By Design - Summer 2019

19 A career in golf course architecture After studying landscape architecture at West Virginia University, Bel Jan was in Pittsburgh working with Davey Tree when a client set up that meeting with Fazio at Oakmont. “Tom provided me an opportunity,” she said. “I had worked at a variety of jobs to that point and this was a chance to join a successful golf course design firm. I knew I had to learn something before I could do something. I am grateful that Tom saw in me a willingness to learn and to do.” Bel Jan’s career had taken root Today, Bel Jan’s design portfolio features dozens of projects on which she worked including: Jupiter Island Club, Hobe Sound, Florida; Pelican’s Nest Golf Club, Bonita Springs, Florida; The Old Collier Golf Club, Naples, Florida; Pelican Marsh Golf Club, Naples, Florida; and Boca Lago Country Club, Boca Raton, Florida. She has been recognized by the USGA in their museum exhibit, “Women and Golf Course Architecture,” and she serves on the board for the National Alliance for Accessible Golf. Scoring Tees™ Bel Jan is the second woman to serve as ASGCA President; Alice Bel Jan has developed a Scoring Tees™ concept, as can be seen above on the Hurricane course at Pelican’s Nest Golf Club in Bonita Springs, Florida. Right, Jan’s father, George (second from right), and four uncles — Andy, Carl, Joseph and Willie — were all professional golfers