50 Golf design, up to now, has been a maledominated business. The first female golf architect is believed to be Ida Dixon, who created the Springhaven Club in Pennsylvania in 1904. Leading amateur golfer Molly Gourlay assisted Tom Simpson on a number of projects, most notably at Ballybunion, and Marion Hollins, a top amateur of the time on the other side of the ocean, was involved with the development of several courses in her role as athletic director for Del Monte Properties, and famously is supposed to have persuaded Alister MacKenzie to build the sixteenth at Cypress Point by proving the shot to the green was feasible. Because of the shortage of women in the industry, it tends to be the case that those few who exist are passionate about encouraging more. That’s certainly true of Jan Bel Jan, who has been in the industry since the late 1970s, for most of that time as an associate of Tom Fazio, and more recently running her own practice. Bel Jan’s grandfather Joseph, of Slovenian origin, came to the US in 1908. “He made barrels – he was a cooper – and he moved to Pittsburgh, where there was a Slovenian community, and he went to work for H. J. Heinz Co,” she says. “He never played golf, but after he retired from Heinz, he was hired by the Longue Vue Club to cut the grass on the steep slopes with a scythe. I was about five or six when I saw him clearing the grass along the slopes of the creek near his house, and I learned about keeping a sharp blade and the importance of rhythm. He had six sons, and all caddied at Highland CC, which sadly closed in 2011, and later became club professionals – my uncle Willie was at Longue Vue. My father designed and built the course where he worked, and where I grew up – it’s now known as Mannito GC, and it’s about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh. We lived on the property, and I was working on the course long before I started to play. By fourteen, I was mowing greens, digging ditches and felling trees – though only on weekends and school holidays obviously! That was how I spent my mornings. Then I’d go home, shower, change clothes and go to work in the golf shop, Adam Lawrence speaks with Jan Bel Jan about her career and her desire to see more women in golf course architecture. Balancing the industry JAN BEL JAN INTERVIEW
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