Golf Digest talks to the next generation of course architects you may not have heard of, but they’re creating amazing projects one after another. This interview has been edited for brevity. The full Q&A can be found on the podcast “Feed the Ball” with architecture editor Derek Duncan.
What renovation work do you think you are best known for?
Ray: Probably the Beverly Country Club in Chicago. In 2019 we restored the course and I spent four or five days a week there for several months, shaping everything I could think of. So that course had a lot of my fingerprints on it.
Possibly Waconda in Iowa, Lookout Mountain in Georgia (which won Golf Digest’s Best Renovation Award in 2023), and Detroit Golf Club, which will host the PGA Tour’s Rocket Classic next year. I say my fingerprints are on these courses, but the goal is to become a chameleon and make our creations indistinguishable from the original architecture. Our names aren’t on the scorecard.
/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2023/1/GD1225_WHERE_ARCHITECT_01.jpg
I like the Iowa club.
What are you currently working on that interests you?
Ray: Old Sawmill, a new course near Charleston, just opened to members. He also just signed with St. Louis Country Club. I’ve had the door blown out of me by Andrew Green with Donald Ross’s work for the past five years, so I had to pivot a little bit. Given my history working with Ron Pritchard, I expected to get a call for a role like Donald Ross, but Andrew just came out of nowhere and annoyed me. He’s doing a great job, so we’re pivoting to St. Louis and Mountain Lake in Florida, Lookout Mountain in Rhode Island, and Seth Rayner in Wanumetonomy. Rayner has 57 courses, 9-10 of them, so we’re probably all Rayner people.
What is most important to you in golf design?
Ray: fun. We make golf fun, memorable, and aesthetically pleasing. It has to be a sport that the masses can enjoy and enjoy. You can hit the pin and save par any day of the week, but the course as a whole should be fun on Wednesday’s Ladies Day.
MORE: 13 Most Fun Golf Courses in America, According to Our Experts
Which architect, past or present, do you most admire?
Ray: Donald Ross. I don’t know how he handled the itinerary. He spends a few days at a property and never returns, but 80-90% of those routes were spectacular. You can never put him in a bucket. People say that Ross’ first hole was always a gentle handshake or that Ross always had turtleback greens, but these two statements are patently false. I study his classes every time and am amazed.
What pisses you off when you see that on the golf course?
Ray: cart path. They are the bane of golf. When going around a golf course, you also have to be mindful of the cart’s circulation pattern, and it’s very difficult to keep the cart out of sight. I recently complimented Tom Fazio on his ability to hide his cart aisles. He said the cart aisles are very intrusive and very unsightly, so they’re trying hard to do so. There’s an art to it.
Should there be a cap or rollback on the distance between the club and the ball?
Ray: One million percent yes. Players are hitting 3-woods 300 yards. The second hole in Detroit is 579 yards, and how do you defend it when one of the tour players hit it with a driver and a 9-iron last year? What should I do? I would really like the governing body to require one tournament ball.
Name three courses near where you live that every golfer should see.
Ray: We plan to expand to Philadelphia. One is Lancaster Country Club (William Flynn, 1920). This is the best route in the world and it’s like a big clock going into a corner and going out. Everyone should look for Pine Valley in their life. In other words, it is truly the best course in the world. The final stop is Lulu Country Club, which Donald Ross visited in 1912 and then again in 1919. If you give Ross two looks to create first, then come back and update and edit, you can see the evolution of his career.
Golf Digest Details
golf digest logo Follow Walter Hagen’s 54-hole loop in England
‘A place where the fun never stops’: A look inside Bel Air Country Club’s major renovation
golf digest logo Why do so many new courses look the same?
