Justin Leonard took time out of his busy pre-Ryder Cup schedule lastweek to meet with golf course architect Tripp Davis at The Tribute Golf Club north of Dallas. Leonard and Davis are designing the Tribute’s “New Course,” a collection of holes inspired by the classic designs of Ross, MacDonald, MacKenzie, Tillinghast and others, in concert with Dallas-based developers Wynn/Jackson and Matthews Southwest.
The new course is to open in the late summer or early fall of 2009 and will complement the existing Old Course, a Davis design that features a number of holes inspired by some those at famous Scottish courses featured in the British Open. Both courses are located in The Colony area of Dallas along Lake Lewisville. Leonard’s partnership with Trip Davis, a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, is the Dallas native’s first foray into golf course design.
“I knew Tripp when he was playing golf for OU (University of Oklahoma), and I knew at some point that I wanted to test the design waters, but I also wanted to wait for the right person and the right project. I turned down several opportunities until Tripp came along. It was kind of natural with me being from Dallas and with Tripp’s experience on designing quality courses.”
During his visit to The Tribute, Leonard and Davis braved the pouring rain to walk a handful of holes with Dallas area media. The interplay between the PGA Tour player, and now designer, and Trip Davis was a rare “peek behind the curtain” at the myriad of considerations that factor into course routing, layout, shaping and turfing.
For more information about the collaboration, visit the Tribute Website.
