The 30 Best Golf Course Architects in the World

1. Harry Colt (Henry Shapland Colt)

England, 1869–1951, active c. 1894–1939

Appearances: Golf Digest 17 · Top100 12 · GOLF 12 · total 41

🏆 Best ranking: No. 1, Pine Valley Golf Club (Golf Digest America 2025-26, United States)
⛳ Signature courses: Pine Valley (with George Crump) 🇺🇸, Muirfield 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, Royal Portrush (Dunluce) 🇬🇧, Sunningdale (Old and New) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, Swinley Forest 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, Royal St. George's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
🏌️ As a player: Amateur: Semifinalist in the Amateur Championship (Top 100).

He was involved in the design or redesign of more than 300 courses—115 of them on his own—across the six inhabited continents. He served as the first secretary of the Sunningdale Golf Club from 1901 to 1913. In 1928, he founded the firm Colt, Alison & Morrison Ltd. with Charles Alison and John Morrison.

2. Tom Doak

United States, active since 1989 (first solo route) – present

Appearances: Golf Digest 12 · Top100 10 · GOLF 10 · total 32

🏆 Best ranking: No. 7, Tara Iti Golf Club (Golf Digest World 2026-27)
⛳ Signature courses: Tara Iti 🇳🇿, Pacific Dunes (Bandon Dunes) 🇺🇸, Barnbougle Dunes (with Mike Clayton) 🇦🇺, Cape Kidnappers 🇳🇿, St. Patrick's Links (Rosapenna) 🇮🇪, The Lido (Sand Valley) 🇺🇸

His first solo course, High Pointe Golf Club (Michigan), opened in 1989. Pacific Dunes, which opened in 2001, was the first of his courses to gain worldwide recognition. He trained under Pete Dye and wrote a book about Alister MacKenzie, his primary influence.

Official website ↗

3. Alister MacKenzie

England, 1870–1934, active circa 1907–1934

Appearances: Golf Digest 11 · Top100 11 · GOLF 9 · total 31

🏆 Best ranking: No. 1, Cypress Point Club (Top100GolfCourses, World Top 100)
⛳ Signature courses: Cypress Point 🇺🇸, Royal Melbourne (West, with Alex Russell) 🇦🇺, Augusta National (with Bobby Jones) 🇺🇸, Crystal Downs (with Perry Maxwell) 🇺🇸, Kingston Heath (bunkers) 🇦🇺, Lahinch (Old, redesigned 1927–28) 🇮🇪
🏌️ As a player: I'm a doctor by training, not a professional athlete.

A surgeon by training, he discovered the principles of camouflage during the Boer War and applied them to golf course design. He visited Augusta National for the first time in July 1931; the course he designed with Bobby Jones opened in January 1933, and he died before seeing it completed.

4. Old Tom Morris (Thomas Mitchell Morris)

Scotland, 1821–1908, active around 1850–early 1900s

Appearances: Golf Digest 9 · Top100 9 · GOLF 8 · total 26

🏆 Best ranking: No. 1, Royal County Down Golf Club: Championship (Golf Digest World 2026-27)
⛳ Signature courses: St. Andrews – Old Course (renovations) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, Royal County Down 🇬🇧, Muirfield (1891 layout) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, Royal Dornoch 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, Prestwick 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, Lahinch (Old) 🇮🇪
🏌️ As a player: Professional golfer: winner of four of the first eight Open Championships (Top 100).

Born and died in St. Andrews, he is known as “The Grand Old Man of Golf.” He won four of the first eight Open Championships, all of which were held at Prestwick. He began his career at age 14, in 1835, as an apprentice to Allan Robertson in his ball and club workshop.

5. Coore & Crenshaw (Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw)

United States, active 1986 (firm founded) – present

Appearances: Golf Digest 8 · Top100 6 · GOLF 7 · total 21

🏆 Best ranking: No. 8, Sand Hills Golf Club (Golf Digest America 2025–26, United States)
⛳ Signature courses: Sand Hills 🇺🇸, Friar's Head 🇺🇸, Cabot Cliffs 🇨🇦, Shanqin Bay 🇨🇳, Cabot Saint Lucia – Point Hardy 🇱🇨, Te Arai Links (South) 🇳🇿
🏌️ As a player: Ben Crenshaw is a former professional golfer: he has 19 PGA Tour victories, including the 1984 and 1995 Masters (Wikipedia). Bill Coore is not a professional golfer.

The two men have been designing courses together at Coore & Crenshaw since 1986. Bill Coore got his start in 1968 working on Pete Dye’s courses; his design for Rockport, Texas, convinced Ben Crenshaw to partner with him. Ben Crenshaw won the Masters in 1984 and 1995.

6. Albert Warren “Tillie” Tillinghast

United States, 1876–1942, active around 1907–1930s

Appearances: Golf Digest 8 · Top100 5 · GOLF 7 · total 20

🏆 Best ranking: No. 13, Winged Foot Golf Club: West (Golf Digest America 2025-26, United States)
⛳ Signature courses: Winged Foot (West and East) 🇺🇸, Bethpage Black 🇺🇸, Baltusrol (Lower) 🇺🇸, San Francisco Golf Club 🇺🇸, Somerset Hills 🇺🇸

He has designed more than 265 courses, making him one of the most prolific architects in history. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2015.

7. Donald James Ross

Scotland, 1872–1948, active c. 1900–1948

Appearances: Golf Digest 9 · Top100 5 · GOLF 5 · total 19

🏆 Best ranking: No. 12, Seminole Golf Club (Golf Digest America 2025-26, United States)
⛳ Signature courses: Pinehurst No. 2 🇺🇸, Seminole 🇺🇸, Oakland Hills (South) 🇺🇸, Oak Hill (East) 🇺🇸, Inverness Club 🇺🇸
🏌️ As a player: Professional club golfer (head professional at Dornoch, then professional at Pinehurst), according to Top100.

Born and raised in Scotland, he moved to the United States at a young age and designed dozens of courses there. He worked with Old Tom Morris in St. Andrews in 1893 before moving to Boston in 1899.

8. Seth Jagger Raynor

United States, 1874–1926, active 1908 (began working with C. B. Macdonald)–1926

Appearances: Golf Digest 5 · Top100 6 · GOLF 5 · total 16

🏆 Best ranking: No. 4, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club (Top 100 Golf Courses, World Top 100)
⛳ Signature courses: Fishers Island 🇺🇸, Chicago Golf Club (redesign) 🇺🇸, Shoreacres 🇺🇸, Camargo 🇺🇸, Sleepy Hollow (with C. B. Macdonald) 🇺🇸
🏌️ As a player: An engineer and surveyor by training.

He designed about 85 courses over a period of about 13 years, the first in 1914, at the age of 40. Charles Blair Macdonald hired him in 1908 to survey the land for the future National Golf Links of America. He died of pneumonia in January 1926 in West Palm Beach; his assistants, including Charles Banks, completed his projects.

9. Tom Simpson

England, died in 1964, active from the 1910s to the 1930s

Appearances: Golf Digest 4 · Top100 8 · GOLF 4 · total 16

🏆 Best ranking: No. 10, Ballybunion Golf Club: Old (Golf Digest World 2026-27)
⛳ Signature courses: Morfontaine (Grand Parcours) 🇫🇷, Ballybunion (Old, redesigned 1936–37) 🇮🇪, Cruden Bay (redesigned in 1926) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, St. Enodoc (Church) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, Rye (Old, redesigns) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
🏌️ As a player: A lawyer by training, an amateur scratch golfer (Top 100).

Admitted to the bar in 1905, he left the legal profession after five years to pursue golf course design. He died in 1964, after devoting his final years to writing at his estate in Hampshire. Together with Molly Gourlay, he redesigned Ballybunion and Kilkenny in 1936, Carlow in 1937, and County Louth in 1938.

10. Tom Fazio (Thomas Fazio)

United States, born in 1945, active 1962–present (has had his own practice since 1972)

Appearances: Golf Digest 13 · Top100 1 · GOLF 0 · total 14

🏆 Best ranking: No. 24, Shadow Creek (Golf Digest America 2025-26, United States)
⛳ Signature courses: Shadow Creek 🇺🇸, Wade Hampton 🇺🇸, Butler National (with George Fazio) 🇺🇸, Congaree 🇺🇸, National Golf Club of Canada (with George Fazio) 🇨🇦, Santapazienza (with Logan Fazio) 🇧🇷

He has designed more than 200 courses, 46 of which Golf Digest has ranked among the top 200 in the United States. He began his career in 1962 working alongside his uncle George Fazio and founded his own firm in Jupiter, Florida, in 1972. A Golf Digest poll named him the best American architect in 1991.

Official website ↗

11. Charles Blair Macdonald

United States, 1855–1939, active 1892–1920s

Appearances: Golf Digest 6 · Top100 4 · GOLF 3 · total 13

🏆 Best ranking: No. 4, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club (Top 100 Golf Courses, World Top 100)
⛳ Signature courses: National Golf Links of America 🇺🇸, Chicago Golf Club 🇺🇸, Mid Ocean Club 🇧🇲, Sleepy Hollow (with Seth Raynor) 🇺🇸
🏌️ As a player: Amateur: First winner of the U.S. Amateur (Wikipedia).

He built the first 18-hole course in the United States and was instrumental in the founding of the USGA. He won the first U.S. Amateur and is considered the father of American golf course architecture.

12. Charles Hugh Alison

England, 1883–1952, active circa 1908–1952

Appearances: Golf Digest 6 · Top100 4 · GOLF 3 · total 13

🏆 Best ranking: No. 14, Hirono Golf Club (Top 100 Golf Courses, World Top 100)
⛳ Signature courses: Hirono 🇯🇵, Kawana (Fuji) 🇯🇵, Royal Hague (Koninklijke Haagsche) 🇳🇱, Naruo (redesigned in 1931) 🇯🇵, Hamilton (with Harry Colt) 🇨🇦
🏌️ As a player: Amateur (4th round of the 1906 Amateur Championship, Top 100).

He worked primarily with Harry Colt, John Morrison, and Alister MacKenzie, and co-founded Colt, Alison & Morrison Ltd. in 1928. During a stay in Japan in late 1930, he designed several courses, including Tokyo, Hirono, and Kawana. He settled in South Africa in 1947 and died there five years later.

13. Pete Dye (Paul Dye Jr.), with Alice Dye

United States, 1925–2020, active from the 1960s to the 2010s

Appearances: Golf Digest 9 · Top100 1 · GOLF 2 · total 12

🏆 Best ranking: No. 26, Whistling Straits: Straits Course (Golf Digest America 2025–26, United States)
⛳ Signature courses: TPC Sawgrass (Stadium) 🇺🇸, Kiawah Island (Ocean Course) 🇺🇸, Whistling Straits (Straits) 🇺🇸, Casa de Campo (Teeth of the Dog) 🇩🇴, The Honors Course 🇺🇸
🏌️ As a player: High-level amateur: qualified for the 1957 U.S. Open, Indiana amateur champion (Top 100). Alice Dye, his wife and co-author, was an amateur champion (Wikipedia).

He was married to architect and amateur champion Alice Dye, who co-designed several of his courses. He qualified for the 1957 U.S. Open and won the Indiana Amateur Championship.

14. Perry Duke Maxwell

United States, 1879–1952, active 1913–1940s

Appearances: Golf Digest 4 · Top100 3 · GOLF 4 · total 11

🏆 Best ranking: No. 15, Crystal Downs Country Club (Golf Digest America 2025–26, United States)
⛳ Signature courses: Prairie Dunes 🇺🇸, Crystal Downs (with Alister MacKenzie) 🇺🇸, Southern Hills 🇺🇸, Old Town Club 🇺🇸

A founding member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, he is known as “the father of Oklahoma golf.” Among other projects, he redesigned Augusta National (at least ten holes in 1936–37) and Pine Valley (1934).

15. Gil Hanse (Hanse Golf Course Design, with Jim Wagner)

United States, born in 1963, active 1993–present

Appearances: Golf Digest 6 · Top100 2 · GOLF 3 · total 11

🏆 Best ranking: No. 36, Ohoopee Match Club (Golf Digest America 2025-26, United States)
⛳ Signature courses: CapRock Ranch 🇺🇸, Castle Stuart (with Mark Parsinen) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, Ohoopee Match Club 🇺🇸, Les Bordes – New Course 🇫🇷

Together with his partner Jim Wagner, he designed the Olympic course for the 2016 Rio Games. As Tom Doak's first employee, he founded Hanse Golf Course Design in 1993.

Official website ↗

16. Robert Trent Jones Sr.

United States, 1906–2000, active 1931–1990s

Appearances: Golf Digest 5 · Top100 3 · GOLF 1 · total 9

🏆 Best ranking: No. 22, Peachtree Golf Club (Golf Digest America 2025-26, United States)
⛳ Signature courses: Valderrama 🇪🇸, Spyglass Hill 🇺🇸, Peachtree (with Bobby Jones) 🇺🇸, Adare Manor (original layout) 🇮🇪

He has designed or redesigned more than 500 courses in 45 U.S. states and 35 countries. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1987. His first project, Midvale Golf and Country Club, dates back to 1931, when he was still a student at Cornell.

17. Sir Guy Campbell

United Kingdom, active from the 1920s to the 1950s

Appearances: Golf Digest 6 · Top100 1 · GOLF 2 · total 9

🏆 Best ranking: No. 47, Machrihanish Golf Club (Golf Digest World 2026-27)
⛳ Signature courses: Machrihanish (redistricting) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, West Sussex (with Cecil Hutchison) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, Woodhall Spa (Hotchkin, reshuffle) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, Royal Cinque Ports (redistricting) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, Rye (Old, redistricting) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
🏌️ As a player: Amateur: semifinalist in the 1907 Amateur Championship (Top 100).

Semifinalist in the 1907 Amateur Championship on the Old Course. Together with S. V. Hotchkin and C. K. Hutchison, he founded the Links and Courses company, which designed courses such as West Sussex until 1931.

18. James Braid

Scotland, 1870–1950, active c. 1900–1950

Appearances: Golf Digest 3 · Top100 4 · GOLF 1 · total 8

🏆 Best ranking: No. 34, Carnoustie Golf Links (Championship) (Top100GolfCourses, World Top 100)
⛳ Signature courses: Carnoustie (Championship, 1926 playoff) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, St. Enodoc (Church) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, Gleneagles (King’s, with C. K. Hutchison) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, Royal Aberdeen (Balgownie, redesign) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
🏌️ As a player: Professional golfer: five-time Open champion, member of the “Great Triumvirate” (Wikipedia).

He won the Open Championship five times and, along with Harry Vardon and J. H. Taylor, formed the “Great Triumvirate.” He became a professional at Walton Heath in 1904 and remained there until his death.

19. Willie Park Jr. (William Park)

Scotland, 1864–1925, active 1886–1925

Appearances: Golf Digest 3 · Top100 2 · GOLF 2 · total 7

🏆 Best ranking: No. 12, Sunningdale Golf Club: Old (Golf Digest World 2026-27)
⛳ Signature courses: Sunningdale (Old) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, Maidstone (with Jack Park) 🇺🇸, Portstewart (Strand, 1920 redesign) 🇬🇧
🏌️ As a player: Professional golfer: two-time Open champion (1887 and 1889).

He won the Open in 1887 at Prestwick and in 1889 at Musselburgh. The son of Willie Park Sr., a four-time Open champion, he designed his first course (Innerleithen) in 1886. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2013.

20. Kyle Phillips

United States, active 1981–present (independent practice since 1997)

Appearances: Golf Digest 3 · Top100 3 · GOLF 1 · total 7

🏆 Best ranking: No. 24, Kingsbarns Golf Links (Golf Digest World 2026-27)
⛳ Signature courses: Kingsbarns (with Mark Parsinen) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, South Cape Owners Club 🇰🇷, Yas Links 🇦🇪

After earning a degree in landscape architecture from Kansas State University in 1981, he initially worked at Robert Trent Jones Jr. He founded Kyle Phillips Golf Course Design in 1997. He also designed Al Maaden in Marrakech (2010).

Official website ↗

21. Stanley Thompson

Canada, 1893–1953, active 1920–1953

Appearances: Golf Digest 5 · Top100 2 · GOLF 0 · total 7

🏆 Best ranking: No. 35, Jasper Park Lodge Golf Club (Golf Digest World 2026-27)
⛳ Signature courses: Jasper Park Lodge 🇨🇦, St. George's (Ontario) 🇨🇦, Capilano 🇨🇦, Banff Springs 🇨🇦, Cape Breton Highlands Links 🇨🇦
🏌️ As a player: High-level amateur (Wikipedia).

He co-founded the American Society of Golf Course Architects. He died of an aneurysm in early 1953 while on his way to a construction site in Bogotá.

22. Allan Robertson

Scotland, 1815–1859, active in the 1840s–1859

Appearances: Golf Digest 3 · Top100 2 · GOLF 1 · total 6

🏆 Best ranking: No. 2, St. Andrews Links: Old (Golf Digest World 2026-27)
⛳ Signature courses: St. Andrews – Old Course (1848 modifications) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, Carnoustie (original layout) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, Panmure 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
🏌️ As a player: Professional golfer, considered one of the first (Wikipedia); no major titles cited (died in 1859).

He is credited with the 1848 modifications to the Old Course, which widened the fairways and created the large double greens. In 1858, he became the first golfer to shoot under 80 at St. Andrews.

23. Alex Russell

Australia, 1892–1961, active from the 1920s to the 1950s

Appearances: Golf Digest 3 · Top100 2 · GOLF 1 · total 6

🏆 Best ranking: No. 6, Royal Melbourne Golf Club: West (Golf Digest World 2026-27)
⛳ Signature courses: Royal Melbourne (West, designed by Alister MacKenzie) 🇦🇺, Royal Melbourne (East) 🇦🇺, Paraparaumu Beach (redesigned in 1949) 🇳🇿
🏌️ As a player: Amateur: Winner of the 1924 Australian Open (Top 100).

Cattle rancher, soldier (recipient of the Military Cross), golfer, and architect, born in Geelong. He won the Australian Open in 1924 on the course of Royal Melbourne.

24. Willie Fernie (William Fernie)

Scotland, 1855–1924, active c. 1880–1924

Appearances: Golf Digest 3 · Top100 1 · GOLF 2 · total 6

🏆 Best ranking: No. 12, Trump Turnberry Resort (Ailsa) (Top100GolfCourses, World Top 100)
⛳ Signature courses: Turnberry (Ailsa, original layout) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, Royal Troon (Old, redesigned in 1909) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, Western Gailes 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
🏌️ As a player: Professional golfer: winner of the 1883 Open at Musselburgh (Wikipedia).

Born in St. Andrews, he won the 1883 Open at Musselburgh after a playoff against Bob Ferguson.

25. John Henry “J. H.” Taylor

England, 1871–1963, active around 1900–the 1930s

Appearances: Golf Digest 1 · Top100 4 · GOLF 1 · total 6

🏆 Best ranking: No. 15, Royal Dornoch Golf Club (Championship) (Top100GolfCourses, World Top 100)
⛳ Signature courses: Royal Birkdale (redesigned in 1931, with F. G. Hawtree) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, Royal Dornoch (redesigned) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, Machrihanish (redesigned in 1914) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, Royal Porthcawl (redesign) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿
🏌️ As a player: Professional golfer: five-time Open champion (the first Englishman to win, in 1894 at Royal St. George's); French Open champion in 1908 and 1909 (Top 100).

The first Englishman to win the Open, in 1894 at Royal St. George’s, he went on to win it five times in all, most recently in 1913. He helped found the British PGA, the world’s first professional golf association. In 1914, he redesigned the Championship course at Machrihanish.

26. George Clifford Thomas Jr.

United States, 1873–1932, active 1904–1932

Appearances: Golf Digest 2 · Top100 2 · GOLF 2 · total 6

🏆 Best ranking: No. 16, Los Angeles Country Club: North (Golf Digest America 2025-26, United States)
⛳ Signature courses: Los Angeles Country Club (North) 🇺🇸, Riviera (with William P. Bell) 🇺🇸
🏌️ As a player: Banker, botanist, and writer—not a professional gambler.

An architect, botanist, and writer, he designed more than twenty golf courses in California, including Riviera. He was part of the 'Philadelphia School“alongside Tillinghast, Flynn, Hugh Wilson, George Crump, and William Fownes. He settled in California in 1919 to work on roses and is said to have cultivated more than a thousand varieties there.

27. George Lowe (George Low)

Scotland, 1856–1934, active from the 1880s to the 1910s

Appearances: Golf Digest 2 · Top100 2 · GOLF 2 · total 6

🏆 Best ranking: No. 17, Royal Birkdale Golf Club (Golf Digest World 2026-27)
⛳ Signature courses: Royal Lytham & St. Annes 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, Royal Birkdale (original layout) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
🏌️ As a player: Club professional (assistant at Hoylake, then “custodian of the links” at Lytham), with no major titles to his credit.

Born in 1856 near Carnoustie, he served as an apprentice club maker and assistant professional at Hoylake beginning in 1876. In 1888, he became the “custodian of the links” at Lytham & St. Annes. He emigrated to Australia in 1920 and died there on October 15, 1934, at the age of 78.

28. Jack Nicklaus

United States, born in 1940, active from the 1960s to the present (Nicklaus Design)

Appearances: Golf Digest 6 · Top100 0 · GOLF 0 · total 6

🏆 Best ranking: No. 19, Muirfield Village Golf Club (Golf Digest America 2025–26, United States)
⛳ Signature courses: Muirfield Village (with Desmond Muirhead) 🇺🇸, Castle Pines 🇺🇸, Sebonack (with Tom Doak) 🇺🇸, Valhalla 🇺🇸, Punta Espada 🇩🇴, Cabo del Sol (Cove Club) 🇲🇽
🏌️ As a player: Professional golfer: holds the record for 18 Grand Slam titles and 117 professional victories; U.S. Amateur champion in 1959 and 1961 (Wikipedia).

He holds the record for 18 major titles and has 117 professional victories. Muirfield Village opened in 1974, the year the first Memorial Tournament was held there. Nicklaus Design has more than 400 courses in play; the 400th was completed in 2016.

Official website ↗ 🏌️ His player profile and lessons

29. Bobby Jones (Robert Tyre Jones Jr.)

United States, 1902–1971, active in the 1930s (Augusta National)

Appearances: Golf Digest 2 · Top100 1 · GOLF 2 · total 5

🏆 Best ranking: No. 2, Augusta National Golf Club (Golf Digest America 2025–26, United States)
⛳ Signature courses: Augusta National (with Alister MacKenzie) 🇺🇸, Peachtree (with Robert Trent Jones Sr.) 🇺🇸
🏌️ As a player: AMATEUR player, not a professional: 13 major titles from his era out of 31 contested, including the 1930 “Grand Slam” (U.S. Open, Open, U.S. Amateur, British Amateur) (Wikipedia).

In 1930, he won the four major tournaments of his era—his “Grand Slam”—and 13 of the 31 majors played. A lawyer by profession, he played only as an amateur; he founded and helped design Augusta National, and co-founded the Masters.

30. William Flynn (William Santa Flynn)

United States, active 1909–1940s

Appearances: Golf Digest 3 · Top100 1 · GOLF 1 · total 5

🏆 Best ranking: No. 4, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club (Golf Digest America 2025-26, United States)
⛳ Signature courses: Shinnecock Hills (1931, with Howard Toomey) 🇺🇸, Cherry Hills 🇺🇸, The Kittansett Club (with Frederick Hood) 🇺🇸

He designed his first course in Hartwellville, Vermont, in 1909. In partnership with Howard Toomey, he oversaw the design and construction while Toomey handled the business side; the firm created Cherry Hills in 1923. He helped complete Pine Valley after George Crump’s death.