AP Design Philoshopy
My interest in golf has long extended beyond just playing the game. When I was a student at Wake Forest, and later during my time in the U.S. Coast Guard, I built my first golf courses. They were basic, but the students and officers enjoyed them. Before that I had my hands in the dirt helping my father alter and improve Latrobe Country Club.
Eventually I went to work with Frank Duane, the former ASGCA President. Together we built Myrtle Beach National and the Bay Course at Kapalua, in Hawaii. When work with Duane started winding down, I met the man who would go on to be one of my best friends and a great business partner, Ed Seay. We founded the Arnold Palmer Design Company in 1972 on a handshake, and formalized the principles by which it would be guided.
Sadly, Ed died in 2007. But his legacy lives on both in our company’s work and in its heart.
We design the courses our clients request, not just courses to satisfy ourselves. That means that all of our courses are a little bit different, reflecting the personalities and wishes of their owners/developers while also meeting our own high standards.
We do not have a design trademark, nor do we want one. We do, however, strive to design all of our courses so that they look beautiful, are constructed soundly, on time, and within budget. Moreover, we always make sure they’re fun to play.
My basic philosophy—and that of everyone at APDC—is based on straightforward design. This produces courses of lasting quality that are exciting and enjoyable for golfers of every handicap. The designs are founded on strategies of the game, and are sensitive to the land.
In fact, sensitivity to the environment is key to everyone at APDC, and it shows in our creations. As is evident with all great courses, we respect the existing terrain as much as each project allows us to do so within the framework of playability. Basically, we do not force or design unnecessary grade work or features.
Today, with approximately 300 golf courses and clubs around the world, I believe that we are setting the standard by which modern golf courses are measured. We have active projects and open golf courses in 37 states and in 27 countries around the world, and there are more coming every day.
Wherever we work we do so with continuity and loyalty. This is reflected in the tenure of my staff who have worked with me for a combined total of nearly 150 years and is why we have so many repeat clients.
So it is that the same principles on which Ed and I shook hands so many years ago continue to guide the company.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
