From the RHGD January 2025 Newsletter
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As Raymond Hearn Golf Course Designs enters its 30th year, I find myself reflecting on a season that reminded me why I fell in love with this profession in the first place.
I grew up playing municipal golf in Michigan from a very young age, and the feeling of walking a course for fun and with curiosity has never left me. Last year offered that same sense of discovery. It was a genuine banner year that stretched across eras, styles, and every corner of the game. It was one of our busiest and diverse seasons yet.
Most people know my bread and butter. I am drawn to sympathetic restorations of early 20th-century classics. The phrase gets tossed around a lot, but to me it has a very specific meaning. It describes the balance between honoring an architect’s original intent or essence and accommodating the modern game.
You cannot simply recreate 1920s golf. You must understand how green speeds, mowing lines, tree growth, hitting distances and other aspects of the game have changed. Then you bring the design forward without losing its soul.
A lot of research goes into discovering the past in order to chart the future, but this is work I love and care deeply about.
Last year, I had the privilege of diving into several remarkable archives. At Crestmont in New Jersey, I worked with original Donald Ross sketches, historic photos, and material from the Tufts University archives. At Midlothian, Pottawatomie and Aurora, I studied century-old plans and aerials that showed how the courses evolved over time.
These projects are as rewarding as anything I have done in my career. They also remind me that when clubs embrace their history and make smart, future-minded decisions, membership interest tends to follow.
At the same time, 2025 was not only about the Golden Age. My newest 18-hole design, The Cardinal at Saint John’s Resort in Michigan, received strong reviews from resort golfers, the media and fellow architects, as well as the LIV golf league players who competed there in the summer.
In other sectors of the golf spectrum, I took equal pride in helping revive Three Fires, a public course in my hometown of Holland, Michigan, and in seeing Doon Brae, a par-3 project that embraces the growing momentum behind short-course golf, earn national attention.
If 2025 confirmed anything, it is that variety fuels me. As you’ll see in this summary of the work that my small team and I did last year, historic gems, public revivals, resort builds, and short courses all keep my passion strong as we begin our 30th anniversary year. Can’t wait to get started.
