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Golf Course Architect
Ron Kirby, born in Beverly, Massachusetts in 1932, began his golf career as a caddie and maintenance crew member before studying agronomy at the University of Massachusetts–Stockbridge, later earning a bachelor’s degree in agriculture. He apprenticed under Dick Wilson in the late 1950s, then worked with Robert Trent Jones Sr.
in the 1960s on projects in the US, Europe, and the Caribbean. In 1970, he founded his own design firm with consulting support from Gary Player, later joining Nicklaus Design to oversee European projects.
Over a career spanning more than seventy years, Kirby contributed to the design or renovation of over 140–150 golf courses globally, including renowned layouts such as Old Head Golf Links in Ireland, courses in Asia, South Africa, the Caribbean, and his final major project—the complete overhaul of Apes Hill Club in Barbados, which opened in 2022. He was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Golf Course Architects in 2003 and passed away in Copenhagen on August 17, 2023, at age 90.
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