Learning the ropes |
| On Cornish’s advice, Silva pursued a career in course design. He earned an Associate’s Degree in Turf Management from the Stockbridge School of Agriculture, a Bachelor’s Degree in Landscape Architecture at the University of Massachusetts, and took his Masters Degree training in Plant and Soil Sciences at the University of Massachusetts. He then taught agronomy for three years at Lake City Community College in Florida before returning to his native Massachusetts as an Agronomist for the United States Golf Association’s Green Section. In 1983, Cornish brought on a young Silva as his partner. Silva's first original 18-hole design, The Captains GC in Brewster, Mass., was selected by Golf Digest as the country’s Best New Public Course for 1985. Silva’s original designs continued to earn nationwide recognition. In 1991, Shaker Hills GC in Harvard, Mass., finished 2nd in the same Golf Digest ranking, behind Oregon’s Pumpkin Ridge. When Waverly Oaks GC opened in Plymouth, Mass. (1998), and Red Tail GC debuted in Devens, Mass. (2002), both were listed among GOLF Magazine’s “Top 10 New Courses You Can Play”. One of golf’s leading interpreters of vintage design, Silva has also conducted celebrated renovations at dozens of America’s most revered courses, carefully restoring the vintage elements of Donald Ross (Seminole, Biltmore Forest, Augusta CC), C.B. Macdonald/Seth Raynor (Charleston, St. Louis) and A.W. Tillinghast (Alpine, Baltimore Five Farms). |
An award-winning future |
| Silva would form Brian Silva Design in 2005, and the architect’s renovation work continued apace — and further afield: at the Billy Bell-designed Annandale Golf Club in Pasadena, Calif. (2007); at Raynor classics like Everglades Club in Palm Beach (2003) and The Country Club of Charleston (2006); at the Alex Findlay/Tillinghast-designed San Antonio Country Club (2005); at the Ross-designed Brookside CC in Canton, Ohio, where his work earned him the 2005 Best Course Remodel award from Golf Digest. The architect will unveil four more high-profile renovation projects this year: The Biltmore Golf Club in Coral Gables, Fla., originally designed by Ross; the Riverside Course at Greenville (S.C.) Country Club, originally designed by William Langford; The Elkridge Club in Baltimore, Md., originally designed by Raynor; and the Mt. Washington Golf Club in Bretton Woods, N.H., another Ross design. Silva’s original work continues to earn wide praise for its incorporation of classic design features in a modern context — at places like Red Tail, Black Rock CC in Hingham, Mass. (2002), and Black Creek Club in Chattanooga, Tenn. (2001), host of the 2005 USGA Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship. Silva’s original design at Old Marsh Country Club in Wells, Maine, will debut on July 4, 2008. |