Email: timliddy@me.com     Phone: 765.744.9696

Current Work

PGA West - Mountain and Dunes Course La Quinta, California

Since opening in 1980 and 1981 these iconic Pete Dye greens on the Mountain and Dunes golf courses at PGA West had lost much of their character, losing their shape, size and definition. Tim led a restoration project to return the golf course greens back to their original glory.

The restoration was handled with great care and precision. Likened to an archaeological project uncovering many of the original aspects of the greens. Restoring them to their original size, shape and contour immediately brought back the wonderful sculptured quality of these unique set of greens. The work was performed by carefully hand digging around the bunkers and greens to discover the original green shapes and perimeters. Turf was then removed as well as layers of organic material which had built up over many years. The result of this careful restoration was immediate. Its former glory has been restored and the golf course’s unique greens are now resonating. The golf courses are planned to reopen in the Fall of 2023.

Golf Courses by Timothy Liddy

Selected Works

Rock Hollow Golf Club, Peru, Indiana

Built within an abandoned gravel quarry, Rock Hollow was ranked by Golf Digest as the 8th best new public golf course in America in 1996. The golf course has continued to receive awards throughout the 20+ years of being family owned and operated. Rock Hollow is currently ranked by Golf Magazine as one of the top 10 best courses in Indiana.

The Duke’s St Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland

A recent photo of the thirteenth taken by The Duke’s St Andrews. The tee shot offers an expansive view over St Andrews and the North Sea. We remodeled the golf course in 2006 adding a new routing, new bunkers and several new greens as on this iconic 13th par 4 of 424 yards. It is annually recognized as one of the best golf courses in Scotland.

Harrison Lake Country Club, Columbus, Indiana

Photos by Griffin Haddad showing a few of the newly remodeled greens (#18, #13, #2 and #14) on Harrison Lake Country Club in Columbus, Indiana. It was completed in 2022.

Princess Anne Country Club, Virginian Beach, Virginia

Princess Anne Country Club in Virginia Beach, Virginia was remodeled with emphasis on classic design elements and strategic elements.  Iconic views out to the surrounding ocean inlets were reestablished on several golf holes. In 2020 it was ranked one of GOLF Magazine’s Top 25 Exemplary Sub-6,000-Yard Courses in the world. It ranked eighth of the “Best New Remodels” by Golf Digest in 2009 with The Virginia Senior Amateur Championship held the same year.

Trophy Club, Lebanon, Indiana

Trophy Club Golf Course built as a new 18 hole golf course and practice range for a private owner in 1996.  Located 15 miles north of Indianapolis, it is consistently rated among the top golf courses in Indiana and top public golf courses (with a green fee under $50) in the nation.

The Trophy Club is a 4 1/2 star (Golf Digest Places to Play), par 72 design plays at 7,317 yards from the back tees. It has received numerous awards including "America's 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses" from Golf Digest in 2004, # 4 Best Course in Indiana in 2001, and # 4 Best New Public course in America (Golf Digest 1999). The Trophy Cub has played host to the 2002 Indiana Women's Golf Association Match Play Championship, the 2001 Indiana State Open, the 2001 Indiana PGA Senior Championship, the 1999 Indianapolis Open and the 1999 Indiana PGA Senior Open.

Marshwood Golf Course, The Landings, Skidaway Island, Georgia

Timothy Liddy remolded this original Arnold Palmer design in 2003 for the Landings Company on Skidaway Island, Georgia. A entirely new golf course was designed and constructed with new drainage, grassing, greens, bunkers and tees. Extensive meetings with the membership in the development of the Master Plan for the golf course was an essential part of the success of this project.

“The Marshwood Course combines many of the best elements of the other five courses. First of all, aesthetically, it has some of the better views of the marshes that envelop much of Skidaway Island, like on No. 2, where the green at the par 5 is framed beautifully by the ever-changing marsh colors. The greens are some of the best on the island, and some are huge and multi-tiered, with well-crafted slope and undulation.

What sets Marshwood apart are the mounds that border and influence many of the green surrounds. You don't have to fire at the flag repeatedly; you can use the mounds and humps around the greens to funnel your approach shots toward the hole. It can be a blast when you wield your 7-iron like a pool cue.”

"Marshwood is a fun golf course to play," Head Professional Jim Hazel said. "It's got a good mixture of long and short holes and it gets you out by the marsh. To me, it's one of my favorites."

Shepherd's Rock, Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, Farmland, Pennsylvania

Shepherd's Rock is a new 18 hole golf course opened last year at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort. Located atop the Allegheny Mountains, this is the par 3, 165 yard 12th golf hole. Tim Liddy was co-designer with Pete Dye.

The 16th at the Estuary Golf Course, Grey Oaks Country Club in Naples, Florida remodeled by Timothy Liddy + Associates in 2017.

Golf Hole #10 at Ford Plantation in Savannah, Georgia (Project architect for Pete Dye). We remodeled the golf course in 2013. It was recognized as one of the best new courses by Golf Digest in 2014.

Golf Hole #9 at Colleton River Club, Beaufort, South Carolina (photo by Jake Williams) We remodeled the golf course, restoring bunkers throughout the Pete Dye design. The work received an American Society of Golf Course Architects Design Excellence Recognition Award.

Our Philosophy - Lessons from the Links

Although many Americans profess a huge love for links golf and the traditional game the Scots gave to the world more than half a millennium ago, the simple truth is that very few of us actually understand what it is or how to fully appreciate it. Few have any idea of just how important it is to the game of golf. This become very clear to me while working in Scotland on the renovation of The Dukes, St Andrews.

An increased exposure enabled me to see the relevance of links golf to the game on a wider front. It is one thing to feel the firm turf under foot; it’s quite another to experience a well-executed iron shot as the feeling travels up from the fingertips, through the hands and arms and directly into the soul.

Ecology

On ecological grounds, links golf has much to teach us. In terms of sustainable maintenance practices at an affordable level that’s playable for all levels of golfers, America, I am sorry to say, is lagging far behind. We still routinely irrigate over a million gallons a day on many of our golf courses. We judge golf maintenance on a ‘scale of green’ (i.e. Augusta National). We have reached the point, in my view, where many searching questions now have to be asked: Is this high maintenance, artificial form of the game sustainable? Is American golf now too expensive as a result? 

Ironically, being ‘green’ in golf is not the same as being “green” ecoologically. In America, dormant Bermudagrass in the South is the closet playing condition to links turf.  Yet while we continually profess to want to emulate Scottish or Irish links golf we consistently over-seed dormant Bermuda to achieve soft, green conditions for the winter golfer. It’s an expensive and grotesquely wasteful use of resources.

Sustainability

“Sustainability” should be the new buzzword for golf in the United States. Links courses have been sustainable for centuries, requiring little or no water, low fertilization and low maintenance costs. This explains why Scotland still enjoys inexpensive golf. Golf would not be the national pastime it is in Scotland if it were expensive.

Which begs another question: how much is a round of golf actually worth? $50? $100? $200? If we followed the example of links golf courses our maintenance cost would be shrink dramatically. Development of golf courses would cost less. Green fees would drop significantly. The benefits to the environment would be considerable.

The agronomics of links turf are pretty impressive: dry, lean and firm. The ecology demonstrates proper maintenance practices developed over many centuries. There is no Poa trivialis on a links golf course (Poa being symptomatic of too much irrigation and fertilization). Poa trivialis, an annual bluegrass, is prominent in over-watered golf courses in America. It invades when superintendents, fearful for their jobs, over water their golf courses in an attempt to keep their courses ‘Augusta’ green and their members living an egotistical and unsustainable dream. Such a defensive maintenance regime allows Poa to overtake the drought tolerant bents originally planted. Once the Poa is established the superintendent is stuck with over watering to keep alive what is essentially a weed.

Playability

Playability for all levels of golfers is an important characteristic of a links course. Golf on the ground was an integral part of the design strategy of the early links layouts. The ability to play golf “more on the ground” and “less in the air” adds greatly to the enjoyment of the game for the average player. It offers more options for the better player. 

Yardage means nothing as the variable wind and firm conditions provide a test that differs every day.  Five sets of tees are not needed because yardage differences are not as important without the forced carries and target golf so prevalent in the modern U.S.-led version of the game.

For example, the Old Course at St Andrews, set up for the dry conditions of the 2000 Open, included fairways that in some cases rolled faster than the greens. These conditions defended the golf course against the power hitters. Tee shots traveled to the edges of the fairways where serious hazards awaited and approach shots to firm greens had to be played from the right place. Course management was crucial.

At its best, golf is a chess game with different pieces and a different board every day. It requires as much, and perhaps more, skill and strategy than power. In America, by contrast, we fly the ball to the green, making golf a one-dimensional game.

To remain relevant, golf in America must take on its competition. Golf can offer solitude and natural elegance against the crass modern society, a private experience instead of mass media. But we need to stop building artificial golf courses, with cart paths, range finders and yardage markers. If we drive our golf cart and play to yardages all day, why not just play to targets on a range?  What is the difference?

Exercise, Physical and Mental Health benefits

To compete in today’s society, golf needs to offer the antithesis of today’s society, not a reflection of it. Links golf courses provide the natural, sustainable model for a healthy outdoor exercise.  

Links-inspired golf, is the principal of working with nature, not against it. It’s become increasingly vital to the future of golf in America that we understand the underlying message and act upon it before it is too late.