If you love golf and golf courses, chances are you thought about becoming a golf course architect. I share your dream but fortunately I was born with a father who is a golf course architect and has given me the chance to learn the craft at a young age. I attend meetings of the American Society of Golf Course Architects so I know many of them quite well, I go to lots of seminars on golf course design, and the other guys in the office have been teaching me special skills that I could learn nowhere else. So I am very fortunate and I know it, but I also know there are no barriers to anyone from achieving the same thing, but perhaps will require a strong determination.

My Dad, Dr. Micheal Hurdzan, has taught me that golf course design can be thought of as a three-legged stool. It is most stable if all three legs are there and equal and they are:

1. a design background (landscape architecture, architecture, engineering, etc);
2. a turfgrass management and environmental science education; and
3. experience working for a golf course contractor for several years

This program may take six or eight years to complete, but you will have all of the tools to successfully compete in a very competitive industry. The first step is an education and finding the right college curriculum.

Perhaps because there is no great demand for college trained golf course architects, or because the skills needed for the profession are so diverse, there seems to be no single, perfect college curriculum or major to prepare students wishing to pursue that profession in North America. In England there is a program offering a professional diploma in golf course architecture but only accepts a very small number of students each year. As a result, there are lots of opinions on which course of study is best. Since many golf course architects were trained as landscape architects, it is easy to think that L.A. is best. But others in the business believe that future golf course designers would be better trained in civil and environmental engineering, natural resources, agronomy, or a number of other non-traditional programs. The point is that no one has the definitive answer, but here is what I concluded after investigating a number of different programs for myself at the Ohio State University. My insights might be helpful to you considering my dad is a golf course architect, and his office is comprised of people who have degrees in civil engineering, landscape architecture, turfgrass management, biological sciences, computer science and a few other things; and I plan to go into the business, too.

Civil and environmental engineering is a very rigidly structured program involving lots of advanced math, physics, and core engineering subjects. Of the 200 credit hours needed for graduation, it seemed like 150 credit hours were core or mandatory courses. In addition, you have to do a couple quarters in a co-op program working as an intern at an engineering office. I believe this would be a demanding five-year program with only about 25% related to what a golf course architect needs to know and do. The strongest points were courses in the environmental areas and the weakest were in biological sciences, communications, and free design. A few years ago my dad said that civil engineering was the best preparation for golf course design because of all of the environmental engineering issues involved, but those issues are changing from strict engineering to more biological science based today, and are expected to increase in the future.

Landscape architecture gives much more freedom to choose elective subjects applicable to golf course design, while giving a very strong emphasis to design, graphics and construction. The number of core LA courses is only 80, with another 60 mandatory hours. Landscape architecture unlike engineering seems to put a premium on the very important communication and graphic skills needed for golf course design, but it is weak in understanding biological systems that are the key to solving environmental problems that a golf course faces. Landscape architecture would be my second choice.

Agriculture engineering is simply another engineering degree that has all of the demands of civil engineering, except that a student can specialize in topics of soil and water, environmental sciences, etc. Both degree programs produce professional engineers so this is clearly a difficult program, of which perhaps 50% was applicable to golf course design. Better than civil engineering but still not ideal.

Turfgrass science curriculums would be the most helpful to design a golf course with a low environmental impact, but it seemed too focused on technical subjects and not enough on design, management or communication skills that my dad says are important. Without question, knowledge of turfgrass science is very important to be a golf course architect, and one way or another a serious student should gain this education. The turfgrass program is flexible enough to take related courses, but it may have meant making it a four and one-half or five year program instead of the more traditional four years.

I expected that Natural Resources would be more concerned with wildlife management, forestry, environmental health issues and other sorts of things unrelated to golf course design. But surprisingly the student advisor suggested a program in "environmental sciences" might give the best-balanced background between turfgrass, engineering, and landscape architecture.

Although other universities may offer a program in Natural Resources, many may not be able to match the offerings at Ohio State. Again as a basis of comparison I have summarized the recommended curriculum for the different degree programs to allow you to see the significant (see Table 1).

	Civil Engineering	Agricultural Engineering	Landscape Architecture	Turfgrass	Natural Resources
Graphics and Programming	8	8	15	--	10
Calculus and Advanced Math	34	30	5	5	15
Chemistry	12	9	--	9	21
Physics and Physical Sciences	27	27	5	10	15
Physical Systems and Structure	51	28	30	5	5
Biological Systems and Structure	5	22	10	20	46
Biological Sciences	--	9	10	30	25
Design and Analysis	20	15	50	--	10
Communications	--	--	6	--	15

Table 1:  Generalized Differences in Program Requirements (by core subjects and credit hours)

NOTE: This is a generalized analysis of mandatory subjects to illustrate differences. Of course elective credits can be taken to fill the holes or strengthen any particular areas of study. Required subjects vary from university to university

The "environmental science" option of Natural Resources requires the basic math and chemistry courses of engineering, but where engineering focuses on physics and structure, environmental science emphasizes biological studies and systems, which leads right into turfgrass management. In addition the environmental science programs has a "landscape option" as a minor and enough free electives to pick up the design and graphics courses I will need. Overall this program offered the best balance between science, design, communications, and management that I know I will need to be a successful golf course architect of the future.

My goal is to go to graduate school and the "environmental science" program gives me the best foundation for pursuing an advanced degree in a broad range of topics at a broad range of universities. Possible areas of graduate study might range from biological studies in turfgrass or advanced soil science focusing on golf green construction to almost any environmental subject relating to golf courses. Landscape architecture or engineering would restrict my options to studies traditional to each.

I work in the Hurdzan/Fry design office about 20-25 hours per week and just about everyday when school is out. I started doing odd jobs when I was 14 or 15, progressed to doing color renderings and much later to routing golf holes. Now I am concentrating on doing grading and drainage plans and I am being taught and critiqued by crusty veterans of the craft. Sometimes it is frustrating to have someone constructively criticize your "masterpiece," but for me that is the best way to learn.

Occasionally, I also get to go out on the jobs and I take along the grading and drainage plan to compare what is on the plan to what is finally built, and this has also helped me become a better designer, as well as do plans more useful to the contractor.

I have not been given my own project as lead designer yet, but I am sure I will when everyone is comfortable with my skills. That is a huge responsibility, even on a small job, for as principal architect I will have to attend to all the details and that is pretty scary. But I also know that I will be backed up by five other experienced and talented designers who want me to learn and succeed.

No matter what degree program or professional development path a person follows, it is possible to become a golf course architect, but one thing I have already learned from working in my dad's office - and that is learning is a lifelong process. I see the most successful and dynamic people in the business are always learning new concepts, attending professional seminars, and applying emerging technology. Having the background information to understand and improve on those concepts can separate you from your peers.

From time to time I will write an article updating my professional and personal progress. Remember, even though you may not have the advantages I do, if you set your heart and mind on it, and are willing to work harder than anyone else, you can succeed in becoming a golf course architect, too.

Good luck to you and will let me know how well my dad's advice works for you.