Willie Park Jr.

Willie Park Jr. (4 February 1864 - 22 May 1925) was a Scottish professional golfer who won The Open Championship twice in 1887 and 1889. Park was also a successful golf equipment maker and golf writer who, in his later years, built a significant career as one of the world's best golf course architects, with a worldwide business. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2013.

Willie Park Jr. caddied and played golf professionally, in stakes matches and tournaments, from his mid-teens. He developed his golf skills and played in his first Open Championship in 1880, at age 16, at which time he was already one of Scotland's best players. He was notable for his excellent short game, which compensated for a sometimes unreliable long game. He is famous for the saying: "A man who can putt is a match for anyone."

Park later worked as a golf course designer, with 170 designs to his credit in the British Isles, Europe, the US, and Canada. Park entered this profession while winding down his competitive play, in his mid-30s, just as golf was beginning an enormous increase in popularity, in both the British Isles and especially North America. His services were much in demand, and he became one of the first people, along with fellow Scot Donald Ross, to become a full-time golf course architect.