Mike Hurdzan started out in golf at Beacon Light Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio, where his father worked as a golf instructor. The facility was owned by Jack Kidwell, a man deeply involved in the game as a PGA member, course superintendent and golf course architect.

Hurdzan completed his preliminary studies in 1970, having gained a Bachelor of Science degree in Turfgrass Management from the Ohio State University and a Master of Science degree in Plant and Soil Science from the University of Vermont.

Jack Kidwell offered Mike a position in his design company and six years later the firm of Kidwell & Hurdzan Incorporated was founded in 1976. By the end of the following decade, the partnership was responsible for setting out more than a hundred courses across the Mid-west.

Mike’s formal education continued throughout the 1970s, attaining a Phd. In Environmental Plant Physiology from the University of Vermont in 1974 followed by further studies for a BSc. degree in Landscape Architecture at the Ohio State University which concluded in 1978.

Running in tandem with his studies, Hurdzan had embarked on a military career as an Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps officer, serving in the Chemical Corps before switching to the US Army Special Forces (Green Berets) and he attained the rank of Colonel by the time he left in 1996.

Not long after Jack Kidwell retired from their design company through ill health in the mid-1980s, Hurdzan teamed up with 

Their first project together was in 1990 at Devil’s Pulpit in Ontario, Canada and two years later they followed this up with another 18-hole layout, Devil’s Paintbrush, on the same Caledon Village property.

According to his CV on the Hurdzan company website, Michael Hurdzan thinks the Devil’s Paintbrush course, fashioned for the originators of the Trivial Pursuit board game, is still his finest design.

Most of the Hurdzan and Fry assignments were located in North America, though there were a couple of Italian jobs completed early in the new millennium at Acaya in the southeast of the country and at Royal Park I Roveri in the northwest.

Their most high profile commission was undoubtedly Erin Hills in Wisconsin, which opened for play in 2006. The course has since hosted both the US Amateur Championship in 2011 and the US Open in 2017 so, in terms of national exposure, it’s the layout that ordinary golfers will most closely associate with the design duo.

It mustn’t be forgotten that Jason Straka (a graduate of Cornell University, obtaining a degree in landscape architecture then a master’s degree in agronomy) also worked with Hurdzan and Fry for seventeen years, starting in 1995.

And when Hurdzan and Fry went their separate ways in 2013, Jason teamed up with Dana to focus on more global markets, leaving Michael to concentrate mainly on North America with his son Chris.

Michael is one of only seven people to have received professional service awards from each of the following organisations: Golf Course Builders Association of America (Don Rossi Award in 2002); American Society of Golf Course Architects ( 

 Award in 2007); Golf Course Superintendents Association of America ( 

He also held the position of President of the American Society of Golf Course Architects in 1984-85.

: “Although forever at the mercy of the contractors who build his works, Hurdzan is an industry expert at the 

r model. His detailed plans convey his architectural intent. Additionally, unlike most other signature designers who promote a singular look or follow the latest fads, Hurdzan has tended to be a trend-setting designer, driven to deliver distinctive and aesthetically varying works.”

: “Although Hurdzan once stated that the chances of becoming a golf course architect were about equal to that of being struck by lightning, the progress of his own career proved it could be done... He also found time to establish an extensive library of golf books and a large collection of clubs and balls from past eras.”

Golf Course Architecture: Design, Construction and Restoration

Selected Courses by Hurdzan/Fry: Photos and Essays Volume 1

 with Dana Fry, Ron Whitten and John Henebry (2003)

Golf Greens: History, Design and Construction

Building a Practical Golf Facility: A Step by Step Guide to Realizing a Dream

Golf Course Design: An annotated bibliography 

Golf Course Architecture: Evolution in Design, Construction and Restoration Technology 

Golf and Law: Golf Course Safety, Security and Risk Management

Dr. Michael Hurdzan, ASGCA Past President, studied turf management at Ohio State University and earned a Masters and a Ph.D. in environmental plant physiology at the University of Vermont.  Michael doesn’t just design great golf courses; he is also extremely active in speaking and teaching on golf industry related topics and has written and published seven books on golf course design, construction, history, and risk management.  ASGCA

Michael Hurdzan

By the end of the 1980s, the partnership of Jack Kidwell and Michael Hurdzan was responsible for setting out more than a hundred courses across the US Midwest.

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Dana was educated at the University of Arizona from 1980 to 1983, where he studied Business. Playing for the men’s golf team, he shot a course record 64 at Randolph Park Golf Course in Tucson then set another course record while home in Kansas City between semesters with a 62 at Minor Park Golf Course.

The summer before his senior year, he met up with Andy Banfield, a lead designer for 

, who invited Dana to have a look at a new course under construction at Ventana Canyon Golf & Racquet Club in Tucson. Dana started out by flagging saguaro cacti that required transplanting and before he knew it he was offered a part time job.

Andy taught him how to run a bulldozer and shared a lot of his thoughts on golf course design. Tom Fazio then made Dana a full-time employee which meant he never completed his studies but, as he says himself: “I never graduated from college but boy did I ever get an education.”

Dana was part of the Fazio design team for five years, during which time he worked alongside the late 

 at Callawassie Island off Hilton head, before teaming up with 

 and not his father, so when the offer of a job in Canada with Hurdzan came along, he jumped at it.

That job was at Devil’s Pulpit in Caledon and when it was over he was able to move to Columbus, Ohio with his family and make that a permanent home base. Two years after completing Devil’s Pulpit in Ontario, Hurdzan and Fry followed it up with another 18-hole layout, Devil’s Paintbrush, on the same Caledon Village property.

Hurdzan and Fry commissions during the 1990s and 2000s numbered over a hundred and the vast majority of them were located in North America, though the firm also completed a couple of Italian jobs early in the new millennium at Acaya in the southeast of the country and at Royal Park I Roveri in the northwest.

When profiling the architect, Darius Oliver commented: “Fry demonstrated real conceptional and construction talents at Calusa Pines in Florida, Shelter Harbor in Rhode Island and the Devil’s Paintbrush course in Canada but he’ll probably best be remembered for his work on the Erin Hills Golf Course in Wisconsin, which played host to the US Open in 2017.”

In 2012, Hurdzan and Fry went their separate ways: Dana and his colleague (of 17 years) Jason Straka joining forces to form their own company and focus on Asia and other markets worldwide, leaving Michael and his son Chris to concentrate more on North America.

Jason attended Cornell University and attained a degree in landscape architecture before completing a master’s degree in agronomy under Dr. Norm Hummel at the same university. Norm first introduced him to Michael Hurdzan in 1991 then four years later he became a staff member.

The new company of Fry/Straka Global Golf Course Design now has offices in the United States, Brazil and China and the firm is working on a second course on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, called Yas Acres, which is due to open in 2020.

The architects are also building another new private course on an estate outside Sao Paulo, Brazil and they have signed for two projects in Vietnam; an 18-hole resort course in Hue and a 36-hole resort complex in Ha Long Bay.

There’s also a big assignment ongoing in the Avalon/Stone Harbor area by the Jersey Shore for the Union League of Philadelphia, involving the construction of a 27-hole facility for members that own summer beach homes in the area.

“I started traveling regularly overseas to Asia for work in 2006 and moved to Hong Kong full time for several years until moving back to the U.S. in December 2013. I have now travelled to over a hundred countries and it goes without saying that if you want to continue to build new golf courses you will in fact have to work internationally.

As for myself, I love the adventure, travel and challenge of working in foreign countries but it isn’t easy. The language barriers, lack of qualified golf course contractors and limited knowledge of golf in some of these countries presents many obstacles but I found the rewards far greater. I plan on working overseas for the rest of my career.” Dana Fry

As a member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects since 1992, Fry has served on the Board of Governors and has served as a speaker at the Golf Industry Show on behalf of the ASGCA. He has assumed a leadership role in Asian golf development with his significant contributions to its emerging market, and consistently demonstrates a dedication to the entire evolving field of modern golf course design. ASGCA

Dana Fry

While playing for the university golf team, Fry shot a course record 64 at Randolph Park then set another course record while home in Kansas City between semesters with a 62 at Minor Park.

Colorado

The River course at the 36-hole Keystone Ranch golf facility is a new millennium offering from Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry. The front nine is routed around the Snake River, with the back nine carved through a dense pine forest.