ASGCA President John Sanford, ASGCA (Sanford Golf Design), was an 8-year-old boy in Florida when his father entered the golf industry. It was the start of something big, as he details in a “Tartan Talks” podcast with Golf Course Industry.
“I played a lot of baseball, like my dad,” Sanford said (his father was a major league pitcher). “When I was 14, I hurt my arm, and that essentially ended my baseball career. From there, the focus became golf.”
Sanford first saw golf course architecture plans around that same time. “I said, ‘Wow, this is something I could really do.'”
The late ASGCA President Bob Cupp inspired Sanford to increase his involvement with ASGCA.
“Bob served on the ASGCA Executive Committee, and he encouraged me to get involved and consider serving the Society and the members in this way,” Sanford recalled.
By his own estimation, Sanford has work on Florida-based projects for 60 percent of his design career. “But I have traveled all over the world, bringing the idea of ‘strategic design’ to courses all all different sizes, styles and vegetation.”
Sanford’s complete discussion with Guy Cipriano can be heard here.