Arthur Hills

Arthur Hills was born in the Toledo, Ohio, area in 1930. As a boy he created a few rudimentary holes around the family farm by cutting strips of grass with a push mower. That early experiment anticipated his career: architecture grew from observation of land, landscape practice and enjoyment rather than from a closed theory. Hills studied science at Michigan State University, played on its golf team and later trained in landscape architecture at the University of Michigan. He first worked in landscape construction before presenting himself as a golf-course architect in the mid-1960s. A simple advertisement in Toledo’s professional listings produced his first assignments. The practice gradually became one of the most active in the United States. Hills designed more than two hundred new courses and participated in a comparable number of renovation and masterplanning projects. The Golf Club of Georgia, Bighorn, Bay Harbor, Bonita Bay, Palmetto Dunes and Hyatt Hill Country are among the better-known associations. The portfolio includes private clubs, public facilities, resorts and residential communities. Hills pursued golf that appeared natural, remained strategic and accommodated different standards of player. Difficulty should not depend solely on length. Fairways generally follow land movement, bunkers frame rather than completely close playing lines, and greens can be approached from more than one angle. Elite golfers should find tactical decisions while less powerful players retain a realistic route. He was also an early environmental advocate. Several projects were among the first Audubon Signature Sanctuary courses. This did not mean an absence of intervention, but an effort to balance playing areas, habitat, drainage and water management. Arthur Hills died on 18 May 2021 at the age of ninety-one. His legacy should be read as that of a collective firm continued by Steve Forrest, Shawn Smith and other associates. He left architecture less provocative than Pete Dye’s, but frequently durable, elegant and closely suited to the daily life of clubs.