David McLay Kidd

David McLay Kidd was born in Glasgow in 1967 and grew up within Scottish golf. His father Jimmy Kidd managed courses and maintenance at Gleneagles, giving him early exposure to soils, turf and presentation. He studied landscape and joined Donald Steel’s practice, participating in British and international assignments. The apprenticeship combined links tradition with professional planning. Before the age of thirty, Mike Keiser selected Kidd to design the first course at Bandon Dunes on the Oregon coast. Opened in 1999, it helped launch a new American destination model based on walking, wind, firmness and the absence of real estate along the holes. Bandon gave Kidd international recognition and showed that Scottish spirit could be interpreted without literal imitation. Queenwood, Nanea, Machrihanish Dunes, the Castle Course at St Andrews and Tetherow followed. Some courses from this period were criticised for severe slopes and excessive difficulty. Kidd has acknowledged that his philosophy evolved. Gamble Sands and Mammoth Dunes express broader, more generous and playful architecture, with enormous fairways, accessible greens and multiple routes. The objective became more explicitly enjoyment and replay value. Kidd works intensively in the field with shaping teams and focuses on bounce and roll. His strongest courses use expressive landforms without prescribing a single path. Exaggerated scale serves freedom and spectacle rather than punishment alone. A living architect, he represents a Scottish generation that became global. His career is also notable for willingness to revise his own convictions. From Bandon to Mammoth Dunes, his work shifted from creating an impressive test toward a more enjoyable and inclusive experience. Because a complete birth date is not established in public institutional sources, this profile records the generally cited year and birthplace.