About Us – Gold Tee Golf International

Gold Tee Golf International

Gold Tee Golf International (GTGI), was founded in 1992 by American golf course architect Dan Blankenship. Dan created GTGI after working eight years with the world-famous golf course architect, Pete Dye and his oldest son Perry. These years with the Dye family taught Dan that the secrets to delivering great golf courses are; (1) focusing on the execution of the golf course project, and (2) a very high level of hands-on participation by the golf course architect.

Dan in known for living with his best golf course projects during the construction phase and even spending time on a bulldozer shaping when his shapers are not delivering the product he desires. GTGI’s philosophy is, we understand that a very good project on paper is important to get started and is a very necessary part of the process, but the execution of the project is the key to success. GTGI executes each project with a small but very professional and experienced team. These shapers, project managers, grow-in superintendents, irrigation and drainage technicians, are all highly trained men who either play golf or are learning to play golf. Dan encourages all of his team members to play golf so that everyone on the team has a golfer’s point of view and a strong passion for the game. This passion for the game of golf is at the heart of GTGI. Dan began playing golf at the age of seven and has been a golf fanatic his entire life.

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Dan Blankenship’s Bio

Dan grew up, the son of a veterinarian, in the small town of Wausa, Nebraska, thirty miles south of Yankton, South Dakota. When Dan was seven, a nine-hole golf course, called Rolling Hills, was built five miles from town that would serve Wausa and two other small towns nearby. Dan’s life-long love for golf was born and when Dan was in high school his father also joined Hillcrest CC in Yankton giving him two courses to play during his Summers. After graduating from high school, Dan enrolled at SDSU in 1979 to study Landscape Design and to hopefully play on the golf team. Dan’s passion for the golf business began at Brookings CC when he found his way onto the maintenance team at Brookings CC the in Summer of 1981. Working at BCC for three Summers, playing on the golf team, and receiving his BS in Landscape Design gave him the proper experience and knowledge to get a job on the construction crew of Pete Dye’s new project in Cherry Hills, Colorado called Glenmoor CC. After going through the entire construction and grow-in process at Glenmoor, and staying on as the assistant superintendent, the Dyes asked Dan if he would be interested in working on their international team in Japan. Jumping at the opportunity, Dan spent the next six years in Asia working on several projects in Japan, Thailand and Taiwan.

Dan also started a resort course project in Buzios, Brazil, 100 miles from Rio, in 1989 that would define his long-term future. The project was unfortunately halted in early 1990 because of a country wide economic crisis. When the economic situation in Brazil settled down in 1994, the developers of the project in Buzios called Dan back to finish the project. With the Dye’s blessing, Dan independently returned to Brazil to finish the project. With the very successful completion of Buzios Golf Club and Resort, Dan would soon receive a request to stay in Brazil to design and build a nine-hole course in Londrina, Parana, Brazil. Although this was a humble project, the project kept Dan in Brazil long enough to receive several more invitations to design courses in Brazil. From that time on, Dan has had a steady stream of work in all corners of the country. During these past 30 years, Dan has designed and delivered 20 golf courses in a variety of geographical, topographical and vegetative situations. The beauty, variety, playability, and popularity of his projects in the Brazilian golfing community has enabled Dan to dominate the local golf market. No other golf course architect has delivered more than three projects in the 100+ year history of Brazilian golf. Dan’s 20 courses, 54 holes under construction, 45 holes contracted with new clients and three more projects in negotiations, are a testament to Dan’s ability to work in harmony with all types of clients and budget limitations.

Personally, Dan is married to his Brazilian wife Neuma and has two children born in Brazil. His son John is 21 and is presently working with Dan’s construction team in Brazil. His daughter, Aja Ann is a 16-year-old junior and is a varsity member of the Class 5A Colorado state championship golf team. Dan moved his family to south Denver in 2018 to expand everyone’s education and future opportunities. Dan continues to stay very busy in Brazil and is working on his 54-hole project west of Sao Paulo, with the developer Cyrela. Dan also has his first domestic project starting in July of 2024. The project is with Oakwood Homes and sits at the very south tip of the city of Aurora, Colorado. Being just twenty minutes from his home is very exciting.

Coming from a small town in Nebraska, Dan never imagined how far the wonderful game of golf would take him. He fell in love with golf at the humble golf course near his hometown in Nebraska and his love affair with golf has taken him around the world. Quite an adventure!!!

DAN BLANKENSHIP’S BRASILIAN HISTORY

I first arrived in Brasil in August 1989. I was sent by Dye Designs to execute Buzios Golf Club. I worked several months and everything was progressing well until President Collor was elected in 1990. The overnight accounts, that helped make living with hyper inflation livable, were closed and this sent Brasil into a difficult period. The Modiano family, that owned the Buzios project, were forced to stop work due to a lack of cash flow. Dye sent me to Thailand for a year and then to Taiwan to work on projects. In late 1992 I left the Dye group and opened my company Gold Tee Golf International. I spent 1993 working in Taiwan and I then returned to the USA in 1994 to work on a project near my University city in South Dakota. Summer was coming to an end and the Modianos called me back to finish the Buzios project with Dye Design’s blessing. I moved back to Brasil in September 1994 thinking I would finish the project and then return to the USA for more projects. In 1996 we inaugurated Buzios Golf Club and I began looking for my next project. I was hired my Graham Marsh, an Australian golfer/architect, to manage one of his projects in the Philippines. The project was not starting for a few months, so I was living in Buzios, playing a lot of golf and enjoy myself in the beautiful beach community. Then one day Marcos Holzmann and his friend stopped by the project to visit the new golf course and hopefully meet me. They did find me and decided to ask me if I would consider staying in Brasil. They were looking for someone qualified to design and build their golf course in Londrina. I told them, I was committed to work with Marsh in the Philippines in a couple months, so I am sorry but I cannot accept their offer. They did not accept my answer and after some very persuasive talks, they convinced me to move to Londrina and help them develop Royal Golf Residence. I called Mr. Marsh and gave him the news that I would be staying in Brasil for at least one more project. After about a year and a half, I began getting offers to work with other groups on projects. The first, was in Maringa in late 1997, to design and build the original nine holes. Then in early 1999 my career exploded. I signed contracts to design and build three very important 18 hole golf courses. Alphaville Graciosa in Curitiba, Quinta da Baroneza near Itatiba, SP and Comandatuba Ocean Course on the coast of Bahia. Since then I have stayed busy designing and building golf courses all over Brasil. This is my 30 th year working in Brasil and I have delivered 20 courses, have a 54 hole project under construction, and have more work scheduled to start soon. I am very happily married with a wonderful Bahian lady and I have a twenty-one year old son and an sixteen year old daughter who were both born in Bahia. The four of us moved to my native Colorado in 2018 to start the next chapter in our lives and give our children more opportunities. I continue to stay very busy with projects in Brasil. I often wonder where I would have spent the last 28 years if Marcos had not convinced me to work with him in Londrina. I will never know the answer to that question, but my Brasilian story has been an interesting one and I have had a very rewarding career for sure.

Fairways and Greens,

Dan Blankenship