By D.A. Weibring
This past week, I finished a Champions Tour event in Birmingham, Alabama at the Regions Charity Classic, playing on one of the Robert Trent Jones Trail courses. I had a successful week playing steadily making only two bogeys for the week. I finished at 7 under par, tying for 15th. The good news is I really hit the ball well and reviewing my stats last night, I was number one in greens hits and number two in driving accuracy. But the problem was I just didn't make enough birdies. I made three birdies a day and even with two bogeys, finished seven under par. But I feel good with the way I played coming off the finish I had at the FedEx/Kinko tournament in Austin a couple of weeks ago.
Now, it's off to the PGA Seniors at Kiawah Island feeling that my game is in pretty good shape. Remembering the difficulty of 1991 Ryder Cup also played at Kiawah Island, I know that this is going to be very challenging tournament. It's a very challenging Pete Dye golf course, sitting in the dunes along the ocean off the East Coast. I think the scores will dictate how kind they are with the setup, and how much the wind blows. So I'm very much looking forward to this week.
Over the last couple of weeks, Sam Johnson has written about the renovation our company, Golf Resources, is leading at the TPC Four Seasons Resort at Las Colinas. We are under construction, starting at one edge of the property at number seven and eight and working our way across the backside of the property. The contractors are in full motion with the pedal-to-the-metal and we feel good about the early work that has been done. The key now is the weather and we are hoping for a good summer.
I'm encouraged by the communication that we are getting from players. I just read an email this morning from Harrison Frazer and I talked on the phone to J. J. Henry, our two player consultants on the project. Steve Wolford and Josh Peters from our office are on site almost daily and doing a great job. The feedback from Harrison and J. J. is that the that the Tour players are very positive. We have tried to engage them in many of the decisions we make as we go forward in trying to create kind of a new brand for the golf course, not only for the tournament, but also for the Four Seasons Resort, and we are very pleased and very confident that we are going in the right direction.
Our goal is to keep what is currently good with the golf course and dramatically improve areas of opportunity. When completed the golf course will present multiple shot making options, especially around the greens. There will be clearly defined targets off the tee boxes with a clean-cut tee to fairway look especially around greens.
Hopefully in the coming months we can share some pictures and other information on the progress of the golf course. There are a number of parties involved; the owners of the Four Seasons Resort, the PGA Tour and the Salesmanship Club, but honestly I'm focusing on Byron Nelson. Byron has done so much for so many, and this was his most important endeavor in golf. Given all the major championships and awards he received, he felt more honored in having his name on the tournament and the great work the Salesmanship Club has done throughout the years helping youngsters. That's why I want to do everything in my power to pull this team together to make this golf course worthy of being the home of the EDS Byron Nelson Championship. We really feel that with the improvement of the golf course and the commitment we are receiving from all of the parties we'll do just that.
