Bruce Matthews has spent his life immersed in the golf world, and his golf course designs reflect the lessons and experiences he has gained through this constant exposure. Bruce's father managed a golf club near Lake Michigan, and so Bruce's career in golf began at a young age, consisting of tasks like cleaning clubs, sweeping and cleaning, and grounds crew work. As a child, Bruce also shadowed his grandfather on trips to courses his granddad was building, which sparked his interest in golf course architecture. Today, Bruce is widely recognized for his ability to design upscale golf courses for an affordable price. He credits much of his success to the skills his family taught him, such as the ability to communicate technical knowledge in layman's terms; to "read the land" (topography and vegetation); or to work a site's history into the game. Bruce believes proper routing is the foundation for success, and thus utilizes a site's natural landforms to create strategy, produce an aesthetically pleasing layout, and make a course economical and easy to maintain. Under this philosophy, Bruce has designed more than 45 new courses and has renovated more than 60 since 1991.