There are many reasons so many PGA Tour players live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. It’s centrally located, the weather is warm most of the year, the airport is one of the largest in North America, offering non-stop flights to locations around the country and the world, and the golf scene, both private and public, is immense.
The courses are generally good to great, which is amazing considering how many there are. The whole area — nearly 7 million strong across dozens of suburbs — offers great BBQ, and plenty of Tex-Mex, balanced out with gourmet fare.
There are professional and college sports, a theme park, the Texas State Fair, warm weather throughout most of the year, exquisite museums, the Fort Worth Stockyards and plenty of live entertainment, including theater, symphonies, rock and hip-hop concerts and, of course, country music (anyone up for Billy Bobs?).
The golf is just as varied. Spread among these cities is some of the best municipal golf in the country. The area is also chock full of great private clubs, so if you have a chance to play Dallas National, Preston Trails, Trinity Forest, Brook Hollow, Vaquero, TPC Craig Ranch or Colonial, for example, jump on it. And there are also a few resorts as well as plenty of great daily-fee options.
In all, there are more than 200 courses in the DFW area, many of them vastly different and the majority of which are open to the public. And a couple of more top courses, thanks to the PGA of America moving its headquarters to Frisco, are slated to open soon.
Golf right off the plane in Dallas
Most folks who fly into this area land at Dallas-Fort Worth International, one of the largest and busiest airports in the United States. For golfers who fly in on business or pleasure, there’s actually a lot of terrific golf close to the airport.
One of the best known is Cowboys Golf Club, originally owned by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Even if you’re not a fan of the five-time Super Bowl champs, you’ll relish in this experience at this Grapevine daily fee. Inside the clubhouse, there are all sorts of artifacts, such as replica Lombardi trophies, signed jerseys and more. The golf carts have the numbers of former Cowboy greats on them, and in the fairway of the fourth hole is a giant blue star. Best of all, though, Cowboys Golf Club has a fantastic Jeffrey Brauer-designed golf course, which is both challenging and fun to play.
Also in Grapevine, which is just a few minutes from the big airport, is a fine example of the DFW area’s fine municipals, Grapevine Municipal, a 27-hole facility with some of the holes designed by the great Byron Nelson. But more than that, it’s a good value with lots of interesting holes and always conditioned well.
And speaking of Nelson, the longtime site of the PGA Tour’s AT&T Byron Nelson tournament (1986-2017) is perhaps the best known resort in the Metroplex. The Four Seasons Resort & Club is located in Irving, just to the east of the airport. The club part is private, but if you stay at the resort you have access to many of the amenities, including the sports club and the TPC Las Colinas. The Jay Morrish-designed course has been tweaked over the years, but a dramatic redesign by D.A. Weibring and Steve Wolford in 2009 improved several holes, including the 18th. The other course, Cottonwood Valley, which has a green shaped like the state of Texas, was rotated into the first two rounds of the Nelson for several years.
Finally, if you’re looking for literally right next to DFW International, there’s Bear Creek Golf Club (Bear Course & Cub Course), which has two excellent Ted Robinson designs. You’re playing right under the flightpath of the airliners, which depending on your perspective can make your round even more interesting. And while Bear Creek is no longer a resort facility (it used to be associated with a Hyatt hotel), there are dozens of hotels nearby, and so it’s easy to set up a stay-and-play.
More resorts and munis near DFW
While the Four Seasons Las Colinas is probably the best-known resort in the area, there are a couple more worth considering.
In Frisco, north of Dallas, there’s the 300-plus room Westin Stonebriar Resort and Club. The facility has two courses, one being the private Stonebriar Country Club and the other, the Fazio Resort Course. The latter is a course that Fazio moved some 600,000 cubic yards of earth to turn a flat piece of property into a rolling 7,000-yard-plus championship layout.
And north of Fort Worth, there’s the Marriott Dallas-Fort Worth at Champions Circle near Texas Motor Speedway. Champions Circle is an enjoyable Jay Morrish design that winds through trees, creeks and lakes. Stay-and-play packages are available.
North of Dallas you’ll find a couple of really interesting courses in a community called The Colony. One of those is The Tribute, which was designed by Oklahoma’s Tripp Davis. The Tribute is a nod to the great courses of Scotland such as Muirfield, Royal Troon, Prestwick and the Old Course at St. Andrews. In fact, the first and the 18th replicate the first and 18th at St. Andrews quite well, which means you have a fairway a mile wide on the first tee shot, provided you don’t go right.
Also, in the same vein, sort of, is Old American Golf Club next door. Another Davis design, this one pays homage to great early American architects with fantastic bunkering and interesting greens complexes. Both courses are set around Lake Lewisville.
And while we’re on the replica theme, if you’ve never played Tour 18, there’s one in Flower Mound, another northern suburb. This was actually the second “golf’s greatest hits” course built, after the original Tour 18 in Houston. The Dallas version features holes that are basically copies of some of the most famous holes in golf, like the three holes of Amen Corner at Augusta, the island green par 3 of TPC Sawgrass (both of which are also in Houston) and holes from Cherry Hills and Winged Foot, for example, that are unique to the Dallas location.
Meanwhile, if you head into Dallas proper, municipal Stevens Park is a gem. Originally designed by Jack Burke, Sr. (father of 1956 Masters champion Jack Burke, Jr.) and opened in 1922, the course received a facelift 80 years later by Arlington-based Colligan Golf. Sometimes referred to as “Little Augusta” with its rolling hills and classic look, the par 71 is just a little more than 6,000 yards, but it’s anything but easy.
Only a 10-minute drive from downtown Dallas, you’ll find the 36 holes of another muni, Tenison Park, which traces its history back to 1924. The Tenison Park Highlands Course, which was redesigned by D.A. Weibring in 2001, is one of the most popular in the Metroplex. The 7,100-yard, par-72 layout features five lakes, 32 bunkers and Tif-Eagle greens among groves of hardwoods.
The facility’s original 18-hole layout, the Glen Course, isn’t too shabby either. Some pretty famous players, including Lee Trevino, used to play in a few games there. And finally, Luna Vista Golf Course, formerly L.B. Houston, is a pretty good Dallas layout as well, having been recently renovated.
Arlington, which is right in between Fort Worth and Dallas, has two really strong municipals. One is Tierra Verde Golf Club, an Audubon Signature Sanctuary golf course designed by David Graham and Gary Panks. Always in good shape, the par-72, 6,975-yard layout routes through a natural setting of wetlands, trees and meadows.
The other one in Arlington is the latest by Colligan Golf Design, Texas Rangers Golf Club. This one is a lot of fun. Formerly the “Ditto” Course, the major league baseball-themed course (the Texas Rangers play close by) is more than 7,000 yards from the tips. It has a linksy feel to it and a few elevated tees and a memorable feature on the first tee – and on-deck circle, where players waiting to tee off can hit a few practice balls toward the range next door. It makes you feel like a real big leaguer.
Another really good muni is Texas Star Golf Course near Fort Worth in Euless. Only 10 minutes from DFW International Airport, this par-71, Keith Foster-designed gem can be stretched to near 7,000 yards. Better yet, it offers topography unique to the area, with elevation change and holes fashioned around Hurricane Creek. Many of the holes, which feature bentgrass greens, also have a Scottish links-type feel.
And finally, another Fort Worth muni recently redone is Rockwood Golf Course. While retaining elements of the original 1938 John Bredemus design, Colligan Golf lengthened it from 6,300 yards to nearly 7,100 yards and completely rerouted with new grasses, bunkers and tees, while retaining great views of downtown Fort Worth and the Trinity River.
Recommendations
Again the list of quality of golf in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is seemingly endless, but here are a few more recommendations:
Also in Fort Worth, The Golf Club at Fossil Creek is a Arnold Palmer-design that winds its way through 1,150 acres. Fossil Creek has plenty of bluffs, lakes and, you guessed it, creeks to keep things interesting.
The Trails of Frisco Golf Club is a scenic 6,800-yard par 72 that features wetlands and large undulating Champions greens. It also has a terrific clubhouse with views of the course and plenty of screens for football.
In Denton is the elegant Wildhorse Golf Club at Robson Ranch, a par-72 designed by Texas architect Gary Stephenson. And another Stephenson design, not too far away, is Frisco Lakes Golf Club, located within the Del Webb Frisco Lakes Community. The front nine weaves its way through the open countryside, while the back nine makes its way through the master-planned community.
Or head over to North Richland Hills for the Dick Phelps-designed Iron Horse Golf Club, which was built around a railroad theme and features a railroad trestle and three authentic vintage railroad cars.