The Golf Club of Dallas

Overview: The Golf Club of Dallas is a classic public-access course in south Dallas, designed by Perry Maxwell and completed by his son and collaborator Press Maxwell for the club’s 1953 opening. The club describes the layout as a traditional test, and its current tournament yardage material lists par 70 with a 6,650-yard silver-tee setup. Maxwell’s influence appears in the way the course uses the existing ground, strategic angles and green contours rather than relying on excessive visual decoration. The property offers the rare combination of a historically important design lineage and a practical public golf identity.

History: The course was Perry Maxwell’s last design before his death in late 1952. Press Maxwell finished the work in time for the 1953 opening, giving the Dallas course a direct place in one of America’s most respected architectural families. The club later hosted the Byron Nelson Classic in the 1950s, with Sam Snead, Julius Boros and Bert Yancey among the players who collected trophies there. In 2002, Charles Coody assisted with a renewal intended to preserve the purity of the Maxwell design while making modest modern improvements.

Did You Know? The club considers the Dallas course Perry Maxwell’s final design and his best. It is also connected to Maxwell’s broader legacy through courses such as Southern Hills and Colonial, making a round here a compact lesson in the architectural ideas that shaped mid-century Texas golf.