Apparently it is getting tougher and tougher to make a living as a golf course architect these days.
Keith Foster isn’t a household name but he’s gotten himself some nice gigs over the years. He has several original golf course designs, though he’s best known for his redesign and renovation projects, including Southern Hills in Tulsa, Philadelphia Cricket Club, Moraine Country Club, Baltimore Country Club and The Greenbrier’s Old White TPC.
Foster is now facing possible prison time after he pleaded guilty to illegally transporting goods made from endangered species and other wildlife.
Foster opened and ran a store near his hometown of Upperville, Va. called The Outpost.
The Outpost, in nearby Middleburg, specialized in selling foreign-sourced items, some of which included wildlife products made from endangered species such as crocodiles, sea turtles, and sawfish. To evade enforcement by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Foster relied on a shipping company to falsify import records in order to hide wildlife items and avoid inspection by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other law enforcement officials.
Foster pled guilty last Wednesday in Alexandria, Va., to smuggling between $250,000 and $500,000 worth of illegal items to sell at the The Outpost, which he co-owned with his wife, Pam.
Foster, 60, was found to be in violation of the Lacey Act, which bans the trafficking of illegal wildlife or plants into the U.S. Sentencing is schedule for March 8, 2019.
Foster was in the process of redesigning Congressional Country Club to prep it for future U.S. Opens but once the membership got wind of his problems, he was terminated.
He was also doing some work for Olympia Fields but will probably lose that job as well.
e is currently working on a renovation of Congressional Country Club and has recently been tasked with renovating both courses at Olympia Fields Country Club, which has hosted four major championships and most recently the 2015 U.S. Amateur.
