Hope this week finds you well. Earlier this week I had the opportunity to spend a morning with many of my cohorts at the Four Seasons for the Media Preview of the refurbished TPC course.
Over the last couple of years, most of you have heard the rumblings through the media from a number of tour players about the quality of the golf course. The fact that the greens were not up to Tour standards and, because of drainage and soil issues, the fairways left something to be desired. Most of that was very true. Please also understand, no one has ever complained about the facilities or the way in which the Hotel and the Salesmanship Club entertain the Tour players and their families.
As a quick aside, what is it with Tournaments named after big name former players? If Arnold Palmer passed away tomorrow, not one tour player would appear at next year’s event. Because the greens were so bad, I was told by two different media people that they felt as if they were back at the 2007 Nelson. The players were constantly swearing under their breathe about putts being pushed off line. (Tiger really is the best bad green putter in the world. It comes from growing up on the public courses of Southern California.)
Anyway, Tuesday morning in 20 to 30 mph wind gusts, DA Weibring, Champion Tour Player and President of Golf Resources - one of the leading golf course architecture companies - walked us around a few of the holes. Along with his lead architect Steve Wolford, DA has done a tremendous job redesigning and, more importantly, redoing the TPC.
I cannot tell a lie here, and I’m sure there is trouble a-comin’… Over the last 8 months, about every 10 days, I’ve grabbed a cart and driven the course, most of the time getting yelled at by workers for driving in “non-cart” areas. But I wanted to watch. With each rainy day, I kept sensing that there was absolutely no way the course would be ready for the April Tournament. The Tour, Hotel and Salesmanship Club had many conference calls about what to do if that happened. Would they play at Cottonwood (the most likely choice); would they move the tournament (not sure this was ever seriously discussed but it sure was talked about around golf media circles); would they play a combination of the TPC and Cottonwood? The latter was the most likely choice. I could tell in my previews that they were working to get certain holes completed first. As of January, I honestly do not think anyone thought we would play the 2008 EDS Byron Nelson Championship at the TPC of Las Colinas.
Sometime in late December or early January, the ghost of a man took over. You can call it religion, divine intervention or whatever you want, but Byron Nelson (I am sure sitting in his chair right next to “The Big Guy”) asked for permission to change the weather. And it did. Weibring talks about standing in front of the life-size statue of Mr. Nelson and praying for some help.
With the weather change, the course was completed. The Tour has signed off and Bentley Forbes, the owner of the Four Seasons, is as excited as my kid at the new in-door water park. I want to say that the excitement goes way beyond just being ready to play. DA has created a very good golf course. A lot of it you will never notice many of the upgrades to the facility. Living in Las Colinas, I know about the soil issues. A large percentage of the money spent at TPC was below the ground. New irrigation was sorely needed; dirt moved to areas that had fallen; fairways were designed for water to move in the right directions. These are the things that will make TPC a course that we can play year-round, something that hasn’t happened for a long time.
I asked Weibring if he thought the scores for The Nelson would be higher. He said, “Depending on the wind, probably not.” See, what DA did was create a better course for everyone. While he personally spoke to many tour players before he started the redesign and tried to take their suggestions into account, Weibring created a course that is playable. That is what he does best. Think about Gentle Creek and Bridlewood. Both very good designs, both fun for golfers of all levels.
How does he do this? Weibring has a knack for giving players choices, especially around the greens. A tour player might hit a flop that none of us can hit, but with a DA design, from that exact same spot, we can putt or run the ball to the green.
Kudos to all involved. Imagine your wife, mother and mother-in-law at a table all trying to get together on a project - well maybe you can! That’s what happened in a very short period of time at the TPC. Three different companies, three sets of values, three different modes of operation managed to put trivial things aside and work for the good of the metroplex. This happened because of DA Weibring. DA does not do a lot of personal promotion, so today I am doing it for him. He deserves applause from us all. Search him out tournament week and say thanks.
So, the 2008 EDS Byron Nelson will be played on one course. It will be played with beer in hand. No, not John Daly I hope, but the spectators. Along with improving the golf course, I want to compliment the Salesmanship Club on moving their Tournament forward. Some tough decisions had to be made for 2008 and beyond, and the Red Pants have done it right. Allowing beer on the course; a bigger party atmosphere at 17; a much better Pavilion with concerts; a KidsZone for families - they have grown to understand that this golf tournament can be so much more.
For the plug of the week… choose from our Lantana outing on the 3rd, our Tierra Verde outing on the 16th, our Augusta Trip or our Horseshoe Bay getaway... Choose one or choose them all, but become a part of The Golfers Home family.
