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By Design
E
very ASGCA member goes
through a rigorous application
process to prove they have
the sound technical training and
practical experience required to
be recognized as a competent golf
course architect.
At the 2016 ASGCA Annual Meeting
in Washington, D.C., two new
Associate Members—David Johnson,
ASGCA Associate, of David Johnson
Golf Design in Atlanta and Todd
Schoeder, ASGCA Associate, of iCon
Golf Studio in Broomfield, Colorado
—were accepted into the Society.
Like many golf course architects,
Johnson first began sketching golf
holes in his youth. “My high school
years were filled with playing golf,
sketching real and imaginary golf
holes, building short golf holes in my
parents’ and neighbor’s yards and
constructing clay models based on
some of my hole sketches,” he says.
“I went to college at the University
of Virginia and spent summers
working on the golf course
maintenance staff at Ford’s Colony
CC in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was
invaluable experience as I learned
from the ground up (weed-eating,
fly-mowing, changing cups, mowing
greens, etc.) just how much effort and
detail is involved in maintaining a
golf course,” says Johnson.
Schoeder also started in
maintenance, at an early age: “I began
working on golf courses at 16,” he
says. “While maintaining courses, I
would think about why certain
design decisions were made and how
I might have done things differently.
“I developed a plan to become
a golf course architect that
involved mastering the three
critical elements—maintenance,
construction and design.”
After six years in maintenance,
Schoeder joined Wadsworth Golf
Construction Company. “It taught me
the craft of construction, how designed
influenced construction, and vice
versa. Every decision made on paper
has a direct impact on the ground.”
Welcoming
new talent
INTERVIEW
By Design
finds out more about two
new ASGCA Associate Members, their
inspirations, philosophies and projects
My high school years were filled
with playing golf,
sketching
real
and imaginary
golf holes
David Johnson, ASGCA Associate