Daniel Gordon Soutar
Daniel Gordon Soutar (1882 -1937) was a professional golfer in Australia. Soutar learned golf on the links of Carnoustie, where he watched and mimicked the swings of Freddie Tait, Archie Simpson, and Willie Smith. He moved to Australia at the urging of his boyhood friend and golf rival Carnegie Clark, where he went on to win 1905 Australian Open and the Australian PGA Championship from 1905 to 1907 and again in 1910.
Dan made quite an impression during golf's glory days in Australia by routing and designing the wonderful Kingston Heath golf course in Melbourne. Although Dr. MacKenzie finished the course by planning the bunkering, it was Soutar's layout that elevated Kingston Heath beyond its flattish surrounds to the gem we admire today. He also designed the Elanora Country Club in Sydney, among other credits.
Daniel Gordon Soutar, along with his fellow immigrants in Carnegie Clark and 'Jas' Scott, pioneered professional golf in this Australia, bringing their Scottish work ethic and all-around skills to bear on the game as a whole, from teaching to playing, to club-making and to course design.
It is in the latter category that Soutar and his colleagues made their greatest contribution to golf in Australia, as they utilized their knowledge of the natural links of their home country and applied them wisely. Dan Soutar was a giant of a man in many ways. Proud, yet humble in manner, this talented golfer and designer have earned his place in the pantheon of early Australian golf course architects, if only for his work at Kingston Heath.