My career as a golf course architect began in 1998 when I came to work for Arthur, but I’ve been doodling golf holes on paper for much longer.

I spent the majority of my teenage years and the summers during college working at my home Club, starting out as a bag boy, moving onto the pro shop and finally to the maintenance crew. I attended Washington State University where I studied Landscape Architecture. Following my studies, I went to work for a golf course construction company building golf courses in Tunica, MS and Baton Rouge, LA.

The realization that I wanted to become a golf course architect came to me in my early teens. Growing up in Montana, I’ve always had a special appreciation for nature and the outdoors. I was also interested in art and architecture, especially the creative aspects of each. When I learned of golf course architecture as a profession, it seemed to be a perfect way to combine my passion for the game, my love of nature and a desire to be creative.

It’s difficult to identify just one golf course as my favorite. There are a number of outstanding golf courses, each with its own unique characteristics that I draw from for inspiration. I have a great appreciation for parkland classics such as Oakmont and Merion. I’m also fond of courses built on linksland, many of which are found in the British Isles. There is a certain aura to golf courses like St. Andrews, North Berwick and Cruden Bay that goes to the core of the game. The courses are raw and blend seamlessly with their surroundings as if they have been there for thousands of years just waiting to be discovered. There are no preconceived ideas about design or par, both of which can change dramatically from day to day depending on the weather conditions. It’s simply hitting a little white ball, avoiding the obstacles along the way, whatever they may be, and putting it in the hole.

My current handicap is a 2 but it fluctuates depending on the severity of my hook. Contrary to common belief, I play less golf now that I’m in the business than I ever have. As a kid, I spent nearly every day working on my golf game and my sunburn. Fortunately for my skin, that’s not the case so much anymore.

In 2004, I had the opportunity to play the Old Course at St. Andrews. As we were on the inward nine, a thunderstorm was moving in over town and you could see that our caddies were getting a bit nervous. As we were putting out on #15, my caddy walked over to the group ahead of us on #16 tee and apologized to them that we would be hitting into them for the next three holes. Generally speaking, on any other course, I would have been on a dead sprint for shelter, but this was the Old Course and I had been waiting my whole life to play it and I wasn’t going to quit then. Despite a couple of close lightning strikes, we were able to finish the round and I lived to tell the tale.

I had the unique opportunity to work with the Pechanga Tribe in Temecula, California. The Pechanga Resort and Casino is the largest Native American Casino in the state of California and we were asked to design a golf course for them that could serve as an amenity to the casino and resort. We were fortunate to be given a wonderful piece of property with rolling topography and thousands of giant live oak trees. The challenge was that there were a number of areas that had major cultural significance to the tribe and they needed to be avoided. After numerous meetings with the cultural committee and countless hours spent on site trying to make it all work, we were able to create a wonderful golf course that is a lot of fun to play and not only respects, but embraces, the Tribe’s cultural history.

I am an absolute golf addict, but when I’m not playing, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, preferably on the golf course.

A big part of what has influenced my design philosophy are the many courses I’ve been fortunate to see and play. I’m a big fan of a number of the courses that were created by architects like C.B. McDonald, Alister MacKenzie, A.W. Tillinghast and Donald Ross. I also greatly admire the work of more modern architects like Tom Doak and Coore/Crenshaw. Their ability to create golf courses that fit so naturally into the site and appear classic the day that they open is remarkable.

Give me 180 acres of sand dunes in a temperate climate anywhere in the world and I’d be ecstatic! The opportunity to create a true links golf course where the land dictates the design and the conditions are firm and fast is about as good as it gets!