Lee Schmidt

Lee Schmidt is a native of Carmel, Indiana, and graduated from Purdue University in 1970 with a degree in agronomy. Knowledge of soils, turf and growing conditions remained central throughout his career. After university he joined Pete Dye as a design associate, spending seven years on major projects including Casa de Campo and learning the Dye family’s direct construction method. Schmidt then became vice-president of design and construction for Landmark Land Company. During twelve years he participated in PGA West, La Quinta Hotel Resort, Mission Hills in California and other major golf communities. The position taught him to coordinate courses, property, budgets, schedules and resort operations. He subsequently spent seven years as a senior design associate with Nicklaus Design. Lead assignments included Spring City in China, Damai Indah in Indonesia and Nicklaus North in Canada. The champion’s brand added further experience with international clients and communication. In 1998 he formed Schmidt-Curley Design with Brian Curley. The practice became one of the principal forces in Asian golf. Amata Spring, Mission Hills China, Stone Forest and numerous Pacific projects demonstrate the specialisation. Schmidt combined agronomy, construction, masterplanning and strategy, with particular attention to climate and local maintenance capacity. A former ASGCA president, he was also honoured by Purdue as an Old Master. His career connects several major schools: Pete Dye invention, Landmark efficiency, the global Nicklaus brand and Asian expansion with Curley. A living architect, he is less publicly famous than signature champions but was often the actual author or director behind celebrated names. A complete birth date is not reliably published in accessible professional sources.