About
John Van Kleek remodeled or contributed to every one of New York City's municipal golf courses while working for the city's Parks Department under Robert Moses.
John Van Kleek was an accomplished American golf course architect and landscape architect renowned for his influence in the Metropolitan New York area and beyond. After earning his degree in landscape architecture from Cornell University, Van Kleek formed a partnership in 1924 with Wayne Stiles, establishing the firm Stiles and Van Kleek with offices in Boston, New York, and St. Petersburg, Florida. Together, they became one of the busiest design firms of their era, with Van Kleek often responsible for projects in Florida and later, independently, in New York. When the partnership ended in 1929, Van Kleek went on to work for New York City’s Parks Department under Robert Moses, where he remodeled or contributed to every city-owned golf course, as well as designing new public venues like Kissena Park and the Split Rock course at Pelham Bay/Split Rock in the Bronx. Though not celebrating widespread fame, his legacy is cemented in the enduring popularity and accessibility of his public course designs.
