Mary B. Armstrong, Golf Architect

02/04/2026

If you have liked this page and want to follow me, I no longer am designing golf courses - long story. Anyway, I have shifted my interests to writing and recently finished publishing a six book historical fiction series. If you want to continue to follow me, I suggest you go to my personal FB page:

www.Facebook.com/Mary.Armstrong.370177

05/01/2021

Now available in paperback and ebook form!

The Mesilla: Two Valleys Saga: Book One

10/27/2020

Please think about liking and following my writing page. I expect to send my manuscript off to publishers in a couple months.

06/25/2018

Admittedly, I'm not a mathematics whiz, but I agree with the people that think DeChambeau is trolling the rules officials. I'd have to see the actual greens maps to determine for sure, but there's all kinds of geometric and scale issues with using a compass this way. He may think it helps him and that's all that matters I suppose, but I really don't see it being of any value. I think it may be more about intimidating the other players and getting back at the officials for their ruling against his use of a non-complying putter

https://golfweek.com/2018/06/24/pga-tour-reportedly-looking-into-bryson-dechambeau-use-of-compass/.

If you were paying attention to the Travelers Championship broadcast or those commenting on the the tournament on Twitter late Saturday, you might’ve noticed that Bryson DeChambeau’s us…

04/13/2018

As a designer of courses, I refer to the short right area as "Prime Time". I tried to avoid the most penal hazards/features in that area, although as this video suggests bunkers short right that do not extend out from the green very far will not catch the average player - however they may have some difficulty pitching over that bunker to a tight pin - or any pin for that matter. Still, my philosophy has always been to challenge better players and where I could let the average guys sink themselves.

02/14/2018

I came across this article that I wrote some years ago and thought you all might be interested once again.

By Mary Armstrong/For the Sun-News Posted: 05/19/2011 09:33:19 PM MDT The battle within oneself is at the heart of what makes golf so attractive to all of us. We study the game: we memorize the rul…

09/02/2017

The pendulum has swung way too far toward consistent bunker surfaces. I gripe as much as the next persona about bunkers, but hey, they're supposed to be HAZARDS! Personally, I would like to see the USGA champion LESS "standards" for sieve analysis, etc. Too often, courses need to spend as much or more on trucking as they do on the material itself. This would eventually mean more difficult recoveries and fewer bunkers being designed into layouts as well. The net result will be less expensive golf courses to build and maintain which will reduce the cost to the patrons.

Bunkers: Meant to be Playable, Not Perfect

08/29/2017

Most of you know that I have been writing about how the golf business isn't welcoming to anyone but white males. This article backs up that claim and also infers in the title that newbies are unwelcome as well.

My experience was a reminder for me that all women who play golf, regardless of your playing ability, will face unfair biases and treatment.

08/10/2017

In case you're not following my professional page or my "Golf, Liberally" group.

08/10/2017

The PGA Championship is kicking off as I write this. There seems to be lots of chatter about elevating this tournament – whatever that means. I doubt that all four majors will ever be viewed as equals, nor should they be. Honestly, for me, the PGA ranks behind at least a couple of the women’s majors. But, let’s not get into that.

Whether or not it would elevate the tournament, I do think that the PGA Championship could use some imagination. Besides the inclusion Club Pros, there really isn't anything that makes it special and even that is lost on the average fan. Some people are suggesting that its position in the schedule is the problem, or at least one of the problems. Of course, being the last tournament can also elevate an event if it is the culmination of a competition – kind of like the FedEx Cup. No one would suggest that because the FedEx Cup is last it doesn’t get its due. If you want to elevate the PGA, the timeframe (other than missing the other majors) for the competition isn't so significant as the format, location, and venues.

Personally, I would like to see the PGA revert to a match play championship. The argument is always against match play on the basis of field size and television difficulties, but I think that the Ryder Cup and President’s Cup show that that can be managed and who can dispute the popularity of those match play events? And while there are already too many points systems for people to keep track of, some kind of qualifying – money list for instance - could be the simple way to build up to the event and determine who gets in the field. Besides, match play is the tradition of the game and the PGA would do well to honor that by going back to match play, which was the event's original format.

I would like to see the tournament played on a rota of seaside courses. Let the USGA do the interior courses along with the Master's, but set the PGA up with American seaside courses (of which there are plenty of possibilities). American seaside courses aren't just a "mimicking" of the British Open as our seaside courses play differently and have different ranges of weather conditions. I think this along with the match play format would provide a strong “branding” for the event which will then set up a predictable character. That would result in people having a picture in their mind of what is coming. Anticipation is important in creating interest.

Can you imagine a rota of Pebble Beach, Pacific Dunes, Kiawah Island, and Whistling Straits?

06/29/2017

Golf is not a game...
..it's a business. Mary Armstrong understands the golf business. She knows how to insure that your golf facility will succeed.

Mary has always had an aptitude for solving problems. After over 100 projects and 25 years as a design firm, she has the experience and gift to design award winning solutions that exceed your expectations.

Her capabilities can address your needs:

-Design/Consulting for all types of golf facilities.
-Implement a proven design process that begins with a thorough
understanding of the existing condition and brackets all
preliminary and final solutions with the owner’s objectives.
-Reduce short and long-term maintenance with an integrated
approach which can often improve aesthetics and pace of
play.
-Masterplan existing facilities to resolve playability, safety,
aesthetic and maintenance issues and to revitalize existing
courses.
-Masterplan proposed facilities to provide a basis for financing,
fiscal feasibility and marketing.
-Land plan for a proper and safe interface of golf with residential,
commercial and other uses.
-Evaluate properties for suitability.
-Produce construction documents that provide the desired
product at the lowest possible cost and environmental impact
by balancing earthworks, reducing turf and/or irrigation in out
of play areas, and minimizing structural drainage requirements
through environmentally friendly overland water movement.
-Provide bidding oversight and award advice.
-Provide construction monitoring that will produce the result
intended through the plans within the budget.
-Experienced in making courses fun for your patrons, including
women and families, by assessing tee positioning, mowing
patterns and customer service practices.
-Experienced in legal opinions and testifying regarding golf
course design and construction.
-Experience in international design.
-Practiced in taking your problems and giving you solutions
beyond your expectations.

Mary Armstrong has been designing successful golf courses for over 25 years and all - including those she has renovated - ALL are open and operating at a profit.

06/17/2017

I was just watching the Fox broadcast of the US Open. They have spent a lot of time talking about the design of the course. Mostly, they are highly complementary of the design. There seems to be a lot of talk about Erin Hills and the roles of Mike Hurdzan, Dana Fry and the temporary partnership with Ron Whitten - Whitten's story was even featured in a NPR spot yesterday. I haven't met Dana, but I've spent some time with both Mike and Ron and I'm pleased that they are getting some due for their work.

However, I will take issue with a conversation that Gil Hanse and Curtis Strange had on air about design. It followed Fox's spot called "Brownie Points". The comments referenced a quick sketch that Mr. Brown made on a dry-erase board to convey the concept of the 16th hole at Erin Hills, especially the impact that the line of play has when a target is set an angle to it.

Afterward, I believe it was Gil Hanse that made a remark as to the drawing skill of Brown as not being very good. I don't recall whether it was Strange of Hanse, but one of them followed up with "It isn't what you draw that matters; it's what you build."

I would say that Mike Hurdzan would not agree with this at all. Mike, and I believe Dana, both have design degrees and Mike actually has a doctorate. I think they both understand the value and importance of designing or as Hanse/Strange commented "drawing" in producing a layout that has appeal and value commensurate with the cost of designing and building. Whitten, who is a lawyer by training likes to say that golf design has no rules. That is just pure ignorance of what it takes to be a good designer, regardless of whether you are producing golf courses or widgets.

Certainly, with an unlimited or overly generous budget and ideal property, design may have less of an impact if you are unskilled at design, but those opportunities are few and far between. Even then, an owner will most likely not be willing to give free rein to spend simply because you don't like the product you "have drawn". And yet, that is what typically happens with "name" architects that have little real design education. The feature gets graded and re-graded until it looks/plays the way they want it. In most situations, A REAL designer KNOWS how a golf feature will play and look before a spade is turned. Certainly, a tweek or too, if it is in the budget can yield value, but even without a budget for "Change Orders" a good designer will always build a better facility than one that only understands how to build a course by actually getting on the dozer or directing the operator at the time of construction.

By using the term "drawing" to depict the design process, Hanse/Strange are showing their ignorance as to why design is critical to building all complex undertakings. I applaud much of what I've seen of Gil Hanse's work, but his remarks (or at least agreement with the remark) leads me to wonder if he isn't more of a builder and less of an architect. Based upon what I have learned, I don't think I would hire him to design a golf course that had a reasonable budget or a difficult site. Sadly, those of us that design, really design, golf courses that can be built on a budget and maintained to be sustainable aren't getting many of the projects that are out there because the hype is for golf courses like Erin Hills, which apparently nearly bankrupted the owner.

Golf Course Architecture has traditionally tried to raise a cloak of mystery around the practice of designing golf courses. They do this because most "golf architects" fall into the opportunity to do so by happenstance or through their abilities in other factions of the game, be it playing (golf professionals), or maintaining the course. Golf cannot be sustainable with these "pseudo-designers" because their products are not completed in commensurate value to their service. The game is suffering because we are building too many courses that can't be supported by 10 million dollar budgets or even 5 million dollar budgets in most cases. The "profession" of Golf Course Architecture needs to realize that the game is dying and they are a big part of the reason.