In the spirit of the history and traditions of golf, and in recognition to the lasting contributions of Wayne E. Stiles, we offer our findings of his life and work. Our goal is to honor a body of Golden Age American golf architecture that has long been less than fully appreciated. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Stiles left behind virtually no writings and little was written about him. He was not inclined towards self promotion, was rarely photographed and primarily focused on pleasing his clients and designing enjoyable golf holes.
His training as a landscape architect prior to his golf design career gave him a strong understanding of the role of trees, sight lines and shading that would influence the long term strategic implications associated with the placement of natural elements on golf courses. At many courses, much of his work has been preserved, while at others, virtually no Stiles features remain. The same is true for the plans, drawings and correspondence associated with the various projects he undertook with John Van Kleek.
One of our hopes is that through the recognition of Stiles’ body of work, clubs may be encouraged to preserve and ideally restore Stiles features while properly incorporating those modern elements that he could not envision during his golf architecture career, such as golf carts and adjustable titanium shafts.