Donald Ross

Born in Dornoch, Scotland, Donald Ross laid the foundation for America’s golf landscape. After an apprenticeship under four-time Open Championship winner “Old” Tom Morris, he returned to Dornoch. He become skilled as a greenkeeper, a club maker and a player.

In 1899, at the suggestion of a visiting Harvard professor, Ross moved to the United States. There he built and subsequently ran the Oakley Golf Club near Boston. The next year, he moved to the sandhills of North Carolina as golf professional at Pinehurst Resort.

It was at Pinehurst where Ross’ genius began to blossom. He designed four courses there, including the famous No. 2. He would go on to design more than 400 courses in the U.S., including such gems as Seminole (FL), Oak Hill (NY), Scioto (OH), Aronimink (PA), Interlachen (MN) and Oakland Hills (MI). He was golf’s leading architect in a golden age which included the likes of Willie Park, Jr., Charles Blair McDonald, A. W. Tillinghast, William Flynn, Seth Raynor and Alister Mackenzie.

In 1916, Ross was hired to redesign the Inverness Club course to championship standards. His design garnered immediate acclaim and earned the club the right to host the 1920 U.S. Open.