Biography
Dana Fry was on the golf team at University of Arizona and a year away from graduation when he took a summer job, flagging cacti for transplant at a course that Tom Fazio was building in Tucson.It didn't take Fry long to realize what he wanted to do with his life. And it didn't take Fazio long to recognize Fry's talent, so he offered him a full-time job.More than three decades later, Fry is one of the most creative and successful golf course architects in the world, running Fry/Straka Global Golf Course Design.A majority of the most recognizable courses on Fry's resume were done in collaboration with Dr. Michael Hurdzan, who he joined forces with in 1988. They include Golf Magazine top 100 U.S. courses Calusa Pines in Naples, Fla. and Erin Hills in Wisconsin, site of the 2017 U.S. Open.Some of their other acclaimed works include Bully Pulpit in North Dakota, Naples National in Florida, Shelter Harbor in Rhode Island, Lassing Pointe in Kentucky and Ironhorse in Kansas.Six Hurdzan-Fry courses are among Canadian Golf Magazine's top 100 including Devil's Painbrush and Devil's Pulpit, located five miles apart in Caledon, Ontario, but with vastly different signatures: One is links style, the other parkland.Fry was with Fazio for only five years, but was instrumental in the creation of gems such as Wade Hampton in North Carolina, Barton Creek in Austin, Texas, and Lake Nona in Orlando.At many of these courses, Fry has made his mark with artistic bunker schemes which vary from course to course."I have tried very hard the last 20 years to constantly change the style of my bunkers and not have repeating themes," Fry told GolfClubAtlas.com in 2009.Fry's courses have lots of bold, memorable touches. At Devil's Paintbrush the par-5 eighth is one of the most unique, multi-option holes in golf, with a stone ruin in the middle of the fairway and a 60-yard wide sod wall influencing the approach.In 2012, Fry opened his firm with another Hurdzan disciple, Jason Straka, and the two are busy with many overseas projects. After living in Hong Kong for five years in order to conduct business in Asia, where golf course construction is booming, Fry moved to Florida in 2013.