Oak Tree

[sooneron]

I see that Oak Tree Golf Club is hosting the Sr. PGA this year. What happened to that place? They come out like gangbusters back in the 80's- get the PGA in 87(?) and that's it. In the mean time, Southern Hills has had two majors and another scheduled for 07. I realize SH has some history and thus, a little more love from the pga and the usga. So what's the deal?

[GDC]

Tulsa is better.

[Newbomb Turk]

I forget the exact tournament that was going to come to Oak Tree, might have been the Tour Championship. Anyway, Oak Tree had some issues with ownership back in the 90's. The tournament backed out, and nothing of significance has been back since.

I think I'll go up there and watch the old farts play one of the days of the Sr. PGA.

[Newbomb Turk]

Tulsa is better.

better than Edmond...probably so.

[Crimson_Balls]

The Byron Nelson tourney is coming to Las Colinas soon and I'm totally there dudes! Unfortunately Tiger is not playing in it. Some of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen show up at these PGA events.

[walkoffsooner]

They sold it to a chinese group in the early 90's and where having some finaical problems so pga backed out of tourney havent been back.May have been japanese

[OU4LIFE]

I think the obvious answer is that SH is twice the course that OT is.

IMO.

I've played OT, both sides, and I've walked SH several times, SH is just plain better.

[Mjcpr]

How did you get on SH?

[OU4LIFE]

I paid for a PGA ticket dumass.

[Mjcpr]

Oh. I should've known they'd never let you play.

[sooneron]

I think the obvious answer is that SH is twice the course that OT is.

IMO.

I've played OT, both sides, and I've walked SH several times, SH is just plain better.
I agree. I think SH is better, but that's not what it always boils down to.

BTW- Going to my 4th major tourney in 5 years in June! Winged Foot Baby! I played the East course there back in 98. The place rawks! All we had to do was tip the caddy master a c note.

[OU4LIFE]

both of you are correct.

[GDC]

The Byron Nelson tourney is coming to Las Colinas soon and I'm totally there dudes! Unfortunately Tiger is not playing in it. Some of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen show up at these PGA events.

I'm trying to decide between the Colonial and going to Tunica. You're right about the eye candy at these things, especially in the sponsor's tents.

[GottaHavePride]

I think the obvious answer is that SH is twice the course that OT is.

IMO.

I've played OT, both sides, and I've walked SH several times, SH is just plain better.

I've played about 4 wedding receptions at Southern Hills. Nice place.

[OklahomaTuba]

I can't wait for the 2007 PGA Championship at SH and I think one more thing is scheduled to come in 09 or 12.

I just booked that last 20 rooms at the renaissance for my customers last week.

My company is also sponsoring two tables with 5 chairs each. The cost for doing this is $25,000 per table.

[IB4OU2]

I paid for a PGA ticket dumass.

Mine was free and I got to ride a little scooter all over the course.....

[King Crimson]

the PGA was at Oak Tree in 88. there was another PGA i think scheduled there in the early 90's but dropped due to the fact Oak Tree had no african american members--i believe was the issue. the US Amateur was also at Oak Tree in 84 (and hosting a USGA event is pretty prestigious).

I've played Oak Tree over a dozen times and Southern Hills twice and been on the course 3 other times (for PGA's and the US Open). part of the "demise" of Oak Tree has a lot to do with the type of courses that Pete Dye was designing in the late 70's that were severe and novel to american golfers (pot bunkers and railroad ties--all affects he lifted from Prestwick in Scotland) at the time versus traditional American parkland courses--wide treelined fairways, two fairway bunkers, two bunkers fronting the green, etc. at the time Dye's style was very much in vogue, and while Dye's style has continued to evolve (Whistling Straits), the "hard for the sake of being hard" style that was prevelent in golf course design in the early 80's is not as fashionable as it was then. A lot of Dye's earlier work like Oak Tree is criticised for not having much of an organic feel to it. it's just one freak hole after another.

Southern Hills is one of the masterpieces (along with Prarie Dunes) of one of America's finest inland architects. Comparing it to Oak Tree is a bit of an apples/oranges thing--they are products of drastically different time periods. there are only about 10 golf courses in the US that could consistantly claim to be better than SH over the last 50-75 years. and certainly none between the Mississippi and the Rockies --outside possibly one or a couple of the Chicago clubs. if SH was on Long Island or in Chicago it would get even more national acclaim.

there are also a lot of other factors to hosting a major--like gallery space, parking, ground transportation, etc. with all the houses built around Oak Tree it's not as wide open as it used to be. one example is Turnberry in Scotland. it was scheduled to host the Open the year Hamilton won at Troon, but it simply lacks the space and infra-structure to host a major event these days....and while being a fantastic golf course it's place on the Open rota is pretty precarious these days.

[BigRedJed]

Another factor in Oak Tree's demise was the oil bust. There were a couple of ownership shakeups and disputes. Southern Hills could weather a poor Oklahoma economy better than OT because, well, they're Southern Hills. You can't beat tradition.

[King Crimson]

that's a good point Jed. since Oak Tree's original membership was a lot of oil boom cats.....addditionally, a lot of the bigger money North OKC and Edmond types who have corporate memberships play out at Gaillardia now since it's a more state of the art "club" so they may have lost influential $$$ and membership....and frankly, to play Oak Tree 3-4 times a week as a, say 15 handicapper, can't be any fun. it's just really hard. even with today's equipment, the Seniors won't even be sniffing the back tees i promise you.

[OklahomaTuba]

I think some would really be surprised by the people that come to Tulsa just for a chance to play SH, so its got some street cred.

[Mjcpr]

I think some would really be surprised by the people that come to Tulsa just for a chance to play SH, so its got some street cred.

Name names, Tuba. :)

[OU4LIFE]

Me. for one.

[Jimminy Crimson]

The tourney Oak Tree was supposed to host was the '94 PGA, which got sent up the pike to SH, after the ownership issues were unresolved.

Also, the championship course at Oak Tree has always been known as ...the Men's Course. A Hootie Johnson, Jr type scenario. That was a black eye to the rep of the club.

Look for more tourneys to head up to north Edmond in the future. It's in the best shape it has been in since '88.