Brook Hollow Golf Club to host Trans-Miss - 7/10-16

[Eric_Dorsey]

finally getting around to posting some pics I took for the club.  This was possibly my favorite.

here goes...

This a view from behind #6 one evening with a fabulous sunset.

[Eric_Dorsey]

yesss - 1st time!  more to come.  

[Eric_Dorsey]

A trip around what I think is the best course in Texas.  Just completed a 'My Home Course' essay on Brook Hollow GC so everyone can read up on each hole; Ran should have this up shortly I would think.  Images are reduced drastically for several reasons.  

Brook Hollow is a short 6,703 yards, par 71 from the tips, but will challenge even the best of games.  Recently re-sloped @ 137, with lightning fast, perfect greens - Brook Hollow is one of the very few tracks I like to say - "I could play this course everyday for the rest of my life - I never get tired of it".

The TGA recently had the Mid-Am @ Brook Hollow in early Sept.  1st place came in @ 213 (E) only!  I saw a few players in the low 90's - and it was not tricked up at all, just set up tough with fast greens, tough pins, and the usual tough TX breeze.

Hope you like 'em!  


Panoramic view from 1st tee of #1 and #10 green.


Approach to #1 from 100 yds out.


#1 green


#2 green


#3 green - steep drop-off behind and severe ridge running from 7 O'clock to 2 O'clock.  This green is really tough!  Annie-over here.


#6 and a fiery sunrise one day this past summer


The same sunrise on #10 green - good look @ Brook Hollow's dramatic bunkering along with they're logo and 'look'.  It reminds me of what I've seen @ Riviera.


#10 green down from down in swale that runs in front of 6,9,10, & 18.


#12 green.


#14 approach - my favorite hole on the course.


#15 approach from 250 yds out.


View just short of the tough uphill 16th.  plays about 240 yds from the tips.


#17 appraoch over Tillie's great diagonal bunkers.


#17 green


#18 approach over swale with pro shop in background.

[Neil_Crafter]

Great photos Eric - keep up the good work. Looks like a real classic Tillie course.
cheers Neil

[Philip Gawith]

Beautiful looking course - thanks for the pictures Eric.

[ForkaB]

Thanks, Eric, for the pictures and the memories

I played there in early 2004 and consider it to be a marvelously understated and significantly underrated golf course.  A masterclass in subtlety.

[Kelly Blake Moran]

Rich,

I played there while in high school in a Trans-Mississippi.  I remember it being more choked by trees.  Coming from West Texas it was like stepping into a new world.  I was hoping to see pics of #9.  One of the exciting things about that hole is the story that Crenshaw drove the green when he won a US Amateur there (may have the wrong tournament).  During the Trans Miss.  a buddy of mine from Odessa paired us up with Payne Stewart for a practice round.  He and Payne were on the same SMU team, before that I had never seen anyone hit a driver so high and far.  Later that night we met him at my buddies apartment shared some spirits then went to a pool hall where we met Payne's dad and played pool.

[ForkaB]

Kelly

You old name dropper you!

I think I was told that Crenshaw (and Coore?) did a fair amount of tree clearing there a few years ago.  In my brief visit, I think they could have done with quite a bit more, but the compact routing combined with today's distances and litigation culture probably make that problematical.

Happy holidays.

Rich

[Joel_Stewart]

Did you take those pictures and if so, what type of camera did you use?    Really high quality.

[PThomas]

great stuff Eric, thanks!!!

[Scott_Burroughs]

I agree, some high-quality pics.  I need to take a lesson.

[Evan Fleisher]

Those are truly some fantastic images Eric...thanks for sharing!

[Andrew Summerell]

The photos show certain aspects of the terrain, especially green sites, that is very similar to the Melbourne sandbelt.

[John_Cullum]

I rarely comment on these photographic essays, but I must say I am very impressed by these.

[Eric_Dorsey]

Glad to see everyone liked them - so far anyway.  

Pics were taken with professional grade Canon, and Canon wide angle lenses and filters (haze and polarizer).

I think Brook Hollow has the perfect amount of trees.  But I am also a big fan of huge, old specimen trees; and BH has some good ones - like the blindingly white sycamore just behind and right of the 1st green - it looks great.  Plus they have some beautiful pines (fairly rare for Dallas) and live oaks.  Some holes are really tight, but not many.  It is more open than you would think after taking a second look.  Many, many clubs in the area are in need of SERIOUS tree removal - like Northwood and Royal Oaks IMHO.

It took me several months to get these shots as it was a professional shoot, not just a couple casual shots.  Even though, LOL, the very best shots come when your out for a casual round and don't have the dang camera!  

Kelly BM:  I'll put up a shot of #9 for ya.  It's a pano, so I have to stitch it together, might take awhile.  PM me with your email.

[Mike Nuzzo]

Eric,
Stunning pictures.
They make me want to visit more than ever.
Congratulations.

[mike_beene]

The pictures are true to the slopes.I don't think more tree removal is needed.The course originally had bunkers in place of many trees.Before taking trees away,remember how hot it gets in July and August in Dallas.Probably my favorite Dallas course,but technology has hurt.Seems to have sandier soil than other courses here.

[Eric_Dorsey]

Mike, great call on that.  'My Home Course' essay on BH briefly talks about how the course is situated right next to one of the many Trinity River forks, and does have very sandy soil - rare for Dallas I believe.  This fork, which is the swale that runs around the par 3, #8, and in front of 9,6,10, and 18, used to be full of water - but no more.  Imagine how perilous these shots would all be if that were still the case.  

Another future change coming is landscaping to block out unsightly views on the approach to #18 green.  For whomever has been to Brook Hollow, it's quite a trip getting there; as possibly one of the worst neighboorhoods in maybe TX surrounds Brook Hollow - so it's a walled oasis it seems, very unique.  The club has now a full-time security force, which is a welcomed addition.

[mike_beene]

Eric,that is not a fork of the Trinity but instead the old channel.Dallas has a levee system now.I think years ago the area below 14 &15 may have been part of the channel.I know my uncle used to swim in the old channel.Now you don't want to spend evening hours there.

[T_MacWood]

BH looks really good. When it was originally built it was Texas's version of PV. Very few trees and hundreds of traps--very dramatic. One of the founders of the club was a friend of Crump and a PV member who relocated in Texas, which would explain the Tillinghast involvement.

[Tim Bert]

These photos are great!  My compliments to both the photographer and the camera.  The colors are astounding.

Is the Canon you mention a digital?  If so, how many megapixels and what price if you don't mind my asking?

[Eric_Dorsey]

bumped in order to get ready for the famous Trans-Miss Amateur, which is being held @ Brook Hollow in a couple weeks.  It should be great watching those boys take on this old girl and to see how she holds up.

I'll be a photographer there for the club as always, but I'd be happy to do lunch or walk around with anyone interested in going.  I think the dates are July 10th - 17th.