Home :: Course Overview :: Michael Hurdzan

Sycamore Creek is the only Michael Hurdzan designed golf course in the Richmond, Virginia region.  Dr. Hurdzan is one of the world's most respected golf course architects having literally written the "the modern bible of golf course design."  Back in the early nineties, Hurdzan and his team spent weeks surveying and evaluating the future site of Sycamore Creek.   In the end, he molded the raw natural beauty of this rustic location and designed a course that maximized the natural assets of the land to be in harmony with nature and the environment. 

"We want people to play our courses and discover pleasure, whether it is a closeness to nature, a certain serenity or an exhilarating challenge," Hurdzan has said.  "We believe each golf hole should have a distinctive and strong personality, so that it becomes an unforgettable friend, whom you cherish revisiting."

Michael Hurdzan's Official Biography
from HURDZAN/FRY website

Dr. Michael Hurdzan has been selected the winner of the 2002 Donald A. Rossi Award by the Golf Course Builders Association of America; he was Golf World Magazine’s 1997 “Architect of the Year;” and The Board Room Magazine’s 2001 and 1999 selection for the same honor. Dr. Hurdzan has designed some of golf’s most famous courses, including Devil’s Pulpit and Devil’s Paintbrush in Caledon, Ontario. GOLF DIGEST named these two masterpieces the Best New Course in Canada in 1991 and 1992. Some other award winners include: Naples National (Florida) ranked among the Top 100 modern courses by GolfWeek, Lassing Point ranked by GOLF DIGEST as the number one public course in Kentucky, and Ironhorse ranked number one in Kansas. In addition, Sand Barrens Golf Club in Swainton, NJ is one of the “Top Ten You Can Play” (GOLF MAGAZINE). 

An internationally recognized authority on golf course environmental issues, Dr. Hurdzan studied turf management at Ohio State University and earned a Masters degree in landscape architecture and a Ph.D. in environmental plant physiology at the University of Vermont. Dr. Hurdzan doesn’t just design great golf courses; he is also extremely active in serving his profession and industry. He teaches 2-day seminars for the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, (GCSAA) on “Design, Construction and Renovation for I.P.M.” and “Golf Greens: Theory, Design, Construction and Maintenance,” in addition to “Environmental Impacts of Golf Courses” for the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He is a Golf Digest panelist for their environmental awards program, a selected delegate for the “Golf and Environment” conferences, and serves on the education review committee for GCSAA. He is a past president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, current chairman of the professional development committee, and a member of the Past President’s Council. He is contributing to the professional development program for the Golf Course Builders Association of America, and the Professional Golfer’s Association (PGA). Some reviewers are heralding Dr. Hurdzan’s 400-page book on golf course architecture as “the modern bible of golf course design.” Links Magazine says, “Hurdzan takes you through the design process as no one ever has, the book is so complete, it is probably all you’ll ever need on this topic.”

Dr. Hurdzan says, “Besides its sporting requirements, I believe that a truly great golf course must either enhance the natural habitat or create a new environmentally sound one. The more we harmonize natural surroundings into a golf course, the more aesthetic and memorable it will be.” 

Dr. Michael Hurdzan’s credentials are impressive. GOLF DIGEST architecture editor Ron Whitten says, “he has taken a place among the best in the world now.” But more than that, Michael Hurdzan offers what only a precious few golf course architects can offer, a considerable measure of genius, built upon immense technical knowledge and experience, coupled with an enduring love of the game.