Ron Kirby

Full Name: Ronald Kirby
Website:: Visit Website
Year of Birth: 1932
Place Born: Beverly, Massachusetts, USA

“Ron Kirby knew from a young age he wanted to make a career in the golf world. As a caddie, caddie master, and maintenance crew member at a local country club growing up, Ron gained all the incentives he needed to stay involved with the sport of golf. With a five-decade career under his belt, Ron has garnered the reputation as one of the most respected and appreciated golf course designers in the industry.” ASGCA

A design sextet created Old Head, but Ron Kirby was the conductor

Ron Kirby studied at the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts in the late 1940s before attending the University of Massachusetts Stockbridge School of Agriculture on a Francis Ouimet Scholarship, graduating with an Associate degree in Agronomy in 1953.

He served as a golf course superintendent with a number of clubs before becoming a design associate with Dick Wilson in 1958. During the five years he was with Dick, he worked on projects in Paradise Island in the Bahamas and several South Florida courses.

In 1963, Ron became a design associate with Robert Trent Jones, assisting the old master with a number of assignments in the United States, Europe and the Caribbean. After eight years with the company, he decided to branch out on his own.

From 1970 to 1986, his Atlanta-based firm worked closely with Gary Player as a consultant and their collaborative efforts spanned the world. Ron then sold his firm to Golden Bear Inc. and joined Jack Nicklaus Design Services, where he oversaw the company’s European projects for the next decade.

Ron retired from the Nicklaus organization in the mid-1990s but he’s been retained by a number of firms as a special consultant. Currently he’s attached to the design practice of his son-in-law Gene Bates.

In 2003, Kirby was elected a “Fellow” of the American Society of Golf Course Architects for his dedicated service to his profession and his outstanding contributions to the game of golf. He and his wife presently live in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Further biography details to follow…

If the above article is inaccurate, please let us know by clicking here

Featured courses designed, remodelled and added to by Ron Kirby

Barbados

5^th 50^th

Laid out in two returning 9-hole circuits that finish on either side of a lake in front of the clubhouse, the revamped course at Barbados Golf Club offers a slightly tougher challenge than its predecessor.

Average Reviewers Score:

Boyne Highlands (Heather)

35^th

Opened in 1968 and designed by Robert Trent Jones and Ron Kirby, the Heather course is the oldest – and many still say the best – layout at Boyne Highlands Golf Club’s 72-hole golf complex.

Average Reviewers Score:

Castlemartyr

4^th 72^nd

The 6,790-yard golf course at the Castlemartyr Resort forms the main recreational option at a 5-star County Cork facility that also offers more sedate recreational facilities like archery and clay pigeon shooting.

Average Reviewers Score:

Cély-en-Bière

29^th 67^th

One of more than a dozen facilities operated around the country by NGF Golf, the beautiful parkland course at Exclusiv Golf Cély-en-Bière lies within the magnificent 140-acre Domaine du Château de Cély, on the edge of the Fontainebleau forest.

Corballis Links

12^th

First opened for public play in 1971, the Corballis Links Golf Club at Donabate lies along the east coast of Ireland, next to a more well-known golfing neighbour, The Island.

Average Reviewers Score:

Dromoland Castle

3^rd 47^th

The course at Dromoland Castle Golf Club has been around for over forty years but in the last two years, dramatic changes have elevated it to new levels.

Average Reviewers Score:

El Paraiso

33^rd 69^th

El Paraiso was laid out in the early 1970s by “Black Knight” Gary Player and renowned architect Ron Kirby, back in the days when they were involved in a course design partnership.

Average Reviewers Score:

Escorpion (Azul)

30^th 65^th

Host to the 1980 Spanish Open (won by Irishman Eddie Polland), Escorpion Golf Club comprises of three 9-hole courses, all designed by Alfonso Vidaor & Ron Kirby in 1975. The Azul 18-hole layout comprises of the Masía and Lagos loops which form the premier configuration.

Average Reviewers Score:

Gary Player

1^st 5^th

The Gary Player Country Club is perhaps South Africa’s most famous course thanks to the “Million Dollar Golf Challenge”. Naturally the “Black Knight” designed it and it’s one of the longest courses in the country...

Average Reviewers Score:

Gleneagles (PGA Centenary)

4^th 54^th

From the back tees, the PGA Centenary at Gleneagles is the longest inland course in Scotland. It was also the venue for the 2014 Ryder Cup.

Average Reviewers Score: