🏗️ Women Golf Course Architects: Designing the Game’s Landscape

Historical Narrative

Golf courses are more than playing fields — they are cultural landscapes shaped by imagination, strategy, and connection to nature. Yet for much of history, the art and science of golf-course design was viewed as a male domain.

Hidden in the margins, however, are women whose creative and analytical vision helped define how golf is played and experienced.

The story begins in 1904 with Ida Dixon, a Philadelphia socialite who designed the Springhaven Club layout — making her the first known female golf-course architect.

In 1920s Britain, Molly Gourlay, an accomplished golfer and assistant to Tom Simpson, became Europe’s first woman to work professionally in course design.

Meanwhile in the United States, Marion Hollins — champion amateur, developer, and visionary — financed and co-created masterpieces such as Cypress Point and Pasatiempo, influencing Alister MacKenzie himself.

By mid-century, Alice Dye redefined the profession. Known as the “First Lady of Golf Architecture,” she championed fair play for women and introduced the concept of forward tees — a quiet revolution that changed how millions experience the game.

From the 1980s onward, women such as Jan Beljan, Kari Haug, and Giulia Ferroni brought professional design credentials, environmental awareness, and research-based inclusivity to the field.