Porter Gibson

Gibson has quite the list of courses he designed across the country

Outside of golf and golf architecture, most people will not know the name Porter Gibson. In fact, it can be hard to really find out any information about this golf architect, but the truth is that there are many golf courses across the country that have his name attached to them as the architect.

Porter Gibson was a well-known and highly respected Charlotte, North Carolina golf course architect. Over the course of his career, he worked with several great golfers, including possibly the greatest golfer of all time, Sam Snead. As well, he partnered with Bob Toski on several golf courses, including one Myrtle Beach golf course called Deer Park.

One thing that Porter Gibson is known for is being well ahead of his time with golf architecture. He was one of the first golf architects to go about using waste water irrigation systems for golf courses. At the time, this was considered revolutionary but his outside-the-box thinking is now something that is done quite regularly with golf course architecture.

Gibson left his mark in Myrtle Beach by designing Deer Track, a now closed golf course that during its time was one of the favorites of those who golfed in the area. Opened in 1974, it was a 36 hole golf course that ran for 7,203 yards and had an open policy among guests, making it very popular with tourists. The course was quite long from the back tees and was considered to be modestly difficult for the average golfer. However good golfers found that there were rewards for good shots and even some forgiveness on the course for those bad shots.

As is the case with many golf architects, they are not well-known by the general public, but their names are heard throughout the annals of golf course architecture. Golfers who may not think much about the golf architect of the course they are on owe that golf architect a debt of gratitude. Golf courses create joy and fun for golfers of all skills and ages, and golf course architects like Porter Gibson are skilled in making those courses that are fun but challenging. The types of courses that keep golfers coming back for more. Until it closed in 2006, Deer track in Myrtle Beach was such a course.

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