Wayne Stiles

Born on July 22, 1884, and died in 1953 in Wellesley, Massachusetts, at age 68, Wayne E. Stiles was one of the most esteemed pioneer golf architects in America. His father, a theatre manager, and his mother, who played golf for some time, had been his inspiration to pursue the sport, which was in its golden age at the time.

Golf was introduced at a young age to Wayne and his older brother, Harry. From 1902 until 1914, Wayne was an apprentice at the Boston-based firm, Brett and Hall. After some time, he was promoted to a junior partner position. His main responsibilities involved city planning and land subdivisions which also allowed him to learn about landscape architecture.

During his time in Brett and Hall, Wayne played several golf matches with other then-amateur golfers, Francis Ouimet, Alex Ross, and Walter Travis. He even won numerous tournaments and qualified for the Massachusetts Amateur Championship where he garnered several medals.

In 1915, Wayne started his own landscape design firm after learning the ropes from his former company and he designed and constructed many courses during this period. Unfortunately, his career paused during the World War I years. After the war, Wayne continued his passion and finished his first 18-hole course for the Oak Hill Country Club in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.

In 1923, Wayne partnered with another remarkable golf architect, John Van Kleek. Both Wayne and John worked meticulously and shared the credit for many great layouts until they ended their partnership in 1931.

Wayne’s style in landscape design is described as distinctive and highly detailed due to the complexity of his layouts. Today, his works are still very popular with golfers, especially the layouts found at Woodstock Country Club in Vermont, South Shore Country Club in Massachusetts, and others.

Image courtesy of: The A Position

Website: https://asgca.org/architect/wstiles/