About
William F. Davis was the only golf professional in all of North America for ten years between 1881 and 1889.
William F. Davis, often referred to as Willie Davis, was a pioneering figure in North American golf, noted as one of the continent’s first professional golf course architects. Brought from Hoylake, England, he became the only golf professional in North America for ten years from 1881, serving initially at the Montreal Golf Club. Davis went on to design and influence several early courses, including Ottawa Golf Club, Royal Montreal, and the first two nine-hole courses at Shinnecock Hills. He was instrumental in developing distinguished layouts at Newport Country Club and Apawamis Club, being appointed as Apawamis’s first professional and overseeing its notable redesign in 1899. Davis’s influence extended through work on other premier clubs such as Country Club (Brookline), Providence Country Club, and Point Judith. Renowned for his greenskeeping skills and coaching, Davis’s efforts shaped the standard of early American and Canadian golf architecture, and he also left a legacy as a craftsman, making and repairing clubs. He died in 1902, mourned as a respected professional and an architect whose impact is recognized in many still-acclaimed ‘Royal’ golf venues.
