Golf Course Designer

Jerry Pate had a storied amateur golfing career during which he won the 1974 United States Amateur Championship and competed as a member of the United States Walker Cup Team. During his illustrious professional golfing career, Jerry Pate has competed in hundreds of professional events on six continents. Jerry won eight PGA Tour events and seven international events. In 1976, Jerry captured the United States Open Championship when his now famous 5-iron shot from the rough on the 72nd hole at the Atlanta Athletic Club stopped within two feet of the hole. The ensuing birdie gave him a two-stroke victory. That same year, he won the Canadian Open Championship and earned both the PGA Tour’s Rookie-of-the-Year and Player of the Year Awards.

Jerry was also a member of the victorious 1981 Ryder Cup Team and won the 1982 Tournament Players Championship, the inaugural event at Pete Dye’s diabolical Stadium Course at the TPC at Sawgrass, where he infamously jumped into the water hazard on the 18th hole after winning. 

Jerry has been active in golf course design for more than 30 years. His talent for golf course design began to develop in the mid-1970s when he began working with some of the most creative golf course architects in the business--Tom Fazio, Pete Dye, Bob Cupp, Ron Garl and Jack Nicklaus. His perspective on golf design comes not only from his experiences with these designers and his understanding of the sport at its highest level, but also his wide array of professional ventures.