Southwest Oklahoma – The Territory, a golf and residential development near Duncan, garnered the No. 10 spot in Golfweek’s 2006 ranking of the Top 50 best new courses in the United States.
The survey examined overall strength of routing, feature shaping, natural setting, greens, variety and memorability of holes, conditioning and maintenance, landscape management and other criteria. Golfweek sends about 300 raters in search of the country’s finest golf courses.
“The Territory is honored to receive this elite distinction and it is extremely gratifying as our goal from Day One has been to be a top-of-the-bell-curve golf club and residential community,” says owner Rick Braught. “When Barbara and I set out to build The Territory our mandates were to build something that would stand the test of time and to be head and shoulders better than anything in the region and one of the finest clubs anywhere.”
Top-ranked Bandon (Ore.) Trails, designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, and Tom Fazio’s Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., are indicative of the quality of the top 10 golf clubs The Territory joins in the ranking.
Set amid the rolling hills, native grasses and wildflowers that define The Territory’s terrain and other natural features, the Randy Heckenkemper-designed golf course features five sets of tees (ranging from 4,845 to 7,110 yards), a training facility and a three-hole short course. The greens are an A1-A4 creeping bentgrass blend, the tees, fairways and roughs are Tifsport Bermudagrass and native vegetation frames the playing corridors.
“We were blessed with a terrific piece of land on which to work,” Heckenkemper says. “A number of the holes jumped out before we even began moving dirt. The rest fell into place better than anyone could have expected.”
The Territory has hosted the state amateur, state senior amateur and an NCAA Division II Super Regional.
For more information about The Territory, call 580-475-0075 or visit www.territorygolf.com.