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Renovations progressing on Willow Brook CC’s front nine

Renovations progressing on Willow Brook CC’s front nine
Sean Dudley
By Sean Dudley

Progress is being made on renovations to the course at Willow Brook Country Club in Tyler, Texas.

Tripp Davis and Associates have completed work on the back nine, and work on the front nine commenced in January 2018.

“Willow Brook is routed over some of the most interesting terrain I have seen,” said Tripp Davis. “It is not quite as hilly as Pine Valley, but it is a similar landscape with the sandy soil and mix of pines and oaks. In the 1950s, legendary golf course architect Ralph Plummer did a very good job routing the current course and our direction is to take the strategic character of the course to the next level with more interest in the greens and bunkers.”

The firm is collaborating with golf course builder Course Crafters on the project.

“The playability of the bunkers will be greatly improved due to how the bunkers are constructed,” said Kyle Downs, TDA Senior Golf Architect. “We added subtle elements of strategy to the course which the players should find interesting as they begin to play the back nine. TDA took the course backbones and brought out the beauty of the place in the features.”

Davis developed a masterplan for the club back in 2015. This included the creation of a four-hole short course with holes ranging from 60 to 140 yards, which opened in 2015.

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