San Francisco, United States: Brian Costello of JMP Golf Design Group has been elected President of the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA) at the organisation’s 78th Annual Meeting.

Costello, who has worked extensively in Japan and Korea, said: “ASGCA members are ambassadors of the game, whether we are crossing county lines, state lines or international date lines.

“I always considered it a responsibility to represent myself, my firm, and by extension, the ASGCA in the best light. Having the ‘comma ASGCA’ following your name has value.

“Having the ASGCA letters and logo on your work product, business card, letterhead, and social media presence have value. It identifies a significant achievement and is representative of the favourable impact that our membership has on the golf industry.”

Costello graduated from the University of California-Davis in 1983 with a degree in Landscape Architecture.

A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, at the age of eight, Costello was introduced to golf by his father. He soon became a caddie and competitive golfer, exposed to the renowned public and private golf courses throughout the Bay Area.

This early exposure to the game and the historic courses of his home state have strongly influenced Costello’s fondness for classic and traditional layouts.

After college, he joined Hargreaves Associates, a landscape architecture and planning firm based in San Francisco. During his five years there, Costello developed an appreciation for the powerful experiences which can be created through sculptural landforms and contextual landscapes.

His golf designs reflect a commitment to experience the game as defined by its setting with a dramatic ‘wow factor’ and have been described as ‘modern classics’.

In 1989, Costello joined JMP Golf Design Group and became a Principal of the firm in 1994.

Some of his noteworthy designs around the world include: Whiskey Creek Golf Club, Ijamsville, Maryland; Callippe Preserve Golf Course, Pleasanton, California; Palo Alto Hills Golf & Country Club, Palo Alto, California; The Gorge at Skamania Lodge, Stevenson, Washington; Blackstone Golf & Resort, Jeju, Korea; Blackstone Golf Club, Icheon, Korea; 360° Country Club, Yeoju, Korea; Belnatio Golf Club, Tokamachi, Japan; Nasu Chifuriko, Tochigi, Japan; Golden Palm Country Club, Kagoshima, Japan; and Fazenda da Grama Golf Club, Itupeva, São Paulo, Brazil.

A Registered Landscape Architect in California, Costello became an ASGCA member in 2001. He and his wife, Sandra, live in Belmont, California. He is a father to two sons and stepfather to one daughter and two sons.