Donald Knott
Donald ‘Don’ Knott is a well-known American landscape architect, born and raised in northern California. In 1969, he received a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree from the University of California. Don graduated with the highest honors while being awarded the Departmental Citation for excellence as the top graduate in his class. In 1973, he received a Master of Architecture degree from the same institution.
After receiving his Master’s degree, he immediately went to work for the company of another remarkable golf architect, Robert Trent Jones II. For over 25 years, Don served as a senior vice president of design and a lead project architect for the firm.
Some of his responsibilities include supervising, overseeing, and designing more than 60 golf courses worldwide. Among his most noteworthy designs are Princeville Golf Resort's Prince Course on the island of Kauai, Hawaii; The Links at Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach, California; Long Island National Golf Club in Riverhead, New York, and Spring City "Lake Course" in Kunming, China.
Currently, Don has a firm of his own called Knott & Linn Golf Design Group, a partnership with Kansas native Gary Linn. The company is described as having an “unparalleled ability to create natural appearing landforms for traditional world-class golfing experiences.”
Don’s expertise in golf architecture has also made him a long-standing member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, serving as president of the Society in 1994 and 1995. Now, he serves on the Board of Directors for the Society's Foundation and a tenured member of the environmental impact committee.
Don has represented the ASGCA at numerous national conferences on golf and the environment and has authored or co-authored many documents on golf and environmental issues. He has also spoken at numerous golf conferences, including the ASGCA, USGA, NGF, GCSAA, USEPA, and Public Golf Forums.
"Golf course design far surpasses the simple interpretation of contour and layout. . . the architect must return to the underlying understanding of form, space, and order. . . from these basic parameters one can then begin to interpret and pull forth a site's natural design.” – Donald Knott.
Image courtesy of: golfcoursearchitecturewiki.com
Golf Course designed by Donald Knott
