Peter Ryde & Herbert Warren Wind (1975)

Sunday Telegraph Golf Course Guide to Britain and Ireland

Classic Golf Links of Great Britain and Ireland 

Thin End of the Wedge – a life in golf 

When asked to share a ‘famous golf celebrities’ anecdote, Donald answered: “The only one I will relate concerns my participation in the Open [at St Andrews in 1970] when, on the 16th hole in the second round, I played so well left that I encountered Arnold Palmer going the other way on the 3rd. Understandably aghast, he asked, ‘what are you doing here, Donald?’ ‘Oh, downgrading the championship you came to save,’ I replied.”

Donald Steel

Cricket was Donald Steel's first sporting love and he played for Fettes College, becoming the first person from a Scottish school to play in the Public Schools XI against the Combined Services at Lord’s.

All Areas

Netherlands

The province of Friesland isn’t exactly renowned as a golfing hotspot. Indeed, when Golf & Country Club Lauswolt was founded in 1964 it was the first golf club established in the northern part of the country. Two years after its formation, the club had a Frank Pennink-designed 9-hole layout in operation.

Three decades would then pass before Donald Steel added another nine holes and they were fashioned in rather a unique way, with many of the new fairways running parallel to the existing holes, following almost the exact same routing through a very heavily forested landscape.

The course extends to 6,146 metres, playing to a par of 73, with a handful of par fives on the scorecard. Water comes into play at several holes furthest away from the clubhouse: the par three 4th (played to a peninsula green), the par four 5th, and the adjacent 14th and 15th on the back nine.

The toughest holes on the scorecard are the right doglegging 408-metre 3rd, played to a green that’s guarded by a large bunker to the front left of the putting surface, and the arrow-straight 410-metre 13th, where a bunker to the front right of the green is intended to protect par.

Lauswolt

Edese

Continental Europe

Golf & Country Club Lauswolt was the first golf club (1964) to be formed in Friesland and two years later a 9-hole Frank Pennink-designed course opened. Three decades later, Donald Steel expanded the layout to 18 holes.