Beau Welling joins Verdae Development board

Verdae Development Inc., the master developer for the 1,100-acre master planned community known as Verdae, has appointed Beau Welling to its board of directors.

“Beau is a world-class golf course designer and land planner,” said Bogue Wallin, chairman of the board for VDI, in a news release. “His approach to creating physical environments is unique in that he understands that building great places means delivering value to the human experience. We’re also honored by the fact that Beau will carry on his grandfather, the late Buck Welling’s, legacy of service at Verdae.”

Welling earned a degree in physics from Brown University, where he was a member of the Brown University Bears golf team. Having a keen interest in golf course design, he also studied landscape architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design while also being afforded the opportunity to visit and play many “Golden Age” golf courses in the Northeast, according to the release. He later attended Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, as a visiting scholar where he was exposed to links golf for the first time. Ultimately, he returned home to earn a master’s degree in international business from the University of South Carolina.

Although he began his career as an investment banker, Welling was coaxed away from the world of finance by golf course architect Tom Fazio, who initiated him into the world of golf. Assisting Fazio for more than a decade, Welling oversaw the design and completion of more than 90 new and renovated golf courses; led the firm’s overall management and growth; and guided his charitable endeavors.

Drawing on his educational and professional experience, as well as an enthusiasm for a wide range of interests from network science and psychology to contemporary art and literature, Welling established Beau Welling Design in 2007. BWD allows Welling to utilize his strengths and passions related to business, design, planning and art in making impacts on the global community through the game of golf and thoughtful community placemaking.

Outside his work at BWD, Welling is involved with the winter Olympic sport of curling. He was first captivated by the sport during the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary but has been actively involved since the 2006 Torino Games. For his service to the sport, he was elected director of World Curling in 2018. In September of 2022, Welling was elected president of World Curling at the WC Congress in Lausanne, Switzerland. He is currently serving as the 11th president of World Curling and the second American to hold the position. Welling also has served on the board of USA Curling; founded the Palmetto Curling Club in Greenville; and was the U.S. representative to World Curling.

The Verdae Development Board of Directors includes Bogue Wallin, chairman; Russ Davis, vice chairman; Hunter Gibson, secretary/treasurer; Anne Ellefson; Nancy Whitworth; Beau Welling; and John Cothran, chairman emeritus.