Pinehurst: Home of American Golf: The Evolution of a Legend

Pinehurst - Home of American Golf is the detailed account of the evolution of golf courses of the Sandhills area of North Carolina and how it mirrored the growth and directed the development of golf in the United States. No author has completed such a detailed review of the iconic landmark of the game in the United States. The author is one of the few practicing golf course architects to ever base his business in Pinehurst.

Richard Mandell is a practicing golf course architect who has worked on more than forty golf course projects (ranging from preliminary master planning to complete golf course architectural services) in his seventeen-year career, including golf course restoration work on five Donald Ross golf courses. He grew up in Rye, New York where his love of golf course design began as a junior golfer playing on some of the greatest golf courses in the world, including classic designs such as Westchester Country Club and Winged Foot Golf Club. He graduated from Rye High School in 1986. He first moved to Pinehurst after graduating from The University of Georgia with a degree in Landscape Architecture to work for golf architect Dan Maples, whose father Ellis learned directly from Donald Ross. Richard then moved to Atlanta, Georgia to work for another golf architecture firm named Denis Griffiths & Associates. In 1992, he began a multi-disciplinary golf course design firm called Whole In One Design Group with three Maryland-based partners. Upon returning to Pinehurst in 2000, Richard began his own golf course design firm called Richard Mandell Golf Architecture. Richard is one of only a few candidates nationwide to pass the complete landscape registration exam in his first attempt (success rate is less than ten percent). He is a licensed Landscape Architect in both North Carolina and South Carolina. Richard Mandell’s versatility is shown in the variety of his project experience. He has designed small budget golf courses as well as high-end championship caliber layouts. He has also served both public and private clients. His past public and corporate clients have included the United States Army, The Dupont Corporation, The City of Erie, Pennsylvania, Queen Anne’s County, Maryland, and the Cities of Monroe and Gastonia, North Carolina. Richard Mandell has worked on private country club projects such as The Country Club of North Carolina and Army Navy Country Club, yet he has also created the most accessible facilities which have been enjoyed by beginners and experts alike. Richard Mandell Golf Architecture has created tournament courses, executive courses, and practice facilities. Richard’s work has been nationally recognized for his Creekside Golf & Country Club in Atlanta, Georgia with a nomination in 2000 for Best New Course in both Golf Digest Magazine and Georgia Golf News. His expansion of Seaford Golf & Country Club won the 1996 DuPont North America Safety, Health, and Environmental Excellence Award. Blue Heron Golf Course in Stevensville, Maryland was named one of the Top Ten Short Courses in America by Golf Range Magazine in 2006. A noted golf architecture historian, Richard Mandell has appeared in and written articles on design for national publications such as Golf Illustrated and Links Magazine. He has provided chapters in two books on Golf Architecture entitled Golf Architecture: A Worldwide Perspective (vols. 1 & 2). The chapters are Meaningful Selection and Placement of Hazards and The Evolution of Strategy. The biggest names in the profession have been asked to contribute, yet few have been asked to contribute twice. Richard was also chosen to contribute an essay for a book called Favourite Holes By Design: The Architect’s Choice. His first solo book, Pinehurst ~ Home of American Golf (The Evolution of a Legend) has been well-received in just a few months’ time. Richard teaches the only fully accredited, professionally-taught class on golf course architecture at North Carolina State University. He is also past Member of The Year of the Pinehurst Business Guild. With well-rounded experience, knowledge of the profession, and ability to communicate so documented, Richard Mandell is well qualified for any golf course design project set forth.