Rees Jones
Rees Jones was born into the game of golf. He learned to play as a youngster and competed as a junior golfer, in college, and while in the army. He grew up traveling with his family to golf courses all over the world and worked in the summers for his father, renowned golf course architect Robert Trent Jones. After college at Yale and graduate studies at Harvard, he went to work in 1964 as a principal in Robert Trent Jones, Inc. Ten years later he founded his own design firm, Rees Jones, Inc.
In the last 35 years, Rees has become renowned in his own right, designing more than 100 courses, primarily in the United States. He is also well-known for his redesign of courses in preparation for major championships, so much so that his nickname is “The Open Doctor.” His remodeling skills have been applied to seven U.S. Open venues, six PGA Championship courses, four Ryder Cup sites, and one Walker Cup redo, plus an original design for the 2001 Walker Cup. His redesign of East Lake has become the permanent site of the PGA Tour's "Tour Championship".
Among his notable original designs are Nantucket Golf Club, Atlantic Golf Club, The Golf Club at Briar’s Creek, RedStick Golf Club, Ocean Forest Golf Club, Quintero Golf and Country Club, The Bridge and Cascata Golf Course.
“At Rees Jones, Inc., we work to create courses that are fair, challenging, continually interesting to play, and visually exciting. We get a feel for the land, we listen to the client, and we build a course that we believe has integrity and lasting value. Our courses are classic, a blend of traditional design and innovative style. I admire the great old Scottish courses. I was awestruck from the first time I played St. Andrews as a teenager. I am also influenced by the legendary masters of American design, especially those whose courses I have worked to restore. My style is based in this rich tradition. I stood the classic ground two decades ago when penal course designs abounded and contrived features were the order of the day. At the 1988 U.S. Open, the restoration of The Country Club in Brookline proved that a course did not have to have “bells and whistles” to be a champion. I am a purist who adheres to the fundamentals of good design. We do aim to provide variety and interest to the layouts we design. But innovation for the sake of innovation alone is not our style. We put our effort, for instance, into creating a strategic bunker complex to achieve a certain shot value rather than into non-essential features that are “window dressing". Primarily, the style of a course is dictated by the contours of the land. The importance of the visual impact of a golf hole from the tee should never be underestimated. Natural elements are embellished and created elements are made to look natural. Every design is customized to enhance what nature offers, always with a sensitivity to environmental issues.” - Rees Jones
www.reesjonesinc.com