David McLay Kidd

David McLay Kidd is a Scottish golf course architect. He has 1 course, Bandon Dunes, ranked among the top 100 in the world according to the "Top 100 Courses in the World"[1] November 2025 list compiled by Golf Magazine. Other notable designs include Gamble Sands, Mammoth Dunes, and Tetherow. He lives in Bend, Oregon.[2]

Early life and education

McLay Kidd was born in 1967, in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, in Scotland.[3] His father, Jimmy Kidd, was a greenkeeper.[3]

Career

In 1994 he was hired by Mike Keiser to design the first course at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort.[4] Kidd wrote that "My task was to create the first genuine Scottish-style links course in America, and I believe there are few places outside the sand dunes along the Oregon coast where this would be possible."[5] The course opened in May 1999.[6]

In the following years, in some of Kidd's designs, the "whole resistance to scoring, and defense of par, and all of this kind of stuff starts to play into the mix."[7] Among such designs were the St Andrews Links Castle Course,[8] and Tetherow in Oregon.

In 2025, Loralama represented Kidd's attempt to bring Links golf to Texas.[9]

Courses

  • Gamble Sands - Sands Course, WA[10]
  • Gamble Sands - Scarecrow, WA[11]
  • Mammoth Dunes - Sand Valley Golf Resort, WI[12]
  • Nanea, HI[13]
  • St. Andrews Links - The Castle Course, Scotland[14]

References

  1. ^ "Top 100 Courses in the World 2025-26". Golf Magazine. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  2. ^ Hunt, Morgan. "David McLay Kidd". The Fried Egg. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  3. ^ a b "David McLay Kidd". Top100GolfCourses. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  4. ^ "Our Story". BandonDunesGolf. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  5. ^ "Bandon Dunes". DMKgolfDesign. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  6. ^ Sens, Josh. "Bandon Dunes at 25". Golf.com. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  7. ^ Desmith, David. "David McLay Kidd: A Continuing Education in Course Design". Links Magazine. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  8. ^ "The Castle Course". St. Andrews Links. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  9. ^ Ritter, Jeff. "A '$5 Million Decision' Brings Scottish-Style Links Golf to Texas". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  10. ^ Deegan, Jason Scott. "Playing Gamble Sands: America's little golf resort that could". GolfPass. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  11. ^ Sens, Josh. "5 things to know about Scarecrow, the new 18-holer at Gamble Sands". Golf Magazine. Retrieved January 6, 2026.
  12. ^ Lawrence, Adam. "Mammoth Dunes: By name and by nature". Golf Course Architecture. Retrieved January 6, 2026.
  13. ^ Mackie, Karl. "Nanea". Golf Magazine. Retrieved January 6, 2026.
  14. ^ "St Andrews Links (Castle)". Top100GolfCourses. Retrieved January 6, 2026.
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