As a professional golfer Michael Clayton played the Australian and European tours during the final two decades of the 20th century.

Michael has written, and continues to write, golf articles for the 'Melbourne Age'. This in turn led to a meeting with John Sloan and a suggestion that together with Bruce Grant, there was an opportunity to branch into golf course design. A company directed by the three partners began work in 1995.

Growing up in Melbourne and coming under the influence of the courses of the sandbelt led to an almost inevitable curiosity regarding design and why the old work continued to make the game not only challenging but fun. Likewise, the education of competition on the best courses of the European tour was also a journey around some of the greatest architectural contributions of designers long since departed. Sadly, on a tour that would rather play for a million pounds on a bad course than for half on a good one, there were weeks spent on some of the least interesting and least inspiring courses the professional game ventured to.

Certainly it all has had an influence. The second half of Michael's career in the game is dedicated to the hope of living up to the contributions of the best designers of an era long past that left us with so many treasures.