[2] According to his grandson Stuart, Bendelow began working for A.G. Spalding, the sporting goods manufacturer in New York City around 1894-1895.
Prior to this, he had been teaching golf in his spare time—most notably to the Pratt family of Standard Oil fame, who also commissioned him to build them a private six-hole course at their Long Island estate but Spalding hired him to exclusively promote the game in the New York and New Jersey areas.
While he believed golf should be a sport that the public could play at little to no cost, he nevertheless secured many commissions from private clubs and wealthy individuals.
[8][9] In 1900, Bendelow's friend Harry Vardon would proclaim the Apawamis course to be one of the 3 best in the country including Newport and Atlantic City.
This era was notable for the expansion of golf facilities in North America, with millions of new players, and Bendelow was well placed to encourage and assist this.
For the next 16 years, he criss-crossed the US and Canada, laying out courses, providing construction advice, encouraging players' associations, and promoting the growth of the game.
Another "of Tom Bendelow's early designs was executed in 1904 during this spurt of growth at the Atlanta Athletic Club's 18-hole course at East Lake Golf Club; this was the place where the great Bobby Jones learned the game," wrote Colin Farquharson in a 2006 profile of Bendelow.
At that time, it was estimated he had already designed over 640 courses in the United States and Canada>[11] Not long after though, he accepted the position of Golf Department Manager with a competitor, the Thos.
His courses have often been called "Olmstedian", in that his method of naturalist design was greatly influenced by the work of prominent landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. and Jr. "If a site had an especially unique feature –- rock outcrop, stream, grove of trees, scenic view -– he would work his hole placements in such a way as to take full advantage of the features even if that meant working his layout from the middle out," according to the American Society of Golf Course Architects.
"[4] Most of Bendelow's early work was focused on spreading the game and "bringing golf to the majority of the populace.
"[4] As a result, most of his designs prior to World War I were fairly basic, focusing more on playability and ease of construction and maintenance.
After World War I, Bendelow's designs started to become more strategically intricate, particularly in his work for private clubs.
The added resources also allowed Bendelow to use more refined techniques in design and construction, including the use of topographic maps, soil surveys, irrigation plans, and plaster of paris green models.
[3] Bendelow is recognized as possibly the most prolific of course designers worldwide, a pioneer in the establishment and growth of the game in America.
Publication of the book The Golf Course, by Geoffrey Cornish and Ronald Whitten, helped to change this diminishing perception.
The book substantiated the breadth of Bendelow's portfolio of work and placed him alongside other golf architects of renown.