I started working for Arthur Hills in the fall of 1987. I was a senior in high school at the time and worked in the afternoons as a co-op student through my high school and county vocational school. It was a lot of fun; I would go to high school in the morning and then work at Art's office in the afternoon. I would never have considered myself a golf course architect then, but that was when I started learning the business. I came back to work for Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest and Associates full time in 1997.

During the summers of college I continued to work for Arthur Hills. Following college I worked for a more traditional landscape architecture firm from 1994-1997. During that period I worked on several types of landscape projects; parks, subdivisions, streetscape landscaping, residential and commercial landscaping and some golf design work. I'm glad I tried other aspects of landscape architecture because it made me realize that golf course architecture was my true passion. I guess it was somewhere around 1993 or so when I realized that this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I love my job!

I got my landscape architecture degree from Michigan State University. But, I attended Ferris State University, Monroe Community College and Lansing Community College before concluding at Michigan State. I had a difficult time with the commitment of college and the grades required to attend MSU. My priorities were a little skewed at that time of my life, girls and partying were far more important! Besides working for Arthur Hills during the summers of college I also worked for part of two summers on the golf construction crews during the renovation of Forest Akers West golf course at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan golf course. I guess you could say that I learned the business from all perspectives before I even completed my studies.

I have several that I have enjoyed playing. My wife and I went to Scotland in 2001 and played many of the Scottish classics. Each course is so unique and interesting. The great thing about golf there is that there are no rules for golf course architecture. I saw so many neat design ideas that I would never have been introduced to if I had not gone there. The greens are so undulating at the Old Course at St. Andrews, yet they work. Each hole at St. Andrews makes you think. There are several ways to play the holes at St. Andrews and for the most part all of the links courses in Scotland. In the United States I have really been inspired by Crystal Downs, San Francisco Golf Club, Oakland Hills, Inverness, Merion, Oakmont, Fox Chapel, and Harbor Town. The projects that I have personally been involved with while working for Arthur Hills and Steve Forrest are certainly close to my heart as well. You spend a great amount of time on each project and they kind of become like your child. Each one is different, yet they all are very important to me personally.

Definitely playing in Scotland! I will never forget the courses and the caddies. The caddies were very nice people who really enjoyed showing their course to you. A lot of the caddies in Scotland are actually members of the course.

The relationships that are created during the projects are truly memorable. The first project that I worked on with Arthur Hills was Red Hawk in East Tawas, Michigan. I represented our firm during the interview process and went up to East Tawas for the interview. The client was Dan Alexander and he lived near the golf course site. Dan spent most of the day showing me the property and talking about his vision for the course. That evening his wife made us dinner at their house and then I stayed the night so we could finish our work the next day. Here I was someone they barely knew and they graciously took me into their home, fed me and let me stay the night. We ended up getting the job and each time we made a site visit during construction Dan's wife, Margaret would make us a really nice lunch at their house or actually bring it to us at the course. I will never forget the Red Hawk experience and how kind Dan and Margaret Alexander were to me.

I would love to design a golf course in my childhood hometown of Blissfield, Michigan or the current town I live in Saline, Michigan. Neither town has a course that could be characterized as the city course. It would be fun to give back to the community and provide something that people would be able to enjoy for many years to come. When I was in college I visited Yellowstone National Park in Montana and Wyoming. The main entrance into the park has a stone arched monument that reads "for the benefit and enjoyment of the people". That phrase has always stuck in my mind. All I hope is that each course that I'm involved with is beneficial and enjoyable to the people who spend their time playing there.