Our Design Philosophy

Our aim is to provide our clients with great design, excellent service and a golf course that maximizes the value of their land and their return on investment.

While every course Carrick Design creates always has its own look, style and personality, each is also devised to highlight the strategy that makes the game of golf so intriguing.  As George Thomas, the noted golf architect behind the fabled Riviera Golf Club, once noted: “The strategy of the golf course is the soul of the game. The spirit of golf is to dare a hazard, and by negotiating it, reap a reward.” Strategy is always central to our design work. Generous fairways offer options to players of all abilities, while specifically placed bunkers protect holes and reward or punish golfers willing to flirt with them in the hope of garnering a better approach position.  Similarly, greens designed by our firm offer well-struck shots the chance at birdie, while providing golfers with the hope of recovery if they hit a slightly errant shot. At Carrick Design, we create courses that casual golfers want to play and will enjoy, while challenging the best players in the game.

By way of demonstrating the architectural adaptability of Carrick Design, the firm has created courses for projects ranging from golf communities to exclusive private clubs, and from expansive public courses to rustic mountain resorts. Carrick Design courses have also shown the versatility to hold top professional tournaments -- like the Canadian Open (both men’s and women’s) -- while still delighting the average everyday player.

We design each golf course to have its own personality and character. Working with the landscape as our canvas, we aim to not only fulfill the technical requirements of a given site but to enhance and preserve existing natural elements. “Carrick’s work has gained the attention on both sides of the national border for his sensitive use of native features,” wrote Golfweek architecture editor Bradley Klein.

Creating and stimulating the beauty of nature is also a central part of the courses designed by our firm. Upon initial visits to any prospective golf site, we identify the natural holes which can then be incorporated into the layout. From that point, we strive to utilize the existing topography of the land to the fullest, shaping greens, fairways, bunkers and land features to reflect the intended character of the course. The result is a course that blends seamlessly with its surroundings and draws the player in visually, while offering a test of their game.

While the reputation of Carrick Design for building remarkable golf experiences in Canada is well established, we are taking our unique vision to the rest of the world, including new designs in Scotland and Ireland.

Our ultimate goal at Carrick Design is to create golf courses of timeless beauty and challenge, that will continue to intrigue and entice golfers over many years. "If we exceed our client's expectations, then we have done our job well."

- Doug Carrick, Member of American Society of Golf Course Architects