Maverick

Mike Strantz only built a handful of courses, but they changed the game forever

Light / Dark

Mike Strantz didn’t set out to design golf courses—he set out to make art.

This original film traces Strantz’s unlikely journey from art student to one of the most provocative and influential golf course architects of his generation. In a career that burned bright and far too fast, Strantz challenged convention with bold shapes, dramatic landforms, and courses that demanded emotion as much as execution.

Featuring visits to Tobacco Road, Tot Hill Farm, Monterey Peninsula Country Club, and more, the film explores Strantz’s creative philosophy, his polarizing early reception, and the personal toll of living and creating at full throttle.

Through rare footage and original interviews with family, friends, and close collaborators, this is a portrait of a maverick who saw the land differently—and changed golf forever.

Art’s very much a spiritual thing. It’s a thing of feeling. It’s a thing of beauty and it touches a part of the human soul that I don’t think other things do. And that’s the way that I tend to look at golf course architecture. It’s functional artwork to me.
Mike Strantz