Bruce Borland (November 4, 1958 – October 25, 1999) was an American
golf course
A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...
designer who worked for
Jack Nicklaus. He died in the
1999 South Dakota Learjet crash
On October 25, 1999, a chartered Learjet 35 business jet was scheduled to fly from Orlando, Florida, United States to Dallas, Texas, United States. Early in the flight, the aircraft, which was climbing to its assigned altitude on autopilot, los ...
on October 25, 1999 while traveling with golf
Hall of Famer
Payne Stewart
William Payne Stewart (January 30, 1957 – October 25, 1999) was an American professional golfer who won eleven PGA Tour events, including three major championships, the last of which came just a few months before his death in an airplane acci ...
.
Early life and education
Bruce Borland was raised in the
Peoria, Illinois, area. He took a fascination with golf at an early age, building and maintaining a
putting green
A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...
in his parents' backyard, tending to it meticulously. Borland went on to graduate from the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...
, with a degree in
Landscape Architecture.
Career
After graduation, he moved to the Chicago area and began designing golf courses for several firms.
In 1989, Borland opened his own design firm,
ProDesign, just a year later he was offered a design position with Jack Nicklaus at
Golden Bear International. Borland worked on many of the famous Jack Nicklaus "Signature" golf courses, as well as other stateside and Indonesian courses.
Over his career, Borland designed or worked on several golf courses.
Death
In 1999, Borland
was killed in a Learjet 35 with Payne Stewart while flying from
Orlando, Florida, to
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
before the Tour Championship. He died of
hypoxia, a lack of oxygen, before the plane crashed.
Bruce left behind his wife, Kate Borland, and children Daniel, Thomas, Benjamin and Elizabeth.
References
External links
US NTSB Report on airplane crash
1958 births
1999 deaths
Golf course architects
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1999
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States
University of Illinois College of Fine and Applied Arts alumni
Artists from Peoria, Illinois
Deaths from hypoxia
Accidental deaths in South Dakota
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