(1958 -
Born: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Keith Foster grew up in Florida where he played competitive golf. While attending college at Miami Dade College and Florida International University in Miami, Keith Foster gained four years experience as a golf course maintenance superintendent at the Country Club of Miami. His starting salary, $2.90 per hour.
After graduating from college, he joined Wadsworth Golf Construction as a Construction Project Manager. During his five years with Wadsworth, he was involved in numerous course projects throughout the Southwest, among them the green renovation work at Augusta National. Speaking of company founder, Brent Wadsworth, Foster says, "He was so good to me, he taught me so much about the technical aspects of building a golf course."
In 1986, Foster became a part of the national design firm Arthur Hills and Associates. Shortly after joining Arthur Hills and Associates, one of the top design firms in the U.S., Foster opened the company's western office in 1985 and was responsible for all of their western U.S. projects. During his six years with the firm, he and Arthur Hills designed and completed 16 championship golf courses throughout the country. With Hills's blessing, Foster left to set up his own design firm, Keith Foster Golf Course Design, in 1991. "I was so fortunate to work first with Brent Wadsworth, then Arthur Hills," says Foster. "I learned too many things from Brent to list, and whatever words I use to describe Art Hills and the impact he had on me and my career would be inadequate. You couldn't get a better grounding." Five years later Keith Foster Golf Course Design had a workload that required a staff of eight.
In 2001, Keith made the decision to focus on working with existing clubs rather than accept new design work. Keith said regarding his decision to shift focus, " I discovered that I loved uncovering old course plans and trying to recreate the challenges the original architect intended." Each year, he works closely with three clubs on programs to improve their golf courses.
Recently he has been talking about taking on only one golf project a year allowing more time with family, friends and his antique shop in Virginia.
Keith is an eclectic gentleman.
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