Seth Raynor

Seth Jagger Raynor (May 7, 1874 - January 23, 1926) was an American golf course architect and engineer. His mentor was Charles Blair Macdonald, the creator of the National Golf Links of America and World Golf Hall of Fame member.

Born in Manorville, New York, Raynor attended Princeton University, studying civil engineering, before leaving in 1898 without a degree. In 1908 Seth was hired to perform a boundary survey of the site for the new course at the National Golf Links of America, which remains one of the top designs in the world.

Macdonald was impressed with Raynor and the two forged a close working relationship with Raynor overseeing the construction of every course designed by Macdonald from then on. By 1914 Seth was handling his first solo design projects and went on to design approximately 85 golf courses in about 13 years.

Raynor, who rarely played golf, never became adept at the sport reportedly not wanting to design around his own game. All his courses, like those of Macdonald and later Charles Banks, feature adaptations of some of what Macdonald considered the ideal golf holes in the British Isles and Europe such as the Redan, Biarritz, Eden, Leven, Road, and Maiden.

Image(s) supplied courtesy of The Architects Club.com