By Bradley S. Klein

Over a career that lasted from the early 1900s to the late 1940s, no other golf course architect is credited with more fine layouts - or is more revered - than Donald J. Ross. Born the son of a carpenter in Dornoch, Scotland in 1872, Donald became a fine golfer as a young man and eventually learned greenkeeping and clubmaking from legendary Old Tom Morris in St. Andrews. In 1899, after a stint as professional at Dornoch Golf Club, Ross headed for Boston to teach golf to the thousands of Americans eager to take up the "new" sport. His success as an instructor during summers in New England resulted in a chance to do the same thing during the winter at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina. That stroke of luck quickly led to an opportunity for the young Scotsman to design golf courses ... and it was the beginning of a long and illustrious career -- a model for many, many architects to come.