Raymond Hearn was born and raised in southeast Michigan. He started golfing at the early age of ten. Due to academic achievements and his love for the game of golf, he received the prestigious Evans Scholarship from the Western Golf Association (Charles "Chick" Evans, founder) to Michigan State University. At Michigan State, Ray received two bachelor degrees in Turfgrass Science (minor soil science) and Landscape Architecture (emphasis in Golf Course Architecture) graduating with honors in both degrees. As president of Raymond Hearn Golf Course Designs, Inc. his twenty-year-old company of craftsmen service select restoration and/or re-design projects throughout the USA at private, resort, public and municipal golf courses. Ray served as co-instructor for a highly acclaimed golf course design class held on location in the British Isles over an eight-year span. He also offers a popular on-line golf course design seminar for golf course superintendents, golf professionals, general managers, board members, turf students, LA students and golf enthusiasts. His company portfolio includes numerous national awards for design excellence on his many restoration, renovation and remodeling projects. Ray favors a classic design style from the Golden Age of Golf Course Design. His restoration of the historic Flossmoor CC (1898) won Golf Magazine's Best US Private Renovation of the Year Award and his renovation of the Mistwood GC won Golf Magazine's Best US Public Renovation of the Year Award. Ray holds fast to his belief that every golf course restoration/renovation/remodeling project should be site-specific with regards to its design while respecting the history and traditions of the club and the great game of golf. A golf course design that integrates the natural context and inherent features of a site with innovative restoration and/or redesign will ultimately function as the most enjoyable golf experience for the members at private clubs or patrons at public facilities. His goal is that all of his projects are environmentally, economically and socially sustainable while providing a classic look and feel.