from staff
Harrison Minchew’s company left town, but he didn’t.
When Arnold Palmer announced he was moving his Palmer Course Design Company from Ponte Vedra Beach to Orlando, it was assumed by all that Minchew would follow. Palmer’s partner, Ed Seay, was in very bad health and Minchew was the architectural company’s ace.
That didn’t work out. Minchew stayed but didn’t move, and when 2007 ended, so did his relationship with Palmer.
“I have two sons here and I feel a responsibility to them,” said Minchew. “I also have a house here. I like it here.”
So Minchew formed Signature Golf Design, put together a team and now he’s out hustling business. The company operates out of his Ponte Vedra home where, he said, “my dining room has been taken over by design tables.”
Minchew’s 20-plus-year career with Palmer produced many of the world’s best golf courses. He’s best known locally for his work on the King & Bear at the World Golf Village, where he did Palmer’s part and coordinated with Jack Nicklaus’ group on the only course the two greats ever have co-designed.
“I’ve lined up a couple of land planning jobs,” said Minchew, “and there are several which will come in down the road. The guys I’m working with have worldwide experience, so we’ll get business.”
The 52-year-old Minchew, an Augusta, Ga. native, joined Seay in 1982, soon after graduating from the University of Georgia. Seay and Palmer merged their efforts and the company was based near the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club.
Seay’s health deteriorated with a number of problems, including cancer, and Palmer announced in 2006 he would move the company to his Bay Hill club in Orlando. The actual move was that September, and Minchew commuted. Seay died last August and Minchew decided it was time to move on.
“I didn’t want to be hunting business while I was working with Palmer,” he said, “because I think people who do that sort of thing show they have a lack of character. So I really didn’t get started until I made the break and started Signature.”
He’s working with four others with different talents. Only one is in this area: Bard Reynolds, who formerly worked with LandMar and whose work includes North Hampton. Another is in Ireland, another in Maryland and another in Utah.
“When we get a job, we can handle everything from the course to land planning to landscaping,” said Minchew.