Bob,
No. Unless you greatly encourage the Bermuda rough, firm up the greens, and tuck the pins. It then becomes a contest on who hits mid to long irons down the pipe from the tee, followed by conservative mid to short iron approaches. For the most part, it takes the driver out of the player's hands, a club I consider to be one of the two most important in the game, and the one who provides the most satisfaction.
As to Dallas CC, other than for its blue blood membership, it does not have a great reputation in the area. I think that Morrish has done some renovation there, but as you know, it is land-locked with little redesign flexibility.
Regarding the winner, he is a recent grad of Highland Park HS, 18 years old, and headed to Georgia Tech, no doubt to play college golf. Highland Park, the Beverly Hills of Dallas, has a public school system that is a perennial powerhouse in golf, football, and a number of other sports. Dallas CC is a home course for its golf team. I think that other team members did well in the state am, including a top 10 finish by Alex Moon who I think is 15 years old.
I do wonder whether if the tournament was held at a more "complicated" course such as Dallas National all the young, relatively inexperienced players would have fared as well. BTW, Mr. Miskell is older (around 40, I think), and relatively well know in the state am scene. I read that he doubled the closing hole (to the winner's birdie) to lose by two. Perusing the scores yesterday, I don't think the tournament drew a particularly strong field.