Golf course architecture is a highly specialized field requiring a wide variety of skills. Formal education can be in a number of fields, the most common being landscape architecture.

However, golf course architects come from varying backgrounds, with training in civil engineering, environmental studies, agronomy, golf course construction and professional golf, to name a few.

In addition to formal education, time spent “on the job” learning about golf course maintenance and golf course construction is important. And, a thorough understanding of the strategy behind the game is golf is essential. The following is taken from a document produced by ASGCA titled Some Thoughts on a Career in Golf Course Architecture:

“A member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects is one who by virtue of his/her knowledge of the game, training, experience, vision and inherent ability, is in all ways qualified to design and prepare specifications for a course of functional and aesthetic perfection. He/she is further qualified to execute and oversee the implementation on the ground of his plans and specifications to create an enjoyable layout that challenges golfers of all abilities and exemplifies the highest standards and traditions of golf. He/she will counsel in all phases of the work to protect the best interests of his/her client.”

Today's golf course architect, then, must be proficient in many fields, including the following:

1. Golf: a thorough understanding of the game.
2. Engineering: how to read a contour map and operate an engineer's transit for developing cut and fill plans and the checking of levels.
3. Hydraulic Engineering: how to design a water sprinkling system, pumps, motor, piping system, etc.
4. Landscape Architecture: the development of aesthetically-designed plans that are compatible with, and will feature and preserve, the existing natural landscape.
5. Agronomy: soil fertility and drainability.
6. Agrostology: turf culture.
7. Chemistry: fertilizers, fungicides, and weed killers.
8. Heavy Construction: a thorough understanding of heavy equipment and its operation for earth moving, trenching and preparation of land for seeding.
9. Cost Estimating: detailed figures for itemizing costs so that realistic budgets and adequate financing can be obtained. 

This educational background must be blended, of course, with on-the-job experience.  Those interested in the field should become associated with a member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects to learn all phases of the profession.  Becoming and being a good golf course architect involves a constant learning process. The American Society of Golf Course Architects is the professional organization of those who have the talents and experience to design courses in the best traditions of golf.

For a list of accredited landscape architecture programs in the United States, visit the American Society of Landscape Architects.

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