Ian Baker-Finch

Ian Baker-Finch is an Australian professional golfer, born on October 24, 1960 in Nambour, Queensland. Greg Norman and Wayne Grady, both of the same generation, grew up nearby. He turned professional in 1979 and took his first title at the 1983 New Zealand Open, later winning on the European Tour and in Japan for a career total of 17 professional wins. The greatest of them was the 1991 Open Championship, where he closed with rounds of 64 and 66 at Royal Birkdale to beat Mike Harwood by two shots, a victory that carried him into the upper reaches of the world ranking. What followed was a long decline; at Royal Troon in 1997 he opened the Open with a 92 and withdrew. The player he names as the biggest influence of his boyhood is Jack Nicklaus.

Once he had stepped away from competition he became better known as a television commentator. He called his assigned holes for ESPN and ABC Sports from 1998 to 2006 and for CBS Sports thereafter, retiring after the broadcast of August 3, 2025.

Course design has run alongside his playing and broadcasting careers throughout. The design review site Planet Golf describes Baker-Finch’s design work as a sideline he takes on with real enthusiasm, and notes that he usually works in partnership with other architects and design firms, among them Michael Coate, Tom Doak, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Jim Wilcher. The courses that carry his name are few. Links Kennedy Bay in Western Australia, Arabian Ranches Golf Club in Dubai, and the Woodlands course at Bintan Lagoon in Indonesia are the best known of them.

Among the courses GoGolf lists, one is his: Bintan Lagoon Golf Club on Bintan Island, Indonesia. The club has two 18-hole courses, and Woodlands is the one Baker-Finch laid out. Wikipedia credits the design to Baker-Finch and IMG Worldwide and records it as opened in 1997, 6,211 metres, par 72. Jungle was left standing on both sides of the fairways and the sharply undulating ground was used as it lay. The other course, Sea View, is a Jack Nicklaus design. Bintan Lagoon is not currently open for booking through GoGolf; it appears on the site as an information page only.

Courses listed for information only

The following course is not currently open for booking through GoGolf. It appears on the site as an information page only.

• Bintan Lagoon Golf Club (Bintan Island, Indonesia) — the Woodlands course was designed by Baker-Finch and IMG, opened 1997

See the other golf course architects here.