Golf course scholars know that Alister MacKenzie’s big architecture break came when he won a design contest in the British publication Country Life Magazine in 1914. Architect C.B. Macdonald was one of the judges and liked MacKenzie’s winning entry so much (a brawny par 4 with multiple routes from tee to green based on how daring the player wanted to be) that he built a version of it at his new Lido course on long island. MacKenzie went on to design dozens of courses first throughout the U.K., then Australia, South America and the U.S., becoming one of the most successful and influential designers the profession has ever known.
For nearly every year since 1998, the Alister MacKenzie Society has sponsored a design contest to honor the spirit of amateur design and MacKenzie’s unique accomplishment. Historians, amateur designers and architecture dreamers annually submit drawings in their best interpretation of MacKenzie’s style, vying for a cash prize, a chance to attend a Society event held annually at one of his historic courses (last year the venue was Cypress Point) and perhaps even a jumpstart into a design career.
Several notable practicing architects have previously won the award, including Thad Layton, David Hoekstra, Riley Johns and Clyde Johnson.
The competition is called, naturally, the Ray Haddock Lido Prize (Haddock was MacKenzie’s great-grandson who sponsored the first event.
The submission window for the 2025 prize is now open. The theme this year is once again a two-shot hole between 360 and 460 yards. The entries should be drawn by hand (or with computer assistance, but not entirely computer generated), and can be in black and white or color. The drawing should depict all aspects of the plan of the hole, the relevant architectural features, and an elevation plan.
Steve Turner’s winning 2024 design.
The deadline to submit is May 1, 2025, and the winner will be chosen by a guest judge no later than May 15. Past judges have included design luminaries such as Arnold Palmer, Nick Faldo, Kyle Phillips, Jim Urbina, Rees Jones, Robert Trent Jones II and Todd Eckenrode among others. The judges look for creativity, originality and how well the entries embody the look and strategies found in MacKenzie’s courses and what he outlined in his many writings.
The winning entry will receive a $3,000 cash prize and stipend to attend the Society’s meeting at The Jockey Club in Argentina next November.
May the best designer win. For full entry instructions, visit www.mackenziesociety.org/ray-haddock-lido-prize.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com