The Tribute Golf Links

The Tribute Golf Links in The Colony, Texas is exactly what its name promises: a 2000 Tripp Davis design that works as a greatest-hits compilation of the best holes from the great links courses of the British Isles. The par-4 opener and the par-4 17th/18th are direct copies of St. Andrews' Old Course, Swilken Bridge and all, with a railway shed to drive over at 17. The par-3 5th is Royal Troon's Postage Stamp (Davis made the green slightly larger than the original). Muirfield's heavily bunkered par-3 13th is labeled 'Tripp's Favorite.' The rest of the routing pulls from Carnoustie, Machrihanish, Moray, Nairn, Prestwick, Royal Dornoch, Turnberry, and Western Gailes. That level of architectural homage would be a gimmick without execution, but Davis's routing genuinely plays as a course rather than a theme park, the 7,002-yard par-72 (73.9 rating) asks the same shot-shape questions the originals ask, and the Texas prairie wind gives the round a legitimate links quality. Golf Digest named The Tribute the #1 public course in the Dallas area, and included it on America's 100 Greatest Public Courses list (2005-2006). Golf Magazine lists it among the top five courses in Texas. For the Dallas-area trip visitor who won't make it across the Atlantic to play the originals, The Tribute is the creative next-best thing.