Andrew Johnston’s career in golf began not with a swing, but with a landscape.

Growing up at the Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs, where his father played and his grandfather worked as executive chef, Andy – as he prefers to be called – spent his childhood wandering the fairways rather than learning the game.

He remembers those early days vividly: “I fell in love with the golf course, not with the game of golf,” and that distinction would shape everything that followed.

By the age of 14 he already knew he wanted to be a golf course architect, and by 15 he was working at a course in Albuquerque cleaning clubs and parking carts. The following season he moved into maintenance, beginning a lifelong relationship with turf, soil and the craft of course building.

His professional break came through superintendent Kevin Adams, who later joined Arnold Palmer’s construction arm. Johnston followed him, earning degrees in architecture and turfgrass science before joining Palmer Course Design full time. Those early years were formative.

He worked on dozens of Palmer projects around the world, learning the discipline of construction, the nuance of shaping, and the values Palmer expected of his team.

“The values that he had because of what his father gave him were very strong values that bled out in all of us. Things such as if you’re not five minutes early for a meeting, you’re late and how you dress and how you act,” recalls Johnston.

“They meant something to him and those values drive the things that I do today.”

Johnston’s rise within the organisation was rapid. At 25 he was sent to Australia as project manager for Sanctuary Cove, the only Arnold Palmer course ever built in the country.

“It was the summer I grew up,” he says, reflecting on the responsibility of leading a major project at such a young age. He shaped greens, led construction teams, and learned how to translate design intent into the finished article.

After a decade with Palmer, Johnston moved into agronomy full time, taking on the role of Director of Agronomy at Kraft Farms in Alabama, overseeing 54 holes and a vast sod farm. But design remained a constant pull, with Gene Bates eventually recruiting him as VP of Design, telling him, “I need a guy like you who knows design, knows construction and knows agronomy.”

Johnston helped Bates deliver around 70 projects, developing a reputation for blending architectural creativity with agronomic precision. But, despite his design credentials, he never pursued ASGCA membership. “My roots are golf course superintendent… I’ll maintain that as long as I can,” he says.

That dual identity – architect and agronomist – would prove pivotal when Sentosa Golf Club entered the picture.

His relationship with Sentosa began in 2006, almost by accident. He was working in Beijing when a friend called to say the club needed an architect. Greg Norman had already declined. Johnston flew down the same night, met the chairman, and sketched a deal on a napkin.

Initially he was asked to make minor adjustments to the old Tanjong course, but within six months the club asked him to redesign the Serapong to elevate it into a tournament venue.

“We need to get in the tournament business,” they told him. He accepted, and the redesign transformed Serapong into one of Asia’s most respected championship courses.

His deeper involvement came in 2010 during the Barclays Singapore Open. Three days before the event, the superintendent resigned. Sentosa called Johnston, who arrived to find algae covered greens and failing equipment.

“I thought, oh my God, I’ve made a mistake,” he admits. But he turned the situation around. By Monday, every green rolled at 13.5 – far beyond anything previously achieved.

“The fastest green speeds the Singapore Open has ever seen is 10… every green was rolling 13.5.” The club asked him to stay. He became consultant, then Director of Agronomy, and eventually General Manager.

But as he recalls, he never sought the GM role. “I am an agronomist from day one and just sort of fake my way through being GM,” he laughs. But his agronomic background has been transformative.

Under a traditional GM, he argues, Sentosa would never have invested in the $18 million worth of equipment it now has, nor would the golf course be treated as the club’s most valuable asset. His days begin early and often end late. “I can’t wait to wake up every day to get here,” he says. Yet he is realistic about the lack of a succession plan.

“You don’t ever want to put all those eggs in one basket again… there’s too much risk.” He has already advised ownership that his role should eventually be split into three: GM, Director of Agronomy, and Architect.

Sentosa’s reputation for sustainability is one of Johnston’s most significant achievements. The club’s water strategy is a standout example. All lakes are rainwater fed; there is no abstraction, no grey water, no external supply.

“It’s all pure mother’s nature coming down out of the skies,” he says. This approach was driven partly by necessity – Singapore’s lease renewal cycles require clubs to demonstrate long term environmental responsibility – and partly by philosophy, as Johnston believes urban environments need golf courses that act as green lungs rather than water hungry liabilities.

Biochar has been another breakthrough at Sentosa. Johnston was one of the first to introduce it to Asia, working with Mirimichi Green, whose funding arm was backed by Justin Timberlake.

“We measured the clip off of every green, every day, and all of a sudden they started growing too much,” he recalls. “It didn’t happen instantly, but after a couple of months it was like, ‘what the heck’, so we knew it had to be the biochar.”

The measurable outcomes have been striking. “We’ve reduced our NPK with using things like biochar, 50 to 60 per cent. We’ve reduced our nematocides by 90 per cent. We’ve reduced our fungicides by even more.”

Sentosa’s greens are also built with pore ceramics and carbon rich materials rather than peat, creating dynamic soils that make turf management more resilient and more efficient. “If you’ve got great soils to start with, you’ll win,” Johnston explains.

Drainage is another area where Sentosa excels. The course is sand capped to one metre, allowing play to resume within 20 minutes of a 150mm rain event. During one HSBC Women’s World Championship, the course absorbed 19 inches of rain and still completed every round on schedule.

“Within 20 minutes we’re playing golf… 19 inches of rain… finished every round in regulation,” he boasts.

Johnston remains the first person on property each morning, though he is now consciously stepping back to give new superintendent Brett Saggus the space to lead. “If I go down there every morning with him, it just steals his thunder,” he says.

He sees himself increasingly as a coach rather than a hands on agronomist, and at 62, he is already thinking about the next phase. When he eventually steps down as GM, he plans to return full time to design under his newly renamed practice, Twisted Earth Golf Design – a nod to the shapers he once worked with under Gene Bates.

“I really like the idea of Twisted Earth,” he says, and hopes to continue designing for as long as possible. “I hope I die designing golf courses,” he smiles, although hopefully not before he’s completed a few more.