RMGA Staff

Walt Young

Walt Young is a graduate of Ball State University with a degree in Landscape Architecture. Originally from Holland, Michigan, Walt has played golf since the age of seven. His pursuit of a degree in landscape architecture stems from his love of the game of golf and early experiences playing some of the best courses the State of Michigan has to offer (such as Crystal Downs Country Club and Treetops Resort).

Walt began his professional career with a design/build landscape architecture firm in Muncie, Indiana called Flatland Design. His responsibilities there included design development, cost estimation, design construction, and contractor supervision. As Richard's lead design assistant, Walt's primary charge is the production of detailed construction documents and bid packages. His attention to detail and understanding of golf course construction processes is invaluable to Richard Mandell Golf Architecture and is a major contributor to the firm's success in maintaining cost control from project conception to opening day.

Susan Wilson

Susan Wilson comes to Richard Mandell Golf Architecture with a Bachelors of Science degree from the University of Tennessee and seventeen years of experience in both the public and private sectors. As an Agent with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, Susan was called upon to evaluate a variety of agronomic, site design, and public safety concerns. Susan then entered the private sector as a design associate at Gulley's Garden Center in Southern Pines, North Carolina, a full-service retail, design, and installation nursery. Her responsibilities there included plant, agronomic, and pesticide consultation as well as landscape design services.

Susan's design expertise provides a unique perspective to Richard Mandell Golf Architecture. Most golf course design firms look beyond the fairways as secondary. Susan's ability to analyze all aspects of a property allows the firm to provide not just golf course design, but an overall design concept from the front entrance to the maintenance facility and all points in between.

Ted Thomas

Ted has enjoyed a long and successful career spanning some 48 years in Sales and Marketing including Real Estate, Advertising, Sales Promotion, Commodity Futures and Investment Banking. In addition to his extraordinary business success he has developed and takes great pride in identifying, encouraging and assisting promising young talent in each of those fields to develop and expand their personal skills and career success. In more recent years he has ongoing entrepreneurial interests in home building, commercial real estate and mortgage banking as well as an active involvement in charitable causes both secular and faith based. However, it is his love and enjoyment of golf and an appreciation for the strategic elements of course design that has drawn him to Richard Mandell Golf Architecture to assist in business development.