About
While interned in Germany during World War I, Butchart organized a golf club and designed a 12-hole course for fellow prisoners inside the Ruhleben camp, helping to maintain sporting life under extraordinary circumstances.
Cuthbert Butchart was a pioneering Scottish golf professional and course architect, born in Carnoustie in the late 19th century. He began his career as a clubmaker apprentice under Robert Simpson before gaining experience at prestigious British clubs like Royal Mid Surrey and Ben Sayers in North Berwick. His early work included both clubmaking and club professional duties at courses in the UK and Ireland. Butchart moved to England in 1905, making his mark at clubs such as Highgate and West Hill — the latter he founded and designed in 1910, and which remains highly regarded for its original layout and innovative design. In Germany, he designed several courses and led recreational golf activities, even establishing a 12-hole course while interned during World War I. After the war, he served as a professional at the Berlin club before emigrating to the United States in 1921, where he was the first professional at the Westchester-Biltmore Country Club and became known for the Butchart Bilt golf clubs, even partnering with renowned player Gilbert Nicholls to produce innovative equipment.
