Course Architect
World-renowned Course Designer Arthur Hills
Crafted Course at Longaberger
Over the past 40 years, famed architect Arthur Hills of Ohio has been winning national recognition for his golf courses, including the outstanding layout at Longaberger Golf Club, built in 1999.
To date, Arthur Hills has designed over 150 courses and has renovated more than 100. Three classic courses that have hosted major championships were designed by Arthur Hills. Hills was instrumental in guiding Oakmont and Oakland Hills through renovations to prepare for the U.S. Open in 1994 and 1996. He played a similar role with Inverness Club in preparation for the 1993 PGA Championship.
In 1992, Golf Digest honored Hills by naming The Golf Club of Georgia (Atlanta) and Harbour Pointe (Seattle) as “Best New Private Course” and “Best New Public Course” of 1991. Longaberger Golf Club was named "America's Best New Upscale Public Course of 2000" by Golf Digest.
In 1995, Collier’s Reserve Golf Club (Naples, Fla.) became the first course in the world to receive the Audubon International Cooperative Sanctuary Signature status. Also in 1995, Golf Digest named The Thoroughbred at Double JJ Resort (Rothbury, Mich.), one of America’s Top Three “Best New Resort” courses and The Sanctuary Golf Club (Sanibel Island, Florida) as one of the top 10 “Best New Private” courses of 1994.
The Champions in Lexington is ranked No. 1 in Kentucky and played host to the 1993 Men’s NCAA Championship and 1994 USGA Senior Amateur Championship. Bighorn Golf Club (Palm Desert, Calif.) hosted the nationally-televised Skins Game from 1992 to 1994. The Golf Club of Georgia is the home of the Nationwide Championship on the Senior PGA Tour while Egypt Valley Country Club (Grand Rapids, Mich.) annually hosts the First of America Classic PGA Senior Tour event.
Hills courses in Palmetto Dunes and Palmetto Hall Plantation are two of Hilton Head Island’s outstanding courses. Bonita Bay’s Bay Island course (Bonita Springs, Fla.) ranked among Golf Magazine's Top 100 Courses in the United States from 1987 through 1995. The TPC at Eagle Trace (Coral Springs, Fla.) is ranked among the top 10 courses in Florida. The Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort (San Antonio) was named one of the “Top Ten Best New Public Courses” by Golf Magazine in 1994.
What makes a great golf course architect? “Education, a good knowledge and appreciation of the game, a sense of golf’s history and plenty of energy,” says Hills and he adds “an accommodating family, no aversion to travel, an ability to get along with people and some artistic aptitude.”
Hills graduated from Michigan State University in 1953 with a degree in horticulture. He was a member of the MSU varsity golf team. After service with the U.S. Armed Forces, he obtained his Landscape Architecture degree from the University of Michigan.
One of Hill’s greatest honors came in 1990 when both universities hired him to renovate their respective courses.
Arthur Hills and Associates is a full service golf course architectural firm located in Toledo, Ohio.
