Paul Albanese

Paul Albanese is from the Ann arbour region of Michigan, USA, but nowadays you can find him teaching in Edinburgh.

He was tempted to Scotland by the opportunity to teach golf course architecture at Edinburgh's College of Art.

Paul's homeland is a rural landscape characterised by farmland, very different to urban Edinburgh. The winters are milder too, something which Paul appreciates.

"You couldn't find a better place to live," says Paul, enthusiastically.

"Edinburgh is a wonderful city to study in. I love the urban flavour. The vitality and energy of the city is great for any subject but you can't get a better place to study golf architecture.

"Golf originated here so it's like an architect studying buildings in Rome. It's the foundation that everything is built upon the world over!"

Paul has been in Edinburgh since September 2005 and has played all the famous courses in Scotland. Now he wants to play the unsung gems such as North Berwick and Cruden Bay.

"I love the ruggedness and the natural links land. The people are the best for friendliness and the way they cherish their golf courses. 

"There are a lot of good public courses and people's openness, friendliness and receptiveness to all abilities of player is fantastic – it's not an exclusive club."

Ten or fifteen years ago Paul graduated from Harvard where he studied landscape architecture and golf course design. Now he has his own firm called Albanese and Luzke, and when he decided he wanted to teach, Scotland seemed the obvious choice.

"I wanted to teach and looked at various places. I saw the opportunity in Scotland and responded immediately," Paul explains.

"I really hit it off with the school because I want to integrate golf architecture with landscape architecture and sculpture. It’s my aim to integrate this course with other arts, making it an interdisciplinary subject.

"The course has a really wide appeal. There is a lot of interest from Asia and two of the students are Korean, one is Canadian and one American. There is also one Scottish student.

"There is a genuine interest in golf architecture from all over the world. It attracts a real mix of people."

Paul doesn't have any plans to leave Scotland just yet, especially when there are still new courses to play!

Related Links

• Albanese and Luzke 
• Cruden Bay Golf Club
• North Berwick Golf Club
• Edinburgh College of Art – Golf Course Architecture
• Find out about studying in Scotland
• Read what one of Paul's students, Canadian-born Matt Osbourne, says about studying golf course architecture
• Making the links: more about golf architecture