Architect Profile: Donald Ross

[ad_1]

Biography

Donald Ross was born in Dornoch, Scotland in 1872. He got his first job at Royal Dornoch, where he later became club pro, and apprenticed under Old Tom Morris at St. Andrews, where he learned greenskeeping and club making.

In 1899, Ross headed across the lake to the US where he worked as a golf instructor during the summer in Boston and during the winter at Pinehurst. He would become famous for the courses he designed at Pinehurst Resort, highlighted by the No. 2 courses, which he continued to work on for the rest of his life. Ross revolutionized greenskeeping practices in the south where he oversaw the transition of surfaces from oil sand to Bermuda grass.

Ross is considered the most prominent golf course architect in America, and he is also the most active. By the mid-1920s, he had over 3,000 employees working for him! No other architect is credited with more layouts. If you’re east of the Mississippi River, there’s a good chance Donald Ross’ design isn’t too far away. Rosss long and illustrious career spanned five decades and lasted until the late 1940s. He is famous for his routes, which require a little walking from the green to the next tee, and for his complex and high greens. Donald Ross died in 1948 and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1977, the first golf course architect to receive this honor.

Donald Ross has 65 courses ranked in the top 100 or 200 in the US by a major US golf publication, the most of any golf course architect.

Fast Facts

Open Courses at Link: 302

Top Ranked Courses (World)*: 5 (Pinehurst No. 2, Oakland Hills South, Inverness, Oak Hill East, Seminole)

Top Ranked Courses (US)*: 65

Top Ranked Courses (Canada)*: 3 (Rosedale, Essex G&CC, Algonquin)

Public Courses < $100: 90

Total Majors Hosted**: 99

Select the Course Portfolio

Top Rank

Public < $100

Travel

In the heat map above, the size of the circle is determined by the number of Donald Ross courses in a given state and the color of the circle is determined by the accessibility of those courses. The greener the circle, the more public courses there are in that particular state. Massachusetts (44 courses) and North Carolina (40) offer the most Donald Ross courses, followed by Florida (27), Ohio (26), New York (21), and Pennsylvania (20).

To find public Donald Ross courses, the highest concentrations are in Florida, North Carolina, and Massachusetts. Florida is the only state with more than 20 Ross courses where the percentage of public courses in total Ross courses is greater than 50%. The combination of the Charlotte/Raleigh and Pinehurst regions, which are relatively close to each other, would make it the most concentrated area of ​​public Ross courses in the United States, followed by Greater Boston.

Public Ross courses currently ranked in the top-100 or 200 are Pinehurst (No.2), Mid Pines, Pine Needles, Southern Pines, Linville GC, The Broadmoor (East), French Lick (Ross), and Bedford Springs (Old). The first four are in the Pinehurst area, where you can also play No.3, which is on our top Ross courses under $100 list. Internationally, Algonquin is a premier Canadian course recently restored by Rod Whitman and would be a great addition to a New Brunswick golf trip.

Family Tree

Further Reading

Discovery of Donald Ross by Bradley Klein

Golf Has Never Failed Me by Donald Ross

The Golf Architecture of Donald Ross by Bradford A. Becken, Jr.

[ad_2]