Seth Jagger Raynor (May 7, 1874 – January 23, 1926) was an American

golf course architect 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 ...

and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

. He designed approximately 85 golf courses in about 13 years, his first in 1914, at age 40. His mentor was Charles Blair Macdonald, the creator of the

National Golf Links of America National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, and a member of the

World Golf Hall of Fame The World Golf Hall of Fame is located at World Golf Village near St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States, and it is unusual among sports halls of fame in that a single site honors both men and women. It is supported by a consortium of 26 go ...

. Raynor was also the mentor of Charles Banks who completed many of Raynor's unfinished works after he died. Banks went on to a solo design career, creating approximately 15 courses. Raynor was born in

Manorville, New York Manorville is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 14,314 at the 2010 census. Manorville is mostly in the Town of Brookhaven, but its northeast corner is in the Town of Rive ...

. He attended

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, studying civil engineering, before leaving in 1898 without a degree. He married Araminta (known as Minta) Hallock in 1903, and for the first years of his working life, engineered drains, roads and waterworks in the area around Southampton, N.Y. where his family had relocated and where he would live for the rest of his life.

Golf course engineer, architect

In 1908, Raynor was hired to perform a boundary survey of the site for the new course

, in Southampton

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

, by Macdonald. When it opened, NGLA was considered the finest American golf course and remains one of the top design in the world. Macdonald was impressed with Raynor and the two forged a working relationship and Raynor overseeing the construction of every course designed by Macdonald from then on, including

Piping Rock Club Piping Rock Club is a country club in Matinecock, New York. It falls within the ZIP Code boundaries of Locust Valley, New York. History The Piping Rock clubhouse was designed by American designer Guy Lowell and built in 1911. Lowell based his ...

St. Louis Country Club St. Louis Country Club (SLCC) is a country club located in Ladue, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. It is recognized by the United States Golf Association (USGA) as one of the first 100 Clubs in America. Club history Founded in 1892 as a polo cl ...

, and the

Mid Ocean Club The Mid Ocean Club is a private 6,520 yard, 18-hole golf course in Tucker's Town, Bermuda. Designed by Charles Blair Macdonald in 1921, and originally built in collaboration with the Furness Bermuda Line. It was modified to its current design i ...

, approximately 15 in all. By 1914, Raynor was handling his first solo design projects, including the Country Club of Fairfield, in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, and Westhampton Country Club on

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Between 1914 and 1917, Raynor oversaw the construction of The Lido Golf Club, designed by Macdonald. This was one of the most difficult and expensive golf projects to that date. Raynor, who rarely played golf, never became adept at the sport, reportedly not wanting to design around his own game. All of Raynor's courses feature adaptations of some of what Macdonald considered the ideal golf in the British Isles and Europe, such as the Redan, Biarritz, Eden, Leven, Road and Maiden. Raynor, like Macdonald and later Charles Banks, fit the concept of the originals into the particular site, never seeking to duplicate them. Raynor never saw any of the originals in person. On every Raynor golf course, though, some of if not the finest holes to be found are ones Raynor created with basing them on ideal golf holes. Several of Raynor's designs have hosted and continue to host significant events. His

Waialae Country Club Waialae Country Club is a private country club in East Honolulu, Hawaii. Founded in 1927 and designed by Seth Raynor, it is a par 72 championship course at from the Championship tees. From the Members tees at , the course rating is 71.8 with a ...

in Honolulu has hosted the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

's Sony Open since the 1960s, making it one of the longest-running host sites on the Tour. At

The Greenbrier The Greenbrier is a luxury resort located in the Allegheny Mountains near White Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, in the United States. Since 1778, visitors have traveled to this part of the state to "take the waters" of the ...

White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia White Sulphur Springs is a city in Greenbrier County in southeastern West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,231 at the 2020 census. The city emblem consists of five dandelion flowers and the citizens celebrate spring with an annual Dan ...

, his Old White TPC Course hosted a PGA Tour event. The Country Club of Charleston hosted the 2019

U.S. Women's Open The U.S. Women's Open, one of 15 national golf championships conducted by the United States Golf Association (USGA), is the oldest of the LPGA Tour's five major championships, which includes the Chevron Championship, Women's PGA Championship, W ...

won by Lee Jeong-eun also known as Jeongeun Lee6. Raynor died with his wife by his side from pneumonia in 1926, age 51, while in

West Palm Beach West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

, Florida, to open Paris Singer's private course, often mistaken for the Everglades Golf Club, which Singer founded and Raynor designed.

Golf courses

* Augusta Country Club - Bon Air Hotel, Lake Course,(no longer in existence) Private, - Augusta, GA *Bellport Golf Club - Private in Bellport, NY *Blind Brook Club - Private in Purchase, NY *

Blue Mound Golf & Country Club Blue Mound Golf & Country Club is a country club in the north central United States, located in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. The golf course was designed by Seth Raynor. The club hosted the PGA Championship in 1933, the We ...

- Private in Wauwatosa, WI *Blowing Rock Country Club - Private in Blowing Rock, NC *Brookville Country Club - Private in Glen Head, NY *Camargo Club - Private in Cincinnati, OH *

Chicago Golf Club Chicago Golf Club is a private golf club in the central United States, located in Wheaton, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago. The oldest 18-hole course in North America, it was one of the five founding clubs of the United States Golf Association ...

—redesign of Charles Blair Macdonald's design with Macdonald's blessing - Private in Wheaton, IL *Cold Spring Country Club - Private in Cold Spring Harbor, NY *Country Club of Charleston - Private in Charleston, SC *Country Club of Fairfield - Private in Fairfield, CT *Creek Club, The - Private in Locust Valley, NY *Dedham Country and Polo Club - Private in Dedham, MA *Elkridge Club - Private in Baltimore, MD *

Essex County Country Club Essex County Country Club (ECCC) is a golf club in West Orange, New Jersey. It was founded in 1887, making it the oldest club in the state of New Jersey and the sixth oldest in the United States. History Essex County Country Club was established ...

- Private in West Orange, NJ *Essex Fells Country Club - Private in Essex Fells, NJ *Everglades Golf Club - Private in Palm Beach, FL *Fox Chapel Golf Club - Private in Pittsburgh, PA *

Fishers Island Club The Fishers Island Club is a country club located near the eastern end of Fishers Island in New York. The club includes an eighteen-hole golf course designed by Seth Raynor that was ranked ninth in the 2009 ''Golf Digest'' list of America's 100 G ...

- Private in Fishers Island, NY *Gardiners Bay Country Club - Private in Shelter Island, NY *Greenbrier - Greenbrier Course - Resort in White Sulphur Springs, WV *Greenbrier - Old White TPC Course - Resort in White Sulphur Springs, WV *Gibson Island Club – Private on Gibson Island, MD *

Hotchkiss School The Hotchkiss School is a coeducational University-preparatory school#North America, preparatory school in Lakeville, Connecticut, United States. Hotchkiss is a member of the Eight Schools Association and Ten Schools Admissions Organization. It i ...

- Semi-Private in Lakeville, CT *Knollwood Country Club - Private in Elmsford, NY *Lookout Mountain Golf Club - Private in Lookout Mountain, GA *Metairie Country Club - Private in Metairie, LA *Mid-Pacific Country Club, Private in Kailua, HI *Midland Hills Country Club - Private in

Roseville, Minnesota Roseville is a city in Ramsey County, Minnesota, United States. It is one of two Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Twin Cities suburbs that are adjacent to both Saint Paul and Minneapolis (the other is Lauderdale, Minnesota, Lauderdale). The land comprisin ...

*Minnesota Valley Country Club - Private in Bloomington Minnesota *

Monterey Peninsula Country Club The Monterey Peninsula Country Club is a 36-hole country club, golf club on the West Coast of the United States, West Coast of the United States, located on the Monterey Peninsula in Pebble Beach, California. History On February 1, 1919, Samuel Fi ...

, Dunes Course - Private in Pebble Beach, CA *

Morris County Golf Club The Morris County Golf Club (MCGC) is a private, members-only golf club located on in the upscale Convent Station section of Morris Township, New Jersey, a suburb northwest of New York City in Morris County. It is one of the 10 founding membe ...

, Private in Convent Station, NJ *Mountain Lake - Private in Lake Wales, FL *North Palm Beach Country Club - on grounds of the Palm Beach Winter Club, North Palm Beach, FL *North Shore Country Club - Private in Glen Head, NY *Rock Spring Club - Public, in West Orange, NJ *Roselle Golf Club - Private, no longer in existence, in Roselle, NJ *Rumson Country Club - Private in Rumson, NJ *Shoreacres - Private in Lake Bluff, IL *Somerset Country Club - Private in Mendota Heights, MN *Southampton Golf Club - Private in Southampton, NY *Sunningdale Country Club - Private in Scarsdale, NY *

- Private in Honolulu, HI *Thousand Island Country Club - Public in Wellesley Island, NY *Wanumetonomy Golf & Country Club - Private in Middletown, RI *Watchung Valley Golf Club - Private in Watchung, NJ *Westhampton Country Club - Private in Westhampton Beach, NY * Yale University Golf Course - Private in New Haven, CT * Yeamans Hall Club - Private in Hanahan, SC

References

External links

"Roseville golf course unearths renowned designer’s blueprints in time for renovation," by Joe Bissen, St. Paul (MN)Pioneer Press, April 29, 2018 "The Top 10 Seth Raynor Courses"Golfcoursearchitecture.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raynor, Seth 1874 births 1926 deaths American engineers Golf course architects Princeton University alumni People from Long Island