Justin Leonard Course Design

Jonathan Wall writes in the July 2011 issue of Avid Golfer magazine, "Understand this about Old American: this course will make you think. The layout was built with the shot-maker in mind, so you really need to be on your game and alert at all times during your round."

"You get that feeling from the opening hole, a par-4 that plays 442 yards from the tips and offers golfers their first decision of the day with a cross-bunker sitting in the middle of the fairway. Big hitters can clear the bunker, but beware of a manmade lake on the left side of the fairway.

"There's a reason why a number of national golf publications had Old American ranked as one of the best new courses when it opened in 2010. While the course still has some growing to do, the entire layout is already one of the best in the Metroplex, and should offer golfers of all skill levels a true test of what it's like to play a demanding Golden Age layout."

To read Jonathan Wall's entire feature on Old American, click here.

GOLF Magazine ranks Old American Golf Club 5th Best in Texas

The Old American Golf Club – designed by Tripp Davis and PGA TOUR / Ryder Cup star Justin Leonard – is ranked No. 5 among Texas’ best public-access courses by GOLF Magazine.

Located at The Tribute Resort Community north of Dallas on the shores of Lake Lewisville, the Old American is in elite company on the list of Texas’ finest, alongside several hosts to professional tour events and world famous resorts. The state boasts more than 560 public-access facilities in all. GOLF Magazine’s ratings panel included editorial staff and well-traveled golf industry sources.

“To be ranked in the top one percent of all public golf courses in Texas in our first year is a tremendous honor and testament to The Old American’s design pedigree and lakefront setting,” says Jeff Kindred, PGA general manager of Old American.

Inspired by the ‘Golden Age’ of golf course architecture between 1911 and 1937, the Old American’s natural contours, hazard styles, native grasses and green shapes were influenced by such masterpieces as Shinnecock Hills, National Golf Links, Prairie Dunes and Crystal Downs.

The design emphasizes strategy and shot-making and flows with a natural rhythm from first tee to 18th green. The Old American features six sets of tees, ranging from the 5215-yard forward markers to the 7174-yard “Leonard” tournament tees.

Davis and Leonard conceived the routing and layout with both medal and match play in mind, as golfers are required to hold “steady to par” through a number of holes, but enticed to gamble on birdie or better during select stretches of the course.

Golf Digest notes "hints of Pinehurst" and other great courses

Golf Digest's Ron Whitten, in a story on the Best New Courses of 2010, said "Tripp Davis and Justin Leonard embraced [C.B.] Macdonald's philosophy of cherry-picking ideas from other great courses by adding hints of Pinehurst, Maidstone, Shinnecock and National Golf Links in their wide fairways, cross bunkers and intricate greens. [The Old American is] a complex design not easily grasped in one round. How complex? Davis' how-to-play-it guide runs 43 pages.

Marius Filmalter named Director of Instruction

Groundbreaking putting technician Marius Filmalter has been named Director of Instruction at the Old American Golf Club. GOLF Magazine refers to Filmalter as their new "Tour Putting Coach" for his work with several professionals and his research on the 10 characteristics shared by all great putters.

"The Old American is quickly garnering a reputation as the place to play aong some of the Metroplex's best golfers," says Filmalter. "We look forward to helping golfers across the Dallas area polish their games and become better plaeyers."

The Old American Golf Club

There may come a day when the name Tripp Davis resonates as loud and clear to golfers as the names Tom Fazio and Pete Dye. If that happens (more likely "when" it does), golf writers and golfers likely will point to The Old American Golf Club in The Colony as one of Davis' first original masterpieces of golf course architecture.

Further, by the time Davis' fast-rising star reaches its apex, The Old American will have grown in and become one of the absolute premier courses in Texas. Even now, a few months shy of its scheduled grand opening in the fall, it is spectacular. Playing it for the first time, one is amazed that, hole after hole, there is no let up in interesting design features, daunting challenges and awe-inspiring views.

It's simply a classic golf course designed by one of America's best young architects.

To read Mark Button's DFW Links review by, click here.

First Course Design is Quintessential Justin

It seems fitting that the first golf course to open with design input from Justin Leonard is a traditionalist American layout, borders a links-style course which replicates British Open holes, and is located in Texas.

Leonard is the classic American gentleman golfer in the lineage of Francis Ouimet and Byron Nelson. His Major title came at "The Open Championship," as the Brits call it, at Royal Troon. And Justin is a Texas-born, orange-blooded UT stalwart with three Texas Open trophies among his 12 PGA Tour victories.

What you'll remember about the layout after you've played is that every hole is different, and every hole may remind you a little of some great course you've played or seen on television.

Click here for the commentary by Rick Adams and Chris Stellwag.

Old American Evokes Classic Designs - Golfweek"

"Options … abound at Old American. The course, as the name suggests, is a gesture of emulation toward the classic American designs that have inspired Davis and Leonard for decades. A student of design can read into these 250 acres features and touches that call to mind the likes of Shinnecock Hills, Prairie Dunes, Crystal Downs, Pinehurst No. 2 and Riviera. There are no copies of famous holes at Old American. But the rough-hewn bunkers with their droopy-eyebrow grassing lines evoke Perry Maxwell’s Prairie Dunes."

To read the entire "Rater's Notebook" review by Golfweek's Bradley Klein, click here.

The Old American Golf Club Named to LINKS Magazine's "Best of Golf 2010"

The Old American Golf Club -- designed by Tripp Davis and PGA TOUR/Ryder Cup star Justin Leonard -- has been named to LINKS Magazine's "Best of Golf 2010," one of the game's leading lists of best new domestic and international golf courses.

Click here to read more about this prestigious honor.

Something Old is Something New

Avid Golfer magazine's Robert Rodriguez got a sneak peek at the "Old American Golf Club" at The Tribute in The Colony, Texas. Here are some of his comments:

Davis and Leonard moved a lot of dirt to create some striking rolling terrain, none more evident than beyond the second green. There on top of a 50-foot hill sits a Chicago Steel rail bridge where the carts will motor on while heading to the third hole. Built in 1898, the bridge is an awesome sight to behold.

The front nine looks just about ready for action. The fairways are plush, the greens are growing in quite nicely, and the native grasses and flowers are filling in the areas that were once dirt. Already I can tell I will fall in love with the ninth hole, a splendid par-4 that features a towering tree to contend with off the tee and a nailbiting approach shot over a marsh.

Click here to read more excerpts from Robert's editorial about The Old American Golf Club.

"You've got to build a course people want to come back and play."

PGATour.com's Melanie Hauser had a chat with Justin Leonard about his latest venture -- designing The Old American Golf Club at The Tribute in Leonard's hometown of Dallas.

HAUSER: Is designing golf courses something you've been thinking about your whole career?

LEONARD: I've had my interest in being a design consultant for a few years, but waiting until the right design project with the right people came along. It's a combination of things. First and foremost being able to partner with Tripp Davis. I have a lot of respect for him. We have similar tastes and ideas, so there's not a lot of conflict as far as strategy. We both enjoy the same golf courses. So that was an easy fit. Being able to work with Matthews Southwest was a great factor as well as Wynne/Jackson -- to be able to partner up with some great firms. It's easy to see when times are good, it's all systems go. But in this economy, these guys are still pushing ahead. They're excited about the project. They haven't once come and said we're struggling, can we do without this or can we do this a little less expensively. Tripp is very good about managing costs and staying within budgets and maximizing the value of the golf course and what goes on around it.

Click here to read Melanie's complete interview with JL about The Tribute project.

New Golf Community Releases First Wave of Homesites

It's understandable if the Dallas/ Fort Worth Metroplex is excited about the New Course scheduled to open this summer at The Tribute, an 18-hole layout designed by Tripp Davis and PGA Tour star Justin Leonard. Developers behind the master-planned community, led by the well-known Dallas group, Matthews Southwest, are also geared up for the recent release of a number of premium lake-view, golf-course frontage lots in the Balmerino Village.

Located on the shores of Lake Lewisville, seven parcels are adjacent to the No. 5 green and No. 6 tee box, premium placements that allow for unobstructed views of Lake Lewisville. A total of 28 lots will be offered in Balmerino for 1/3-acre footprints.

A gated neighborhood located at the center of the Tribute, Balmerino is one of five distinct villages that feature a wide range of single family homes, golf villas, townhomes, and European condominiums. Its location allows for easy access to The Tribute's amenity centers, themed parks, canals, trail system and proposed lake club and marina.

The New Course is Leonard's first Texas-based design project and the culmination of a long-time relationship with Davis, who he teamed with to design Shorefox Golf Club in Granby, Colorado. The collaboration will captivate students of classic architecture, featuring holes inspired by golf course design masters Donald Ross, C.B. MacDonald, Alister MacKenzie, A.W. Tillinghast and others.

It will join the Scottish-inspired "Old Course," also designed by Davis' Oklahoma-based firm and featuring holes from famous British Open venues, to create one of the truly unique and inspiring 36-hole golf experiences in the U.S.

Davis and Leonard's layout conjures the natural contours, hazard styles and green shapes of classic courses such as Shinnecock Hills, National Golf Links, Prairie Dunes and Crystal Downs.

- The Real Estate Channel

The Tribute Goes "Green"

The Tribute, a masterplanned golf community in The Colony, has joined forces with its design partners to reduce its environmental impact and increase its energy efficiency.

Golf course architects Tripp Davis and Associates and PGA TOUR star Justin Leonard, designers of the golf course at The Tribute, have partnered with the landscape architect and planning firm of TBG Partners, as well as homebuilders Coventry Homes, Drees Custom Homes, Highland Homes, and K. Hovnanian Homes to create the Green Alliance to institute sustainable strategies for the planned development.

Included in the environmentally friendly efforts is the use of well- and surface-water feeds for irrigation — as opposed to the use of city water — saving the homeowner’s association about $200,000 to $225,000 per year, according to a statement from parties involved in the project.

In addition, the development will designate wildflower areas and plant native and adaptive plants requiring minimal irrigation, saving more than 12 million gallons of water per year.

The team also recycled pedestrian bridges and used stone material quarried within 500 miles of the project, as required by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), and will use no-emission electric golf carts and implement permeable golf cart paths made from decomposed granite as well as a running trail made from recycled materials.

The new golf course is set to open this summer.

- Dallas Business Journal

New Course at The Tribute to Reflect American Classics

When the Justin Leonard - Tripp Davis collaboration at The Tribute opens in 2009, golfers will be able to experience holes representing the best of Scottish architecture and holes reminiscent of the ‘Golden Age’ of American design -- all in one location on the shores of Lake Lewisville in The Colony, Texas, just a few miles northeast of the Dallas/Fort Worth airport.

Davis’ ‘Old Course’ links-style layout at The Tribute, which opened in 1999, is inspired by 18 of the finest holes from Scotland, such as the famous ‘Road Hole’ 17th at St. Andrews and the ‘Postage Stamp’ par-3 8th at Royal Troon. The original 18 at The Tribute is rated one of the Top 100 public courses in the US.

The ’New Course’ will not be inspired by any particular holes. Rather, it will reflect the spirit of early American layouts such as Shinnecock Hills, Maidstone, and other timeless tracks which were originally routed in the late 19th century and early 20th. "This layout will be inspired by the art and strategy of such courses. And we're going to make it look like it's been here for 100 years," Davis says.

“We’d like to be one of only a few 36-hole facility with two public courses in the Top 100,” Leonard suggests. This would put the Tribute in the elite company of such facilities as Bandon Dunes and Whistling Straits. “Our goal is to put a great product out there that everyone enjoys playing.”

To read the latest about The Tribute project, click here.

Jubilant Justin - Justin Leonard waited 13 years to design his first golf course and, man, is he ever psyched!

The better player is going to be presented with opportunities to take some risks and be rewarded, but both Davis and Leonard believe the Orvis Shorefox course is not going to be overly difficult.

“I play a lot of Pro-Ams and I know what the 15 or 25 handicap player is thinking when he stands on the tee,” says Leonard. “That has helped me in designing this course. As a resort course we’ve designed it for a variety of players.”

Natural wetlands on the Orvis Shorefox property will add to the course’s personality and the design team is working with a water features firm from Oregon who is planning to shape some of the 8,000 linear feet of streams.

Described as a ‘sporting lifestyle community,’ Orvis Shorefox ought to find its way onto the radar screens of outdoor enthusiasts who enjoy a variety of pursuits. When they aren’t playing golf, property owners and resort guests can spend their day fly-fishing, riding on horseback or chilling out on the shore of a 35-acre lake.

An avid fly-fisherman, Leonard can’t wait to slip into a pair of waders, get his hand on a fly road and do his darndest to catch (and release, of course) a trout or two. “This is the perfect spot, and I think a lot of other people will agree,” Leonard says. “Orvis is going to attract their share of fly fishing enthusiasts, but there are a lot of those who also love to play golf. Fly fishing may draw them to the resort, but the golf course will keep them coming back.”

To read Rocky Mountain Golf's summary of The Orvis Shorefox project, click here.

Justin Launches Course Design Career with Two Unique Developments

Many of Justin Leonard's finest moments have come on golf’s classic and most revered golf courses – the Open Championship at Royal Troon, The Ryder Cup at The Country Club in Brookline, the PLAYERS at Sawgrass, the Worldcom/Heritage at Harbour Town. So it’s only natural that JL’s approach to his new career in golf course design reflects Justin’s appreciation for the traditional layouts of the game which place a premium on strategy and shotmaking.

Justin is engaged in two unique design projects in Texas and Colorado, both with respected golf course architect Tripp Davis.

The Texas design project is a 2nd course at The Tribute in The Colony, north of Dallas. The first course at The Tribute, which replicates holes from Scottish courses (such as the famous No. 8 “Postage Stamp” at Royal Troon) has been rated by Golf Digest as the best public layout in North Texas.

“There really isn’t a course like the Tribute now,” Leonard said. “The new course will only enhance that. We’re building on the great reputation of the old course.”

The Colorado Davis-Leonard collaboration is at a development called Orvis Shorefox.

Orvis is the well-known purveyor of outdoor gear and accessories, and the Shorefox development will offer a combination of championship golf, fly-fishing, and other outdoor experiences.

All of this is to occur in the crook of land west of Granby formed by the Colorado and Fraser rivers. The location is equidistant between the Winter Park ski area and the western portal to Rocky Mountain National Park. It is located 95 miles from Denver at the junctions of Highways 34 and 40.

Tribute New Course Targeted for 09 Opening

Tripp and Justin are planning the new course at The Tribute to mirror the first and earliest American golf courses.“The challenge is to make the course enjoyable for all types of golfers,” Davis said. “The key is finding the right balance. That’s what we’re working hard on right now.”

The new course design will not simulate any specific holes. The main characteristics will be soft greens, larger flowing bunkers, water features and frontages. The overall topography will be dramatic with more elevation changes and trees.

“We’re going to make it look like it’s been there for a 100 years,” Davis said. “There are going to be eight holes on the water and you’ll be able to see water from all but four holes.”

Tripp Davis’ Design Philosophy

"My design philosophy has taken a lot from early American golf architects such as Perry Maxwell and Donald Ross. I like Alister MacKenzie's flair. Ross especially was about building substance -- strategy -- into his courses. He was very aware of the importance of making courses beautiful, but substance was his first priority. I think too many courses today overlook the importance of substance in the search for style. However, a course that is full of substance will endure longer than one that is not. Style, especially if it is not natural, will likely fade. Many people don't realize that today's Augusta is as much Maxwell as it is MacKenzie," Davis said.

"These guys were strategic-minded," Davis continued. "I like that. The courses they built have stood the test of time and substance was the core to their golf courses. They weren't worried about creating great views, which is important today. I sometimes think we need to get back to the strategic game when building courses."

For a profile of Justin’s design partner, Tripp Davis, click this link.

Where Hooks Meet Drives

Experts concede that both golf and fly-fishing demand a heightened sense of awareness that engages the mind to the exclusion of everything else. The next shot or cast may not be perfect, but there’s a resounding dedication that keeps enthusiasts enthralled with the process.

“In both sports, you have to train your mind to believe that you’re going to do well; otherwise you’ll force something and mess it up,” says sports psychologist and author Bob Rotella. “When they get a big fish on the line, it’s kind of like a Major; there’s a temptation to try too hard.”