Mike Klemme
Tripp Davis and Associates has completed its renovation of Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club in Nichols Hills, Oklahoma, and members are now enjoying play over one of the most storied courses in Oklahoma. The original Perry Maxwell and Alister MacKenzie designed course opened in 1929.
Davis and his team renovated drainage, cart paths, the structure of tees, greens and bunkers, and re-grassed most of the course, using Latitude 36 Bermudagrass for tees and fairways, and 007 bentgrass for the greens. Work also included restoring the original rounded/irregular shape of the tees, returning strategic widths in fairways and removing many introduced trees, plus restoring the strategic intent and style of the bunkers and the size of the original greens. Superintendent Nathan Neumann and the Oklahoma City Golf & CC team were also heavily involved in the work.
“We worked hard to restore old angles with wider fairways and tree removal, restoring unique slopes in fairways and in the approach to greens to make the ground game more interesting and integral to play.” Davis said. “The greens were 75 percent what Maxwell had left, which we worked to preserve and we restored parts of what had been lost – areas along the edges of greens and some hole locations that are not usable at modern green speeds. “The combination of restoring and preserving greens, restoring the width to fairways, recapturing a bunker style that fits the architectural lineage, and bringing back a lot that makes you think on every shot, has been really fun.”
The renewal of the infrastructure included a new irrigation system, improved drainage, new green, tee and bunker structures, and new grasses that produce higher quality playing surfaces. “The project has been one of the most satisfying in my career,” Davis said. “Because it is near my home and being the only large project we had under construction in 2019, I was able to enjoy being with my family and I was able to focus more on the work than I have in a long time. It has been over 10 years since we only had one large project in a given year and it was eye opening.”
“Being given the responsibility to renovate and restore the Maxwell/MacKenzie course at Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club was uniquely exciting for me given my history there and the many friends I have there,” Davis added. “I first played the course in 1985 as a freshman on the University of Oklahoma golf team, and it has since been one of my favorite courses in the world. Being able to bring the golf course back to what it was intended to be by Mr. Maxwell and Dr. MacKenzie has been one the greatest thrills of my professional career.”
The Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club was one of only a few courses that Maxwell and MacKenzie collaborated on, with Crystal Downs in Michigan, and the Ohio State University Scarlet Course being two of the more high-profile courses they did together. The club has hosted numerous competitions over the years including the U.S. Amateur (1955), Trans-Miss, Women’s Southern Open, Western Amateur, Women’s Western and U.S. Open qualifiers.
Shaper Jason Gold, who has been a TDA staff member for over 10 years, was onsite for more than a year to shape the course, while Davis oversaw the shaping of the surfaces of the greens to preserve the existing character. “Jason and I made sure every detail was right and that every strategic element was pure to how Mr. Maxwell and Dr. MacKenzie wanted the course to play,” Davis said. “They were extraordinary at making everything they did look like a natural part of the land, and using that to create beautiful strategic variety and interest, highlighted by the angles they created and the importance of precision when playing into the greens.”
