Biography

Doug Carrick, one of Canada's leading golf course designers, learned the craft from Robbie Robinson, a student of the Canadian golfing legend Stanley Thompson. Carrick, a competitive golfer in his youth, studied at Georgia and the University of Toronto before working under Robinson. In 1985, he founded Doug Carrick Design and five years later, completed the King Valley course in Southern Ontario, which greatly enhanced his reputation.

Carrick's designs can be found across Canada, from Huber Valley’s River Course in Newfoundland to Greywolf in British Columbia. Many of his best-known courses are in Ontario, including Osprey Valley, Cobble Beach, and Muskoka Bay. Eagles Nest, located in the Toronto area and built on a sand and gravel pit, and Angus Glen, which hosted the 2002 Canadian Open, are also standout designs.

Carrick’s work also extends to Europe where he designed the Carrick Course at Loch Lomond in Scotland and Fontana, the venue for the European Tour’s Austrian Open for seven years. However, he has primarily remained within Canada, never designing a course in America. His most photographed hole is perhaps the "Cliffhanger" par 3 at Greywolf, featuring a green balancing on the edge of a cliff.

One of Carrick's strongest traits as a designer is his strong preference for wide fairways, which he believes offer playability for less skilled golfers and optional lines of play for skilled ones. His most distinctive course showcasing this philosophy is Bigwin Island in northern Ontario, only accessible by boat. Carrick said he designs courses for golfers of all skill levels, objecting to young architects who believe tough courses make for better designs.