January 23, 2004

By: Wayne Guest
Website: http://www.1st-in-golf.com

Raymond Hearn earns Golf Digest’s second straight Top 10 affordable ranking

Bucking a golf industry trend toward downsizing and contraction, Raymond Hearn / Paul Albanese Golf Course Designs, Inc., Inc., has announced the opening of a new office in Florida to spearhead company directives in the southeast United States. The Detroit area-based design firm will begin operations at its new Port St. Lucie, Florida location in January 2002, according to company founder Ray Hearn.

"We’re excited about the opportunities in that part of the country and opening an office in Florida signifies our commitment to doing quality design and restoration work in Florida, Georgia, Alabama and the Carolinas," says Hearn. "Our firm’s reputation is starting to be recognized in those states and we think we can have a profound impact on the golf industry there, both in terms of new work and the redesign and updating of existing facilities."

Hearn’s meteoric rise in the golf industry actually dates back more than twenty years, when he won an Evans Scholarship from the Western Golf Association to study golf course and landscape architecture at Michigan State University. After starting his own golf architecture firm six years ago he’s designed or overseen construction of new projects in his native Michigan, Illinois, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut and Kentucky.

"When I first began my company, it was a little daunting to know I was competing for work against some of the most famous names in golf. But we’ve worked diligently to convince our clients that planning and attention to detail is everything in golf course design," says Hearn. "Some people think attaching the name of a big-name PGA Tour player to a project can make all problems disappear. But we’ve proven to course owners and operators engineering and environmental considerations are equally important as aesthetics and artistic expression. Giving a celebrity a huge fee to make a few site visits doesn’t ensure your course will be built to last."

For now, supervision of the Port St. Lucie office will fall to Hearn and new Partner (Former senior designer) Paul Albanese (BS - Cornell & MLA - Harvard), with more staff to be added in south Florida later in 2002. "Paul’s work on our projects has been invaluable from the start," says Hearn. "He and I have spent a lot of time in the southeast during the last few years and we’ve already targeted several projects there."

One of the younger members of the prestigious American Society of Golf Course Architects, Ray Hearn has designed such courses as Mistwood Golf Course in Romeoville, Illinois, The Traditions of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, and Sea Oaks Country Club in Little Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey. In addition, Hearn has designed six other courses in Michigan, and has authored redesign work at some of the top private clubs in the Detroit area, including Orchard Lake Country Club in Orchard Lake, Red Run Golf Club in Southfield and Tam O’Shanter Country Club in West Bloomfield.

In addition to his membership in the ASGCA, Ray Hearn is a member of the USGA, NGF, Michigan Turfgrass Foundation, the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and the Michigan Golf Course Owners Association. An honors graduate of Michigan State in 1983 with degrees in Turfgrass Science and Landscape Architecture, he’s part of the instruction staff that teaches a design class each year through MSU entitled "Golf Course Architecture in the British Isles" held on location in Great Britain and Ireland. Also see: golf apparel.

Author Notes:

Wayne Guest contributes and publishes news editorial to http://www.1st-in-golf.com.  A source of information on golf equipment, golf manufacturers, supplies, tips and more.