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  1. #1
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    Default Who is Fred Bolton?

    Seems that nearly every Gold Coast golf course built in the 70ś to 80ś has the words - ¨designed by Fred Bolton¨ on its scorecard. The short list includes Arundel, Sanctuary Cove Palms, Gold Coast Country Club, Gainsborough Greens, Helensvale Carrara (now Emerald Lakes) and thats the ones I can remember.

    If you google his name, you will find just brief mentions of him, designing these and many other courses, but no real info on who he was. All I know he is a yank.
    Seems strange that even in those days Australia had enough well known designers so interesting why this bloke got so many gigs within a small area. you could almost throw a blanket over those clubs. Mate of Russ Hinze maybe?
    Last edited by markTHEblake; 11th March 2012 at 04:34 PM.
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  2. #2
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    Hey MTB,

    From what I have been told, Fred worked for Nicklaus and was overseeing construction of the re-design of The Australian in the 70’s. He obviously stayed around for a while after The Australian was finished, but he is also credited with a few American courses around that time as well. He’s not a member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, so I’m not sure whether he is still alive or not.

    I asked on an American architecture forum, so I’ll see what they come up with.

    He may have got the work he did on the back of Nicklaus’ name. We didn’t really have that many world class architects in Australia, & especially in Queensland, around that time. People like Al Howard & Michael Cooper probably didn’t raise as much excitement as the name Nicklaus.

  3. #3
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    I have asked around too, and this is what I heard,
    - married an australian lady about that time and lived here on the Gold Coast, maybe retired here.
    - probably died 20 years ago
    - got all these gigs simply because he was local and cheap.
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    Thanks for that Mark. It's interesting to fill in the gaps.

    I probably only played a couple of his courses. What do you think of his work?

  5. #5
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    A lot of people wax lyrical about Arundel, whereas its just another golf course to me. I have never really thought about his work at all, but as you put me on the spot, it seems to me the clubs probably got pretty good value out of him, up until he was around all we mostly had in Qld were homegrown courses so there was not a lot of excitement up this way. I think he did pretty well to make a course challenging but still playable, and his designs seem to fit in between the fancy resorts and the old timers.
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  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by golfer69 View Post
    He died a couple of years ago.
    Thanks Rich. Where were you when this thread started?

  7. #7
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    I remember back when the country club opened up, he was always there, in the office.
    He Was not a well man though, i remember he had lung /breathing problems.

  8. #8

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    Good evening everyone. I am new to the Forum & got here by searching for info on Fred Bolton. I am a member at Sanctuary Cove & am starting out to create a "club history" as well as the true story behind the development of the resort itself.

    Mr Bolton did design the original Palms & I am looking for any (ANY!!!) further info on the man. Any help gladly accepted!

    My email is greg@globalgolf.com.au if you have anything you'd prefer to share directly & not on a forum.

    Thanks in advance.

  9. #9

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    Here is an update on my research into Fred Bolton....lots of gaps still!

    Born on May 5, 1922 in Montgomery, Maryland USA. His father, William, was 44 and his mother, Katie (McDonald), was 39. He had one brother (Kenneth) and four sisters (Elizabeth, Florence, Mildred and Dorothy). His elder (by 4 years) sister, Mildred, was the grandmother of Mike Maddox (Maryland, USA) who has provided quite a bit of the information about the family. They were not wealthy but owned a small farm in Glen Echo Heights, Montgomery County, Maryland on Massachusetts Avenue. Fred seemingly got into golf via caddying at Kenwood Country Club in Bethesda, MD during the 1930’s.

    He won the 1940 Maryland State Junior title & became the Touring Professional at Woodmont CC prior to WW2. Then, after being drafted in May 1942, he persuaded several members of Woodmont to pay in advance to buy a share in his future winnings over the next 3 years knowing he would be in the Army and not playing. He spent most of WW2 in Alaska. After the war he worked as Club Professional at St Louis CC until 1951 when he returned to Woodmont as Club Professional. In 1954 he moved from Woodmont to nearby White Flint GC. Newspaper articles from the early/mid 1950’s report on his play in several pro tournaments playing out of Woodmont CC.

    At some point Fred moved from playing and/or working at golf clubs to golf course design & construction. Records indicate Fred as the Course Architect at:

    -Ocean Palm (Flagler Beach, FL) circa 1959
    -Boscobel Golf & CC (Pendleton SC) date unknown
    -Ahwatukee Country Club (Phoenix AZ) circa 1972
    -Valle Vista CC in Kingman, also circa 1972
    - original 18 holes of Rio Verde in Arizona (1973 collaboration with Milt Coggins)
    Fred worked for the Jack Nicklaus Course design business in the 1970’s & moved to Australia to manage Mr Nicklaus’ renovation of The Australian GC in the late 1970’s. When contacted directly in 2021 Jack Nicklaus “immediately remembered Fred and confirmed that they did work together in Australia. He knew Fred as a golf course shaper, and he was a contract employee at the time. Jack said he was a good guy and did great work.”

    Fred seemingly never returned to the USA. However, he never got Australian Citizenship (regularly flew out/back to renew his Australian Visa). He married an Australian lady (Dawn) & moved to the Gold Coast in the early 80’s. Dawn was previously married to a Mr Battley). Dawn was also Fred’s 2nd wife -he had a first wife and a daughter who lives in Florida. Dawn’s daughter (Mrs Rossiter) worked for Fred doing payroll. Fred designed & built several courses on the Gold Coast, including the first Palms course at my home club, the Sanctuary Cove GCC.

    Nev Blackley (Gladstone, Australia) worked for Fred for 6 years +/- in mid ‘80’s (after Fred had built Sanctuary Cove Palms). Nev was on ground staff at Burleigh Heads GC – Fred redesigned a couple of greens there. Nev did the work & Fred liked it so poached him. They worked on and/or built several courses on Gold Coast during the 80’s (Gainsborough Greens, Pacific Springs (NLE), Carrara (now Emerald Lakes), Parkwood greens, Arundel routing, Grand routing, Algester (NLE), Gold Coast Country Club (NLE)). Nev’s memories of Fred:


    -Big, tall man with a heavy American accent
    -“straight shooter”
    -“party guy”
    -2 favourite sayings:
    -“familiarity breeds contempt”
    -“Goddamn boy, you sure know how to spend my f’ing money”
    Fred told Nev that he owned a course in USA which he was leaving to his sister when he died – albeit Mike Maddox said this never happened. Fred had emphysema from heavy cigar smoking & was unwell last years of his life. He lived at Runaway Bay on the Gold Coast until he died July 9, 1992 & was cremated at Allambie Gardens. Dawn went to Western Australia after Fred died.

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    Would Ozgolfers (who have travelled) think that Qld and in particular the Gold Coast, under or over achieved in the quality of the golf available on their courses?
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  11. #11
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    Can't think of a great course I've played in Queensland although I'm a long way from playing them all. I liked the 18 I played at Indooroopilly and Capricorn Resort has some very good holes. Brookwater and Kooralbyn make for nice photos but I don't think they offer great golf. I just can't get excited about any on the Gold Coast and I usually end up playing Murwillimbah, Ocean Shores and Byron Bay instead.
    My favourite course is actually Monto. It was in terrible condition because of the drought but offered more fun shots in 9 holes than most of the others do for 18.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by petethepilot View Post
    Would Ozgolfers (who have travelled) think that Qld and in particular the Gold Coast, under or over achieved in the quality of the golf available on their courses?
    under, but depends on how you look at it, most of the courses here are built on swamp, and most haven't been able to affordably sustain their original designs.
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  13. #13

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    This thread got thread-jacked but so be it! PTP's question is a good one. My thoughts:

    Queensland courses suffer from a coupkle of inherent handicaps:

  14. #14

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    This thread got thread-jacked but so be it! PTP's question is a good one. My thoughts:

    Queensland courses suffer from a couple of inherent handicaps: Firstly (big generalization) QLD golfers tend to be happy with "B" level conditioning & are not prepared to pay more to obtain "A" level. Subs at QLD clubs are way below their "peers" in NSW & VIC.....so the clubs tend to be under-funded by comparison. Secondly, tropical climates cannot support the finer grasses that make for "firm & fast" conditions ideal for golf.

    There is no doubt that the Top 5 courses in QLD (or even SE QLD) compare with the Top 5 in VIC, NSW or even SA. However i would say that Hope Island & RQ have over-achieved given the land they had at their disposal. RQ , in particular, is a lovely examination of strategy. It plays differently every day & provides the player with multiple options on pretty much every tee.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Greg Gilson View Post

    There is no doubt that the Top 5 courses in QLD (or even SE QLD) compare with the Top 5 in VIC, NSW or even SA.
    Nope.

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    What even count as the top 5 in Qld?

    RQ, Brookwater, Capricorn, and then?

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    Quote Originally Posted by benno_r View Post
    What even count as the top 5 in Qld?

    RQ, Brookwater, Capricorn, and then?
    Bulimba

  18. #18

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    Just for clarity i meant that the Top 5 in Qld do NOT compare favourably with the Top 5 in the other states.

    2020 Golf Digest Top 100 Oz lists:

    Brookwater (29)
    Hamilton/Dent Island (33)
    RQ (35)
    Grand (39)
    Sanctuary Cove Pines (44)

    followed by

    Hope Island (47)
    Glades (63)
    Lakelands (66)

    Thats probably fair enough as a group , albeit i would have RQ comfortably as best course in QLD that i have played (and i have played all the above).

  19. #19
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    My top 5, with little to no thought and in alphabetical order

    Bribie Island
    Kooralbyn
    Maleny
    Maroochy River
    RQ

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    It's a shame Laguna Quays no longer exists. I managed to play that course when it was in its prime and it was awesome in terms of its conditioning. This was at the time that BrettM was part of the crew.

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    You can make a solid case for NSWGC (maybe Bonnie Doon and The Lakes) but north of Melbourne its a virtual golf wasteland.

    That said finding my favourite Qld courses* is like coming up with my favourite Storm players.

    * haven't played RQ post reno

  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by 3puttpete View Post
    My top 5, with little to no thought and in alphabetical order

    Bribie Island
    Kooralbyn
    Maleny
    Maroochy River
    RQ
    More strategic in there than I would have expected from you.

  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Greg Gilson View Post
    Queensland courses suffer from a couple of inherent handicaps: Firstly (big generalization) QLD golfers tend to be happy with "B" level conditioning & are not prepared to pay more to obtain "A" level. Subs at QLD clubs are way below their "peers" in NSW & VIC.....so the clubs tend to be under-funded by comparison. Secondly, tropical climates cannot support the finer grasses that make for "firm & fast" conditions ideal for golf.
    Too many elite courses competing in a market thats a Smaller population with lower income, and too much reliance overseas tourist dollars. Currently there is 4 or 5 courses asking for ~$4000+ pa membership and the only one that is successful/viable is the most expensive of the lot at $10k (7k plus 3k spend)
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  24. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by PerryGroves View Post
    You can make a solid case for NSWGC (maybe Bonnie Doon and The Lakes) but north of Melbourne its a virtual golf wasteland.

    That said finding my favourite Qld courses* is like coming up with my favourite Storm players.

    * haven't played RQ post reno
    It is better post reno, although I miss going under the bridge. It is still a course built on a muddy floodplain though. It is my favourite in QLD.





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    Quote Originally Posted by benno_r View Post
    More strategic in there than I would have expected from you.
    *sprayable


 

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