USGA to Host Golf Architecture Symposium


The USGA will host a free public symposium about golf course architecture from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. EDT on Saturday, April 18, at its campus in Far Hills, N.J.

The four guest speakers will be Gil Hanse, talking about golf's return to the Olympics in 2016; Robert Trent Jones II, speaking about Chambers Bay and the 2015 U.S. Open; Michael Hurdzan, discussing 2017 U.S. Open site Erin Hills, and sustainability; and Forrest Richardson, exploring golf course design as art and the work of golf course architect Desmond Muirhead.

Hanse began his career in golf design while studying at Cornell University in the late 1980s. Hanse was a design partner with Tom Doak's Renaissance Golf Design. In 1993, he founded Hanse Golf Course Design, Inc. He is one of only a handful of Americans to build a course in Scotland, where he constructed Craighead Golf Links. He was chosen to design and oversee creation of the Olympic golf course in Rio for the 2016 Olympic Games. He also designed and constructed the nine-hole Pynes Putting Green on the USGA's campus.

Jones II has designed more than 270 courses in more than 40 countries on six continents. He learned about golf from Tommy Armour while at Winged Foot Golf Club and started working with his father on golf course design after completing his studies at Yale and Stanford. Known by some as "the father of environmental golf course design," Jones designed Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash., site of the 2015 U.S. Open.

Hurdzan is an internationally recognized authority on golf course environmental issues. He is a past president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects and serves on the USGA's Museum Committee. His book, "Golf Course Architecture: Design, Construction & Renovation" has been described as "one of the definitive modern volumes on the subject." Hurdzan is one of the architects of Erin Hills, the host site of the 2017 U.S. Open Championship.

Richardson studied golf course architecture in Scotland, learning under Arthur Jack Snyder. He established his own firm, Forrest Richardson & Associates, in 1988. He has authored four books on golf course architecture, including "Bunkers, Pits & Other Hazards." Richardson is a member of the USGA Museum Committee and has studied the work of Muirhead for several decades.

The above report is courtesy of the USGA. For more information, visit www.usga.org.