2003 Ad

Golf Digest, Jan, 2004 by Ron Whitten

ON THE TEE

ARCHITECT OF THE YEAR JIM ENGH

AGE 45

HOME CASTLE ROCK, COLO.

When a golf course architect sits atop the charts for three years running, it's time to take notice, especially when his name isn't Tom Fazio.

Since 2001 Jim Engh has designed a trio of Golf Digest's America's Best New courses, the most by any architect. His 2003 winner (see page 86) makes him the hottest designer and helped earn him the honor of being named Golf Digest's first Architect of the Year.

In 2001 his Golf Club at Redlands Mesa in Grand Junction, Colo., won Best New Affordable Public. In 2002 his Tullymore Golf Club in Stanwood, Mich., won Best New Upscale Public. And in 2003 Engh earned Best New Private with The Club at Black Rock in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, edging a Tom Fazio course.

That raises Engh's total to four Best New honors since 1997, when his first American design, Sanctuary in Sedalia, Colo., won Best New Private. Fazio leads with 10 Best New titles since 1987 and last won in 1999.

Engh, a North Dakota native who ghost-authored European designs for Bernhard Langer in the 1980s, has a vivid imagination, a technician's training and some of the most detailed blueprints in the business. Plus, the man can flat out play (2.3 Handicap Index). He's an unabashed basher who consistently drives a golf ball more than 300 yards, not just in high-altitude Colorado but in long-drive competitions.

"I know we have to please golfers the first time out," Engh says, "but I also try to design other levels into our courses so that you'll learn something new about every hole every time you play it."