Lee Schmidt (born September 14, 1947) is a golf course architect and principal of Schmidt-Curley Design Inc. He was raised in

Carmel, Indiana Carmel is a suburban city in Indiana immediately north of Indianapolis. With a population of 100,777, the city spans across Clay Township in Hamilton County, Indiana, and is bordered by the White River to the east; the Hamilton-Boone county ...

and currently resides in

Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nick ...

. Schmidt is a member of the

American Society of Golf Course Architects The American Society of Golf Course Architects (abbreviated as ASGCA) is a professional organization of golf course designers in America. Founded in 1946, its members are actively involved in the design of new courses and the renovation of existi ...

(ASGCA) and currently serves on its executive committee.

Education

Schmidt is a 1970 graduate of

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

's School of Agriculture and was named a "Distinguished Alumni" in 2004. He was selected and honored by Purdue University as an "Old Master" in 2011, a program honoring graduates who have made significant contributions to his or her own field.

Work experience

Schmidt began his career working with fellow Indiana native

Pete Dye Paul Dye Jr. (December 29, 1925 – January 9, 2020), known as Pete Dye, was an American golf course designer and a member of a family of course designers. He was married to fellow designer and amateur champion Alice Dye. Early life Dye was ...

. He spent seven years with Dye working on projects like

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

Kingsmill Resort Kingsmill Resort is a vacation, conference, and golf resort in the eastern United States, located in James City County, Virginia, southeast of Williamsburg. It is located on a portion of the Kingsmill Plantation; the original plantation struc ...

and

Casa de Campo The Casa de Campo (, for Spanish: ''Country House'') is the largest public park in Madrid. It is situated west of central Madrid, Spain. It gets its name 'Country House' because it was once a royal hunting estate, located just west of the Ro ...

in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. Schmidt then moved to Landmark Land Company for 12 years, where he was a vice president of the Design and Construction Division. While there he led the design team at courses like

PGA West Stadium Course PGA West is a set of 6 golf courses located in La Quinta, California. The PGA West Stadium Course was designed by Pete Dye and is viewed as the sequel to the TPC at Sawgrass. It was inspired by the Scottish links-style courses and at one point ...

La Quinta La Quinta (Spanish language, Spanish for "The Fifth") is a desert resort town, resort city in Riverside County, California, United States. Located between Indian Wells, California, Indian Wells and Indio, California, Indio, it is one of the nin ...

and Mission Hills(California). Schmidt also spent seven years with

Nicklaus Design Nicklaus Design is a company, founded and run by American professional golfer Jack Nicklaus, that designs and constructs golf courses. As of Feb 2019, the company had List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, designed over 410 golf courses an ...

as a senior design associate gaining significant international experience. At Landmark, Schmidt met his future business partner Brian Curley. In 1997, they formed Schmidt-Curley Design, working primarily in the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

. Schmidt-Curley soon focused much of its business interests on the burgeoning

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

n market with a strong emphasis on

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. They are considered leaders of the China golf course development movement and were subsequently cited by Golf Inc. Magazine in 2011 as one of golf's most influential architects.

Select Course Portfolio for Schmidt-Curley Design

United States

* Bali Hai Golf Club -

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

* Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet Canyon -

Beaumont, California Beaumont is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, located at the summit of the San Gorgonio Pass, between the San Bernardino Mountains and Mount San Gorgonio to the north, and the San Jacinto Mountains and San Jacinto Peak to th ...

* Oak Harbor -

Slidell, Louisiana Slidell is a city on the northeast shore of Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 28,781 at the 2020 census. It is part of the New Orleans− Metairie−Kenner metropolitan statistical area. Hist ...

* Siena Golf Club - Las Vegas, Nevada * Southern Dunes Golf Club -

Maricopa, Arizona Maricopa is a city in the Gila River Valley in Pinal County, Arizona, United States. With 62,720 residents as of 2021, Maricopa is the largest incorporated municipality in Pinal County History Maricopa has had three locations over the years: ...

* Sun City Shadow Hills -

Indio, California Indio (Spanish language, Spanish for "Indian") is a city in Riverside County, California, Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. It lies east of Palm Springs, Califo ...

China

* Agile Country Club -

Zhongshan Zhongshan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is now part of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen conurbation with 65,565,622 i ...

* Clearwater Bay - Lingshui (36 Holes) * Dragon Valley Golf Course -

Sanya Sanya (; also spelled Samah) is the southernmost city on Hainan Island, and one of the four prefecture-level cities of Hainan Province in South China. According to the 2020 census, the total population of Sanya was 1,031,396 inhabitants, li ...

* Nanlihu Golf Course -

Haikou Haikou (; ), also spelled as Hoikow is the capital and most populous city of the Chinese province of Hainan. Haikou city is situated on the northern coast of Hainan, by the mouth of the Nandu River. The northern part of the city is on the Ha ...

Thailand

Amata Spring Country Club The Amata Spring Country Club is a private golf and country club near to Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. It hosts two high-profile golf tournaments which were introduced in 2006. The Royal Trophy is a team competition between Europe and Asia, and ...

Chonburi Chonburi ( th, ชลบุรี, , IAST: , ) is the capital of Chonburi Province and Mueang Chonburi District in Thailand. It is about 100 km southeast of Bangkok, on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. Its name means 'city of water'. Chonb ...

* Chiangmai Highlands -

Chiang Mai Chiang Mai (, from th, เชียงใหม่ , nod, , เจียงใหม่ ), sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the second largest city in ...

* Muang Kaew (remodel) -

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

* Siam Country Club -

Pattaya Pattaya ( th, พัทยา, , ) is a city in Thailand. It is on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about southeast of Bangkok, within, but not part of, Bang Lamung district in the province of Chonburi province, Chonburi. Pattaya City ( ...

(45 Holes)

International tournament hosts

* Amata Spring Country Club –

Royal Trophy The Royal Trophy was a men's professional team golf tournament which was played between 2006 and 2013. The competing teams represented Europe and Asia. Eight man teams played a series of 16 matches involving foursomes, four-ball and singles for the ...

(2006–07, 2009–10),

Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship The Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship is an annual amateur golf tournament. It is played at various locations throughout Asia-Pacific. It is organized by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) and was first played in 2009. It was organized in c ...

(2012) * Mission Hills Shenzhen, Olazabal Course –

World Cup of Golf The World Cup of Golf is a men's golf tournament contested by teams of two representing their country. Only one team is allowed from each country. The players are selected on the basis of the Official World Golf Ranking, although not all of the fir ...

(2007–09),

WGC-HSBC Champions The WGC-HSBC Champions was a professional golf tournament, held annually in China. Inaugurated in 2005, the first seven editions were played at the Sheshan Golf Club in Shanghai, then moved to the Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen for a single ...

(2012) * Mission Hills Hainan, The Vintage Course – World Ladies Championship (2012) * Mission Hills Hainan, Blackstone Course – World Cup of Golf (2011),

Mission Hills Star Trophy The Mission Hills Star Trophy is an annual, pro-celebrity golf tournament held in Hainan, China. It has the largest individual prize purse of any golf tournament in Asia Pacific. 2010 inaugural tournament This inaugural event was held between Oct ...

(2010), Mission Hills World Celebrity Pro-Am (2012) * Siam Country Club, Old Course –

Honda LPGA Thailand The Honda LPGA Thailand is a women's professional golf tournament in Thailand on the LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA Inte ...

(2007, 2010–12) * Siam Country Club, Plantation Course – Honda LPGA Thailand (2009) * Terra Lago Golf Club – The Skins Game (1999-2002) * Tianjin Binhai Lake, Pete Dye Course – Volvo China Championship (2012) * Wildfire Golf Club, JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa – R.R. Donnelley's Founders Cup (2012)

Select awards

* ''

Golf Magazine ''Golf Magazine'' is a monthly golf magazine. It was started in April 1959 by Universal Publishing and Distributing, who sold it to Times Mirror in 1972. Time Inc. acquired it in 2000. It was acquired by Howard Milstein in 2018. It was the world' ...

'' **"Architect of the Year" (2011) **"Best New" Asia Course (Blackstone Course, Mission Hills Hainan) (2010) **"Best New" International Course (Lava Fields Course, Mission Hills Hainan) (2011) * ''Asian Golf Monthly'' **"Best Golf Course Architects" (2011, 2012, 2013) * ''Golf World Magazine'' **"World Top 100" (Lava Fields Course, Mission Hills Hainan) (2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Lee Living people Golf course architects Purdue University College of Agriculture alumni People from Carmel, Indiana 1947 births