Mike Strantz (May 27, 1955 - June 10, 2005) was an American

golf course architect A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". T ...

based out of

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. In 2000, he was named as one of the "Top 10 Greatest Golf Architects of All Time" by ''

Golfweek ''Golfweek'' is a golf magazine and digital media outlet based in Orlando, Florida, United States. It is part of Gannett's USA Today Network. History and profile The magazine was founded in 1975 by Charley Stine and was originally named ''Florid ...

'' magazine.Hackenberg, Dave. (15 June 2005)
"Inverness' Open prospects not promising"
''

Toledo Blade ''The Blade'', also known as the ''Toledo Blade'', is a newspaper in Toledo, Ohio, published daily online and printed Thursday and Sunday by Block Communications. The newspaper was first published on December 19, 1835. Overview The first issu ...

''. Retrieved July 24, 2012

Life and career

Strantz was born in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

and raised in Walbridge. He graduated from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

in 1978 with a degree in turf grass management. He began his career working on the grounds crew at Inverness Club in Toledo where

Tom Fazio Thomas Fazio (born February 10, 1945) is an American golf course architect. Fazio graduated in 1962 from Lansdale Catholic High School and was inducted into its hall of fame in 2007. He began his career in golf course design with his family's f ...

was preparing the course for the 1979 U.S. Open. Fazio noticed that Strantz had a gift for the work and was invited to join his construction crew in

Hilton Head, South Carolina Hilton Head Island, often referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a Lowcountry resort town and barrier island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. It is northeast of Savannah, Georgia (as the crow flies), and southwest of Charles ...

on Moss Creek Plantation. Strantz continued to work for eight additional years as an on-site designer for Fazio’s Links and Harbour courses at Wild Dunes near Charleston, Lake Nona, Wade Hampton Club, Osprey Point on Kiawah Island and Black Diamond Ranch in Florida among others. In 1987, he left Fazio’s company to oversee the reconstruction of Wild Dunes and for the construction of Dunes West in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. Upon completion of Dunes West, Strantz was hired by Myrtle Beach's Legends Group as Director of Golf Design for their Parkland course. He formed his own design company, Michael Strantz Studios in 1988 where he was free to apply his own design philosophies to forthcoming projects. His first solo project was Caledonia Golf and Fish Club on

Pawleys Island, South Carolina Pawleys Island is a town in Georgetown County, South Carolina, United States, and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast Bar (landform), barrier island on which the town is located. Pawleys Island's population was 103 at the 2010 United States cens ...

in 1993. Strantz designed nine courses: * Caledonia Golf and Fish Club (South Carolina) * True Blue (South Carolina) * Bulls Bay (South Carolina) * Tobacco Road (North Carolina) * Tot Hill Farm (North Carolina) * Royal New Kent (Virginia) * Stonehouse (Virginia)Hackenberg, Dave (April 12, 1997). "Strantz a Top Designer". ''

'', Toledo, Ohio, page GT-8 * Silver Creek Valley (California) * Monterey Peninsula Country Club - Shore Course (California) Strantz's last project before his death from cancer at the age of 50, was the renovation of Monterey Peninsula Country Club Shore Course.Kroichick, Ron (September 2, 2010)
"New course to test Pebble Beach field"
''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

''. Retrieved July 24, 2012 Among his acknowledgments, Strantz was listed as one of the "Top 10 Greatest Golf Architects of All Time" by ''

'' in 2000, and he was earlier described as the "most in-demand course designer in the U.S." by ''

Golf World ''Golf World'' was a weekly magazine covering the game of golf published by Condé Nast. It was in circulation between 1947 and 2014. After that, ''Golf World'' was available in digital form and from May 13, 2019 to April 8, 2022, the brand has b ...

'' in 1989. Three of his courses were listed in the top twenty of '' Golf Digest's'' 2007 list of the 50 toughest golf courses in the US.

References

External links

Michael Strantz Studios
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strantz, Mike 1955 births 2005 deaths Artists from Toledo, Ohio American golf course architects