Dean Refram
Dean Refram was an American former professional golfer and a well-known Saddlebrook developer. He was born on Nov. 8, 1936, in Miami, Florida, and died on July 28, 1991, in Tampa, Florida, at age 54 after battling cancer.
Dean attended school at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, where he joined a golf team as one of its members. From 1960 to 1975, the Florida native played on the Professional Golfers Association tour.
In 1970, Dean won the Robinson Open tournament. Unfortunately, in 1974, he suffered major burns on more than half of his body due to an accident. Luckily, he survived the incident and a year later, along with Jim Colbert, Dean garnered the 1975 Walt Disney World Team Championship.
That was the last time that Dean played professionally. In 1975, he decided to retire from golf to focus on golf course architecture. The majority of his original designs are situated in Florida.
Dean owned two companies, namely Golf Spectrum Corp., a construction company, and Dean Refram Design. His works can be found at projects such as Pinebrook Ironwood Golf Course, The Golf Club at Summerbrooke, Cypress Creek Golf Club, Links of Lake Bernadette, and many more. In an interview with the Tampa Bay Times, Bud Tatum, Dean’s son-in-law, confirmed that his late father-in-law was also able to design one golf course in Thailand.
Image courtesy of: WorthPoint
Golf Courses designed by Dean Refram
Cypress Creek Golf Club
Ruskin, FL, United States
