MODERN
Techniques

TIMELESS
Beauty

CLASSIC
Strategy

IN PERSON

As Principal Architect and Managing Director of GAGA, Guy Hockley leads every project, co-ordinating the team and personally responsible for every part of planning and design.

Born in the classic golfing heathland belt of Surrey, England (home to world class courses Walton Heath, St George’s Hill, Wentworth and Sunningdale, the latter 3 among the world's very first golf and real estate developments) Guy graduated with MA Honours in Philosophy from the University of Edinburgh (surrounded by Muirfield, North Berwick, Gullane and many other fabled Scottish courses) in 1982.

Initially, a bond trader working in London, New York and Tokyo through the 1980’s he resigned from the financial world to pursue his vocation in golf course architecture* with the world’s oldest established golf architect practice, Hawtree.

Inducted to the British Institute of Golf Course Architects (subsequently the European Institute, EIGCA) in 1994 under the personal tutelage of Dr Martin Hawtree, he moved on in 1995 to found the Golf Planning department of development consultants Mercator International and establish a European design desk for Gary Player, as his lead architect in Europe.

In 1999 Nick Faldo invited Guy to help create his new design company Faldo Design as his principal architect. Working in USA, the Caribbean, Russia, Australia, Portugal, various European islands and Ireland they have created together a number of outstanding courses. 

In 2007 Guy established his own studio, Golden Age Golf Architecture Ltd, to present Clients with a company specialising in Golf Course Architecture while also offering the vital support skills of Golf Estate Planning and Physical Feasibility Analysis.

Guy continues to work alongside Faldo Design on select projects.

Of his principal mentors in golf design over 20 years Guy says :

“It’s always been a hugely enjoyable privilege to work with such legendary figures in golf.  Dr Martin Hawtree, a technical architect par excellence; Gary Player and Nick Faldo share 15 Majors, their insights into the most rarified heights of tournament golf are compelling for an architect. Both were great shotmakers and competitors - Gary Player, compact in black, swinging into that running follow-through - a passionate, evangelical elder statesman of world golf, and the greatest bunker player of all time; Nick Faldo, tall, calm, poised - the ultimate strategist and perfectionist with extraordinary nerve, visual acumen and memory for detail. Both deep thinkers about golf, chalk and cheese as players, making their respective views on golf course design all the more revealing.

“As with most things in life, whether exploring a new piece of land’s potential for golf or discussing design principles with legends of the sport, if you think you’ve no more to learn, then you’re obviously not paying enough attention.”

And in summary :

“A golf course should be a thing of beauty, a feast for the mind and the senses. It should set coherently arranged and enjoyable sporting challenges, yet also be an oasis from everyday life, a spirited place  - and a commercial success.  Above all, it must be worth the earth it occupies.”

* Changing career in midstream from the professions to golf course architecture was a consistent factor among the majority of significant Golden Age architects (eg Mackenzie, Colt, Simpson, Tillinghast, Thomas, Macdonald, Crump  and, the master in the modern era, Pete Dye).

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