Mike Strantz

2010

Golf Course Architect

A native of Toledo, Ohio, Strantz was working at Inverness Club for the 1978 U.S. Open when he was discovered by Tom Fazio.  Over an eight year span Strantz worked with Fazio to create such notable courses in the Carolinas as Wild Dunes, Wachesaw, Wade Hampton, and Osprey Point.
 

Strantz went on to settle in Charleston, SC and over the next two decades emerged as one of the nation’s elite architects.  His first solo effort was Caledonia Golf & Fish Club, in Myrtle Beach, SC, which was quickly ranked in Golf Magazine’s Top 100.  Strantz was off and running.  His work in the Carolinas went on to include True Blue (SC), Bulls Bay (SC), Tobacco Road (NC) and Tot Hill Farm (NC).  Outside the Carolinas he created Royal New Kent (VA), Stonehouse (VA), Silver Creek Valley (CA), and Monterey Peninsula Country Club - Shore Course (CA). 
 

The awards piled up quickly.  Stonehouse was named the Best New Course in America 1996 by Golf Digest, followed by Royal New Kent, the Best New Upscale Course in America in 1997. Next came True Blue Golf Club (1998) and Tobacco Road (1999), both of which ranked in Golf Digest's top five new courses.  All of his courses have been ranked in the Top 100 Best Modern Courses in America by Golf Digest.

But the greatest honors came when Golf World named Strantz the 1998 Golf Course Architect of the Year and in 2000, GolfWeek voted him in the Top 10 Greatest Golf Architects of All Time.

Strantz was an approachable, hands-on designer, who worked along side the crew, marking every green, fairway and hazard himself. He lost his fight with cancer in 2005, but his unique designs will carry on an unforgettable legacy.