JMP Golf Design Group / Costello Moore

What JMP Golf Design Group / Costello Moore does

JMP Golf Design Group is a privately held, partner-led golf course architecture firm founded in 1985. The firm is operated as a partnership between Brian Costello and Bob Moore, both members of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, with offices in Belmont, California and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The firm provides professional golf course architecture services including site assessment, feasibility studies, land planning, design documentation, construction administration, and project management for new course developments and renovation/restoration of existing facilities. JMP serves four primary customer segments: private golf clubs, resort golf facilities, daily-fee golf courses, and golf-residential developments, and its project portfolio extends across at least 12 countries on four continents.

The firm's revenue model is pure professional services: each project is scoped and priced via negotiation with the client, with no publicly disclosed pricing, no productized SaaS, and no transaction-based revenue. Go-to-market is driven by direct partner-led relationships, industry reputation built over four decades, ASGCA network standing, published works in golf architecture literature, and earned media in golf publications such as Golf Digest, Golfweek, and the World Golf Awards. The firm has designed courses that have hosted sanctioned professional events from the European Tour, the LPGA, and the Asian Tour, including the Indonesian Masters, the Blue Bay LPGA, and the Volvo China Open. JMP has no external shareholders, no institutional investors, no disclosed funding, no subsidiaries, and no acquisitions in its history.

JMP operates with a deliberately lean staffing model (six total personnel per the input), which limits throughput and concentrates revenue generation in the two principals. The firm's competitive moat rests primarily on the partners' individual professional reputations, the cumulative brand value of its 39-year, four-continent portfolio, and the tournament-validation of its designs. Environmental sustainability integration is a repeated design differentiator, evidenced by the 2003 California Governor's Environmental & Economic Leadership Award for Los Lagos Golf Club. The firm has documented collaborations with Ernie Els and Fred Couples on prior projects, but its pipeline and economic scale remain circumscribed relative to larger institutional golf architecture practices.

Name

JMP Golf Design Group / Costello Moore

Legal name

JMP Golf Design Group

Website

https://jmpgolf.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

JMP Golf Design Group is a privately held, partner-led golf course architecture firm founded in 1985. Operating from Belmont, CA and Chapel Hill, NC, the firm provides site assessment, design, construction administration, and renovation services to private clubs, resorts, daily-fee courses, and golf-residential developments across four continents.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Golf Course Architecture Services

NAICS

Landscape Architectural Services (54132), Landscape Architectural Services (541320)

akta.pro primary industry

Golf Courses & Golf Facilities (MPAKAEAD)

Keywords

• Golf course architecture
• Golf course design
• Golf course renovation
• Landscape architecture services
• Golf master planning

Headquarters

HQ city

Belmont

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Golf Course Design Services: Professional golf course architecture services including design, construction documentation, and on-site construction design review. Services are tailored to each client and project with additional offerings in project feasibility and site assessment, land planning, construction administration, and project management. For international projects, JMP offers construction supervision and golf shaping specialists.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

JMP Golf Design Group provides professional golf course architecture services encompassing new golf course design, renovation and restoration, master planning, project feasibility and site assessment, land planning, construction documentation, construction administration, and on-site construction design review. For international projects, the firm supplies construction supervision and golf shaping specialists, delivering both private, resort, daily-fee, and golf residential development facilities across four continents.

Product overview

JMP Golf Design Group is a professional golf course architecture firm offering a unified suite of services centered on golf course design, renovation, and restoration. The company, founded in 1985 and led by partners Brian Costello and Bob Moore, provides end-to-end golf course architecture services including site assessment, feasibility studies, land planning, design documentation, construction administration, and project management. The core offerings consist of new course design and comprehensive renovation/restoration services, with specialized construction supervision for international projects. The firm serves private, resort, daily-fee, and golf residential development facilities across the US and internationally on four continents.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Golf Course Design Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Golf courses hosting professional tournaments including European Tour (Ballantine's Championship), LPGA (Blue Bay), Asian Tour (Indonesian Masters), and numerous other professional events
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered notable and flagship.

• Ernie ElsnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerTour professional Ernie Els collaborated with JMP on Whiskey Creek Golf Club in Urbana, Maryland (2000). The course was designed as a collaboration between JMP's architecture expertise and the tour pro's player perspective.
• Fred CouplesnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerTour professional Fred Couples collaborated with JMP on Chapel Ridge Golf Club in Chatham County, North Carolina (2006). The collaboration brought professional player insights to the course design.
• European TourflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean Tour sanctioned events at JMP-designed courses including Ballantine's Championship at Black Stone Exclusive Golf Club (2011-2013), Volvo China Open at Luxe Hills International (2011), and Blue Bay LPGA at Jian Lake Blue Bay (2014-2017).
• Asian TourflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerAsian Tour selected Royale Jakarta Golf Club as host venue for Indonesian Masters (2011-Present) and announced it as 'Prestigious Season Ending Event' in 2017. Also sanctioned events at Padivalley Golf Club.
• LPGAflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerLPGA Tour sanctioned the Blue Bay LPGA championship at Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Club from 2014-2017, hosted at this JMP-designed course on Hainan Island, China.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Nicklaus Design: Jack Nicklaus's golf course design firm with the largest portfolio in the industry and strong tournament-hosting pedigree. Competes with JMP for premium resort, private club, and international championship commissions across Asia and beyond.
• Coore & Crenshaw: Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw's boutique design partnership, recognized for minimalist, landform-responsive designs. A direct peer with similar size, philosophy, and award-winning portfolio targeting private, resort, and restoration commissions.
• Gil Hanse Golf Design: Award-winning boutique golf course architecture firm led by Gil Hanse, recognized for minimalist, environmentally-sensitive designs. Competes with JMP for environmentally-focused and championship-quality international commissions, including Olympic and major-venue work.
• Robert Trent Jones II Golf Course Architects: Family-led golf course architecture firm with a similar boutique partnership model. Designs courses worldwide for private, resort, and daily-fee clients, and operates at a comparable scale to JMP — making it the most direct competitor for boutique design mandates.
• Pete Dye / Dye Designs: Pete Dye's design legacy firm with one of the most iconic golf course architecture portfolios in the industry. Competes with JMP for premium private club and resort commissions, particularly in the US market.
• Arnold Palmer Design Company: Golf course design firm carrying the Arnold Palmer brand with a global portfolio across private, resort, and daily-fee facilities. Overlaps with JMP in international resort design and tournament-credentialed course development.
• Kyle Phillips Golf Course Design: Internationally recognized golf course architecture firm with strong work in Europe, Asia, and the US. Operates at a similar boutique scale to JMP and competes for the same international championship-quality resort and private club mandates.
• Greg Norman Golf Course Design: Celebrity-architect firm with strong Asia-Pacific presence and resort focus. Competes with JMP for premium resort commissions in Asia-Pacific and shares the international championship venue pedigree.
• Tom Fazio Designs: Highly regarded American golf course architecture firm known for luxury private and resort designs. Competes with JMP in the same high-end US and international resort segment, with comparable award-winning portfolio depth.
• Rees Jones Inc. Boutique golf course architecture firm specializing in renovation and restoration, often called the 'Open Doctor.' A direct competitor for renovation mandates — JMP's renovation service line overlaps directly with Jones's core renovation positioning.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses2 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/jmp-golf-design-group

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about JMP Golf Design Group / Costello Moore