Arthur Hills
- Full Name
- Arthur Wright Hills
- Website:
- Visit Website
- Year of Birth
- 1930
- Place Born
- Toledo, Ohio, USA
After more than 50 years in the golf course architecture business, the "Arthur Hills" name is synonymous with designs that are beautiful, fun to play, and classic in their character and strategy. With over 200 new course designs and a similar number of renovation master plans, his knowledge and experience in the profession are seldom matched. ASGCA
Many think Oitavos Dunes is Art’s premier global design
Arthur Hills started playing golf when he was seven. He lived just across the railroad tracks from Ottawa Park Golf Course – a municipal course built around 1900 where he could play golf for 26 cents before noon – in Toledo, Ohio.
He had no thoughts of a career in golf, graduating from the University of Michigan in 1953 with a degree in Agriculture which would be of use when entering his grandfather’s prosperous agricultural business.
While attending university, he worked at Barton Hills Country Club in Ann Arbor, Michigan, close to Dexter, where his parents had moved to in 1945. At the golf course, he worked as a labourer on the grounds crew for a few seasons.
He had enrolled the Department of Landscape Architecture, School of Natural Resources in the University of Michigan for the purpose of setting himself apart from other contractors and to advance his career, not to become an architect.
As Arthur said later, “what I learned at U of M provided me the tools to become a capable golf course designer because I already understood much about the game from playing and working on golf courses.”
He also studied Business at the University of Toledo without ever intending to gain a degree, only seeking to gain knowledge in that particular area, as he was working during the day in his landscape contracting business and attending classes at night.
The family sold the business in 1957 so he went out on his own that year. As he says, “golf course design just happened, just almost a whim, because I liked course design and thought I could do it. I never considered going to work for another architect".
His first design was a course now called Brand...
Arthur Hills started playing golf when he was seven. He lived just across the railroad tracks from Ottawa Park Golf Course – a municipal course built around 1900 where he could play golf for 26 cents before noon – in Toledo, Ohio.
He had no thoughts of a career in golf, graduating from the University of Michigan in 1953 with a degree in Agriculture which would be of use when entering his grandfather’s prosperous agricultural business.
While attending university, he worked at Barton Hills Country Club in Ann Arbor, Michigan, close to Dexter, where his parents had moved to in 1945. At the golf course, he worked as a labourer on the grounds crew for a few seasons.
He had enrolled the Department of Landscape Architecture, School of Natural Resources in the University of Michigan for the purpose of setting himself apart from other contractors and to advance his career, not to become an architect.
As Arthur said later, “what I learned at U of M provided me the tools to become a capable golf course designer because I already understood much about the game from playing and working on golf courses.”
He also studied Business at the University of Toledo without ever intending to gain a degree, only seeking to gain knowledge in that particular area, as he was working during the day in his landscape contracting business and attending classes at night.
The family sold the business in 1957 so he went out on his own that year. As he says, “golf course design just happened, just almost a whim, because I liked course design and thought I could do it. I never considered going to work for another architect".
His first design was a course now called Brandywine Country Club, located in the Toledo suburb of Maumee, and he used a leading firm, Wadsworth Golf Construction Company, to build this layout, along with several others that followed.
He employed talented landscape architects, Dick Meyers and Bob Mortensen, to take his drawings and concepts and made them presentable. Civil engineer Mike Dasher was another ten-year employee who assisted Arthur, especially with on-site duties.
Further biography details to follow…
Featured courses designed, remodelled and added to by Arthur Hills
Bay Harbor (Links & Quarry)
41st
Opened in 1997, the 27-hole facility at Bay Harbor Golf Club has been delighting golfers in the Wolverine State for over a decade. Holes on the Links nine are set along the bluffs overlooking Lake Michigan and the Quarry fairways work their way around an enormous shale quarry.
Bighorn (Mountains)
51st
An adventurous Arthur Hills design, the Mountains course at Bighorn Golf Club sits high above Palm Desert. It was the venue for the PGA Skins Game in the 1990s when its spectacular site made for some captivating TV golf.
Bonita Bay (Bay Island)
71st
The Bay Island course was last to open in 1994 and it’s considered to be the toughest of the Arthur Hills trio here at Bonita Bay.
Boyne Highlands (Arthur Hills)
59th
The Arthur Hills course at Boyne Highlands Resort was the last of the four 18-hole layouts to be unveiled at an impressive golf facility. Not only is it the newest course here, it’s also the longest and toughest.
Chaska Town
25th
Set within a massive 285-acre property encompassing oak groves, open prairie and marshlands, the Chaska Town Course is owned and operated by the local municipal authority.
Chevy Chase
7th
Donald Ross established the 18-hole golf course at the Chevy Chase Club in 1910 but Charles Alison completely reworked the layout in 1922 and a number of architectural revisions followed down the years.
Chicago Highlands
27th
The Arthur Hills-designed course at Chicago Highlands Club is one of the many sporting amenities available at the first family-friendly country club to open in the western suburbs of the Windy City in more than 80 years.
Congressional (Gold)
9th
Laid out in 1924, the Gold course at Congressional Country Club was redesigned by Arthur Hills in 2000 though the best holes on the card may still be two of the Devereux Emmet originals, the 1st and the 18th.
Eagle Ridge at Yatesville Lake
20th
Occupying a dramatic landscape, the Eagle Ridge at Yatesville Lake State Park course is a rather scenic Arthur Hills and Steve Forrest design from 2003 where golfers are presented with some serious elevation changes during their round.
El Conquistador
7th
42nd
With sweeping ocean vistas from many of the holes – especially those with raised tees playing to generously wide fairways – the course routing at El Conquistador allows golfers to fully embrace the coastal views.