His course of action: Ross is still the boss.

• Position: People - Kris Spence - Biography

Kris Spence restored the Donald Ross-designed golf course at Asheville's Grove Park Inn using little more than a 1941 photo the size of a cocktail napkin and a magnifying glass as a guide. "It forced me to get into the mind of Ross in his day and read the land," says Spence, who specializes in restoring the legendary Scotsman's courses to their original specifications.

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Spence, 41, formed Greensboro-based Kris Spence Golf Design Inc. in 2000 to reclaim Ross courses that had been redesigned by modern architects or simply altered over time by tree growth and gradual reshaping. "Restoration reclaims all the lost space and reslopes bunkers to their original depth. It restores the original character of the course," Spence says.

Ross designed more than 400 courses in the early 20th century, including Pinehurst No. 2 and 50 others in North Carolina. His trademarks included using the natural topography and small greens. "We do things exactly the way Ross used to," Spence says. "We fit things into the natural lay of the land, rather than taking a bulldozer to the land and shaping it to fit a design."

His introduction to golf didn't fit anyone's design. At age 10, growing up in Steele, Mo., he began toying around with a club and three balls a neighbor had left in his grandmother's yard. Eventually, he played a year on the Arkansas State University team, but Spence, whose handicap today is a seven, didn't think he was good enough to go pro.

He transferred to Lake City Community College in Florida, which offers a...