After completing renovation of the East nine holes in 2022, Tripp Davis, ASGCA (Tripp Davis and Associates Golf Architecture), is back at Green Tree Country Club in Midland, Texas, to renovate the West nine. (photo credit: JC Vera Hernandez)
Golf Course Architecture reports:
Tee complexes, fairways, bunkers and greens will be redesigned. Fairways and rough will be resurfaced with TIF 419 bermuda and greens with 007 bentgrass. Most of the irrigation will also be upgraded.
“Course Crafters is off to a good start on the West nine with project superintendent Terry Mausbac leading the charge and getting holes one, two and three grassed before the Christmas holidays,” said Davis. “The design of the golf course is really starting to pop thanks also to the talents of shaper Bill ‘Hollywood’ Willingham. It has been a very creative project to create interest on such a flat site reminiscent of the classic style of Australian Sandbelt courses such as Royal Melbourne and Kingston Heath.”
“The members have found that the East nine design requires a thoughtful approach to playing each hole, and that the greens are challenging, yet fair,” said Wray Crippin, chief operating officer at Green Tree. “The East nine has fantastic turf quality, and the course went from flat West Texas land to a unique golf course with undulating fairways not commonly seen in this area. We are excited to see what Tripp will do on the West nine.”
New practice facilities including a 20,000 square foot lighted putting course, ‘The Pine’, were completed last year. The club also has a North nine, which was renovated in 2015.
Construction on the West nine is expected to conclude in summer 2023, and the club is committed to waiting until the course is fully ready before reopening, according to Davis’s associate Kyle Downs.
“Green Tree is one of the best clubs in West Texas and we are extremely proud of our association here as the design team for two major renovations,” said Davis.