Ross served an apprenticeship with Old Tom Morris in St Andrews before investing his life savings in a trip to the U.S. in 1899 with the encouragement and support of Harvard astronomy professor and Salem and Petersham, Massachusetts resident Robert W. Willson, who helped him obtain his first job in America at Oakley Country Club in Watertown, Massachusetts. In 1900 he was appointed as the golf professional at the Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina, where he began his course design career and eventually designed four courses. He had a successful playing career, winning three North and South Opens (1903, 1905, 1906) and two Massachusetts Opens (1905, 1911), and finishing fifth in the 1903 U.S. Open and eighth in the 1910 Open Championship. As his fame grew, he began to teach and play less and to focus on golf course design, running a substantial practice with summer offices in Little Compton, Rhode Island. At its height, Donald J. Ross and Associates, as his practice was known, oversaw the work of thousands of people. However, Ross always kept up his professional golf standing. His brother Alec won the 1907 U.S. Open.
Ross's most famous designs are Pinehurst No. 2, Aronimink Golf Club, East Lake Golf Club, Seminole Golf Club, Oak Hill, Memphis Country Club, Inverness Club and Oakland Hills. Some of his early work was in Virginia and includes Jefferson Lakeside Country Club and Sewell's Point Golf Course. He also designed the Municipal Golf Course at Asheville, North Carolina in 1927.[2] He displayed great attention to detail. Often he created challenging courses with very little earth moving; according to Jack Nicklaus, "His stamp as an architect was naturalness." His most widely known trademark is the crowned or "turtleback" green, most famously seen on Pinehurst No. 2, though golf architecture writer Ron Whitten argued in Golf Digest in 2005 that the effect had become exaggerated compared to Ross's intention because greenkeeping practices at Pinehurst had raised the centre of the greens. Ross also designed one of Westchester, New York's best courses, Whippoorwill Country Club, in Armonk, New York; however, Charles Banks was hired by Whippoorwill to redesign the course in 1928. He also designed a 9-hole course in northern New York, known as the Schroon Lake Municipal Golf Club in 1918. He designed the Hope Valley Country Club in Durham, North Carolina in 1927.[3]
Ross often created holes which invited run-up shots but had severe trouble at the back of the green, typically in the form of fallaway slopes. In the 1930s he revolutionized greenskeeping practices in the Southern United States when he oversaw the transition of the putting surfaces at Pinehurst No. 2 from oiled sand to Bermuda grass. Ross also designed the course at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolinawhich is home to the PGA Tour's Wyndham Championship. Currently, Sedgefield Country Club is the only regular Donald Ross design on the PGA Tour. Aronimink Golf Club, located in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, played host to the AT&T National in 2010 and 2011.
Ross was a founding member and first president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, which was formed at Pinehurst in 1947. He was admitted to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1977, a high honor rarely awarded for anything other than playing success.
Ross died while completing his final design at Raleigh Country Club in North Carolina. Ross is buried in Newton Cemetery in Newton, Massachusetts.[4]
1970. Robert trent Jones was the architect of this Virginia course. fold-out brochure with press reports and colour maps of the courses. unusual item. More about The Golden Horseshoe Golf Club at Williamsburg Inn
New York: Harper Collins, 1993. 648p. cloth dust Jacket, 1st edition, 1st impression. To this day the only such title, listing all known architects and their works. An absolute must have for anyone interested in this subject. More about The Architects of Golf; A survey of Golf Course Design from its Beginnings to the Present, with...
Victoria: Full Swing Golf Publishing, 2008. 365p. simulated leather Ltd ed. 1 of 100 signed by author. Foreword by Michael Hurdzan. More about Golf Architecture Volume Four
Victoria: Full Swing Golf Publishing, 2002. 240p. simulated leather Ltd ed. 1 of 100 signed by author. Foreword by Geoffrey Cornish. More about Golf Architecture Volume One
Victoria: Full Swing Golf Publishing, 2013. 378p. simulated leather Ltd ed. 1 of 100 signed by author. Foreword by Paul Daley. More about Golf Architecture Volume Six
Victoria: Full Swing Golf Publishing, 2005. 352p. simulated leather Ltd ed. 1 of 100 signed by author. Foreword by Bill Coore. More about Golf Architecture Volume Three
Victoria: Full Swing Golf Publishing, 2003. 304p. simulated leather Ltd ed. 1 of 100 signed by author. Foreword by Donald Steel. More about Golf Architecture Volume Two
Glen Waverly, Victoria, Australia. Full Swing Golf Publishing, 2003. 304p. oblong cloth. Foreword by Donald Steel. D&J D2050. More about Golf Architecture Volume Two
2017. This book is an unprecedented view of how one of our era's best architects thinks about his craft, his peers and his business. It reads like a long conversation about a craft he has loved, studied and honed for nearly 40 years-golf course architecture. As well as being a.... More about Tom Doak's Little Red Book of Golf Course Architecture
2017. This book is an unprecedented view of how one of our era's best architects thinks about his craft, his peers and his business. It reads like a long conversation about a craft he has loved, studied and honed for nearly 40 years-golf course architecture. As well as being a.... More about Tom Doak's Little Red Book of Golf Course Architecture
USA: Renaissance Golf Publishing, 2014. 188pp. A unique, entertaining and honest review of the world's best golf courses by world renowned golf architect Tom Doak. Voted one of the best 25 golf books of all time. Signed by author Tom Doak. More about Confidential Guide to Golf Courses Volume 1 Great Britain & Ireland
USA: Renaissance Golf Publishing, 2014. 188p. Cloth. A unique, entertaining and honest review of the world's best golf courses by world renowned golf architect Tom Doak. This volume covers Great Britain and Ireland. Voted one of the best 25 golf books of all time. More about Confidential Guide to Golf Courses Volume 1 Great Britain & Ireland
USA: Renaissance Golf Publishing, 2015. 361pp. A unique, entertaining and honest review of the world's best golf courses by world renowned golf architect Tom Doak. Voted one of the best 25 golf books of all time. Signed by author Tom Doak. More about Confidential Guide to Golf Courses Volume 2 The Americas (Winter destinations
USA: Renaissance Golf Publishing, 2016. 361pp. A unique, entertaining and honest review of the world's best golf courses by world renowned golf architect Tom Doak. Voted one of the best 25 golf books of all time. Signed by author Tom Doak. More about Confidential Guide to Golf Courses Volume 3 The Americas Northern destinations
Pine Valley, NJ: Pine Valley Golf Club, 2000. 235p. green leatherette.Signed by the Author. Foreword by William C. Campbell. Illustrated from photographs (mostly in colour) and other reproductions, including a photo image from a painted map of Pine Valley golf course; pictorial endpapers. lettered in gilt, gilt-stamped vignette on front... More about Pine Valley Golf Club: A Unique Haven of the Game
U.S.A. 2001. A.L.S. written by U.S. Open champion Jack Fleck on his Golf architect stationary, long letter to Bob Blyth. ; Provenance; Part of a collection of letters and photographs to Bob Blyth of Dundee, Scotland who corresponded with various American and international Golfers over a long period of time..... More about A.L.S
Oswestry: Hughes & Son, 1954. 70p, dec. cloth Book is dedicated to the Golfer George Duncan. This copy inscribed by the author to well known golf architect J.J.F. Pennick. D&J F10810. More about The Essence of Golf
England: The Golf Clubs Association. ca 1970. 20p. photo and white wrappers with blue text. James Braid architect. More about Goodwood Golf Club
England: Temple Publicity, ca 1965. 16p. green wrappers, with dark green text. Willie Park Jnr architect. More about Notts Golf Club
England: The Golf Clubs Association. ca 1960. 20p. photo and white wrappers with red text. Ted Ray's first job, Harry S. Colt was the architect. More about Churston Golf Club
Ashford Manor: non, 1913. Rare signed Harold H. Hilton letter to the renowed architect A.W. Tillinghast and superbly inscribed (10/10), on Ashford Manor Golf Club stationary. Hilton was the secretary of Ashford Manor. Hilton quiet possibily took advice in golf design from Tillinghast. Harold Horsfall Hilton (12 January 1869 –... More about A.L.S
Scotland: The Royal and Ancient Golf Club, 1997. 127 pp. Introduction by Dr. A.M. Mathewson. Illustrated throughout (mostly in color) from reproductions, paintings, architectural drawings, plans, photographs, facsimiles, etc limited edition 437/1995 of which 195 where leather bound. D&J L11350. More about Art and Architecture of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club
Scotland: The Royal and Ancient Golf Club, 1997. 127 pp. Introduction by Dr. A.M. Mathewson. Illustrated throughout (mostly in color) from reproductions, paintings, architectural drawings, plans, photographs, facsimiles, etc limited edition 686/1995 of which 195 where leather bound. Signed by author Lewis. D&J L11350. More about Art and Architecture of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club
Worcestershire, England: Grant Books, 1982. 85pp Ltd ed. No. 17 of a Publishers presentation copy. introduction by Robert Trent Jones. commentary by Peter Thomson and Michael Wolveridge. First published in 1920. This is the first time it was reprinted, the book sold out very quickly. signed by Robert Trent Jones... More about Dr. MacKenzie's Golf Architecture
London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, 1920. 135p. cloth illustrated 1st ed. Introduction by Harry S. Colt. Scarce dust Jacket and very scarce inscribed by Mackenzie "With the Author's compliments Dec. 1921" "Four short essays on course design by one of the first great course architects and one of the first... More about Golf Architecture: Economy in Course Construction and GreenKeeping
