DeVries Designs provides a full complement of golf course architecture services to its clients: golf course design, construction management, and shaping of detail features.

We are dedicated to being on-site and involved in the design and construction process to give our clients the best solution for their project. The ability to be on-site throughout the process allows for a quick response to unforeseen circumstances and is more cost efficient by being able to react to the evolution of the design.

Kingsley1

Kingsley Kingsley, Michigan

Meadow Club1

Greywalls Marquette, Michigan

Meadow Club1

Mines Grand Rapids, Michigan

  • Previous course
  • Next course

Design

DeVries Designs spends a great deal of time understanding a site in order to react to its inherent qualities and to create a unique golf course that offers great variety and is fun to play. By responding to the landscape, we develop a course that is symbiotic with the natural systems and will be more sustainable and easier to maintain. To carry out this ideal, we actually construct the golf course’s greens and bunkers so we can continuously refine the design as new challenges and opportunities are discovered along the way. The evolution of the design is not complete until the last shovel of dirt is smoothed out and every seed is sown.

Golf courses must have a rhythm and flow across the landscape to develop sequences of holes that work together to tell a story and give the player a chance to experience the land, not just one shot at a time but a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. This comprehensive philosophy to designing a golf experience leads to years of enjoyment and continuing development and pleasure for the golfer. DeVries Designs endeavors to do that with every project.

Explore the Courses section for our complete portfolio

Renovation

Work on existing golf courses requires patience and understanding to ensure that damage is not inflicted on the golf course. Clubs often look for change, frequently in the guise of staying current with the latest golf design trends, but careful deliberation is appropriate.

DeVries Designs’ approach to work on existing courses is to first understand the history of the course. This helps determine whether there is a need to restore historically significant or unique features and to develop a philosophy that will guide the golf course in the years to come. From this, a long range plan for the golf course is developed, providing a solid foundation that will prioritize what should be restored, renovated, or altered, and when it should be undertaken.

View Meadow Club in our Courses section for a Renovation Case Study

Sunningdale3

Sunningdale Country Club Scarsdale, New York

Sunningdale1

Sunningdale Country Club Scarsdale, New York

Walnut1

Walnut Hills Country Club East Lansing, Michigan

  • Previous course
  • Next course

DeVries Designs takes seriously the responsibility of maintaining the integrity of the following distinguished golf courses:

  • Meadow ClubFairfax, California

    Alister MacKenzie’s first design in North America is set in a high mountain meadow in Marin county, just north of San Francisco, California. A Long Range Restoration Plan was completed in 2000 to restore the course's distinctive MacKenzie features which had been lost due to economics, typical maintenance, and changing use patterns. Each year, two to five holes were restored back to their original dimensions with the flair that MacKenzie brought to this dramatic golf setting. Construction was done in-house under the direction of Mike DeVries and superintendent David Sexton.

  • St. Charles Country ClubWinnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    A new Short Game Practice Facility was constructed in 2000. A Long Range Master Plan assessment of the golf course has been completed with the goal to restore and maintain the distinction of the club’s three nines, one designed by Alister MacKenzie, one by Donald Ross, and one by Norman Woods. Restoration of some greens and bunkers, along with a major drainage network, has been completed on the MacKenzie nine, mowing contours have been adjusted, and selective tree cutting and relocation has been implemented.

  • Sunningdale Country ClubScarsdale, New York

    A Long Range Golf Course Improvement Plan for the renovation of this fine course, set amongst the rolling countryside of Westchester County. Originally designed by Seth Raynor, and subsequently modified by Walter Travis, A.W. Tillinghast, and others, Sunningdale occupies great ground and the intent is to allow those features to bring out the best traditional golf course possible. So far, holes 5, 6, 7, 11, and 12, plus the tees on #13 tees and 14 green, have been renovated. Continuing projects will be addressed as capital allows.

  • Siwanoy Country ClubBronxville, New York

    A Long Range Golf Course Improvement Plan for the renovation of this Donald Ross course was completed in 2007. Restoration of lost flagstick locations, re-establishment of traditional mowing patterns, bunker reconstruction, and tree and water management will be the main actions in restoring this classic golf course, site of the first PGA Championship in 1916 and home course of Jess Sweetser, US and British Amateur champion in the 1920’s.

  • Redlands Country ClubRedlands, California

    A Long Range Golf Course Improvement Plan for the renovation of this Norman Macbeth course has been completed. Construction of an irrigation pond, in conjunction with the re-routing and renovation of several holes and the driving range, has been completed.

  • Walloon Lake Country ClubPetoskey, Michigan

    Renovation of the first green and second tees, along with selective tree removals, was accomplished in Fall, 2005. A Long Range Golf Course Improvement Plan for the renovation of this old northern Michigan golf course was completed in 2009. Phasing of the plan to allow golf to be played continuously is being coordinated with the club.

  • Walnut Hills Country ClubEast Lansing, Michigan

    A Long Range Golf Course Improvement Plan was completed in 2001. The green and fairway mowing patterns have been adjusted to reflect the traditional nature of the course and a complete bunker renovation was carried out from late 2002 to early 2003. Tree management and drainage in critical areas are the main issues to contend with in the future.

  • Boyne USABig Sky, Montana/Petoskey, Michigan

    In 2008, Boyne USA, the ski and golf resort company based in northern Michigan, hired DeVries Designs to do Long Range Golf Course Improvement Plans for two of their courses: the Big Sky Golf Course at the Big Sky Resort in Big Sky, Montana, and the Moor Course at Boyne Highlands Resort in Petoskey, Michigan. Both courses are 30-35 years old and have been affected by encroaching residential development and changing technology. A full analysis of the golf courses looked at the rejuvenation and renovation of features, equipment, and holes to best serve the needs of the resorts and their golf patrons.