About Ryan

Ryan first entered the golf industry in 2005 working on the maintenance crews of two Pittsburgh area clubs, Chartiers Country Club and Oakmont Country Club. He went to school at Arizona State and graduated with a degree in Landscape Architecture. Since then, he has been working for various architects at a number of prestigious courses like: The Sheep Ranch at Bandon Dunes, Sand Valley, Rock Creek Cattle Co., Pinehurst #4, and the restorations of Merion, Oakmont, and Southern Hills. In 2014 Ryan completed his first golf course design (as a Lead Designer with Schmidt-Curley) in the sand dunes of the Gobi Desert. The course, Dalu Dunes, was China's first, true inland links and was featured on the cover of Golf Course Architecture Magazine.

Where I Have Worked

Coore & Crenshaw / Shaper

April 2015 – Present

Ryan Farrow has been working with the firm of Coore & Crenshaw since 2015 where he started working with the company at the Sand Valley Golf Course in central Wisconsin. He helped build the first 18 hole golf course and returned in 2017 to complete a 17 hole par 3 course called the Sand Box. This marks a return to the field and day to day construction work for Ryan since getting his start in the business with a construction internship for Tom Doak in 2007. Ryan also helped Coore & Crenshaw with shaping work at Farmington Country Club in Virginia and joined the crew on site to finish their new course at Big Cedar Lodge in Branson, Missouri. Daily activities for Coore & Crenshaw focus on the rough and finish shaping shaping of golf features including greens and tees with a primary focus on bunker construction. Ryan also played a large role in the manipulation of out of play areas into golf friendly contouring, dunes construction, and sand barrens restoration at the Sand Valley project. 

Projects (as shaper):

• Sand Valley Golf Resort - Rome, WI (2015-2016)

• Farmington Country Club - Charlottesville, VA (2016)

• The Sandbox (Par 3 Course) At Sand Valley - Rome, WI (2017)

• Ozark National @ Big Cedar Lodge - Branson, MO (2017)

• Oakmont Country Club - Pittsburgh, PA (2018)

• The Sheep Ranch - Bandon, OR (2019)

• Brambles - Middletown, CA (2020-2021)

Hanse Golf Design / Shaper

April 2018 – October 2018

Ryan Farrow worked with the construction arm of Hanse Golf Design, Caveman Construction, throughout 2018. Ryan had intended to start his post college career with Gil Hanse and was preliminarily slated to work on a project in Canada that never materialized because of environmental permitting delays and the onset of the 2007 financial crisis. Almost 10 years later, Ryan joined up with the team in the final stages of construction on the Pinehurst #4 remodel, working along the Caveman and Partners Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner. Daily activities for Caveman Construction focused on the rough and finish shaping of golf features including bunkers, green surrounds, and tees. In June, Ryan travelled back to his home state of Pennsylvania to work at Merion Golf Club. The primary focus of work at Merion was to rebuild all of the tee boxes while preserving the unique shapes and contours of Merion's historic grounds. The work later expanded to include the restoration of a dozen fairway bunkers throughout the course. Ryan capped off the year by working for a month at Southern Hills Country Club to help restore bunkers and creeks at the famed Perry Maxwell design.

Projects (As Shaper):

• Pinehurst #4 - Pinehurst, NC (2018)

• Merion Golf Club - Haverford, PA (2018)

• Southern Hills Country Club - Tulsa, OK (2018)

• Oakland Hills Country Club - Bloomfield Hills, MI (2020)

Schmidt-Curley Design / Design Associate

June 2008 – September 2014

Upon graduation at Arizona State, Ryan accepted a position as Design Associate for Schmidt-Curley in Scottsdale, Arizona. After a year in the U.S. office, He moved to Haikou, China to help oversee the design and construction of a 22 course resort on Hainan Island for the Mission Hills Group. After a year of construction, the project was slimmed down into a more modest, 10 course resort where he was responsible for coordinating design plans and monitoring construction until completion in 2011. Since that time, he has been involved with various projects on mainland China, making site visits around the country to oversee construction, meet prospective clients, photograph courses, accompany journalist , and perform daily office tasks including plan production and graphic presentations. During that time, he was afforded the opportunity to meet and work with the likes of Greg Norman, Hank Haney, John Henebry, Joe Passov, Darius Oliver, various representatives from the PGA Tour and even caddied for Ryder Cup captain, Paul McGinley during a Pro-Am event in 2012. The experience gained since his first visit to China in 2009 led way to Ryan's first golf course design with Schmidt-Curley Principal, Lee Schmidt at Dalu Dunes Golf Course in Inner Mongolia, China. 

Featured Projects (As Design Associate):

• Mission Hills Haikou (10 Courses) - Hainan, China (2009-2012)

• Mission Hills Shenzhen (Rose-Poulter Course Renovation) - Shenzhen, China (2013)

• Lihu Cold Springs - Hainan, China (2012-2013)

• Muse Lake - Hainan, China (2011-2013)

• Sun Hill at Fuxian Lake - Kunming, China (2011-2012)

Featured Projects (As Lead Designer):

• Dalu Dunes - Inner Mongolia, China (2013-2014)

John Fought Design / Design Assistant

September 2007 – April 2008

While finishing his degree in Landscape Architecture Ryan worked part time for John Fought Design in Scottsdale, Arizona. This was his first experience working in a design office, gaining valuable experience in preparing construction documents including grading, drainage, & cut/fill plans. He also created colored master plans, before & after Photoshop renderings, and various graphic presentations.

Renaissance Golf  / Construction Intern

May 2007 – August 2007

In the summer of 2007 Ryan accepted a construction internship for Renaissance Golf Design after completing a competition and phone interview with Tom Doak. The internship took place at Rock Creek Cattle Company in Deer Lodge, Montana where he worked on various construction related activities, primarily the finish shaping of tee boxes and bunkers. This served as Ryan's introduction to the golf course construction/design industry. 

Oakmont Country Club / Grounds Crew

June 2006 – August 2006

A year prior to the 2007 US Open Ryan lobbied for a position on the green staff at Oakmont Country Club. Superintendent, John Zimmers graciously accommodated his request in which he spent a full summer learning from one of the top maintenance crews in the world. Ryan gained a greater understanding of the day to day tasks associated with a top 100 golf course and was able to see the preparation work involved in hosting a major tournament. More than anything, he was afforded the opportunity to study the intricacies in Oakmont's greens, bunkers, and fairways which helped form some of the architectural philosophies he follows to this day.

Chartiers Country Club / Grounds Crew

June 2005 – August 2005

After switching career paths from graphic design to golf course design, Ryan sought out a position in golf course maintenance as an introduction to the golf industry. He gained valuable experience working on an early 1920's Willie Park Jr. design in Pittsburgh where he developed an understanding of the daily operations performed by the maintenance staff.

Education

BSLA, Landscape Architecture

2004-2008

After a brief semester in the graphic design program at ASU Ryan switched majors to Landscape Architecture in order to pursue a career in Golf Architecture. While at school, he completed an independent study in Golf Course Design with the help of Schmidt-Curley Design Associate, Patrick Burton. Ryan received credits for the work completed under Patrick's  guidance as well as earning college credit for completing an internship program by working on a Tom Doak design in western Montana. Although Ryan followed a strict Landscape Architecture curriculum, he took advantage of the vast range of resources provided by Arizona State, reading all of the classic books available, from the likes of: Alister Mackenzie, George Thomas, A.W. Tillinghast, and Robert Hunter. In 2008 Ryan received a Foundation Scholarship from the Golf Course Builders Association of America during his Senior year. As a student of the game, Ryan continues to seek out courses and publications (new and old), to better understand historic and contemporary golf design.