Old American Club (Dallas)??

[Mike Demetriou]

I'm setting up some rounds in Dallas over President's Day weekend, and was thinking of playing Old American Club, which is the sister course to the British Open Tribute course. Apparently, it is open for sneak peak rounds, etc. Has anyone played there, and if so, would you return if given a chance? Though I am suspect of PGA architects' work, I'm willing to give it a try, absent a total pan by the fine people here in the tree house.

Supposed to be a VERY windy site, which could be a lot of fun. Is anyone familiar with the land, etc?

[K. Krahenbuhl]

I'm setting up some rounds in Dallas over President's Day weekend, and was thinking of playing Old American Club, which is the sister course to the British Open Tribute course. Apparently, it is open for sneak peak rounds, etc. Has anyone played there, and if so, would you return if given a chance? Though I am suspect of PGA architects' work, I'm willing to give it a try, absent a total pan by the fine people here in the tree house.

Supposed to be a VERY windy site, which could be a lot of fun. Is anyone familiar with the land, etc?

Mike,

I haven't seen the finished project, but saw a little bit of the course during construction.  They have some interesting ideas and I'm looking foward to seeing how it turned out.  The site is VERY windy.  I played the Tribute with a few GCAers about a year ago and it was really blowing.  Keep me updated on when you are planning to play and I may come over and give it a go with you.

[Mike Demetriou]

Kyle, that would be great - I'm playing 36 that day, likely Tribute in the afternoon. Morning at American might be full, but I won't know until later. But the afternoon round is open! Any other Dallas treehouse nuts interested in playing that weekend?

I've seen the Tribute written up here a little, most recently in the Road Hole discussion about Yeaman's. Has anyone else played Tribute who might be able to attest to the "fidelity" (as silly as this sounds) of the reproductions?

[Jeff_Brauer]

Mike,

I played in one of those press sneak peak days.  It was cold, so few showed up and I played it with Tripp Davis, getting the full insight as we went.

First, the Tribute scottish course is very good as those things go and a pretty good golf course in its own right.  You will enjoy it unless you are a member of golf course cynics.com.

The New American Club, I thought, was going to be copies of famous American holes but they are all originals and the course still has a bit of a Scottish feel to me. It has 134 bunkers.  According to Tripp, the two things they tried to do in the design were:

Fool the eye.  There are many tee shots where some of those 134 bunkers are in the near foreground hiding the perfect line from the tee while the safe line is visible.  In other cases the bunkers cleveraly fool you on distance perception.  An example is the driveable par 4 16th.  There are four bunkers that look like they ring the green blocking entry, but in reality some of them sit well short of the green and allow the roll up.  In that sense, if you are playing for score, you will want to play twice.

Fool putting strokes.  Tripp and Justin have divided the greens with many subtle ridges. He calls it working off the middle and the result is not unlike Pinehurst No. 2.  The theory is that the only way to fool Tour Players on a putt's distance judgement is to have both uphill and downhill components to a putt.  It's very subtle, but unless you land very close to the pin, on many greens you will have a putt either down and up a ridge or up and down, etc.  there will be some left and right breaks in each putt, too. 

You will also have to take note of which areas of the greens drain away from you when planning your approach shot.  Not only that, but the contouring of the greens and their layout make a few of them not appear exactly as they are and deciding which portion of the green to hit to may be a challenge on some holes and/or from some portions of a few fw.

The overall ambiance is good, with only partial paths and those being gravel.  Except for a few holes being weak, it was grown in Novmember when I played and it won't have changed much over the winter.

[Sean Eidson]

I'm a real fan of The Tribute - it's alot of fun to play a few times a year.  However, it's relatively expensive and very far from my home, so it doesn't get more than 2-3 rounds a year from me.  It was by far the best "links-style" golf course I had played.  It's actually a course that gives that term much more credibility than it gets in Tom Doak's writings.  The course is about as faithful as you can be to the hole layouts, bunker locations, and greens.  I haven't played any of the originals in Scotland, but my father-in-law who has played all but one said that the layouts and wind conditions present a very faithful reproductions.

My only links experience was at Bandon and you can DEFINITELY tell the difference in the turf quality and I find that it really changes the way The Tribute plays.  For example, because The Tribute has bent grass greens, they get watered to death in the middle of the hot Dallas summer, so all the approach shots become like target golf and don't even think about trying to put from off the green.

I'd love to join you for a round at the American course, I haven't played it yet.

When I talked to the clubhouse staff about it the last time I was out there, they characterized it as a more expensive, more difficult version of The Tribute.  They said it was tighter and had lots more bunkers. Given that it's already very far away and relatively very expensive, I'm pretty doubtful about the business model.

BUT - would be fun to check it out.

[David Sneddon]

I've played the Trib a lot, and it is indeed a good golf course on its' own merits.  The holes aren't truly faithful reproductions, but certainly give one the feel of how the original might play.  The 17th is well done, complete with wall and shed to drive over.  The green is very large, much larger than the original, the bunker being a bit more to the left side than the "real one".  The 1st and 18th are reasonably accurate, complete with burn and Valley of Sin.  The greens throughout are large, and you have to place your approach to the right part of the green, otherwise you could easily be looking at a 3 putt. 

I've only seen the first couple of holes of the Old American, but from what I've gleaned it will be a much more difficult course off the tee, tighter fairway widths than the Trib. I may get to play it on my next trip to Dallas in the spring, and i'm grateful for Jeff Braur's comments on sight lines and green contours, which I'll keep in mind.

[Greg Clark]

I have played many rounds at The Tribute and it is a quite enjoyable course to play.  The time you will be playing it should be good, as the fairways will likely be firm, and the bent greens should be quick and somewhat firm as well.  Unless there is a decent amount of rain in the days leading to your tee time, it should play like you would want it to.  It has generally wide and countoured fairways, so it isn't punishing off the tee (unless you reallly miss) and the par 5's all can be had.  While the bunkers are not as severe as the origninals, they are quite a bit deeper and offer a larger penalty than the typical resort course.  In the past it has always been in outstanding condition, while this last year it slipped a bit.  My guess is the maintenance budget was reduced a bit due to the new course being built.  I was out there 2 months ago and it was fine.  As Kyle mentioned the course can get very windy at times, but it is set up to be playable in those type of conditions, and it really adds to the experience.

I haven't played the new course yet, but certainly have high hopes for it from the few holes I have seen.  I live about 20 minutes from the course, and would be happy to get out and play at either or both courses during your visit.

[mike_beene]

Melvyn,look away. There is a post to keep carts from going over the Swilican Bridge,and the road on the road hole is a cart path from which you get relief,I think. The holes are very good replicas,and it is easy to start thinking the lake is really the firth.

[Norbert P]

  Any more GCA agent updates on this new course?

  I was there last year --- played the Tribute --- fun and educational.  (Favorite hole was modeled after one at Moray, Scotland.   #?  )
  Watched some of the construction going on in the crazy red clay for Old Am.  Wonder how it turned out.

  Interesting theme of "Old" becoming a trend in marketing new courses?

 

[Shane Wright]

Mike,

I live in Minneapolis, but probably have 5 rounds at the Tribute, because every time I get back to Dallas, I can't help but play there because it reminds me of some of my favorite places on Earth.  I have played the originals of probably 9-12 of the holes.  I can say that none of them IMHO are all that close to the real thing.  The 18th is probably the closest.  The ROAD hole is not even close in my opinion, but still a difficult hole at the Tribute. However, I think you will love the course. IMO, the best hole at the Tribute is the 16th which is a "tribute" to a hole at Turnberry.  I'm ecstatic to finally see the real thing next summer. 

The fairways are generous and it won't beat you up too bad but if the wind is whipping, it can definitely be a challenge. 

Please post back with your thoughts on the Old American Club.  I'm anxious to hear more about it.

Have a great time.

Shane