The Team

Mike Clayton

After a very successful amateur career which included victory in the 1978 Australian Amateur and the 1977 and 1981 Victorian Amateurs, Mike Clayton turned professional in 1981 and played on the Australasian Tour until 2007, winning seven times. He was also a regular participant on the European Tour from 1982 to 2000.

Having studied golf architecture whilst travelling the world as a touring pro, Mike formed Michael Clayton Golf Design in 1995 in partnership with John Sloan and the late Bruce Grant. In 2010, that business morphed into Ogilvy Clayton, which later became OCCM.

Mike is a renowned writer, speaker and broadcaster. His views on the relevance of period architecture in the modern era are required reading and/or listening for anyone who is a student of golf and golf design. He is one of the southern hemisphere's most highly rated architects, whose work in Australia has received critical acclaim on a worldwide basis.

To learn more about Mike listen to this podcast

Mike DeVries

With over 40 years’ experience in the golf industry, Mike DeVries remains a true craftsman. He is personally involved in all design and construction aspects of golf course development. His grandfather introduced him to golf at an early age at Crystal Downs C.C. in Frankfort, MI, and he grew up working on the Downs, developing a deep respect and admiration for the work of Dr Alister MacKenzie and Perry Maxwell.

After graduating from Lake Forest College, Illinois, Mike worked with Tom Doak before attending the University of Michigan, where he earned his Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture in 1994. There then followed a stint working as on-site coordinator for Tom Fazio.

Mike is one of the leading exponents of the modern minimalist movement and, over the past twenty years, has also become a renowned contributor to books and magazines. In 2015, he was nominated as the industry’s “most underrated golf architect” when he appeared on Golf Channel’s annual Golf Architecture Week.

To learn more about Mike listen to this podcast

Frank Pont

After qualifying as a civil engineer from Delft Technical University, Frank worked for Shell before earning an MBA from the University of Chicago. This was followed by a career in the consulting sector and investment banking, culminating in him overseeing Deutsche Bank’s global telecoms team in London.

In 2001, he left London to study golf course architecture at Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh. There, his specialist studies were in the work of Harry Colt and Tom Simpson. Thereafter, he undertook apprenticeships with David McLay Kidd in Ireland and Hawaii.

In 2003, he founded his own practice, which has steadily grown in stature ever since. At present, he is working with over 30 Colt, Simpson and Pennink designed courses across Europe in order to help restore their original strategies and styles. Additionally, he has built 7 new courses, one of which, De Swinkelsche, was named best modern course in the Netherlands by Darius Oliver. Frank is the retained advisor to seven clients in Gold World’s Top 50 Courses for Continental Europe, six of which were originally designed by Harry Colt.

To learn more about Frank listen to this podcast

Hendrik Hilgert

Hendrik partnered with Frank Pont in 2014 to enter the German golf architecture market. Hendrik is now responsible for CDP’s activities in Germany and Continental Europe and runs CDP’s Frankfurt office.

Hendrik has led CDP’s team on the restoration and renovation of two of Germany’s best courses – Hamburg Falkenstein and Köln-Refrath - and he has built 18 holes for Golf Patting near Lake Chiemsee in Bavaria.

In addition to his significant activities in Germany, Hendrik is working in various other European countries such as Belgium, Spain, and Ireland. In addition, Hendrik is leading CDP’s work in the design and construction of 3 new golf courses in Vietnam.

Bill Longmuir

Bill turned professional in 1968 and was a member of the European Tour from 1973 to 1993. He played in 10 Open Championships and was part of the generation of golfers that also competed on the Safari, Sunshine, Australian, Asian and South American Tours.

He joined the European Seniors Tour in 2003, qualified for the US Champions Tour in 2006, and remains a playing member of the former. From 2015 to 2020, he was Head Professional at Royal Westmoreland, Barbados, and currently holds a consultancy position at Les Bordes Golf Club in France.

He is heavily involved with our client activities in the UK.

Jurrian van der Vaart

Jurrian has played on professional tours in Europe and the United States. Through his studies in environmental science and agronomy, he has become an ambassador for sustainable golf to the Netherlands Golf Federation and has been an ambassador for GEO.

He is also The Netherlands’ leading expert in the design of practice facilities.

He has a deep knowledge of agronomical matters and is highly proficient in the technological aspects of modern course design. Although principally involved with our European projects, he will be joining our team overseeing the build of Seven Mile Beach in Tasmania.

Lucas Michel

After completing a Masters degree in Engineering from the University of Melbourne, which included a semester at the University of St Andrews, in 2019, Lukas became the first international participant to win the US Mid-Amateur leading to invitations to the 2020 US Masters and US Opens.

He continues to play competitively and contributes to GOLF Magazine’s World Top 100 rankings as its youngest panelist.

He assists with our projects in Australia such as Seven Mile Beach and has also been involved with our activities elsewhere in the world. Indeed, last year, he was part of our team that restored Bloomfield Hills CC in Michigan.