Chandler Withington Takes The Road Less Traveled

By the summer of 2021, 44 year old Chandler Withington had established a resume that every golf professional would envy. He had been an assistant professional at Seminole, then the number one assistant at Merion in Philadelphia before becoming the head PGA golf professional at Hazeltine National Golf Club in 2013. How could life be better?

He was the professional at the host course for the 2016 Ryder Cup and his good friend Davis Love was serving as the captain of the USA Team. He was a highly respected golf professional at the top of his game.

However, as the years went by, Chandler became restless. In 2018 his wife had a difficult pregnancy with the birth of their third daughter. His girls were growing up and he was not there to see it. “I wanted to be more involved with my family,” he said. In 2021 he left Hazeltine.

He looked at several options but he wanted to stay around golf. Growing up in Basking Ridge, NJ, not far from the Far Hills home of the USGA, he had always been around the game. “When I was young I wanted to be an architect, but in 1994 at Hilton Head I watched Davis Love play at Sea Island and was hooked.”

For his own enjoyment, he started drawing layouts of golf courses, logos, and posters for golf events. He created a drawing of the Merion Golf Course, and sent it to a friend who was a Merion member. It was warmly received and he encouraged him to do more.

Tom Coyne, author of A Course Called America, asked Chandler to make a drawing to show the logos of every course that had hosted the US Open. Coyne’s purpose was to give the posters as a thank you to the courses he visited and wrote about.

He did a drawing for Seminole hosting the Walker Cup. Seminole sold out of the drawings.

He then designed a poster depicting the history of the Ryder Cup including the club logos, results, and a drawing of the Cup. He sent it to Davis Love. “Davis told me his wife had never had any interest in the history of the Ryder Cup, but when she saw the drawing she liked it, which started a long conversation.”

At that point he knew he had something. “I printed and sent out 50 or so drawings to friends.”

“I called it an infographic. It has a lot of information on the drawing,” said Chandler.

“I have been a massive fan of the Ryder Cup since 1993. With the Ryder Cup being at Hazeltine in 2016, and Davis Love being the Captain, it made the Ryder Cup way more personal for me.”

He sent the Ryder Cup drawing to Shane Ryan, a writer for Golf Digest who he met at the 2016 Ryder Cup. Chandler’s work became a story in the December 2021 issue of the magazine.

“After the article came out I got calls from clubs around the country asking me to do projects. I did one for the 2022 US Open at The Country Club and the US Amateur at Ridgeview in New Jersey.”

“I want a poster to trigger conversations,” he said. The drawing showing the logos of each of the 51 courses having hosted the US Open was his answer.

If he was to design and sell a poster, he would need the approval of each of the courses to use their logos. In July of 2022 he started approaching each of the courses. After 125 days he had secured approval from each of the courses. “At about two-thirds of the courses I had a contact and had zoom meetings with the golf professionals.”

At the balance of the clubs he used his network to find the right person at the club he was pursuing. “At one club that would not respond, I happened to know a caddie. I asked him to ask the pro to return my call.”

“I felt like I was following the yellow brick road to get it done,” Chandler said. “Golf prepared me for that. The long and winding road.”

In exchange for allowing Chandler to use each club logo to produce the US Open poster, the clubs have the exclusive rights to sell them along with the USGA.

The poster is hand drawn. “I do not trace,” he said. “As a result it is, perfectly imperfect. The character is in the imperfection. The point is to get people talking.”

“The people in my golf life have supported me to get this done. If you play this game long enough everything will come full circle,” said Chandler. His circle allowed him to get the poster completed.

“It’s a cool niche that he wants to share with golf enthusiasts,” said Nathan Ollhoff, PGA golf professional at Interlachen CC, site of the 1930 US Open. “It’s good for golf fans and will do well.”

His idea is not limited to the US Open. “I am working on posters for the PGA, The Ryder Cup and The Open (in Britain).” In addition Chandler mentions possible pieces on the New York Yankees and the NHL.

Chandler’s posters are certain to trigger conversations in game rooms and club rooms. There are endless events for him to memorialize with his infographics. Chandler has taken the road less traveled in A Life In Golf.