Internet Explorer 11 is not supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.

Dallas Goes for the Green

Tiger Woods would love it. The city of Dallas' newly refurbished golf course is designed to attract golfers who used to drive 30 minutes out of the city to play on fancy, upper-end courses. Its quality grasses can be mowed to an eighth of an inch so that balls roll as if they're on low-nap carpet.

Tiger Woods would love it. The city of Dallas' newly refurbished golf course is designed to attract golfers who used to drive 30 minutes out of the city to play on fancy, upper-end courses. Its quality grasses can be mowed to an eighth of an inch so that balls roll as if they're on low-nap carpet.

Despite greens fees that are more than twice Dallas' municipal norm-- $39 on weekends, instead of the usual $17--the city's Department of Parks and Recreation has guaranteed the city council that the $5 million investment in Tenison Highlands, the refurbished course, would pay for itself.

The parks department logic runs like this: Dallas-area golfers were playing 65,000 rounds a year on the old course; with only 52,000 rounds a year, revenue from the greens fees would pay off the debt in seven to eight years.

The course fits a need the parks department discovered when it noticed a slight decline in the use of its six municipal courses over the past four years. A customer survey showed that golfers occasionally like to treat themselves to a luxurious experience on an upscale course.

Although Tenison has only been open since the fall, it now looks like the parks department will be able to pay off the debt more quickly than planned. "The response has been tremendous," says Paul Dyer, director of parks and recreation.

That doesn't mean that any of the other five courses will get the same high-end treatment. They will be improved as funds permit, but not in a way that will escalate greens fees. "We want to keep it at the lower end so it is affordable for everyone," Dyer says.

Special Projects