Up Interstate 45, city
golf leaders in Dallas were paying close
attention to the
Memorial Park success story and decided to try the
same thing at the Tenison Park West Course. They called on locally
based Golf Resources Inc., and the project became a labor of love
for Dallas native and lead architect Steve Wolford.
"I grew up playing those courses, and it was really shocking how
bad the conditions were," says Wolford. "But we just didn't have
any other options back then."
Dallas Parks and Recreation director Paul Dyer says the project,
budgeted for $5 million, had to receive city council approval, and
initially there was plenty of skepticism. So much so that a group
of citizens was able to get an injunction to halt the work for
nearly a year. But after addressing concerns about tree removal,
environmental concerns, and prices, renovations began and were
finished a year later.
"Some of those same skeptics just said, 'Wow,' when we got
finished," says Dyer.
David Brown, vice
president and general manager of the American
Airlines Center in Dallas, freely admits he was one of the leading
critics of the Tenison Highlands plan.
"But Tenison Highlands has become everything I didn't think it
could be," says Brown. "Now I'm a big fan of having such an asset
just five to seven minutes east of downtown."
"When we have a Mary Kay convention in town, there are thousands of
spouses looking for something to do, and it's crazy for them to
have to go to Plano or
Lewisville or Frisco to play golf instead of
right here in Dallas," adds Sam Swanson, president of Golf
Resources Inc.
St. Paul's Highland Park National, which is scheduled to reopen in
the spring of 2005, calls for a complete renovation of a course
that opened back in 1927. Local officials feel that when its $4.5
million facelift is complete, it will be as nice as many private
clubs.