Jay Morrish

Jay Morrish was born in 1936 and studied landscape, turf and course management at Colorado State University. He entered the profession through construction, joining the team that built Robert Trent Jones Sr.’s Spyglass Hill at Pebble Beach. He continued as construction superintendent on several Jones projects, gaining practical command of earthwork, irrigation, soils and the way a major plan must be adjusted to field conditions. In 1967 Morrish joined Desmond Muirhead as a designer and encountered a more intellectual, landscape-driven and sometimes symbolic approach. Jack Nicklaus hired him in 1972. During the following decade, Morrish helped convert a champion’s viewpoint into a genuine architectural organisation and learned to translate playing judgement into routings and buildable documents. In the early 1980s he formed a partnership with Tom Weiskopf. They produced roughly two dozen important courses, including TPC Scottsdale Stadium, Troon North, The Boulders, Forest Highlands, Shadow Glen and Loch Lomond. Morrish contributed technical experience, routing and organisation; Weiskopf supplied a player’s judgement, an enthusiasm for short par fours and strong visual identity. Loch Lomond demonstrated that they could work beyond the American desert in a wet, wooded Scottish landscape. After the partnership ended, Morrish continued with his son Carter. Stone Canyon and several international projects belong to this phase. His architecture generally values clarity: the golfer understands the problem but must select a position and execute properly. Morrish defended diversity in architectural philosophies and rejected any universal formula. Jay Morrish died on 2 March 2015. A former ASGCA president, he was respected for intelligence and humour as much as for courses. His legacy connects four important cultures: Robert Trent Jones construction, Muirhead experimentation, the Nicklaus organisation and Weiskopf strategy.