Spring Break
The Daily OrangeESF alumnus, golf course architect, reflects on successful career
By Jess Siart
Posted: 10/29/09, 3:05 AM EST Section: News
Ann Kay, a former secretary for legendary architect I.M. Pei, wanted her son Stephen to follow in her boss's footsteps.
He did, in a way.
Stephen Kay is an award-winning golf course architect with his own firm. Along with his partner, Doug Smith, Kay has designed 20 new golf courses and renovated more than 300.
Kay graduated from what he affectionately calls "the college with the longest name on earth," the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, in 1974 with a degree in landscape architecture. Now, he is an adjunct professor of turf-grass management at Rutgers University.
Kay would sketch golf course designs in his notebook during classes and had an epiphany after reading an article about golf course architecture.
"I said a prayer," Kay said. "I said, 'God, I want to be a golf course architect.'"
He was introduced to golf when he played on his high school golf team in Queens, N.Y. He fell in love with the game and dreamed of going professional some day. Kay left his dream behind after he played a tournament outside of the high school circuit. He realized the players from private clubs were much better than he expected.
He took the idea of building golf courses to his high school counselor, who helped him get in contact with several members of the American Society of Golf Course Architects. The members told him that no colleges offered programs in golf course architecture and advised him to major in civil engineering or landscape architecture.
In 1969, Kay began studying landscape architecture at ESF and joined the freshmen golf team, which was coached by Jim Boeheim.
When the two crossed paths again in the early 1980s at an alumni dinner, Boeheim didn't remember Kay, and for good reason. At ESF, his name wasn't Stephen Kay. He was known as Stephen Kachmarchyk.
"I needed something simpler," Kay said. "In my 18 years of schooling, only two teachers ever pronounced it right."
He did, in a way.
Stephen Kay is an award-winning golf course architect with his own firm. Along with his partner, Doug Smith, Kay has designed 20 new golf courses and renovated more than 300.
Kay graduated from what he affectionately calls "the college with the longest name on earth," the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, in 1974 with a degree in landscape architecture. Now, he is an adjunct professor of turf-grass management at Rutgers University.
Kay would sketch golf course designs in his notebook during classes and had an epiphany after reading an article about golf course architecture.
"I said a prayer," Kay said. "I said, 'God, I want to be a golf course architect.'"
He was introduced to golf when he played on his high school golf team in Queens, N.Y. He fell in love with the game and dreamed of going professional some day. Kay left his dream behind after he played a tournament outside of the high school circuit. He realized the players from private clubs were much better than he expected.
He took the idea of building golf courses to his high school counselor, who helped him get in contact with several members of the American Society of Golf Course Architects. The members told him that no colleges offered programs in golf course architecture and advised him to major in civil engineering or landscape architecture.
In 1969, Kay began studying landscape architecture at ESF and joined the freshmen golf team, which was coached by Jim Boeheim.
When the two crossed paths again in the early 1980s at an alumni dinner, Boeheim didn't remember Kay, and for good reason. At ESF, his name wasn't Stephen Kay. He was known as Stephen Kachmarchyk.
"I needed something simpler," Kay said. "In my 18 years of schooling, only two teachers ever pronounced it right."
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