Bruce Borland (November 4, 1958 – October 25, 1999) was an American

golf course 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 teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

designer who worked for

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (; born January 21, 1940), nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is an American retired professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greate ...

. He died in the 1999 South Dakota Learjet crash on October 25, 1999, while traveling with golf

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

Payne Stewart William Payne Stewart (January 30, 1957 – October 25, 1999) was an American professional golfer who won 11 PGA Tour events, including three major championships, the last of which came just a few months before his death in an airplane acciden ...

Early life and education

Borland was raised in the

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...

, area. He took a fascination with golf at an early age, building and maintaining a

putting green 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 ...

in his parents' backyard, tending to it meticulously. Borland went on to graduate from the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

, with a degree in

Landscape Architecture Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...

Career

After graduation, he moved to the Chicago area and began designing golf courses for several firms. In 1989, Borland opened his own design firm, ProDesign, just a year later he was offered a design position with Jack Nicklaus at Golden Bear International. Borland worked on many of the famous Jack Nicklaus "Signature" golf courses, as well as other stateside and Indonesian courses. Over his career, Borland designed or worked on several golf courses.

Death

In 1999, Borland was killed in a Learjet 35 with Payne Stewart while flying from

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

, to

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, before the Tour Championship. He died of hypoxia, a lack of oxygen, before the plane crashed.

References

External links

US NTSB Report on airplane crash
1958 births 1999 deaths American golf course architects Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1999 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States University of Illinois College of Fine and Applied Arts alumni Artists from Peoria, Illinois Deaths from hypoxia Accidental deaths in South Dakota {{US-golf-bio-stub