Seth Jagger Raynor (1874–1926) was a golf course architect. He lived at the turn of the 20th century and is acclaimed as the architect of many of America's greatest golf courses.
Raynor was born on May 7, 1874 in Manorville, Long Island, New York and attended Princeton University, studying civil engineering before leaving in 1898 without a degree. He married Mary A. Hallock in 1903, and for the first years of his working life, he engineered drains, roads and waterworks. He then became interested in golf course design and the building of golf courses – an interesting leap, because by all accounts he did not personally play golf at first, and only took up the game after first designing three major courses in partnership with Charles Blair Macdonald (Sleepy Hollow, Piping Rock and the St. Louis Country Club). Raynor felt that "the golfer should learn to play the ideal links and that the ideal links should not come down to the playing ability of the lesser skilled player." He designed his first course in 1914, when he was 38.
Raynor died on Jan. 23, 1926 at age 51 of pneumonia at a hotel in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he and his wife were staying while they opened one of his golf courses. At the time of his death he left over 30 unfinished courses, which his associate Charles Banks gradually completed. In less than two short decades, Seth Raynor had designed and/or built more than 100 golf courses.
Raynor was born on May 7, 1874 in Manorville, Long Island, New York and attended Princeton University, studying civil engineering before leaving in 1898 without a degree. He married Mary A. Hallock in 1903, and for the first years of his working life, he engineered drains, roads and waterworks. He then became interested in golf course design and the building of golf courses – an interesting leap, because by all accounts he did not personally play golf at first, and only took up the game after first designing three major courses in partnership with Charles Blair Macdonald (Sleepy Hollow, Piping Rock and the St. Louis Country Club). Raynor felt that "the golfer should learn to play the ideal links and that the ideal links should not come down to the playing ability of the lesser skilled player." He designed his first course in 1914, when he was 38.
Raynor died on Jan. 23, 1926 at age 51 of pneumonia at a hotel in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he and his wife were staying while they opened one of his golf courses. At the time of his death he left over 30 unfinished courses, which his associate Charles Banks gradually completed. In less than two short decades, Seth Raynor had designed and/or built more than 100 golf courses.
Seth Jagger Raynor (1874–1926) was a golf course architect. He lived at the turn of the 20th century and is acclaimed as the architect of many of America's greatest golf courses.
Raynor was born on May 7, 1874 in Manorville, Long Island, New York and attended Princeton University, studying civil engineering before leaving in 1898 without a degree. He married Mary A. Hallock in 1903, and for the first years of his working life, he engineered drains, roads and waterworks. He then became interested in golf course design and the building of golf courses – an interesting leap, because by all accounts he did not personally play golf at first, and only took up the game after first designing three major courses in partnership with Charles Blair Macdonald (Sleepy Hollow, Piping Rock and the St. Louis Country Club). Raynor felt that "the golfer should learn to play the ideal links and that the ideal links should not come down to the playing ability of the lesser skilled player." He designed his first course in 1914, when he was 38.
Raynor died on Jan. 23, 1926 at age 51 of pneumonia at a hotel in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he and his wife were staying while they opened one of his golf courses. At the time of his death he left over 30 unfinished courses, which his associate Charles Banks gradually completed. In less than two short decades, Seth Raynor had designed and/or built more than 100 golf courses.
Raynor was born on May 7, 1874 in Manorville, Long Island, New York and attended Princeton University, studying civil engineering before leaving in 1898 without a degree. He married Mary A. Hallock in 1903, and for the first years of his working life, he engineered drains, roads and waterworks. He then became interested in golf course design and the building of golf courses – an interesting leap, because by all accounts he did not personally play golf at first, and only took up the game after first designing three major courses in partnership with Charles Blair Macdonald (Sleepy Hollow, Piping Rock and the St. Louis Country Club). Raynor felt that "the golfer should learn to play the ideal links and that the ideal links should not come down to the playing ability of the lesser skilled player." He designed his first course in 1914, when he was 38.
Raynor died on Jan. 23, 1926 at age 51 of pneumonia at a hotel in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he and his wife were staying while they opened one of his golf courses. At the time of his death he left over 30 unfinished courses, which his associate Charles Banks gradually completed. In less than two short decades, Seth Raynor had designed and/or built more than 100 golf courses.
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