Raymond Hearn Golf Course Designs Inc. Begins Midlothian Rennovation By Brian Weis

Raymond Hearn Golf Course Designs Inc. Begins Midlothian Rennovation

By Brian Weis

ASGCA Member, Raymond Hearn, President of Raymond Hearn Golf Course Designs, Inc., will be overseeing the remodeling work at the Midlothian Country Club on the restoration and renovation of the historic golf course. The project entails significant bunker restoration and renovation, some new tee development, fairway adjustments, and new green runoff areas.

Hearn started master planning work with the club in 2015 and finished construction drawings in 2021. Construction is set to begin in early September of 2021.

What and exciting project! The history of this club is incredible. Hebert Tweedie did an outstanding job with the course routing in 1898. Many of the original holes are still intact. The research took a long time to complete as it should on a course this old. Legends such as Walter Hagen, Chick Evans, Francis Ouimet, John McDermott, Tom Vardon all graced these hollowed grounds. In 1914 Walter Hagen won the US Open Golf Championship and Donald Ross consulted with the Club on course improvements prior to," states Hearn.

"As with all my work, it is all about restoring and / or creating great angles and options. Shot value, strategy and playability are always at the top of my list. The project's duration will be fall of 2021 through the spring of 2022. The before and after images of each hole in our planning has been very well received. In 2020, we completed a test run of some sample bunker shapes and forms on hole #2 and the membership loved what they saw," says Hearn.

Hearn will be working closely with Leibold Contractors, General Manager Tom Ahern and Golf Course Superintendent Cory Von Tungein. Hearn gives special thanks to Current President Matt Barry, Former President & Club Historian Mark Wheeler, various Board and committee members for all their help.

"Ray has a great eye for classical restoration and renovation detail at historic clubs. He respects our great history. We enjoy working with him," says Wheeler.

Revised: 08/16/2021 - Article Viewed 10,747 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.