Tyler Rae
Restoring the Golden Age from the ground up
- Born
- Pennsylvania, USA
- Years active
- 2000s–present
- Works
- Restorations, renovations and new builds across the USA
- Era
- Contemporary
Why the name endures
Rae came up through construction and shaping work before opening his own practice, and that grounding shows in the restoration work that now makes his name. His files run heavily to Donald Ross and Seth Raynor — Detroit, St. Davids, Hyde Park, Beverly, Brae Burn, Monroe, Mountain Lake, Lookout Mountain, Wanumetonomy — alongside new builds such as Old Sawmill and Spy Ring. Historic aerials, drawings and club correspondence come first; machinery second.
Design principles
- Historic aerials and club records as the design brief
- Recover lost fairway width before touching bunkers
- Restore green edges to their original perimeters
- Match the hand of the original architect rather than sign the work
Surviving work
Courses to see
Lookout Mountain Club
Georgia, USA
Seth Raynor, 1925. Golf Digest's 2023 Restoration of the Year.
Detroit Golf Club
Michigan, USA
Donald Ross, 1914. Host of the PGA TOUR's Rocket Classic.
Mountain Lake
Florida, USA
Raynor, 1916–20, including the restored Biarritz fifth.
St. Louis Country Club
Missouri, USA
C.B. Macdonald, 1914, worked from 1920s photographs.
Beverly Country Club
Illinois, USA
Donald Ross, 1919, widened and re-edged to the old lines.
Old Sawmill Golf Club
South Carolina, USA
New build opened in the autumn of 2025.