Golf Course Architect Arthur Jack Snyder Dies at 87

Arthur Jack Snyder, a Past President and Fellow of the American Society of Golf Course Architects and member since 1964, died February 12 in Phoenix. He was 87.

“Jack Snyder was a true gentleman who contributed much to golf and the professions of golf course architecture and golf course management,” said ASGCA President Bill Love. “ASGCA members respected him as a fine practitioner and a fine man. All in golf mourn the loss of Jack Snyder.”
Snyder earned his bachelors degree in landscape architecture from Penn State University in 1939. He was then trained as a golf course superintendent by his father, Alcoma Country Club greenskeeper Arthur A. Snyder.

In 1958, Snyder turned his attention to golf course architecture and worked primarily in New Mexico, Nevada, Hawaii and his home state of Arizona. Among the more than 50 courses he designed or remodeled were Cedar Point Club, Suffolk, Va.; Arroyo del Oso Municipal Golf Course, Albuquerque, N.M.; Indian Bend Course at Camelback Golf Club, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Eagle Valley Municipal Golf Course (East), Carson City, Nev.; and the Orange & Blue Courses at Wailea, Wailea, Maui, Hawaii.
Born in 1917 in Pennsylvania, Snyder was one of three brothers who became golf course superintendents. During World War II, he served as a land surveyor and was involved in defense design. Snyder was among only a handful of professionals to be a member of ASGCA while also a member of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and the American Society of Landscape Architects. He served as ASGCA President in 1982-83 and became an ASGCA Fellow in 1987.

Snyder was preceded in death by his wife Ruth in 1995. He is survived by his two daughters, Judith Marx and Jean Nolan; two bothers, James H. Snyder and Carl H. Snyder; a grandson, Nels Martens; and dear friend, Dorothy Jean Hill.

Memorial services are scheduled for Saturday, March 19th and will be held greenside at the Mountain Shadows Golf Club located at 5641 East Lincoln Drive, Paradise Valley, Ariz. Memorial contributions may be made to Penn State University Landscape Architecture Scholarship Fund, c/o Advancement Office, 215 Wagner Building, University Park, Pa. 16802.

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