Our series on America’s best golf courses continues with a look at the three best modern courses in the South Central U.S., as determined by Golfweek magazine’s handpicked panel of 385 course raters. The raters, who are students of architecture, attend national workshops and each evaluate 15 to 20 courses per year.
Here’s what distinguishes the top modern courses in the South Central U.S., according to Golfweek architecture editor Bradley S. Klein. We’ve also included information on the most convenient places to land your business jet near each course.
Look for a report on the best modern courses in the Southeast U.S. in our next issue.
Honors Course, Ooltewah, Tenn.
Golfers at the Pete Dye-designed Honors Course, ranked 11th on the Golfweek modern-courses list, are tested severely by steep bunkers, mind-bending doglegs and holes that demand precise driving. Superintendent David Stone is widely respected among his peers for his skill at cultivating rustic, natural roughs that frame the holes with a soft look that’s in marked contrast to the edge-of-the-seat features Dye sculpted. How hard is the course? During the 1996 NCAA Championship here, Tiger Woods shot a final round 80 and still won by three shots.
Airport
Chattanooga Metropolitan
Lovell Field (CHA)
7,400-ft runway, 11-mile drive.
FBO: TacAir, (423) 490-4600.
Dallas National Golf Club, Dallas, Texas
Only six miles south of downtown Dallas is a rolling, wooded 388-acre site ideal for golf that lay undeveloped until businessman John MacDonald set Tom Fazio loose on it. The result, opened in 2002 and now ranked 24th on the Golfweek modern-courses list, is a powerful visual treat that stretches to 7,326 yards, par-72. Creek beds flow freely throughout, and Fazio routed the course to maximize use on the last two holes of exposed limestone outcrops. The muscular demands of the property and its proximity to downtown quickly made Dallas National a gathering spot for the city’s sports and business elite.
Airports
Dallas Executive (RBD)
6,451-ft runway, seven-mile drive.
FBOs: Ambassador Aviation, (214) 623-8800;
Cutter Aviation, (214) 339-2713;
Jet Center of Dallas, (214) 339-3992.
Dallas Love (DAL)
8,800-ft runway, 16-mile drive.
FBOs: Business Jet Center, (214) 654-1600;
Dalfort Aviation, (214) 353-7000;
Jet Aviation-Avitat, (214) 350-8523;
Piedmont Hawthorne, (214) 353-2240;
Regal Aviation, (877) 359-6520;
Signature FSO, (214) 956-1000;
TXI Aviation, (972) 647-7300.
Karsten Creek Golf Club, Stillwater, Okla.
The Oklahoma State University golf team has no trouble showcasing its home course to recruits. That’s because the Tom Fazio-designed Karsten Creek Golf Club, ranked 34th on the Golfweek modern-courses list, is an impressive facility that fills–or at least ranges across–a rolling, wooded 960-acre site. Everything here is big: the fairways, the 110-acre lake on the last three holes, and most of all, the practice facility, which features diverse turf types so that the OSU Cowboys can prepare for road trips on every imaginable putting surface.
Airport
Stillwater Regional (SWO)
7,401-ft runway, 10-mile drive.
FBO: Stillwater Flight Center,
(405) 624-5463.
The Best Modern Golf Courses in the South Central U.S.
