LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. -- Theodore (Ted) G. Robinson, who designed the golf course at Sahalee Country Club in suburban Seattle that hosted the 1998 PGA Championship, died March 2 at his home in Laguna Beach, Calif., after a 10-month battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 84.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. at Desert Horizons Country Club in Indian Wells, Calif., on March 13.

With an architectural career spanning over five decades, Robinson is credited with over 160 projects that bear his influence, including courses in the western United States, Hawaii, Mexico, Japan, Korea and Indonesia. In 1954, he established his own practice concentrated in golf course design, land planning, subdivision and park design. Robinson spent the majority of his career working independently while wife Bobbi managed the office until 1991 when son, Ted Jr., joined the practice.

One of Robinson's most beloved projects was Sahalee Country Club, a tree-lined track in Redmond, Wash., long regarded as one of the top 100 courses in the world. It is currently ranked No. 76 among Golf Digest's top 100 courses in America.

The course's strong design was one of the most prominent factors in attracting the 1998 PGA Championship to the Pacific Northwest -- it was the first major played in the Pacific Northwest since 1944. Sahalee also hosted the 2002 WGC-NEC Invitational and has been selected to host the 2010 U.S. Senior Open.

Dubbed "the king of waterscapes," Robinson endorsed the use of water as a defining hazard for course designs, and believed waterscapes gave putting greens maximum character and provided players with an appealing challenge.

He also was widely recognized for his golf-oriented master planned community, Mesa Verde, in Costa Mesa, Calif., as well as 26 separate golf course architecture projects in the Palm Springs/Palm Desert area alone, including Sunrise, Monterey, Palm Valley, The Lakes, Indian Wells, Ironwood, Tahquitz Creek and Desert Springs.

As Robinson's career blossomed, Golf Digest listed his courses among the top five in Washington, Oregon, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Hawaii.

Other notable courses include Tijeras Creek and Tustin Ranch in Orange County, Calif.; the Experience in Koele on the island of Lanai in Hawaii; and Robinson Ranch in Santa Clarita, Calif., a project designed and developed jointly with his son and named in his honor. Some of Robinson's most prestigious international courses include Lakewood Golf Club in Japan and Pinx Golf Club in Korea.

Robinson served as president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects from 1983-84. He joined the ASGCA in 1973, and ascended to Fellow in 1995.

Robinson was born on May 17, 1923, in Long Beach, Calif. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley and earned his Master's degree in Planning from the University of Southern California in 1948.

He is survived by his wife Bobbi, son Ted Jr., daughters Kris and Leigha and his ten grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests a donation to the Ted Robinson Cancer research Fund, USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, RM 8302 MC 9181, University of Southern California, PO Box 77902, Los Angeles, CA 90099-5334.

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