Robert Moote, a Fellow of the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA), died May 29, 2017. He was 92. Moote and his son (David Moote, ASGCA) headed Moote Golf Architects in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.
After earning a degree from the University of Guelph, Ontario, Moote worked with Stanley Thompson, ASGCA, one of the professional society’s founding fathers.
“When I graduated from college, (Thompson) offered me a job. He gave me a pick and a shovel and sent me to the Maritimes (eastern Canada),” Moote told Golf Course News in 1997. “He asked me what I wanted to do in the coming winter. I said I’d like to take some drafting courses so I could put more on canvas. I did that at the University of Toronto and got so busy. We never slowed down.
“To me, the allure is in getting lost in a project; deeply entrenched in it. You have to look at so many facets. You’re building it for generations, not just for today.”
With more than 60 years as a golf course architect, Moote’s course list included: Silver Lakes Golf & Country Club, Newmarket, Ontario, Canada; North Halton Golf & Country Club, Georgetown, Ontario, Canada; Lakeridge Links, Whitby, Ontario, Canada; Dundee Resort Golf Course, West Bay, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada; and Ironshores Golf Club, Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Moote became an ASGCA member in 1980 and an ASGCA Fellow in 1996.
He is survived by his wife, Isobel, sons David and Gary, their wives, six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Moote will be remembered for his ever-present smile and welcoming demeanor, ever appreciative of, sensitive to and respectful of those around him.
Services will be held Friday, June 9 at St. Bartholomew’s United Church, Brampton, Ontario. In lieu of flowers please make donations to the Cancer Society or Heart and Stroke Foundation.