Tools

Lyndy Lindsey was in ninth grade the first time he blew off studying in the school library to sketch out a golf course design. Coming up with course ideas here and there became a nice little time-killer while in high school and college.

It’s been nearly two decades since Lindsey, then a college student, spent a sleepless night at a hunting camp near Forrest City, designing a course that actually came to fruition.

The 41-year-old Lindsey, a one-time Arkansas Razorback and son of a Razorback great from the 1960s, had no idea what was coming over the nearly two decades that followed.

Since Lost Springs opened in 1992, Lindsey’s thriving golf course design and building operation — a part of Lindsey Management Co. — has yielded 39 additional nine- and 18-hole courses. That’s more than two per year and includes properties and accompanying apartment complexes in seven different states.

Not bad for something that initially started as a hobby for Lindsey, who played tight end at the UA from 1987-91. Lindsey, an avid golfer who serves as president of golf operations and design for his father Jim’s massive operation, comes across as genuinely humbled by the success.

“Think about it. From 1992 until 2010, we built 40 golf courses,” Lindsey said. “There were years we only did one. There were years we put out four. Those years we slowed, we’d come right back and hit it hard. It is hard to believe what we’ve been able to accomplish.”

Residential construction has stalled for many companies, but Lindsey Management is doing what Lindsey Management has done for years: building apartment complexes that are paired with affordable golf courses on site.

Granted, there is a bit of a lull in the state now for Lindsey. Arkansas has 23 Lindsey courses, including the recently opened Links at Fayetteville, The Greens at Nutters Chapel near Conway and the soon-to-be-opened Rainbow Curve in Northwest Arkansas.

Things might be slowing at home, but Lindsey is staying busy.

Currently, there are courses under development in Alabama and Oklahoma. Mississippi and Kansas are also being targeted for additional courses created by Lindsey Management.

That nine-hole course in the works at Auburn, Ala., gives Lindsey a presence in every Southeastern Conference Western Division town but one, Baton Rouge. (“Maybe we’ll go there next. We might have just launched our newest idea right here.” Lindsey said, laughing.) College students and young professionals alike keep the residential dwellings near-capacity year-round thanks to the golf course.

There wouldn’t be nearly as many courses if they weren’t paired with residential dwellings. Tenants are attracted to the idea of a golf membership and course living in a setting not normally associated with apartments.

“It’s an unbelievable attraction for a tenant to live on a golf course. It’s not everyday somebody gets to live on a course,” Lindsey said. “It’s a great amenity for people to do that.”

And just because the courses are affordable, doesn’t mean they’re low quality. Former UA Athletic Director Frank Broyles has played some of golf’s most revered courses. He’s a member at August National Golf Club, after all.

And he still has an appreciation for Lindsey courses. Broyles, of course, is a longtime friend of the Lindsey family, but he’s got his pick of golf courses to play and still chooses to play Lindsey courses when he can.

“A golf course shouldn’t be an obstacle course. It should be a challenge and a reward for those that accept the challenge,” Broyles said. “The key to a good course is if people want to come back and play it again. Those courses accomplish that.”

It helps that Lindsey is an avid golfer himself. He estimated he plays about 30 rounds per year and is a two-handicapper. When he was younger, he was a mainstay in the Arkansas State Golf Association tournaments.

Lindsey knows what makes a good golf course. His goal is to incorporate aspects of more recognized courses into his designs.

At Nutters Chapel, for example, by placing the course among the rolling hills near Conway, the aim was to give it the feel of “the Blessings or Alotian on a smaller scale.”

Vision for the course is just part of what Lindsey does. He is very hands-on, something Broyles caught a glimpse of when they worked together on the Links at Fayetteville.

“There’s nothing he’s not involved in,” said Broyles, who consulted on the greens for Fayetteville’s version of the Links. “Every aspect of the course, he takes pride in and that shows. I’ve never seen anybody in any line of work as involved as he is. He’ll play somewhere six months after he built it, and he’s still out there taking notes and trying to think of ways to improve it.”

Not bad for something Lindsey once figured would amount to nothing more than a hobby. Even 40 courses in to his golf architectural career, Lindsey comes across as a down-to-earth guy who never figured success would come like it has.

“It’s been great getting to do something I enjoy so much,” Lindsey said. “I can’t imagine enjoying a career more than this one. Improving each course has been very important to us. I want the product to keep getting better. I feel like we’re doing that.”

Lyndy Lindsey on Golf

We posed the same questions to Lyndy Lindsey that we did to our group of Arkansas' top executive golfers surveyed elsewhere in this magazine. Here’s what Lindsey said about his game:

Handicap: 2

Rounds a year: 30

When/Why Did You Start Playing: I was 13. Dad and my uncle Reynie (Rutledge) and the Sextons bought Paradise Valley. It just took off from there.

Home Course: Paradise Valley

Best Round: I shot a 64 at Longhills in Benton. It was an ASGA event. I hit 10 greens, 21 putts. And I did it with the director of the Arkansas State Golf Association. That’s a pretty good round to have with Jay Fox.

With only one choice, what amateur partner would you pick for a four-ball? My dad

What pro would you pick? Jack Nicklaus

“Caddyshack” or “Tin Cup”? “Caddyshack.” But “The Legend of Bagger Vance” is my favorite golf movie.

Best Golf Memory: We went for the first time to the 1987 Masters and drove in a van. We went down with our cousins. We get to go every year, but that’s probably my favorite. I remember walking up [No.] 18 fairway and telling my brother, John David, “One of these days, I’ll be walking down this fairway.” I meant it as a player in the tournament, but because of our relationship with Coach Broyles we got to go back and play. I looked over at John David and said, “I told you I’d be back.”

If You Weren’t Golfing You Would Be …: Watching my kids play sports.

Type Clubs You Play: Ping

Best Course You’ve Played: Augusta National

What course haven’t you played but want to? St. Andrews Old Course

Best hole in Arkansas: There’s too many of them to name one.

Best CEO/businessman golfer: Jay Fox. He counts right? He’s the CEO of the Arkansas State Golf Association. Jay’s my pick.