rod_whitman

ROD WHITMAN -- GOLF COURSE ARCHITECT

Rod Whitman is a true throwback. Throughout his impressive career, he has demonstrated a keen understanding of what it really means to utilize a site, protect its integrity, route a masterful course and incorporate the intricate principles founded by the true masters of design.

Canadian golf writer, Andrew Penner

Rod Whitman attended Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas during the late 1970s. In the midst of earning a psychology degree and playing on the university golf team, Whitman worked on the maintenance crew at Waterwood National Golf Club.

About 1980, Waterwood National’s golf course superintendent, Bill Coore, recommended Whitman to legendary golf architect Pete Dye, who was in search of a capable foreman to supervise construction of the new Austin (Tex.) Country Club course. The new Austin CC was completed in 1982, and Whitman continued to work for Dye over the ensuing six years on numerous projects, including renovations to Dye’s original designs at Crooked Stick and Oak Tree in preparation for PGA Championships.

"Rod Whitman is one of the most capable design assistants I have had the pleasure to work with." says Dye. "He comes with my highest recommendation, and is in every sense a talented golf course designer."

Whitman has also teamed with Bill Coore and his design partner, two-time Masters Tournament winner, Ben Crenshaw, on several occasions over the years since their days at Waterwood National. Most recently, Whitman was a major contributor to the design and construction of Friar's Head on Long Island, New York, which ranks 3rd on Golfweek magazine's list of America’s Best Modern (post-1960) courses.

On-site: Rod Whitman, left, with developer Mike Keiser and Bill Coore

“Rod Whitman is one of the truly talented golf course designers in our business today,” says Coore. “Rod has proven himself with both good sites and bad, large budgets and small. He has proven himself to be a designer worthy of recognition and appreciation.”

"Bill (Coore) and I have known and worked with Rod for almost two decades now," adds Crenshaw. "He is thoroughly versed in golf course building, in terms of planning, construction, and implementation of many golf courses in varied settings."

Whitman has designed six golf courses of his own, including his first solo effort at Wolf Creek Golf Resort in Ponoka, Alberta. Wolf Creek has perennially ranked amongst the top-20 golf courses in Canada since it opened for play in 1983. In 2004, SCOREGolf magazine ranked Wolf Creek 18th on its list of the top-100 courses in Canada.

Par-4 fifteenth hole at Wolf Creek Golf Resort

“Wolf Creek is so good,” writes Canadian golf scribe Andrew Penner, “so meticulously crafted, that it’s often used as a study for blossoming golf architects. In fact, many of the current ‘stars’ in the field come to examine its gorgeous contouring and detail to learn the finer merits of moving dirt in ways that are both pleasing to the eye and incredibly rewarding to play.”

More recently, Whitman completed Blackhawk Golf Club in suburban Edmonton, Alberta. Blackhawk was named second Best New Canadian course for 2004 by Golf Digest and one of the Best New International Courses of the world by The Golfer magazine.

“Blackhawk is a bold vision that is reminiscent of the best golf courses created in Canada by the likes of Stanley Thompson,” writes National Post golf columnist Robert Thompson. “In fact, Blackhawk may have more in common with Thompson’s work – including the great designer’s predilection for wide fairways, strategic bunkering and occasionally wild greens – than any Canadian designer in the last 50 years.”

Notable Golf Course Design and Construction Projects

Cabot Links

Inverness, Nova Scotia

www.cabotlinks.com

Sagebrush Golf and Sporting Club

Quilchena, British Columbia

www.sagebrushclub.com

Wascana Country Club (remodel)

Regina, Saskatchewan

Blackhawk Golf Club

Edmonton, Alberta

www.playblackhawk.com