Joe Lee dies

[JohnV]

Just saw an article on usga.org that said that Joe Lee has passed away.

Here is the link: Joe Lee and one quote from the article:

Lee was involved in the design and renovation of more than 250 courses, including Doral’s Blue Monster, La Costa, and Bay Hill, collaborating with noted architect Dick Wilson in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Upon Wilson’s death, Lee took over the design firm. On his own, he created Cog Hill, Warwick Hills, the Magnolia and Palm courses at Disney World, and Callaway Gardens

I have only played one or two of his courses so I leave the comments about them to others.

[John_Conley]

Joe did practically everything around Orlando through the 70s and 80s.  Ekana, Interlachen, Palisades, and a few dozen more.  Never met him, but he grew up in Oviedo and had a reputation as a good guy.  Seems like he accomplished a lot in his life and he will be missed.

His most famous course may be the one in Portugal.

[A_Clay_Man]

Mr. Lee did the south nine at Lawsonia. I'm not sure if he did the newest nine?
Cog Hill mentioned above somehow rings Vague.

Wilson's influence is clear, as most of the holes I've played of his are strong and very good. Then again the south nine at Lawsonia has some very special holes.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

I am sad too for Joe Lee did alot of consultation on our Dick Wilson Course after Dick's death.

[TEPaul]

Wow--I just asked someone in Florida last week if he knew if Joe Lee was still around and he said he didn't know. My Dad and all his golfing cronies around southeast Florida from the late 40s until the mid 60s just loved Dick Wilson and did a ton of work with him. When he passed away in 1965 they all latched onto his partner Joe Lee until a young guy named Pete Dye came to town where he still is today!

[SL_Solow]

My Dad is the Greens Chairman at the Hamlet in Delray Beach.  It was built as part of a development with the twist that it was also supposed to host an LPGA tourney.  I believe it did so for several years and a number of LPGA players bought property there.  Joe Lee was the architect and it is a very good Florida club course with the added benefit that it is easily walkable.  Within the last few years the club decided to do some renovation and asked Joe Lee to help out.  Dad found Joe to be an extemely gracious and knowledgable gentleman.  While he may not have been on the cutting edge, he designed a lot of very playable courses.  Ron Whitten did a biography which I believe was only published in small numbers.  It appears that the game has lost one of the good guys.

[A.G._Crockett]

I played my golf for a number of years at a Joe Lee mountain course here in GA called Bent Tree.  I hadn't been up there in about 5 years until two weeks ago.  It was as it had always been, a terrific course that was very playable and enjoyable.  Good variety, and always fun, as are several other Joe Lee courses that I have played.

[Golfinc]

A sad day.

Joe Lee designed my home course, Cross Creek CC in Mount Airy, NC. With a front nine that sits entirely in flat flood plane, his Florida roots really show. I've played a couple of Joe Lee courses in Florida and the front nine at CCCC could easily be picked up and transplanted to Orlando.

Mr. Lee also did good work on more hilly terrain. Our back nine winds through valleys and hills. A stern test and completely different than the front.

[Mitch Hantman]

Joe Lee was the consumate southern gentleman.  He will be sorely missed.  Ron Whitten's recent book is wonderful, and full of Joe's design philosophy, wit, and wisdom.  It is available through Joe's Foundation.  I can get information on this if anyone wishes.  He was a very modest man, something unique to golf course architects.  

[ian]

I met Joe at Royal Montreal about five years ago. The club was looking to have someone assist Joe and potentially take over when he retired. He was a really nice man, who was agast at how much the club had narrowed his fairways for the Canadian Open. It was quite clear that everything at Royal was done by him, and he was brought in to look at making some corrections to work done by another Canadian architect representing him on site. I enjoyed the walk through the course, but new he would rather have not had another architect along (looking at the previous experience I could not blame him. It just didn't fit. He did some nice work at Royal and deserved a little more respect than he got.

I hope I have this right, but I'm pretty sure he applied for the ASGCA and got turned down the first time. He was asked often to join, but refused to apply twice.

[Forrest Richardson]

Ian -- I have never heard that Mr. Lee had applied for membership and was turned down. I did hear that a prominant member of the Society extended an invitation to Joe and he commented quite a while ago he was "too old to be a joiner".

Mr. Lee was very gracious to speak with me when I was in high school. He was a giving gentleman, as has been stated earlier.

On another note -- one of trivia -- is Mr. Lee's the only 3-letter surname in golf course architecture?

[David Kelly]

On another note -- one of trivia -- is Mr. Lee's the only 3-letter surname in golf course architecture?

Leaving out the Dye family right?

[Forrest Richardson]

Isn't is Dyee? Yes, you're right. Are there any others?

[DMoriarty]

Yes, its derivate and infantile, but how about Ken Dye?

[TEPaul]

There's also Bil Cor and Gil Hns--but only when spelled by Rihc Goodale.

[Mitch Hantman]

Stephen Kay

[nperiod]

It is sad that Joe Lee passed away. A piece of Florida golf history passed with him.  I hope he did so in some amount of peace after a long and productive life.  He designed three holes (12,13,14) added to the old Ponce de Leon golf course in St. Augustine, Florida.