Arthur Hills: The Underrated Master of American Golf Design

Arthur Hills (1930-2021) built more than 200 golf courses across the United States and abroad in a career that stretched from 1967 into his eighties. His firm, Hills, Smith & Forrest, was based in Toledo, Ohio -- and while peers like Pete Dye attracted more headlines, Hills' work reached deeper into the American landscape. Stymie Golf counts 148 Hills-designed courses across 27 states, ranging from Florida and South Carolina to Michigan, California, and Utah.

A Classical Approach

Hills trained at Michigan State, the University of Michigan, and the University of Toledo. His design philosophy drew heavily from the great classical courses he admired: Pinehurst No. 2, Cypress Point, Prairie Dunes, Seminole, Inverness. "My design philosophy comes from a very traditional or historic approach to the game," he said. That reverence showed up in how he worked: designing from the green complex back to the tee, rather than from tee to green. Angles into greens, shot placement, and what he called "the strategy of the game" guided his layouts before aesthetics did.

Hills was also disciplined about land use. He prioritized routing that minimized earth moving, working with existing terrain rather than manufacturing drama. His greens tended to be gently plateaued, his fairways framed by natural vegetation. The result was courses that aged well -- demanding without being theatrical, and consistent in their character from front nine to back.

Midwest Roots, National Reach

Hills' deepest roots were in Ohio and Michigan. His first design, Brandywine Country Club in Maumee, Ohio, opened in 1967. He went on to design 17 courses in Michigan and 9 in Ohio, and his partnerships in the region produced some of his most celebrated work.

The Arthur Hills Course at Boyne Highlands Resort in Harbor Springs, Michigan is widely considered among his finest -- a 36-hole facility in the northern Michigan highlands that rewards strategic play and showcases his green-first philosophy. Bay Harbor Golf Club in Bay Harbor, Michigan is a 27-hole layout that draws from the dramatic bluffs and shoreline of Little Traverse Bay.

In South Carolina, Cedar Creek Golf Club in Aiken and Coosaw Creek Country Club near Charleston represent his residential course work in the Southeast -- courses built into the Lowcountry landscape that have remained popular public-access options since the early 1990s. On the West Coast, Black Gold Golf Club in Yorba Linda, California, opened in 2001 and stands as one of his later-career originals, a public course built on former oil fields with a slope rating of 150 from the tips.

Tournament Pedigree and Major Renovations

Twenty-eight Hills-designed courses have hosted USGA, PGA Tour, LPGA, NCAA, and PGA of America events. His renovation resume was equally significant: Congressional, Oakmont, Oakland Hills, and Inverness are among the historic clubs that brought Hills in to refine or restore their layouts. That kind of trust -- being asked to work on courses of that stature -- speaks to how the golf establishment viewed his judgment and sensitivity to historic design.

Hills was also an environmental pioneer. He designed the first Audubon Signature Sanctuary-certified golf courses in the United States, Mexico, and Europe -- an early advocate for integrating ecological responsibility into golf course design before it became standard practice.

Recognition and Legacy

Hills served as president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects and was named ASGCA Architect of the Year in both 1991 and 1998. Boardroom Magazine gave him the same honor in 2002. He was inducted into the Ohio Golf Hall of Fame in 1993. A coffee-table book, "The Works of Art," documents the breadth of his portfolio.

His partners Steve Forrest and Shawn Smith continued the firm after Hills stepped back from active design. Forrest, who worked alongside Hills for 42 years, described him as "a distinguished professional practitioner and humble gentleman" -- a mentor whose commitment to craft never faded. Hills passed away on May 18, 2021, at age 91.

For golfers who have played a Hills course without knowing it -- the routing that fit the land a little too naturally, the green that demanded the right approach angle, the par-3 that stuck in memory -- that is the fingerprint he left. Across 148 courses and 27 states on Stymie alone, it is a fingerprint worth recognizing.

View all courses by Arthur Hills on Stymie