Donald James Ross (November 23, 1872 – April 26, 1948) was an influential
golf course designer. He was born in
Dornoch,
Scotland, but became a citizen of and spent most of his adult life in the United States. He was involved in designing or redesigning around 600 courses from 1900–1948, laying the foundation for America's golf industry.
Ross served an apprenticeship with
Old Tom Morris in
St Andrews before investing his life savings in a trip to the U.S. in 1899 at the suggestion of a Harvard professor named Robert Wilson, who found him his first job in the America at
Oakley Country Club in
Watertown, Massachusetts. In 1900 he was appointed as the golf professional at the
Pinehurst Resort in
North Carolina, where he began his course design career and eventually designed four courses. He had a successful playing career, winning three
North and South Opens (1903, 1905, 1906) and two
Massachusetts Opens (1905, 1911), and finishing fifth in the 1903
U.S. Open and eighth in the 1910
British Open. As his fame grew, he began to teach and play less and to focus on golf course design, running a substantial practice with summer offices in Little Compton, Rhode Island. At its height, Donald J. Ross and Associates, as his practice was known, oversaw the work of thousands of people. However, Ross always kept up his professional golf standing. His brother
Alec won the 1907
U.S. Open.
Ross's most famous designs are
Pinehurst No. 2,
Aronimink Golf Club,
Seminole Golf Club,
Oak......
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