Roger Packard

Roger Packard (1947–2017) was an American golf course architect, born in Chicago, Illinois. His father was Edward Lawrence Packard (1912–2014), who began designing golf courses in Illinois in the 1940s and later served as president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA). Roger was drawing for his father as a teenager, and after taking a degree in landscape architecture from Colorado State University in 1969 he joined the family firm, Packard, Inc., in Hinsdale, Illinois. According to The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF), his earliest work was the two courses at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida, completed by 1972.

He went on to work as lead architect on a long list of courses, most of them in the Midwest: Chaska in Appleton, Wisconsin; Sunflower Hills in Bonner Springs, Kansas; the North and South courses at Eagle Ridge Resort in Galena, Illinois; Sweetwater Country Club in Sugar Land, Texas; Cypress Run in Tarpon Springs, Florida; and Timber Ridge in Minocqua, Wisconsin. He took over his father’s practice in 1986. The design usually named as his finest is Cantigny Golf Club in Wheaton, Illinois, which was chosen as one of Golf Digest’s Best New Public Courses and ranked among the top 25 public courses in the United States. TCLF points to the bunker at Cantigny shaped like the comic-strip character Dick Tracy as an example of the character of his work. In 1988 he formed Packard & North with Andy North, a two-time U.S. Open champion, and the partnership produced Trappers Turn in Wisconsin Dells and The General at Eagle Ridge Resort, which opened in 1997. The partnership was dissolved at the end of the 1990s.

In the 1990s he extended his work into Asia, designing courses in Thailand. From 2001 he moved on to China, where he renovated Shanghai Silport Golf Club for an Asian PGA Tour event and designed a number of new courses, among them the 54 holes at the Empark Grand Hotel in Tengchong, Yunnan. He spent his later years living in Shanghai. He died in 2017 of oesophageal cancer, aged 70, in a hospice in Palm Harbor, Florida. Golf Digest headlined its piece on his death “The forgotten golf architect”, noting that no formal obituary had been issued.

Among the courses GoGolf lists, two in Thailand are Packard’s work, and both can be booked through GoGolf. Lam Luk Ka Golf and Country Club, in Pathum Thani about 45 kilometres north-east of Bangkok, is a 36-hole facility built in 1994; it makes use of the wetlands of the Chao Phraya delta, and ponds or channels come into play on almost every hole. Lake View Resort and Golf Club in Cha-am, Phetchaburi opened in 1993 and also has 36 holes. According to GolfPass, Ronald Fream later had a hand in the course, with parts of it rebuilt.

Packard courses you can book on GoGolf

• Lam Luk Ka Golf and Country Club (Pathum Thani, Thailand) — 36 holes built in 1994. A flat parkland layout on delta wetland, with water in play on almost every hole
• Lake View Resort and Golf Club (Phetchaburi, Thailand) — 36 holes opened in 1993. Ronald Fream later joined in renovating the course

Tee times and rates for a given day can be checked on each course page or in the GoGolf app.

See the other golf course architects here.