The Top 100 Newest Golf Courses in the US ranking includes 11 newcomers, including Trinity Forest in Dallas, Texas.
Evan Schiller
GOLF recently published its latest rankings of Top 100 Courses in USA (2024-2525)a list that includes 11 arrivals. You may recognize some of them. Others you may not. Here, in the spotlight for newcomers, we’ll introduce you to these 100 best beginner gems.
Newcomers Spotlight: Trinity Forest / Rank: 96th
Location: Dallas, Texas
Business: Private
YEAR OPEN: 2016
Architect: Bill Coore, Ben Crenshaw
What you need to know about Trinity Forest
Just south of downtown, this course shares many of the same playing characteristics of the old St. Andrews. The ground is messy, and much of the fun comes from watching the balls disappear over the bumps or down into the bumps – and wondering if they will reappear. Superintendent Kasey Kauff keeps Trinity’s Zoysia fairways lightning fast, which means trying to keep control of your ball on these frictionless surfaces is quite the challenge. The PGA Tour held an event here for several years during the rainy season, fooling onlookers into not appreciating just how fascinating — and strategic — this Coore & Crenshaw design really is. Today, the back nine is played in the sequence Coore & Crenshaw intended, meaning the short par-3 17th, with its innovative double green, is in the pinnacle position it deserves.
What our reviewers say
“Coore and Crenshaw originally committed to building only golf courses in a minimalist style in prime locations and did so with great success, exploiting the natural values of the land to the nth degree. Here, in a miserable place (a landfill) they fabricated features to create classic strategies. It’s a real tournament with great complex greens and smart bunkering. The course shines when it’s kept fast and strong.”
