“Charlie Macdonald was determined to elevate the face of golf architecture in this country, and he did it in spectacular fashion."

Damon Hack returns to his old craft of writing, calling up Ben Crenshaw to talk about The National Golf Links on the eve of the Walker Cup.

Comparing it to next door neighbor Shinnecock Hills...

I asked Crenshaw to compare it to its long-time neighbor, Shinnecock Hills, which will host the United States Open in 2018.

“Shinnecock is a sterner test, and it’s ironic that they are right next door,” he says. “Fun is the operative word at the National.”

Over the years it has become rote to describe the National as an ode to the great Scottish links, but Crenshaw believes that notion is a simplification.

“Yes, a majority of the holes are replicas of famous holes overseas, but they have a touch of character that makes them play a little different,” he says. “You play the Alps hole, the 17th, at Prestwick and then you play the third hole at the National, you can see the features, but they are entirely different,” Crenshaw says.