Michiel van der Vaart
Born in the Netherlands, Michiel Van der Vaart has played golf since he was a young child. He has always held a natural love for the game and somehow knew that it would eventually take him somewhere. Michiel had long dreamed of becoming a golf course architect and in 2002, this aspiration became a reality. Having already worked as a landscape architect in ‘s-Hertogenbosch for four years, the opportunity presented itself in the form of Gerard Jol. Jol was an influential Dutch golf architect in the 1990’s with many projects to his name. When he sought the assistance of Michiel in 2002, it became the beginning of a strong relationship. From that day onwards, things changed rapidly for Michiel. He joined Jol’s golf design company that year, has since completed the EIGCA’s Diploma programme and has been involved in the design and renovation of numerous golf courses around Europe.
In 2008, Michiel and Philip Spogárd, whom he met at an EIGCA Conference a few years previous, founded Spogárd&VanderVaart Golf Course Architects. This is a unique, international practice, which creates exciting, visually stunning and highly individual golf courses. In 2011, Michiel was awarded the ‘Development of the Year Award’ for the design of Stippelberg, a golf course located in Gemert-Bakel in The Netherlands. Other nominees included Gary Player, Ben Crenshaw and Nick Faldo.
Michiel is a passionate golf course designer with a love for nature, ecology and a broad knowledge of plants. His naturalistic approach and design style has helped him to create courses that are successfully integrated into their surrounding cultural, historical and natural environments. He still enjoys a round of golf and currently plays off a handicap of 6.5.