David W. Gordon, a Fellow of the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA), died Oct. 20, 2017. He was 95. The son of one of ASGCA’s original members, William F. Gordon, David was a life-long resident of Doylestown, Pennsylvania.
After serving in the Army Air Force in World War II as an instructor pilot in B-24 bombers, David studied at Penn State University, earning a degree in Agronomy. He then joined his father’s golf course design business.
The Gordons designed dozens of golf courses in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, Ohio, New York and Canada, including: Saucon Valley Country Club (Grace and Weyhill Courses), Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; Browns Run, Middletown, Ohio; Stanwich Club, Greenwich, Connecticut; and Sunny Brook Country Club, Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania.
In the 1990s, Gordon presented to the ASGCA Foundation a 1914 manuscript from ASGCA founding member Donald Ross on golf course architecture. This never-before-published writing from Ross, which Gordon discovered in his attic, became Golf Has Never Failed Me: The Lost Commentaries of Legendary Golf Architect Donald J. Ross by Ron Whitten. The book, published in 1996, became a best seller.
David Gordon was the longest-tenured ASGCA member, having been welcomed in 1951. He became a Fellow in 1993 and served as ASGCA President in 1959-60.
He is survived by two sons, David J. Gordon and William F. Gordon, and his step-daughter, Lynn Bullock.
Private services will be held in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Humane Society.